It was a long and crazy/hectic week but I survived the first week of summer programming at work; ended up clocking about 60 hours but survived (even with one staff out for the entire week and another called out sick on Friday but I made it work). This upcoming week will present a new set of challenges; the one staff member is still out (with an injury - luckily one that she did not sustain at work or that would be an even bigger issue) and a class of pre-Kindergartners are joining the program as they are in transition. I'm sure that this class of kids coming into the building will just add to the chaos but I'm truly hoping that everything goes smoothly.
I should have known it was going to be an interesting week when I left work on Monday and found that my windshield had been broken while I was in the building. It looked as if the crack had been caused by a rock (we have rocks surrounding the building and I'm wondering if there was a kid out there throwing them); there was an impact mark right under the wiper blades that went to the bottom of the windshield and then vertically just over 1/3 of height of my windshield. I called the insurance company when I got home and they told me that my glass deductible was $500 and that's what it would cost to replace the windshield. The insurance company put me in touch with the company to replace the windshield and they said they could come to my work on Wednesday to replace it. Wednesday morning I had an email from the glass company asking me to call them immediately - they had received the new glass but it had arrived damaged and they wouldn't be able to get a new one until Friday. Luckily Friday rolled around and the tech was able to come out and replace the glass and (knock on wood) it's been fine since.
There was one day in particular that I was feeling particularly overwhelmed/stressed this past week so I turned to FaceBook for some suggestions. I stated that I dislike yoga and that I don't do massages and asked for other suggestions for stress relief. I was surprised by the number of people who suggested drinking wine and I had other suggest yoga/massages and didn't understand why I had already crossed those options off of my list - I find yoga particularly boring (I know some people swear by it but I am not one of those) and the only two massages I have ever gotten were bad because the masseuse kept yelling at me to RELAX. There were a few people that suggested walks in nature of some sort and I actually found myself on auto-pilot driving to the beach yesterday morning. I walked on the sand and found a nice rock to sit on while I watched the waves.
Before I left the beach (about 2 hours later), I built a cairn on the spot where I had been sitting. For those of you who don't know what a cairn is, it's a rock stack used to mark trails or for meditation purposes. While they may be frustrating to create, they are symbolic to leaving your frustrations behind. I did struggle some while building (I built one for me and one for my Mom - she and I built them together the last time my Mom and Dad visited) but I actually did feel some better once I was finished. I am hoping that the feeling continues heading into this next week.
I did have a wonderful surprise/out of the blue phone call from an old friend this past week. She said she wasn't sure why but she felt the need to call me this past week. Boy, am I ever glad she did! She was one of my coworkers when she lived out here (she worked in an infant room and I worked in a preschool room) and we hit it off during my divorce. She and her husband (along with their two boys) ended up moving about five years ago and I've heard some from her since but not much. Come to find out, she and I are both doing the same job in our respective locations and we have the opportunity to meet up with one another at a conference at the end of August! I am SO excited!! Even though it's still a long time away, I'm definitely glad to have something to look forward to after summer programming is over, school has started and we have completed the site visit for our building accreditation - all big things that are adding to my stress levels.
I think one of the things I'm going to try and remember going into this next week is a quote from the movie All About Steve - "Less work. More of everything else. Be normal." While I don't necessarily want to be normal (I want my freak flag to fly and to embrace my muchness) but I do agree with the less work; more of everything else. I am still desperately trying to figure out that balance of less work/more everything else (must be the Libra in me) but I know that I will get there one of these days... either by my choice or the nice individuals in their crisp white coats who give me a coat of my own that gives me a hug...
Well my dear readers, I think I have come to that time yet again to bring this to a close for this evening. I have another long week ahead and I still have some laundry I need to at least think about putting away before bed. I hope that you have a week filled with muchness and you find opportunities/experiences that bring you joy. =)
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