Week in Review June 12, 2016

I love going on vacation - I hate catching up on the work that is waiting for me when I get back!  One day I believe that I will be able to have my lesson plans completed and will just need to tweek them a little before each class - however I am now very much still new at teaching and so I still have to prepare many hours prior to each class (a lot of the time studying the information I will present to make sure that I know it well enough to teach it).  Consequently I had to work long days this week to play catch up.  In addition, I knew that I was going to head up to the condo on Thursday night for our Sister's Retreat and I didn't want to have to work at the condo.

Of course Murphy's law always applies when you are working hard to get something done.  In this case Murphy appeared in the form of a co-worker who had multiple stressors appear in her life that left her unable to carry her own workload.  Therefore my boss asked me if I would be willing to take over doing the labs for the her.  Each lab is 2 hours long and includes a lecture as well as hands-on training to become confident in the skills nurses perform.  There are 3 labs per week so that takes up 6 hours of my time each week just during the labs.  Add to that the preparations such as putting together information for the lecture, gathering and preparing the supplies needed for the students to practice (and of course practicing myself to make sure that I know how to do the skill!) and then the time involved with clean up.  Thank heavens for helpful co-workers who have been lifesavers in helping me pull them all together,  Needless to say my work load had been a little heavy lately.

But, then came Thursday night and time to head to the condo for Sister's Retreat and some great fun, relaxation, and family time.  I texted everyone early in the week and then again on Thursday to firm up plans.  Ashley jumped right on board and said that she had to attend a scouting activity with Tristan and then she would head up.  We didn't hear from Robin or Rox.

Ash finally arrived just before 9 pm.  We decided to walk up to the near-by restaurant to dinner, but by the time we got there it was closed, so we decided to just head back to the condo for a breakfast burrito that Ash had brought with her.  It was yummy!  We were confused and quite sad that Rox and Robin weren't there, but decided to make the best of it and enjoy ourselves anyway.  We did post this pic on Facebook to show them that we were sad they weren't with us.

Happy to be together at the condo.

Sad that our other sisters aren't with us.

We had a great night playing games.  We played some Catan, Nertz, and learned a new game called Egyptian Rat Screw.  It is kind of a mix between war and Slap Jack, very fast-paced and fun.

In the morning after thinking that perhaps Rox and Robin hadn't gotten our texts I decided to call each of them to make sure they knew how much we were missing them.  I am so glad I did!  Apparently they hadn't gotten the texts!  (Note to self, DO NOT assume someone is ignoring texts if they don't answer).  Rox said that she would be up later that day when she got off work and Rob said she would be up the next day.

That morning Ash & I attended an educational meeting for the condo.  I'm glad I went, I learned some good techniques to use the timeshare better.  Besides, they gave me a $50 gift card for attending.  Well, since I now had some money to burn and Ash wanted some new shorts we decided to take a trip into town and go shopping.  It was a very successful trip, if you measure in terms of how much money was spent!  Let's just say that my $50 was a small contribution towards my purchases.  Oh well, I always feel that I need nice clothes to teach.  Unfortunately Ash didn't find the shorts she wanted, but she still managed to get plenty of fun stuff.  We decided to hurry back and then head to the pool.  I was excited to get in the pool, but when we got there it was closed for 10 minutes for a pH check.  After waiting around for 10 minutes and talking to several of the other guests waiting we found that the water was quite cold.  When we could finally get in, we verified that it was cool.  I was still tempted but Ash refused and she headed to the hot tub.  Sarcastic comment - not wanting her to feel lonely I selflessly gave up my pool time and headed for the warm water myself.  The hot tub was very nice and I really relaxed.

The rest of the weekend was PERFECT!   Rox arrived and then Robin.  We stayed up late, we played, we bonded, we talked, we played some more.  Rox severely gouged me with a fingernail while playing Egyptian Rat Screw and started waving her hand and screaming, "ooooo there is skin under my nail, GET IT OFF!"  all the while I was profusely bleeding everywhere.  I calmly reached up with my bloody finger and snatched the skin off her finger.  It was funny how unconcerned she was with my wound, but the skin on her hand (that was self inflicted) was freaking her out!  We all have different things that bug us I guess.

I always know how important these retreats are but sometimes they are hard to pull together.  I was really worried that Rox and Rob would not be able to make it, but I am so glad that they did.  Family is so important and with everyone's busy schedules it is not easy to find time to keep connected.  All of us came home with a renewed sense of the importance of sisters, the knowledge of the love we have for each other.  It was just good.

THIS WEEK I AM GRATEFUL FOR:

My sisters