I'm On Even When Off

Friday was a teacher workday. "No students! I'm off! WOOOHOOO!"

Only I ended up with my student, Shane. He poked at my during a zoom meeting or two and generally demanded attention. I took him to a park later for punting practice, but there were no other kids so I was chief playmate. Shane requires a lot of attention.

And then there's the rest of the family. I forget why (Carrie was upset/hurt/busy), but I ended up listening to one meeting while working on the barn early in the afternoon (Before doing even chores, too!). I took Loki out for a walk and my schedule felt far more full than I thought it'd be for a day at home.

I like having stuff to do. I like being busy and I like to feel needed, but I could stand for a little less of both of those than I've been getting lately. Life feels full. The workload is not enough to overwhelm me, but it doesn't feel like I get any full days off, either.

And maybe I'm bad at it, but sometimes when I do get breaks I'm not sure what to do with myself. I wonder, "Wait...what should I be doing that I'm not?"

And that was the story for the start of the weekend.

Saturday started with barn chores. Soccer was next. Then Carrie needed some more help around the barn while Shane showered. I took Shane into town to do some errands, but Carrie needed me back for a hay delivery.

I saw the tractor and thought I wouldn't have to do anything. I thought wrong.

The tractor unloaded the pallets from the back of the truck, but the pallets had to be unloaded by hand. If we ended up being repeat customers, the sellers said they'd be happy to leave and rotate pallets in the future to make it easier (but not this time!).

The sellers drove off happy. I don't know if they told Carrie in advance if we'd have to unload or if my help was a pleasant surprise.

I hope it was a surprise. It wasn't too intense of a workout and I'd like to think I brightened someone's day!

I was able to rest some afterward, but it was limited. I thought about trying to write, but whenever I sat down by myself...

And if Shane wasn't playing, humming, saying "Look! Look!", and making sound effects in my ear then Carrie would wander over! There's next to no chance I'll finish my year goal of drafting a book of some sort. I can't consistently create conditions I can work in.

Sunday was Halloween. That was a lot of fun....and another post. A big post.