Friday, August 10, 2007


It's been one of those weeks! You know, the ones where you have eight days of tasks to get done in seven. It's Friday morning and already I feel like I've been flattened by the" busy week steamroller." It's not that everything is unpleasant or difficult or even un-appreciated....it's just overload, and the fact that I'm on-call for the weekend is literally the straw, and that's before any emergencies....if there are any.

Last weekend, two of our three children were home to celebrate the youngest's birthday. The weekend was summer perfect and we all enjoyed the weather, the food, the river, visits from friends and neighbors, and some kayaking. My friend Leigh came by with his kayak and stayed for a visit. His presence served as a reminder that he and I have won a spot in the 90 mile canoe race to be run the weekend after labor day. So Monday meant starting to train in ernest.

So my mornings have been given over to exercise and paddling at first light. This has necessitated a severe reduction in my blogging, since mornings have been my blog time. In addition I've been walking the 2 1/2 miles to work everyday, and that eats up seventy minutes out of every day.

Tuesday evening, Leigh came by with our new racing canoe, which we had yet to christen, so we could try it out. We paddled 'til dusk, giving it a good work out and were pleased and confident that it will serve us well.

Wednesday evening, good friends from Alaska came to visit with their eight year old daughter and two of her cousins. They come home every summer but for one reason or another we've failed to connect in the last three. This was a delightful surprise and thoroughly pleasant visit catching up on each other's lives. They always bring us fresh caught (well close enough) Alaskan salmon. Which, by the way, is superb when grilled over real charcoal.

Lastly, and most aggravatingly, the work days have been long necessitating my presence late everyday. To make it even more aggravating; the case load was not extraordinarily huge, it just took all day to get the work done. It seems like SNAFU, delays of one sort or another, and FUBAR behavior was the sign of the week. So by last night I was so hot tempered we could have cooked dinner on my forehead. In fact I skipped dinner thinking that as worked up as I was it would only cause indigestion.

And now it's Friday morning and the start of a three day call weekend. If it plays out like the previous week I'll be unfit to live with by Monday night, if not before! Who likes to be near a screaming memey?

I know: whine, whine, whine...life's a bitch and then ya die. ;)

12 Comments:

Blogger Kay Cooke said...

Gawsh - you certainly have fitted a lot into the week - it's a wonder you even had time to write this post! But I am so glad you did. The insights into other lives - even a grump about a heavy workload - always prove fascinating. And this entry is no exception. I hope the weekend is kind to you ...

7:08 AM  
Blogger Puss-in-Boots said...

Commiserations on having to work a long weekend, Rel...I know what that's like from days gone by.

Hey, it's okay to have a grizzle. If you can't do it on Blogger when can you? Hope you felt a little better afterwards.

Take care and don't blow a gasket, my friend...life's too short.

7:29 AM  
Blogger paris parfait said...

You have been busy - but mostly having fun with family and good friends; the other stuff will get sorted out soon. Don't stress - it's summer and you're training for a race! And after your hectic three-day weekend, things will settle down for you, I hope! Bonne courage! xo

1:44 PM  
Blogger Rowan said...

Life gets that way sometimes and at least you've had lots of nice things happening along with the busy busy stuff. On call weekends can't be much fun - you'll just have to daydream about winning that 90 mile race:) Though come to think of it maybe daydreaming while administering anaesthetic isn't such a good idea - better confine the daydreaming to the bits between cases......

4:36 PM  
Blogger Churlita said...

Except for the work part, at least the other busy stuff sounds fun.

Hang in there.

4:59 PM  
Blogger cherry girl said...

Deep breaths perhaps - things sound pretty hectic for you, is there any sign of a let up.

Your new canoe looks great and training and taking part sounds like fun - not that I have ever done kayaking but whatever floats your boat (ahem :))

5:00 PM  
Blogger Jellyhead said...

Sorry you're feeling so frazzled, Rel. I hope the weekend turns out better than you expect.

And winning a spot in the race is something to be proud of, and of course exciting to train for! I can't wait to hear how it all goes!

5:20 PM  
Blogger Wanderlust Scarlett said...

I love your photos. They are always so wonderful.

I'm sorry to hear that your week was like that. Hopefully no one will call you and things will shape up. Hmmm?

Have a turtle sunday... vanilla ice cream with caramel, chocolate and pralines.

You'll feel better in no time.

Unless of course, you're allergic to nuts... then you'll feel a lot worse and you'll be taken off-on-call.


Big hugs,

Scarlett & V.

6:45 PM  
Blogger Carole Burant said...

Well it's no wonder you haven't had much time for blogging!! Geesh! You certainly did have a lot going on this week but as you say, a lot of it pleasant:-) I so love the picture of you and Leigh in the canoe...the water looked so calm. It must be wonderful to be out on the lake early mornings like that...even if it is for racing practice!! Oh dear, I do hope it goes better at work for you and that you don't have too much of a rough weekend! xox

11:21 PM  
Blogger Lee said...

Exhausted you may be, Rel...but it sounds like you had a great week. :)

12:06 AM  
Blogger Catch said...

the new canoe is lovely and the water is as smooth as glass. Im sorry you havent had a great week Rel, but cheer up! Better weeks are ahead ! ;))

3:13 AM  
Blogger Sherri B. said...

It's always so stressful when you have too much to do and not enough time to do it! I hope things ease up for you soon, and I'm glad that amidst all the craziness, you've had some lovely moments on the water and with friends. Hang in there! Even your grumpy posts are a pleasure to read. :~)

8:30 AM  

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