R.I.P. 16 Hour Work Day

On Tuesday's I leave work early to do assorted kid hauling duties. I cannot wait for when she can drive herself, but have another 7 months minimum before then, longer if DH has his way. I finally got back on task last night after 10:00 to finish a presentation for a twice annual meeting of our grantees. This is not a amenable audience. They pick over every phrase, every word, and are generally ready to pounce on information they do not like. I was going to be ready.  Then, the corrupted file, and having to start over this morning, derailed me-almost. I worked until 12:30, but had to get a few hours sleep, but rose at 4:00 a.m. The meeting was long and draining, and then I had an evening webinar to deliver that went until 8:00 p.m.  I am knackered. 

Yet, oddly, and oppositely, I feel a little invigorated.  Sure my eye lids feel like lead, and my arthritis is deciding tonight would be a good time to flare up, but I tackled the day, and have lived to work another. Interestingly, this was a fairly typical experience-no less than once per week when I had to dive into work like that in my past to keep my head above water. Today was highly unusual, and tomorrow will be an office catch-up day, followed by an uninterrupted  Friday off. I've been down a bit lately about the loss of cash flow from my old job, since DH has had some leaner paychecks of late. This day gave me a momentary flashback. We're doing OK. I've been belt tightening where I can, clothing, brown bagging lunches, cooking ahead and we might put a good chunk in the bank this month, despite some of the higher extra costs of late. After all, what good was the higher paycheck if I was working all the time to see it put to good use?

Just because I like this song, and feel  at least today, I did not waste my life. Cliche, but let your wings take you far, even if just far away from what was holding you back. Let's mix it up tonight, shall we?