Time for me...

I learned something this week - if you're told you get to work a half day on Friday and you don't take a lunch with you to work since you are planning on working a half day, you're going to be tasked a project that will not allow you to leave half way through the day...  I ended up leaving about an hour and a half before the end of the day (that still means I worked approximately a 10.5 hour day) and that's only because my Sports Coordinator and my Operations Clerk forced me out of the building; they seemed ready to forcibly escort me from the premises.  I was supposed to work yesterday so my Sports Coordinator could have the afternoon off but she was able to rearrange some things so I was told to take yesterday off as well.  Honestly, I didn't feel guilty at all leaving work early on Friday and I didn't feel guilty not going in yesterday; I still worked just shy of 60 hours this past week.

Since I haven't really had any time off lately, I actually took myself to the movies and to the aquarium (it's probably been a year and a half since I've allowed myself time to go to the aquarium - even though I have an annual membership pass).  I ended up staying only a couple of hours since it got pretty crowded but it was fun to go just the same.  I got some really cute photos of some sea otters for one of my nephews (they're his absolute favorite) and it was nice just to sit and watch the different sea animals.

I did something this week that I don't typically do - I went out with someone for dinner/drinks after work/choir one night for my birthday.  Usually I find some sort of an excuse to not go out after work since I have such a long work day and have to be up so early in the morning to start my work day.  A dance friend has been wanting me to go out for dinner/drinks after dance for some time now and I always find some reason to say "no"; when she reached out to me on my birthday, I shocked her by finally saying "yes."  Granted, she had to convince me a little bit but she finally convinced me to head out.  She and I had a good time and decided that we'll have to go out again one of these days - turns out that she and I have a lot more in common than dance and we decided that it was nice to have a friend who "got" us.

One of the kids asked me this past week asked me how old I was and I told her that I was 112.  She looked surprised for a second and then said, "Um... if you were 112, you'd be in a wheelchair."  Her response left me stunned because I didn't expect that answer from a 1st grader.  For my birthday, one of my staff members brought in Doctor Who themed gift bags for the staff and what was really cool/sweet about it was she doesn't watch the show but did the research for the bags since it's one of my favorites.  She told me after doing the research for the gift bags, she's become intrigued by the show and wants to start watching it herself - yay, another one has been converted!

Something I have decided with my birthday being this past week is I am going to go into the next year really embracing my weirdness and not trying to hide it away in order to make others comfortable.  I already often feel uncomfortable in situations where I have to be around people (it's the introvert in me) so why should I make myself even more uncomfortable trying to be someone that I'm not?  I'm still trying to devise how that's all going to come together but it's a goal I am setting for myself.  I will start working on my goal with my day off tomorrow.

Well, my dear readers, I'm going to bring this to a close for tonight, attempt to get some rest tonight, and enjoy my day off tomorrow.  Thanks for joining me and I hope you find some time for you!  =)