HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to everyone who is, or ever wanted to be a Mother!
I worked all day Friday; leaving my house at 8:15am and not returning until almost 7:00pm. I work on my feet 99% of the time. The only time I sit down is during the 5-10 minutes it takes to eat my lunch. I tell you this not to elicit sympathy, but just as a matter of fact. It is what it is. In this business, as in many others, if you don't accept and make yourself available for the work as it comes, there is always someone else waiting in the wings to take your place - and I am determined not to lose my spot if I can help it. I enjoy it too much.
I think I've broken the code on how to keep myself from getting completely exhausted - if I drink one (but only one) diet C*ke per day - that amount of caffeine is enough to keep me going (along with my arthritis med and Tylen*l). On Wednesday, I only worked 4 1/2 hours, but I was so tired when I left the other shop that I could have cried. Contrast that with Thursday, having worked 6 1/2 hours (but with the benefit of caffeine) I felt almost perky.
The caffeine keeps me going, but it also prevents my going to sleep at the usual time - which is always late anyway - I'm such a nightowl. But if I can manage 7 hours of uninterrupted sleep, that's all I need. Friday night, I nodded off about 10pm while channel surfing between HGTV and Animal Planet, (since Monk went off, Friday night is such a wasteland on TV) and I woke up around 11:15pm. After checking email and FB, I got into bed and opened my book. I turned out my light at 1:20am - later than usual, but attributable to the caffeine. I have a kind of love/hate relationship with it. At 4:50 am, mr. kenju woke me up to tell me that there were fire engines and paramedics in the cul-de-sac, and he thought one of the houses around here might be on fire. I jumped up to see what seemed like hundreds of red lights flashing, and the lights were on at my closest neighbor's house. She had been in the hospital for the last 4-5 days and came home either Thursday evening or Friday morning. I suspected that the commotion was related to her medical issues.
Against my advice, mr. kenju called the neighbor's house to see what the trouble was and found out that she had to be taken back to the hospital. I didn't think it was a good idea to call someone in the very midst of a medical emergency - but he did. He also thought it was a good time (at 5:00 am, mind you) to berate me because the numbers on our mailbox are too small.
The upshot of all this is to tell you that I never went back to sleep. So, with less than 5 hours of shut-eye, I went to work with Mel Day at 10am. Most of the floral design work was complete, and all we had do was pack and deliver the flowers for four weddings, all of which were in different sections of our county (Raleigh, Cary, Apex and Wake Forest). The only time I sat down was when we were in the delivery vans.
We got through it all with flying colors - no slip-ups - no harried phone calls from nervous brides and no getting lost (all except for the bad directions to a church in Apex, NC), and thank C*ke and caffeine, no exhaustion until it was all over. But maybe, just maybe, some of our success could be due to the shiny penny I found in a hotel parking lot that morning, just as we exited the van at our first delivery of the day. It was heads-up!!
Thanks to Ronni Bennett of Time Goes By for the link about night owls.
(Photos from the weekend weddings will be posted Monday.)
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I worked all day Friday; leaving my house at 8:15am and not returning until almost 7:00pm. I work on my feet 99% of the time. The only time I sit down is during the 5-10 minutes it takes to eat my lunch. I tell you this not to elicit sympathy, but just as a matter of fact. It is what it is. In this business, as in many others, if you don't accept and make yourself available for the work as it comes, there is always someone else waiting in the wings to take your place - and I am determined not to lose my spot if I can help it. I enjoy it too much.
I think I've broken the code on how to keep myself from getting completely exhausted - if I drink one (but only one) diet C*ke per day - that amount of caffeine is enough to keep me going (along with my arthritis med and Tylen*l). On Wednesday, I only worked 4 1/2 hours, but I was so tired when I left the other shop that I could have cried. Contrast that with Thursday, having worked 6 1/2 hours (but with the benefit of caffeine) I felt almost perky.
The caffeine keeps me going, but it also prevents my going to sleep at the usual time - which is always late anyway - I'm such a nightowl. But if I can manage 7 hours of uninterrupted sleep, that's all I need. Friday night, I nodded off about 10pm while channel surfing between HGTV and Animal Planet, (since Monk went off, Friday night is such a wasteland on TV) and I woke up around 11:15pm. After checking email and FB, I got into bed and opened my book. I turned out my light at 1:20am - later than usual, but attributable to the caffeine. I have a kind of love/hate relationship with it. At 4:50 am, mr. kenju woke me up to tell me that there were fire engines and paramedics in the cul-de-sac, and he thought one of the houses around here might be on fire. I jumped up to see what seemed like hundreds of red lights flashing, and the lights were on at my closest neighbor's house. She had been in the hospital for the last 4-5 days and came home either Thursday evening or Friday morning. I suspected that the commotion was related to her medical issues.
