Last weekend was very stressful for a variety of reasons, some of which I will outline and some of which I won't. Most importantly between Friday, Saturday and Sunday I worked a total of 23 hours, which doesn't sound horrible, but I also had to write a paper, that ended up being 25 pages long (with appendices). The paper had to be about a misconception in math that students face, that has been researched, that I could interview a couple students about, and then relate it to the research I had done. I chose division of fractions.
Friday was mainly working, and the time that wasn't spent working was spent prepping for the next job. Saturday was supposed to be split between working, then writing, and then working again. It did not work out that way for a variety of reasons. Writing a paper about division of fractions while emotional doesn't work, so nothing was written on Saturday.
Sunday was an interesting day. I woke up and there was water leaking out of the bottom of the baseboards underneath my sink in the kitchen, so I cleaned it up and ran to work. I came home from work 5 hours later to a full sink, water all over the counters and the floor. Now neither my roommate nor I had been home in that period to use the water. So I called the emergency number for our apartment building and within an hour a maintenance person was looking at it. Writing a paper while there is someone running stuff through your drains is a lot of fun, let me tell you!! I left for an hour to tutor, came home to what was still a mess but there was no one in my apartment. 20 minutes later an actual plumber shows up and finally fixes the problem within 45 minutes. Yay working sink!! By that point I needed a break so I went to a friends house and had a lovely pizza dinner! They were wonderful enough to make a gluten free crust and everything :) I seriously have some awesome friends! Sadly I only stayed for an hour or so and then came back to face the daunting paper. I wrote until 10:45, (45 minutes past my bedtime) at which point the words I was typing and the words in my head weren't making any sense and I gave up and just went to bed. At that point I only had 12 pages of substance, meaning 22 with all the appendices.
Monday rolled around and I headed into school on about 6 1/2 hours of sleep. The students were relatively good, nothing too out of the ordinary. I went straight home and continued working on my paper. Class started at 6pm so the paper had to be done before then. I got home from school at 1, had lunch and typed. I was done writing around 3:30, took a short break and then edited it once and sent it to my professor around 5. In the end it was 16 pages of substance, 25 total. I'm alright with how it turned out and we'll see what kind of grade I get. The class itself went alright, more interesting than normal. Plus we got out 40 minutes early which was a plus for sure. I even got 7 hours of sleep that night!!
The rest of the week had a few long days but for the most part they were worth it. Tuesday included coffee with a good friend between jobs. It was a much needed conversation that reminded me that things will get better and they could always be worse. It also showed me that I can handle most of the things going on in my life but that it's okay to ask for help and talk it out.
Wednesday night a few friends had people over to make gingerbread houses. I couldn't get over there until 9pm (after working and tutoring), and only stayed for about an hour but it was so good to see people! Just to get hugs and be reminded of the true kindness of people made it worth the lack of sleep.
Thursday was a pretty typical day that left me emotionally conflicted for a variety of reasons. I was physically exhausted because of work and was starting to stress out about the fact that I was going to be cooking for 15 people the next day.
Friday was intense! Let's just say that when I planned to make food for friends once a month I wasn't planning on feeding this many people. It was a lot of fun and totally worth it but I hadn't really thought it through when I invited everyone. As of Friday morning I was planning for about 15 people. So after school I went to BJ's to get a ham and then went to Wegman's to get everything I needed to make macaroni and cheese. I spent the next 4 hours making brownies, doing laundry, cleaning the apartment, and cooking ham and mac and cheese. The recipe for the mac and cheese is at the end of the post. The ham was just a pre-cooked one that you had to stick in the oven and put the glaze on top of so it was super easy. I'm slightly amazed it all turned out well. I didn't stop moving all day! People started coming over around 6:15 and we were off running! Almost all of the food was gone! People brought salad and bread and wine and desserts. We had a great time, playing games and talking. It was a wonderful night, I couldn't have asked for anything more! I'm honestly shocked by how many people fit into my apartment, ate food, and had fun. What a wonderful reminder of the power of friends. Most people left around 9:30 to go to a show, but a few friends stayed to help me clean and play games and just hang out which was perfect!
Saturday was another long day. 4 hours of work at one job, then a quick break, a 4 hour shift which was kindly cut down to a 3 hour shift. I got home, finished cleaning from the night before and then went to a friends place to watch the debate and relax. I wasn't too interested in the debate, although there were some interesting topics discussed, I really just wanted to be social and spend some time with friends. It was a good night. I've been reminded lately how important it is for me to be out of my bubble and not stuck in work.
