Losing My Friday

I woke a few minutes before 530a and quickly decided I’d better get up or risk over sleeping. It was Friday, and for that I was most grateful. However, I couldn’t afford to be too joyful because unfortunately, I was scheduled to be on-call for the weekend. The cold symptoms I was burdened with earlier in the week were all but gone. Hooray! It snowed overnight. Looked like something less than an inch of accumulation. I slipped into my exercise shoes and whipped out sit-ups and eventually push-ups. It was 30 degrees and still snowing lightly. I enjoyed a cup of coffee while at my PC. Spent a little too much time there. It was 6am when I got around to taking Frankie out for a walk. We spent a solid ten minutes out front, more time than I cared to, but at least she took care of business. Already 615a, I decided to skip meditation. Instead, I moved directly to stretching. That felt good. My right shoulder is feeling a lot better but still a tad sore. I’m guessing it’ll be another month before it’s back to normal. The good news is that I haven’t been using any ibuprofen for the past few days. I delivered the pug and coffee upstairs to Mindy just ahead of 630a. I hurried back downstairs to prepare for my run. I managed to head out the door by 635a. Can’t remember if I wore my old or new running shoes. I ran the full 4.1 miles without issue. During my run I thought about the looming time change and how I will be cast back into darkness come Monday. I also thought a lot about work. Wish I could retire. Back at home, I started the Honda then scraped all the windows clear of snow. Hopefully there won’t be too much more of that going on this season. I headed inside to enjoy my breakfast. Mindy had eggs ready and waiting. Mindy reminded the kids to bus home as usual then headed off for school. Off to the shower. I wasn’t too long getting ready. I was back downstairs by 750a packing my lunch. The same as usual: fruit, banana, cheese, and salad. The kids and I headed out at 757a. I asked Bella to take Frankie so I could start and scrape the Trooper. She did so willingly. At the bus stop, Chrissy asked if I was ready for the pugs birthday party apparently set for Saturday. She was serious too. I walked Frankie out front again before heading back in the house. She took full advantage. Inside, I packed all my gear, including my iTouch. I like to take it with me on Friday’s. I left the house at 810a. Arrived at work by 825a. Glad that it was Friday but my glee was at least somewhat tempered by the fact that I would be on-call. I hardly had time to breath. It was crazy busy from the second I sat down at my desk. I thought I might leave for lunch, just to get away for an hour, but the opportunity never really presented itself. Too much going on. Not only was I doing my own job, but handling my boss’ escalations too. And there was one particular issue that dominated most of my day. As the afternoon turned into early evening I thought I might get a chance to leave maybe 30 minutes early ahead of my on-call responsibilities. I accepted the fact that my weekend would be consumed by work, but I wasn’t prepared to give up my Friday night, too. Sadly, I ended up at the office until 830p tied up on a conference call. During the call, Mindy phoned, texted, and emailed a few times. I could respond only in brief. She mentioned wanting to take the kids to Barley’s for dinner. At one point I briefly excused myself from the conference bridge and took one of her calls. Frustrated, I told her to go ahead without me then quickly rejoined the bridge. By the time I left the office I was pretty tired and stressed, but also thankful to finally be heading home. Got there somewhere close to 845p. No Mindy & kids. I was ravenously hungry and thirsty for a beer. I snacked on beef sticks and cheese and then cracked open an IPA while sitting in front of my PC. Mindy & the kids arrived home around 920p. Mindy offered up some Barley’s leftovers. No thanks! Right or wrong, doesn’t matter. I felt unappreciated and jealous, perhaps even betrayed. She and the kids weren’t in the house five minutes before they wanted to head down to the neighbors. That didn’t sound at all inviting to me. I still needed to decompress, and honestly, I was thinking more along the lines of heading to Barley’s alone so I could get my Friday night fix. But ultimately, I thought better of it and decided instead to relax at home on the sofa. I ended up falling asleep while watching the Science Channel and ended up sleeping there all night long. I woke when Mindy and the kids got home from the neighbors around 1030p. They pretty much went straight to bed. I opted to stay on the sofa.