Week 5 - Miserable Work Week

It was not a good week. Work week that is. It was overscheduled and stressful and BAD. It was all redeemed by the weekend, when it was all birthday celebrations, all weekend.

So the problem with the work week was that we had webinar software training from noon-3:00 Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in a week where I was already teaching my 3 regular classes. They are normally 2:00-4:30 so had to be rescheduled for 3:00-5:00. So I had to set up my classroom before noon, got no lunch and then went from noon-5:00 with no break and full on concentration. I didn't have a class to teach on Wednesday but we had interviews for a student worker scheduled before and after the webinar. Add to this that I woke up at 3:00 a.m. on Tuesday morning so went into this hellish schedule exhausted. And with no lunch breaks for 3 days, I had to add all the errands I normally run over lunch to do after work. This led to getting home even later, eating badly and getting crankier with each passing day. Not good.

I had a mini meltdown Thursday near the end of the webinar and ended up walking outside for 20 minutes with no coat on in 20 degree weather in an attempt to calm down before teaching. Did I mention that the weather was miserable too? Cold and dreary all week. OMG! Then when I got back to my desk for a few minutes before I had to teach, Darla sent me flowers for my birthday. Now the worst thing for me to take when I'm upset is people being nice to me. The flowers were gorgeous and it made me want to cry. I splashed cold water on my face to ward that off and made it through my class. The last thing was book club at 7:00 and then I was free. I was thrilled to be done with everything.

My birthday was Saturday so I had to bring treats to work on Friday (I HATE that, btw) so had to get up and bake Friday morning. I made banana bread and rice krispi squares, which were a fall back when I didn't have the chex I needed to make my fave nutty buddies (puppy chow here in the Midwest). So with all that activity and getting everything packed and into the car, I forgot my gym bag, which I didn't realize until I got to work. The problem with that was the reservations for my birthday dinner with Anne and Rene were at 6:30 because I was supposed to be swimming after work. Rene had specifically asked for the later time because she was taking the afternoon off. I was  close to tears when this happened but it ended up working out. Rene had taken Wednesday afternoon instead so we were all happy with changing the reservation to 5:30. Done. Cindy gave me a beautiful piece of pottery with sheep on top then I had a nice lunch with Layton. I came back to find a piece of Guinness chocolate cake that one of the accountants had bought me after hearing about my crappy week at a meeting that morning. The cake was delicious and was the start of a much better mood. Dinner that night was lovely. It was my favorite restaurant and after delicious Brussels sprouts that we shared, I had pasta with a cream sauce and a glass of white wine (my fave combo) and then we split a many layered piece of chocolate cake. It was a lovely end to a less than stellar week.

Saturday morning was sheer heaven. After 5 days with zero sunshine, the sun was blazing and I spent the entire morning sitting in my chair basking in the sun while streaming and knitting. I didn't get up to shower and dress until 12:30 because Andrea was picking me up at 1:00 for my birthday lunch in Omaha.

We were meeting Lori at Blackstone Meatball for lunch then having ice cream at Coneflower Creamery next door. Lori was already seated when we arrived and there was a huge trash bag with a bow on it next to the table. Andrea brought in a big packing box too. Not only were there presents but they were huge! After ordering our meatball sliders and onion rings, I opened my gifts. The big bag had the most fun furniture ever! Not your typical present from a friend but Lori knew I was looking for a small diameter round table for next to my recliner and found this rococo masterpiece will antiquing. I love it! And Andrea gave me a fun knitting bag and a teapot shaped egg basket, which I'll fill with sock yarn, of course. Lunch was delish, as was the ice cream. We split up from there and after quick stops at Aldi and Trader Joe's, Andrea and I headed back to Wahoo. It had been a lovely day.

I started Sunday the same way – same nightie, same chair, same sunshine. Glorious! And everyone who hadn't talked to me on my birthday called on Sunday and Lorri (different Lori from Saturday – 2 R's) stopped after church. After another happy morning, I got dressed and headed outside in a t-shirt. It was 59 degrees! The snow was melting so the ground was a soggy mess but I still managed to putter on my deck and driveway (all signs of Christmas are now put away) before going inside for tea and lemon loaf cake, which was my birthday treat from Starbuck's. I was starting a rotation the next day so finished the day with a tuna melt and doritos. There'd be none of that for the next 3 weeks.

So the wonderful weekend, including the bonus warmth, ended my icky week on a high note. I have wonderful friends and a great life. I'll keep enjoying it for the last year in my 50's. When did that happen?