Today I was off!! It was my first day off in 20 days. Since I went to Boston I've worked at least a 4 hour shift everyday, most days at least 8 hours. So today, I slept until 7 and laid in bed dozing until 9. My body hasn't been letting me fully sleep in but it let's me sort of sleep after it wakes me up initially so I'll take it. I got up and tutored for an hour, which I'm not counting as really working. I ran a few errands and then came home. I wrapped Christmas presents, watched a few tv shows online and tried to sort of clean my room up a little bit. Basically I did nothing. It was so nice to not have to be places at specific times! Let's just say 20 days straight was too long and hopefully that won't happen again.
The title of this post includes a lot of things and most of them have been touched upon. The one that hasn't is pain. There has been some emotional pain/conflict within the past week, which I'm not going to get into. It seems to be working itself out and I'm handling it the way I know best. Physically today has been good for me. My body was definitely attacking me for working a lot. By the end of the week I was physically, emotionally, and mentally exhausted. I'm feeling better. My headaches have been holding steady for the most part. Last week was worse because of the stress and lack of sleep for sure. The past few days have been a little better. I'm hoping they continue to lessen in intensity, or at least stay at this level. There are always bad days but if I can avoid them I'd like to.
I know this is a long post and there is a lot of randomness going into it. Somehow it is all connected in my head and it all makes sense. Hopefully it isn't too boring to anyone who is reading this. If it is feel free to stop reading.
I've been listening to a lot of Christmas music lately and the lyrics are so powerful! One song by Relient K has been sticking with me. It's called "Merry Christmas, Here's to Many More." The first verse and chorus is copied below because it is the part that just hits me. Lately the feelings expressed in the beginning of this song are exactly how I've been feeling. And you get to the chorus and it's just the reminder I've had each time I've been with friends lately. Even if they've been different groups of friends, and not situations I'd normally put myself into, it's been enough to remind me that I'm not totally alone and that things aren't that bad. They've added to the happiness factor in my life for sure.
I made it through the year and I did not even collapse
Gotta say, "Thank God, for that"
I'm torn between what keeps me whole and what tears me in half
I'll fall apart or stay intact
With tired eyes I stumble back to bed
I need to realize my sorry life's not hanging by a thread
At least not yet
So look at me now
Its finally Christmas and I'm home
Head indoors, to get out of this weather
And I don't know how
But the closest friends I've ever known are all inside
Singing together
Singing merry Christmas, here's to many more
Ok here is the Mac and Cheese recipe as promised
Mac and Cheese (can be multiplied easily- I quadrupled the recipe)
Mac and Cheese (can be multiplied easily- I quadrupled the recipe)
Ingredients:
3 tbsp. butter
3 tbsp. flour (if gluten free use white rice flour)
2 cups milk
1/2 cup Velvetta
1/2 cup shredded cheddar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. paprika
few grains cayenne pepper
1/2 box elbow noodles (1/2 pound- if using gluten free I used brown rice noodles)
Directions:
Cook noodles as directed. If using gluten free noodles cook for about half the time because they will soak up liquid as it bakes and will become mushy otherwise. If using regular noodles slightly under cook noodles.
Melt butter and add flour whisking together to thicken. Stir in the milk slowly (it helps if you have microwaved the milk so it is at least room temperature already) and allow it to boil momentarily. Reduce heat slightly and add cheese. Once melted completely add seasoning.
Mix noodles and sauce together and add to a baking dish. I use a large foil pan (for lots of people) or a small casserole dish for only a single batch. For a single batch-bake 350 degrees for 20 minutes covered and then 10 minutes uncovered. For a very large batch-bake 350 degrees for 50 minutes covered and 10 minutes uncovered.
No mention of the ice? I am disappointed.
ReplyDeleteWell it was already long. But for anyone now curious as to how ice was involved in my weekend here's the story. It falls under the fun and pain categories.
ReplyDeleteWhile at the party Saturday night a few friends decided to start putting ice down each others clothing, which turned into quite a fight. At one point we were in a hallway on carpeting for quite a while and I had three guys ganged up against me. It was all in good fun and while slightly cold and occasionally painful/awkward it was a blast! Although the next morning I woke up with more bruises and scratches all over my body than I thought possible!