Against my advice, mr. kenju called the neighbor's house to see what the trouble was and found out that she had to be taken back to the hospital. I didn't think it was a good idea to call someone in the very midst of a medical emergency - but he did. He also thought it was a good time (at 5:00 am, mind you) to berate me because the numbers on our mailbox are too small.
The upshot of all this is to tell you that I never went back to sleep. So, with less than 5 hours of shut-eye, I went to work with Mel Day at 10am. Most of the floral design work was complete, and all we had do was pack and deliver the flowers for four weddings, all of which were in different sections of our county (Raleigh, Cary, Apex and Wake Forest). The only time I sat down was when we were in the delivery vans.
We got through it all with flying colors - no slip-ups - no harried phone calls from nervous brides and no getting lost (all except for the bad directions to a church in Apex, NC), and thank C*ke and caffeine, no exhaustion until it was all over. But maybe, just maybe, some of our success could be due to the shiny penny I found in a hotel parking lot that morning, just as we exited the van at our first delivery of the day. It was heads-up!!
Thanks to Ronni Bennett of Time Goes By for the link about night owls.
(Photos from the weekend weddings will be posted Monday.)
15 comments:
You just amaze me Judy...The pace you are keeping up...! And of course it helps that you LOVE what you do, and a touch of Caffiene mixed in there, too...lol!
I am a Nightowl, as well---ALWAYS have been....I don't turn my light out till after 3am...sometimes
4am, though I might just nod off earlier in the evening for a bit of a nap...That only started happening in these last years...Also, I do not sleep thru the night..I am up about every two hours and then I DO go back to sleep....But, I am lucky if I actually get 6 hours of sleep---most of the time it about 5 hours. But, it works for me and I honestly do not feel sleep deprived.
But with the pace you have been keeping up and on your feet for MOST of those hours...Well, all I can say is WOW!
Sorry you didn't get enough sleep the night of the Neighbors Medical problems....Hope you are getting a GREAT Night's sleep, tonight!
AND...A VERY VERY HAPPY MOTHERS DAY TO YOU, MY DEAR.
Take care of yourself. I have to have 8 hours of sleep or cannot function. But I am further down the road of life then you. Early to bed and early to rise is usually my routine. Smile at the penny. Good Luck is smiling at you. Happy Mother's Day to you.
Don't burn yourself out, Judy! Just reading about all you do makes me exhausted! I definitely need my sleep, and the meds I have to take make me feel really dopey in the morning - me, who used to be a Lark!
But then, as 'One Woman's Journal' says, I'm further down the line of life than hyou are!
Happy Mother's Day to all you in the US! We've had ours!
You have earned your day of rest this Sunday. Hope that you can put your feet up for a while.
Good grief child, my arthritis flared up just reading this.
I know you love your work but I do hope this will be over soon and you can get some REST.
Have a great Mother's day. You aren't working today are you?? Let your self be pampered.
Yep, pretty much the way it is here, florists are a dime a dozen, each one as good as the next.
Happy Mother's Day.
I can't do as much caffeine as I used to or I'll be up in the wee-thirties as well.
Happy Mother's Day Judy and hope you find some rest and relaxation today! :)
OMG, my spouse would have called the neighbors in the middle of the emergency too. What is wrong with them that they think that is proper?
Hope you are getting very rested and very spoiled this Mother's Day.
I never knew how hectic being a florist can be. It is sometimes surprising what we surmse about other lines of work. I hope you get a chance to rest up soon. Happy Mothers Day.
I had to laugh at your conversation with Mr. Kenju at 4 AM! I can hear you berating him for calling the neighbors and him berating you for the mailbox letter size!
It's wonderful that you love what you do, I'm sure that makes a huge difference
Hope you're having a wonderfully relaxing day today
I hope you are enjoying Mother's Day.
As thy say in Ireland "God bless your energy!" I wish I had half of it.
Sounds like Rich and I LOL
Happy Mother's Day Judy!!
xo,
rue
Even when I was much, much younger I could not have kept up the pace that you do. Eleven hours on your feet with only a five to ten minute break? Incredible! Get some rest, Judy, before we are all exhausted just thinking about your hard work.
I hope you get some rest soon, sis!
Happy Mother's Day, Judy!!!!
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