Busy

This was the first week of the Fall Semester and it was wild. Unlike any 'first week' I can recall and while we all feel that way this week, we can't really put our fingers on why. It could be the 10% growth in enrollment, combined with the usual 'Fall Semester' busy-ness. But it feels like 'more' than that. It is just non-stop from the minute we walk in the door until we all leave bleary-eyed at the end of the day. Today, a co-worker who never makes any sort of 'caring' comments - it's just not her way - said 'sweetie, you look tired'. And I am. Down to my bones weary and hoping against hope that the two days will renew my energy level and get me ready for another busy week. I need two nights of good, solid sleep with no nighttime reminding, no alarm clock awakening, no disturbing dreams that I know were not pleasant but lack memories of any details which would allow me to actually work through whatever they are trying to 'tell' me.

I work a lot of hours. I have a boss who is extremely accommodating about ensuring that I book 'comp' time for the hours I work that exceed a 40 hour week. The only problem with comp time is that you have to have the time to be able to take the time off. And when you're really busy, so busy that you're adding hour after hour of 'comp' time to your total every day, you're too busy to TAKE the comp time you are earning. So I have a ton of time 'on the books' and honestly no idea when I'll be able to take it. [I just reread this sentence and used the word 'know' instead of 'no'. I can't think straight, honestly].

Weeks like this, comp time comes in handy. H. needed to come home sick from school on Monday. B. followed by calling me to pick him up on Wednesday. Add to that a doctor's appointment of my own that I'd already rescheduled once - and I used some comp time this week to handle all these 'unscheduled' times away from the office. No problem. Boss is fine - no issue. BUT, I HAVE A LOT OF WORK TO DO - so the time away from work only adds to that issue.

I used 'the box' method this evening. Left work at 6 and literally took all the stuff on my desk, piled it into a box and brought it home. Will spend a couple of hours at the dining room table sorting, categorizing, filing, doing and making 'lists' of things. Things to delegate, things to take care of right away. Intending to go back to work on Monday with neater stacks, a clear list of what I need to accomplish and then hit the floor running on Monday AM. My 'helper' goes back to her classes at St. Mary's on Monday so she will only be available 24 hours starting next week - and her schedule is a bit 'scattered' so it's going to take some careful coordination and a lot of emails to keep us both on the same 'track' about what needs to be done, when.

I'm heading to bed - night, all.

Memories

Work is approaching the 'crazy busy' point after weeks of being in 'pending/waiting' mode for our district to finish what they needed to do so we can do what we need to do. Now, we'll spend the next two weeks rushing like crazy trying to tie up everything to officially close the year. It will be crazy.

I left work on time this evening to get to Danville for my cut & color appointment. The color was needed, as it always is - but apparently more so since H. asked at dinner Saturday night 'Mom, why is your hair two different colors'. So I scheduled out all my appointments through the end of the year and made them 5 weeks apart instead of 6. That should help the obvious demarcation between my scalp and my hair. Won't be great on my pocket book, but oh well. I told my stylist what H. had said and she laughed and said 'it could be worse. I had a client bring me a picture her son drew of her with her nice blond hair and a sharpie marker black line down the middle of her head. That's how he thought her hair should be drawn'. I don't wait that long, quite.

While she was doing my hair, there was a 3 year old girl getting a haircut. I was listening to the stylist reminding her to 'stay still; look down; don't wiggle', etc. It reminded me of when H. was little and we would take him and B. to my stylist (at the time - not the same stylist I have now) to get haircuts. We took a bag of Jelly Bellies with us and used those to keep the boys still. I could picture H. and his little 'grin' - not quite a smile, not quite a 'smirk'. Just this little, sweet smile with a jelly-bean rimmed mouth. He LOVED getting his haircut 'cuz he loved jelly beans. B. too. I was sitting there remembering and couldn't stop smiling. Picturing those sweet little faces smiling with glee and sitting very, very still, waiting for the next treat.

I hadn't thought of that in a long time and it is nice to have those 'snapshots' in my head. Need to picture those sweet faces the next time they give me grief about something. They are still sweet, but older now, and jelly beans don't do diddly squat anymore in eliciting desired actions. No more 'easy' ways to make them comply with simple requests. It's all uphill, now. But I can remember when it wasn't and that helps.