Wonderful Moments Amid Exhaustion!

The weekend has arrived!!

I've never wanted to again be someone working each day hoping for the weekend...but right now I am so thankful that the weekend has arrived! Each of us counselors is doing 1-2 daily briefings, paperwork, and then our regular appointments--as August is busier for a reason I'm not really wanting to mention. Ironically I'm actually more efficient the busier I am and work is still incredibly enjoyable, but its also tiring. Some mornings work starts an hour earlier, but even with the busyness its still possible to greet each client with a smile and to look for the beauty in the moments.

My exhaustion leaves me tuckered out in the evenings at home, but luckily the hub is on "leave" these two weeks, although I'm not sure he's enjoying having all house duties-ha! My goal is to have adjusted to the new schedule by mid-point of the month, so that I'm back to efficient home life when he has to return to his crazy schedule.

However there have been some absolutely WONDERFUL things that occurred in this past week:

--On Monday, a $100 gift card arrived on my desk for doing a job well done. I was totally shocked and didn't expect it at all. A client had submitted a positive comment card on me that I guess got passed up the chain to Headquarters...and low and behold this extra bonus landed on my desk on Monday!

--On Monday and Friday I made a new 5K personal record--running in 26 minutes and 40-45 seconds both times. Ten years ago when I ran 5K races in high school, my best time was somewhere in the 27th minute, so it's incredible to me that I'm running faster now. Still need 1.5-3 miles to maintain my overall weekly mileage goal, but it's on the list of things I intend to enjoy today.

--Molly the English Lab has been visiting us since Weds. She'll be here until Monday evening. A solid lil gal who has kept our dogs exhausted and entertained since her arrival! By last night she'd relaxed into our routine and was able to sleep in her kennel next to the other gals without a single bark! She's been a joy to have, but it's also been a great comparison to see how well trained our dogs actually are on some things.

--The hub spent 1.5-2 hours in the kitchen last night making eggplant parmesan, which is one of my favorite restaurant dishes. Sadly he didn't like his end product, but the effort was so greatly appreciated!

---We are now 3 days away from Mom and Granny getting here! It finally dawned on me how quickly they'll be here and we're definitely looking forward to it. :)

--Finally had 10 minutes yesterday to get to the post office and mail off the box of clothes to my Oregon gal. Six or seven different outfits (1 pair of pants, 2 skirts, 1 button-down, 1 cardigan, 3 dresses, 3 tanks, and 2 shirts) all for $14.50 in postage. Hopefully most of it will fit and she'll have some decent work clothes at her disposal now!

--And speaking of finances: The hub paid off his student loan amount this last week. End of this month, we pay off his last outstanding bill and then we've just got my grad student loans and the new truck (which will just about be paid off in six months). I'm so proud of us: In just over a year of living together and with just 5 months of my own full time employment, we've paid off over $15,000 and spent an additional $5,000 on furnishing and starting up our home. I'm going to admit that it hasn't always been fun pinching pennies at times, but I think the outcome has made it worth it!

While it's been busier and more exhausting---there are always great things going on and great things to look forward to also. And with that I'm off to walk Molly---as she's pulled the leash down and dragged it around the house for the second time this morning! :) Hope you all have an enjoyable and restorative weekend as well!