As a teacher, I had this week off for spring break and I had some important projects that I NEEDED to do. Yet, as is usually the case, I only did the things I WANTED to do. And as is always the case when I do this to myself, I feel stressed out right now. However, if I had done all the things that I needed to do then I would have never gotten to the things I wanted to do and I would have been stressed out all week and depressed about the fact that I worked through my spring break!
Sooo…. Is it worth it to be stressed out in the long run and get some lovely moments of pleasure at the expense of my responsibilities or should I be all caught up and organized but exhausted and miserable when I return to work? Either way I’m stressed out in the end… I say the way I did it was the way to go, but now I need to come to terms with all that I did not accomplish and stop feeling like a failure because I am thinking that I did not manage my vacation time properly.
Here’s what I was supposed to do over this break:
1.Organize and grade papers and complete report cards (At least a two day project because I have put off grading for 9 weeks ~ can we say maybe I need to change careers?)
2.Clean off my desk (At least a day project because there is so much crap on it that needs to be trashed or filed away.)
3.Take all 2009 bills, receipts and paperwork and file them away, discard bills and paperwork from 6 years ago and file all the bills, receipts and paperwork so far for 2010 (This should in fact take about 45 minutes yet the idea of this little project is so burdensome. Also I could have done it in the time it has taken me to write this blog!)
That’s it. That’s my freaking To Do list. It’s not even that big! Yet I did not one single bit of any of that…
Here’s what I did instead:
1.Spent a lovely weekend in Chattanooga, TN with Mr. sir and my dear friend, Amy. We ate wonderful food, wandered through the Tennessee Aquarium and delightfully eclectic shops north of downtown, rode the incline, and saw a dam with a lock!
2.Upon returning home, I met the two newest additions to one of my best friend’s family. Last week, Rachel gave birth to glorious twin boys who are so tiny and adorable that you just want squish them to pieces! I also attended their naming ceremony at the Temple, which gave me the opportunity to see and catch up with much loved and missed friends who are like family to me!
3.I invited Kacie, a fellow teacher and friend, over for brunch and a creative day of designing the most fun handmade cards as party favors for a baby shower I am helping her with to celebrate our friend and coworker, Melissa, who is due the end of May.
4. I spent the evening with a long lost friend, Stephanie, who I reconnected with on Facebook and who I had not seen in too many years. We laughed and caught up as if we had never been apart. We have been friends since 6th grade and she had never even met my husband who I have been with for nearly six years! And we are in the same city! Utter poppycock! Will never happen again. We drank wine and I made a homemade pizza which we swallowed whole, all the while rejoicing in our rekindled union! Even lil mama came up to see her and give her a hug!
5. Spent a whole morning with my friend and yoga guru , Anne, who created a beautiful yoga sequence which I am to practice for a month! We did yoga and shared experiences and ideas as we always do when we are together. She is a new friend and one who I connect with spiritually and am blessed to have in my life. The poses that she put together for me are inspiring and I think Mr. Sir is going to practice them with me!
6. Celebrated St. Patrick’s Day at McCabe’s pub in Sylvan Park with Lil Mama and Mr. Sir where we had our traditional fish and chips and drank Irish beverages wearing green and visiting with people we knew who were celebrating there as well!
7. I also spent an afternoon with another dear friend, Heather, and we caught up on eachother’s lives and reminisced about days long ago (high school!) and family connections!
8. Still to come, I am going to spend the evening with my bestie and sister, Clarey. We are going to check out a festive new place for dinner called Whisky Kitchen in the Gulch! I never see her since she works 2 jobs so I can’t wait to have a night of her all to myself!
9. I have class this weekend but I’m only going for half a day because we are heading to Atlanta to meet our best couple friends, Beth and John, for the baptism of their little baby girl, miss Anna Banana! We would not miss this special moment in her life for anything!
So to some up, I guess I have shirked my responsibilities because I should have been grading the papers throughout the quarter and I should have cleaned off that desk long ago and I should have dealt with the paperwork in January but I wouldn’t trade this spring break for one where I was being “responsible” and taking care of the necessary joyless tasks in life. The tasks will get done and I will stress about them but the happiness that has come from what I have done this spring break far out-weighs the stress of what not doing the things I had planned is going to do. And if I get really stressed, I can just do my yoga sequence and just breathe because I will get it all done in good time.