A Fill Up of Sanity

When it comes to the weekends, I haven't left my house in weeks.  Each weekend, I sit in front of my computer for hours then spend some time parked in front of my TV.  There have been several weekends where I've stayed in PJs until I got home Friday afternoon until I went back to work the following Monday.  Weekends have become my time to lock myself up from the world around me and get done what I need to get done.  It's also the time I try and get some rest and relaxation. 

Yesterday, I was finally able to break the mold I created for myself.  I broke away, leaving a lot of work behind me, to go and have lunch with Sanity. 

It's so hard to believe that it's been three months since I last saw her.  But, I guess that's what happens when you lock yourself up in your house every weekend for months... you miss out on seeing friends.  It was so nice to see her and spend some time catching up.

I did what I always do and started talking 150mph.  I'm bad about stuff like that.  I start talking about something, and before I know it I've talked for 30 minutes straight.  And one of Sanity's best qualities (there are many) is that she'll just sit there and listen. 

This is her first year teaching, also, so it was the first time that we'd spent time together as teachers.  And, hearing some of her joys and struggles coupled with my joys and struggles made me realize that all the feelings I'm feeling are completely normal.  We both knew that life in the real world was gonna be tough, and we're both tackling one day at a time to get through it.

It's crazy to think about how much time has passed since I met Sanity.  We met our sophomore year of college.  We had some of the same classes together, and I remember that pretty early on I knew I was going to like her.  We worked together on some projects, and before I knew it we were hanging out each weekend or after school each Thursday (when we had the majority of our classes together).  Even though neither of us was living the "normal" college student lifestyle - we did what we could to have a good time.

Last year was tough for both of us because neither of us were able to find a teaching job.  We both took assistant jobs in different school districts hoping that those jobs were the key to a teaching position.  It's weird, in a way, that she now works in the school district I worked for and I work somewhere completely different.  But, that's how the stars lined up for us, I suppose.  

I gave her the nickname "Sanity" because I felt she kept mine firmly in tact.  In fact, there are three of us in our entourage.  "Hope" is the other member to our trio.  The three of us bonded and spent many a night having a few drinks and laughing our struggles away.  Hope was able to find a teaching job last year, and she was the reason I got the job I did as a teaching assistant.  Thus, why I coined her as "Hope".  She was my hope of getting a teaching job.  I was sad that she couldn't join us yesterday - but I'm sure that in the near future we'll all be back together again.

Sanity and I both made an agreement yesterday that we wouldn't go three months until we saw each other again.  In fact, we agreed that we need to see each other at least once a month... just so we can break away from the constant routine of locking ourselves away each weekend.  I think it's a great idea - and I've already started making notes on my calendar. 

So, today, I feel a lot better about what's coming my way.  I'm recharged with motivation.  I'm ready to get back to work and knock out this week's plans.  And then, I'm going to take my happy behind - for the last time this week - to the couch and enjoy the last part of my weekend.