Perpetual Ruminations

Friday

Wow, I'm home from work, and not dead tired. Also, I have the chili cooked and just need to reheat for dinner, the bread dough is rising, and it's not even two in the afternoon yet. It's been so long since I had any spare time, I'm not sure what to do. I may be going into shock!

Of course, I do have some things I could be doing for work. But, they will still be here tomorrow, and they are not really very pressing. Besides, I may have a ten hour day tomorrow. I doubt it, but it's possible. No matter what, I'll have at least seven, more probable to count on eight. It will be the same for Sunday, and who knows what next week will bring. Hopefully we will be hiring someone by then, which means more long days. On top of this, I've been working for the last nine days without a day off, and I don't anticipate one for a while. If we get someone hired and trained in the first part of next week, I may get a day off by the end of the week, but it would be more likely not until the week after. And, that's only if we get someone hired and trained.

So, in anticipation of having a long day tomorrow and another on Sunday, as well as no day off for another week or more, I'm procrastinating work and enjoying a relaxing afternoon. My only plans are to finish the bread, and take the dogs out for a while. the bread needs to be punched down again, then left to rise. This will be my opportunity to take the dogs out for a while, then it's back in for all of us, into the oven for the bread, and back in here for me.

I need to clean up my e-mail, and I may even read something and do a review. Then again, I may look at a prompt and write something... It's been a long time and it would really do me a world of good to write something, even if it's short and pointless!

Okay, so I didn't get any reviews written, I didn't read anything, and I didn't write anything. I did look at some poems; I thought I may be able to handle a short one, but didn't see anything that pulled me in. I got too tired to read anything of length, knowing it would put me right to sleep. I did get something accomplished, though.

I changed my briefcase image, and I also changed my page skin. In addition, I have my e-mail all cleaned up, and I even thought about renewing my membership. I may still go in and do that, while I have the money. It seems if I wait, something will come along and eat up all my dough.

Besides spending a little time in here, which was a nice change from my usually rush in, write my journal entry, and then on to other pressing things. I know, sometimes I'm not pressed, but just too tired to do anything; there have been many times I've dozed off at the keyboard. My younger brother dozes off regularly in front of the television, but I seldom do. Sure, once in a great while I will doze off, but not more than once in a blue moon. No, for me it's the computer; I get going with something and the next thing I know my head is bobbing and dropping. I wake up, but one of these times I'm sure I'll doze off long enough to bonk my head on the keyboard; yes, I'll be a forehead typist instead of a two finger typist.

Besides spending some time in here, I finished my homemade bread, from scratch. I rolled it out into a kind of flat and wide loaf, and coated it down with a spicy garlic butter. For Dinner, I'll split it down the center, coat the cut side with more goarlic butter and then grill it until it's golden brown. Then, it's going to get topped with shredded cheese and popped into the oven until the cheese is melted, starting to brown, and beginning to bubble. We are having it with a vegetable beef chili.

I also spent a good deal of time outside with the dogs, since it's so nice out. It's only fifty-eight degrees, but on the south side of the house, it's out of the wind, and warmer in the sunshine. It felt great to sit out in a t-shirt and get some sun. I also cleaned up the Oriole feeder and filled it, since Rhonda said she seen one out there yesterday. I also moved the seed feeder a little, and filled it. I took a break here and there to throw the dogs toys for them, so they could enjoy some outside exercise for a change, too.

Now, it's almost time for Rhonda to call, and I doubt I'll hear the phone, since I have music playing pretty loud over the sound system. I haven't listened to music very much in a long time, which is kind of strange for me. But then, I have not been doing much of any of my normal activities for a long time. I've been so busy with work, sick, and just plain tired from everything.

I got sick last fall, during the soybean harvest, possibly an allergy or sensitivity to them,  and have not really recovered all winter. I would start to get well, but then catch something else. It seems like it's been one thing or another all winter. I don't remember ever being sick so often in my life. Of course, it was a bad winter for everyone around here, and it seems like everyone has been sick with one thing or another since last fall.

On top of that, it was a long winter. We got hit with bitter cold temperatures in November, and are just getting into spring now. Oh sure, we get a day or two of nice weather, but then it's windy as hell and right back into the cold. In fact, we had snow yesterday; it didn't' stick, but it was coming down pretty good for a while. We hit thirty degrees last night, and will again tonight, but we may get into the seventies by tomorrow afternoon. That's why everyone has been sick, the weather has been so extreme.

Also, work has had me very busy. Not as bad as it's been the last month, but busy. It seems like I was getting calls on my days off, having to run in off the clock, and there was just always something going on, usually bad. Once the problem child quit, it wasn't nearly so bad, but it left us short on help, so I went down to one day niff a week. I also had to put in more time with interviews and trying to hire someone, even though that 's also been a bomb. Now, we have lost another person, and at the same time, picked up more hours, so no days off, and about fifty hours a week. In another week, it will be closer to sixty hours for the week, if we don't get someone hired soon.

It's no wonder I'm always so tired, and never have much for time. But, at the same time, Rhonda is picking up some of the extra hours, which means I get home earlier some days, like today. And, we are getting to bed sooner, so I'm getting more sleep time. I can't say I get more sleep, at least not yet, but more time to sleep.

What happens is this, I go to bed with the intention of getting six to seven hours of sleep, instead of four to five. But, instead of sleeping through, I wake up about an hour before the alarm and can't get back to sleep. My body has become programmed for about five hours of sleep. at night, and then a couple hours of sleep in the afternoon. I have been working at cutting out the naps, since that burns up all my free time. At the same time, I've been working at getting to bed even earlier.

I'm getting about six hours now, and I'm waking up about a half hour before the alarm, so I'm doing better. It's a slow process of reprogramming, but it's working. tonight, we are shooting for seven hours, and I'm hoping I will sleep through the night. I know it's not very likely, since I have been waking up at night for years, but if I can go to the bathroom, then back to bed and then fall right back to sleep, as is normal for me, I'll be happy. And, if I get seven hours of sleep, I'm good to go. Eight hours is like sleeping in, and seven is plenty for me to function on without getting so tired I can't think straight.

Now, we just need to get someone hired at work, maybe even two people, so we can get some time off. And, speaking of time off, it's time I get off of here and get ready for Rhonda's call. Then it's dinner when she gets home, relax for an hour or so, and off to bed by eight.