Tuckered and Tired

Remember the phrase, “Not on a school night,” we told our kids?  Well, I need to remember those words for me.  

Every week there has been some evening event, valuable time, but depleting thirteen hour days have been almost a weekly occurrence  As if that were not enough, this past Saturday was another thirteen hour day.  What started out as only an evening of listening to the Kandern men’s choir, soon became dinner and the musical concert. Friends invited Pat and me to dine with them, however, that did not seem too much as Saturday would be an entire day at home, delightfully restful and overdue.  But, that did not happen.

The train travel we planned for the following Saturday, October 27th, had to be pushed ahead to this past Saturday.  It was more than my body wanted to do, but my mind said, “This is an opportunity to see how the train system works--something you’ve wanted to learn, to see a little of Switzerland for the ride, and enjoy good company...Carpe Diem.” 

Kristin, Debbie, Grace, and the Pat you always hear about

The ride through gorgeous countryside was quiet and comfortable, and the conversation delightful.  Our destination, a waterfall, was obscured by fog when we arrived, so we had to go into town for coffee and try something new in the pastry line...a requirement on such outings.  However, this proved to be a difficult endeavor as my left knee decided to “act out”--yes, act out like an unruly kid. Just the day before I was thinking of writing and telling everyone how much better my knees were from the walking required here. Now I had to retract all my positive thoughts about getting better.  I limped so badly that Pat and I did not return to climb down the torturous descent and eventual trudge back up.  Instead we took a different route back to the depot, had a delightful experience getting tea served by the proprietor of a closed “beirgarden!”  Charming and refreshingly different.  We sat outside in the beautiful weather, chatting while our other friends worked at enjoying the scenery.  The ride back was so relaxing and restful, that if I were traveling alone, I could easily have gone to sleep and missed my stop!

The dinner and music concert that night were enjoyable, quite a different experience than usual.  However, it was all possible as our friends picked us up in a car--no walking required.  Sunday morning I wasn’t any better, so I stayed home, concerned about even getting to work the next day.  Fortunately, it improved enough to walk better in the apartment that evening.  Something will need to be looked into, but even though medicine here has an excellent reputation, I would much rather go to my own orthopedist. The frustrating thing is not knowing when this will happen.  All I did was ride in the train...no difficult or odd experience at all.

Resting all day Sunday should make someone feel rested.  Not so.  Yesterday after school our neighbor, Julia, took me to another little town to see about a winter jacket at a consignment shop (I’m covered for really cold weather and slightly cold weather, but not the windy, in between weather) and then some groceries.  After returning, unpacking, and fixing dinner, I was shot.  In bed early last night and getting up later this morning was not enough to get me through this day, especially with German class later in the afternoon.  Right now I’m headed to bed early again.  Hopefully this extra rest will help tomorrow seem less difficult to stay awake.

The week's goal--getting through to this weekend...for which no plans have been made.  Thursday two couples, dorm parents, are joining Pat and me for dinner;  that is this week’s “night out.”  (Yep, another thirteen hour day, I'm sure because we have an early start again.)  Dorm parents only have Thursdays off, so we could not do this on the weekend, a more logical time.  Because German class dismisses around 5:20, and they’ll be here about 6:00, Wednesday will early prep time.  This is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time because they are always taking care of someone else. It just seemed like someone should let them know they are special.  Imagine parenting a houseful of high-schoolers--especially girls--24/7, every day of the week, every week of the month, and every month of the school year.  They are my heroes.

Anyway, I’m looking forward to a totally dull, boring weekend, and after this week I’ll try to take my own advice, “not on a school night.”

PS:  Do you think my no longer being 39 has anything to do with this fatigue and all?

I just loved the iron work and old doors at the castle we visited the previous weekend.  Check out the size of the keg they had inside.