Brita Corradini: The Last Second of the Last Minute ..

By Brita Corradini on January 20, 2012 12:10 PM | Comments (2)

I’ve mentioned before that procrastination is my middle name. Those who know me would probably argue that it should be my first name.  I’m always a token fifteen minutes late to girls night, I pay my bills a few days late for no apparent reason, I wait until both babies have gone from cooing to crying before I get out of bed and I get around to watering plants once the leaves have fallen off. I even waited until the day before my due date to take our maternity pictures when I was pregnant with Alabama! Granted, the photographer did such a fantastic job, it seemed to erase my bitter frustration as my swollen ankles carried me up a thorny hill for that perfect picture!

You’d think there would have been a lesson learned for baby number two, but procrastination had it’s way once again and we scrambled to do our maternity shoot the day before I started chemo when I was pregnant with Ruby. Thankfully, the photographer worked his magic and erased the stress and anxiety off our faces and once again, showed us the magic of the moment.

I couldn’t be happier with the outcome, but the tension in getting to that point was unnecessary. I know that with a little planning and organization, I would have calmly and preparedly arrived at both photo shoots a non-stressed happy camper.  The mystery shrouded in mystery is how to get there. As I am writing this, I feel a delayed New Year’s Resolution coming on. Or as I like to call it, a plain ol’ resolution.

How do I go from a frazzled, last-minute mess to a calm, collected woman?  Well, the first step is to not beat one’s self up over the past.  I spend quite a bit of time wearing my 20/20 hindsight glasses and replaying the past.  Resolution number one:  Learn the lesson and move on because what’s done is done and dwelling on it doesn’t change anything except your blood pressure.
Resolution number two:  Give myself an extra 15 minutes. Make that an extra 30 minutes. Actually, round that to an even hour because I will need every minute! With this extra hour, I will use it to brush my teeth before going grocery shopping, make my daughter a real breakfast instead of string cheese and raisins, and I will learn to breath slowly and deeply while my girls are struggling against diapers and clean, presentable clothes for our day out.

Resolution number three:  Not to make too many resolutions.  Starting small and manageable is the only way to grasp the lesson and move on and up.  So, I started today.  I woke up this morning at 6:00 am, before both babies awoke and managed to prepare a dish of delicious and nutritious baked blueberry banana oatmeal:

The day has started peacefully with a happy, full-bellied Alabama and a slightly tired, but calm mommy.  May each of you find your calm today!

Brita Corradini

Your 30’s are meant to be the decade during which life begins to fall into place. It certainly started that way for Brita Corradini. She was a mother to a fantastically hilarious 13-month-old little girl and 6 months pregnant with baby number two. She had just landed her dream job of being a pastry chef, and with her husband working as a musician, money was tight but they had found what made them happy. However, a week after her 31st birthday, she was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer. What started as a scary diagnosis, has evolved into a story that is worth sharing. Follow her as she goes through chemo while pregnant, raises a toddler while fighting cancer and learns that life can still be an incredibly amusing ride.