And On the Fifth Day ...

I have been back home for four full days. Today, the fifth day, I finally feel like I'm ready to step back into my regularly scheduled life.

But the four days prior?? Not so much.

The first day was complete and utter distraction. I would start to do one thing. It would branch off to four different things that I thought of, while I was doing the first. Then the four new tasks would multiply into 16. I was spinning in circles. Never quite finishing one task in its entirety. My body couldn't catch up with my brain. But it kept me moving.

The second and third day were tough. I had to return to school. Omigosh. Reading a thick manual on customer service when the exhaustion levels were just starting to peak, was not high on my priority list. But there I was. At school. Fighting with every cell in my body, to simply stay awake.

I came home from school and the exhaustion took over. I sat down to read a book but I don't think that I ever turned a page. I was tired beyond words.

The evening of the third day was my dance lesson. CPR for my soul!! My instructor asked my to bring/wear my new ball gown ... I bought a ball gown while in Montreal ... tres (French for 'very') exciting!!

My dance lesson was fun in every sense of the word. We danced, we laughed and we are working on our next routine. I was revived!!

My lesson was followed by a few group classes and then a dance. As we grouped together in conversation from time to time, I was quietly amazed to find myself standing in the middle of a small group of people. Fitting in. Talking. Feeling comfortable. I quite often sit and talk to whoever may come and go in the chairs beside me. But Thursday night ... I was standing. I was becoming 'part of a whole'. It was small. It was wonderful.

Then they played 'The Song'. The song that resonates within, long after the thrill of the dance competition is behind me. 'I Gotta Feeling' was playing in our dance studio. I was dancing with my instructor. The music seeped into my soul ... and I got to dance to my new favorite theme song! Life just doesn't get any better than that!!

All good things must come to an end. I had to return to my regularly scheduled life after Thursday's dance.

Friday - the last day of the work week. One more morning of school. One more afternoon with my daycare child. The day that I give my house a decent cleaning before the weekend. A day that I finally had the courage to face up to some of the book keeping work that has been walking through my door each day this week. Time to face the music and do a little work. I was (finally) ready for it.

My Youngest has been taking over a great deal of my daycare load lately. First, he took over before and after school care for one child, while I was gone last week. Then upon my return, he took over the morning shift (tending this same child) so that I could put in my required school hours.

It was too much. By the second last day, My Youngest was tiring. By yesterday ... he was done. I had no choice - I really had to get my school hours in. I wanted to be at school as much as My Youngest wanted to be tending a young child. But we endured.

Thankfully, yesterday provided an opportunity for My Youngest to finally feel like he was on a school break. He had a friend over all afternoon. His friend stayed and we went to a movie last night. We picked up supper on the way home. I suggested that his friend sleep over. After all of the hours that My Youngest put in, so that I could take off on my Dream Vacation (and then deal with school upon my return), I was so grateful that we had the chance to do something a little bit out of the ordinary for him.

Today, the fifth day ... I finally feel ready to face my world. A day that doesn't consist of anything but the book keeping work that I have been avoiding all week. A day that can unfold without the responsibilities of school or daycare obligations. A day that My Youngest can just relax and be a child again.

And on the fifth day ... I worked (and I saw that it was good).