Ugh

Today was my first day back at work after a much needed two week vacation. I came back to an unenthusiastic welcome back from my boss, 600 e-mails and down two staff who are both on vacation this week (thank god we're not really swamped right now). This was followed by a committee meeting, a phone call reminding me of a meeting I was late for which wasn't on my calendar and a voice mail from a co-worker wondering if I'd had a chance to look at a report for her yet (in the five hours I'd been back at work after two weeks off).

Yeah, I'm sure I had time to look at the report before catching up on everything else that's been waiting for my attention for two weeks and reading through 600 e-mails. I love when people think the one thing they need from me is the only thing in the world I might possibly have to do and is of course the most important thing on my plate. No one seems to remember that my job used to be done by two people and even then we had trouble keeping up with everything. Now it's just me with the same amount (if not more) of work to accomplish in what feels like a far shorter period of time.

The bright spot of the day is that IT finally replaced our four student work stations. I've been asking for years (and I'm honestly not exaggerating) to have them replaced. They were the biggest, ugliest, oldest, clunkiest computers ever and it took forever for our students to do anything on them. Right before I left for vacation I guess I finally asked the right person (on a whim) and she made it happen for me. I give her a huge shout out for that. Thank you Anne Marie (who will likely never see this but I thank her from the bottom of my heart anyway)!!!

I got to work 20 minutes early and I left 45 minutes late and could have stayed longer. Happy first day back to work to me. At least I managed to get a run in tonight after I walked Maggie. Oh and it didn't rain today which is practically a miracle. The good news is running is awesome, I love the burn. I find it addicting. Yes, there may in fact be something wrong with me. I am aware of that. The bad news is I think my knees are older than I feel. Hopefully they won't give me too much trouble as I continue the Couch to 5K training. Time will tell.

Maggie is snoring quietly on the couch next to me. That's so comforting to me and much needed after a long day at work. And for today's song I give you Chain Gang by Sam Cooke. It feels fitting for a first day back at work blog post.

All day long they work so hard
'til the suns going down
Working on the highways and byways
And wearing, wearing a frown
You hear them moaning their lives away
Then you hear somebody say
That's the sound of the men working on the chain gang
That's the sound of the men working on the chain gang