Shake It Up!!!

Ok, so I made it through my first week back at work after being gone for 4 days on vacation. To be perfectly honest, and I really try to live by the old saying that honesty is the best policy, "made it through" is pretty darn close to how I feel right now on this Friday evening. What is in store for me tomorrow, well....unfortunately, not exactly what I look forward to every Friday night when I come home from work. There will be no full 48 hour reprieve from my job for me...no sir!

As most folks know, when you are away from your desk for anything more then a day or two, the piles waiting for you upon your return, are just not pretty. Not to mention the avalanche of emails that you must wade through just to get up to speed on current issues. If I was really smart, I'd read them while I was out of work and get ahead of the game...then again that would be foolish because I would never truly get a break from the hustle and bustle of my all consuming job responsibilities. They have me for 40 hrs a week, 48 weeks of the year...if I can't completely steal away from that place for a measly 160 hours every 12 months, then there is something wrong with what I commonly refer to as my life.

Of course it didn't help matters any, that I was doing work outside the office during the week before I left for vacation. And now looking towards the month of February, it appears that I will once again be working outside the office, for approximately 2 weeks. Another project to add to the already busy case load of work that crosses our desks on a daily basis.

And that my friends, is why tomorrow morning when I would usually be dilly dallying around the house in my robe and slippers enjoying a quiet Saturday morning, I will instead be sitting in my all-to-familiar cubicle wrapping up 2 weeks worth of work, as I prepare for the month ahead. Some days, work feels like a merry-go-round and I'm the "lucky" recipient of the never ending ride of a lifetime.

I often times wonder how to make sense of the hectic pace we are expected to keep at work each day. I know how lucky I am, during these difficult economic times to have a wonderful job that contributes to paying the bills, helps to keep food in the fridge and a roof over our heads. However, after spending a few days in the Caribbean, witnessing the simple lives of those who choose a less complicated existence, I'm not always so sure that this is ultimately "it" for me. Does everyone come home from a vacation feeling the same way as I do?

Roger and I have often joked about running away and living on an island somewhere...then of course reality sets in, and we put our nose to the grindstone and continue to plod on. I actually feel like when we left Connecticut, we were searching for a slower way of life that would carry us into our senior years, and to a point, we have. However, being empty nesters 10 years ago when we moved, was a huge contributing factor to our state of mind. Here we are at 51 and 54...still more than a decade away from any retirement plans, and we find ourselves longing for a less hectic pace...at least I do at times.

On Tuesday afternoon at about 5pm when I arrived home after what can only be described as the day the other shoe dropped, I turned to Roger and for the first time in 33 years of marriage I said to him, "you are taking me out for a drink." For anyone that knows me, this was so far out of character, that even my own husband knew not to do anything other than ask me where I wanted to go.....clearly I had a place in mind. Of we went to find a 2-for-1 chocolate martini happy hour special at Carrabbas, which just so happens to be about 3 minutes from home. A loaf of crusty Italian bread, some tasty herb infused olive oil for dipping and two martinis later, I was mellowed out and ready for a great night's sleep. I had finally found a solution to ease my transition from vacation mode back into the workplace. I'd think about the logistics of what was ahead in the morning...and I knew with certainty that the world would look rosier as the week wore on. By Wednesday mid-day, I was able to get my head around the enormity of the project and realized I would have support in tackling everything set before us. I knew it was just a matter of time before my initial misgivings would quickly fade into the background.



Although a drink every now and then is something I'm only familiar with indulging in on vacation, somehow I think that may be changing. I don't like the idea of drinking and driving, so having the "fixings" at home will be a plus. When we were on the ship, I found and purchased a cute little martini shaker with the company's logo on the side. I figured it was time to bring a bit of that martini fun home to help remind me that no matter where I am, after a long busy day, something sweet and tasty helps the medicine go down. I found a recipe, will be purchasing the ingredients and fully intend to indulge whenever the spirit moves me and I have enough energy after a long day at work to just Shake It Up!