Kirsten, one of the people I love most out of many people that I love a whole lot, flew in last Monday to stay with me for a few days before we drove to her cousin's wedding in western North Carolina.
The first few days of our trip, however, were anything but a vacation. I have been working harder and staying busier than I have since my first year or two of college. Every hour of my week is now taken up by babysitting, cleaning houses, posting blogs, volunteering, hanging out with my wonderful new friends, sewing/crafting, handling money and taxes, running errands and whatever other insane amount of tasks I add to my to-do list!
Now, looking back on what my life was like and how I felt when I first moved to NC, this is all a very good change. My emotional, social and financial states are all far beyond where they were just a month or two ago and I am amazed at how well things are going! However, as Kirsten's arrival made clear, my weeks are packed so tight that I was forgetting to sleep (another flashback to college life).
The night she flew in, I had already babysat for 6 hours in the morning and cleaned, went grocery shopping and prepared food for a client which took about 4 hours plus almost 2 hours of commuting. I was so exhausted and my back ached so badly by evening that I tried to take a nap but my mind was still racing with everything I had to do that I just sat awake in my bed for 2 hours. I eventually just got up and cleaning my car (one of the many things on my mind at the time).
I picked Kirsten up around midnight and we stayed up for hours talking and reconnecting, which was completely worth it and felt sooo good... till I had to get up the next morning.
The first few days were a blur with babysitting, a volunteer meeting at which Kirsten had to call all the State Representatives on my list because of how bad I am on the phone, a fantastic dinner party followed by about 5 hours of packing with my wonderful friend Sanja before she flew home to South Africa in the morning, more babysitting, another dinner and - in general - a whole lotta not sleeping.
On our third day, Kirsten helped me babysit while I was running around trying to pick up the house and finish some volunteer documents. At one point I had put my laptop down to let Lady in and as I reached down for the girl I was sitting to change her diaper, Lady jumped over a table and kicked my laptop screen with her back paw.
It instantly shattered.
In case you don't know what it's like to be 23 in 2013, I'm going to take this moment to clarify something: we use our computers a lot. Like, for everything.
Suffice it to say that it took a lot of willpower to hold it together in that moment.
A few minutes later, while my friend Irina was stopping by and I was trying to pacify a very sleepy and unhappy toddler, she whipped her tiny but surprisingly hard head at full speed into my throat. (The toddler, not Irina.) This was a new experience for me and it's probably foreign to you as well but, let me tell you, it hurts. With tears of exhaustion and exasperation in my eyes, I told Kirsten and Irina that I was at my end.
I realized that whether or not I would call it a sign, it was a sort of blessing-in-disguise that my laptop broke and that I almost broke down with it. I've heard athletes say that getting a sprained ankle or a knee injury was a sign that showed them they needed to slow down and take better care of themselves. I think that's what my laptop was for me. (Not to mention my very sore throat!)
So, rather than cramming in all the never-ending tasks I had secretly planned to do during the weekend (which Kirsten was not happy to hear I had even thought of doing), I went away with her to a beautiful part of the country and stayed at a gorgeous house with amazing people for a family gathering and wedding ceremony that I will never forget. We caught up on some sleep, hiked to a hidden waterfall, played games, had good conversation and generally had an incredible time.
So, thank you Kirsten, for a wonderful week.
Thank you, Lady, for shattering my laptop.
And thank you, little girl, for a bruised throat.
I guess I needed all of that.
Admittedly, I have already replaced my broken screen, gone grocery shopping twice, babysat, dropped Kirsten at the airport, purchased a domain name, worked on my website, created a favicon, put oil in my car, sent tons of emails, made tons of phone calls and wrote this post today buuutt I do plan on getting some good sleep tonight. Maybe I don't have to slow down as long as I let myself sleep enough...
Thoughts? What's your most productive way to get things done?
THANKS FOR READING
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