My Guilty Pleasure

Otherwise known as... A Bit of Breathing Space on a Lovely Saturday

Aside from the start of the year, this is the craziest, busiest time of year in the school counseling profession.  We do course registration for upcoming students.  We make sure seniors are on track for graduation.  We finish credit evaluations for all of the new students who enrolled at the start of the year. These tasks are complemented by crisis interventions, anxious parents, and students who are unhappy with their second semester course selections. 

This is all compounded by the fact that I missed quite a bit of work the first couple of weeks following Dad's death.

My desk overfloweth.... not in a good way.

It will all get done in the end.  I know this.  Still... it's a stress. 

My mom is away this weekend on a trip with friends of my parents that was planned prior to Dad's passing.  GDA stayed over last night after our lesson at Salsa Heat so that Aiko-chan wouldn't be alone.  (What?!  She is sensitive!)  We enjoyed hot tea on the back porch this morning.  GDA had toast, I had Greek yogurt with honey.  It was really, really nice.  After breakfast, my sweet went into work for a few hours.  When the door closed, there was silence.  I don't remember the last time I had a few hours to myself.

I had every intention of going running this morning. I haven't put my sneakers on since the half marathon three weeks ago. 

I sat down on the couch, and turned on the television, still in my pjs.  The clouds parted, and I could hear a Hallelujah chorus from the heavens as I scrolled through the viewing guide:  Right before my very eyes was a Real Housewives of Beverly Hills marathon playing on Bravo.   

I know it's trashy.

I know it's all kinds of drama that I can't (won't?) tolerate in my own life. 

I'm saying it now and I'm saying it loud... The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills is my guilty pleasure and I don't care who knows.  There's something about watching all of those women in their fabulous clothes, taking fabulous vacations, with their (occasionally) fabulous husbands and watching them rip the tar out of each other.

I just don't get it.... but I watch nonetheless.  It's a compulsion. 

By some kind of act of universal kindness, the first episode in today's marathon was the first one that I missed when my routine was thrown into a tailspin in late December.  (I'm still trying to formulate a new routine.  Running needs to be a part of it.)  I sat mesmerized for four whole hours.  Mind you, it was a beautiful day outside.... and I was inside, trying to catch my breath amidst the chaos that has surrounded my life for the past month, in my pink and black polka dotted pajamas. 

I showered after the fourth episode, and promptly put on yoga pants and a t-shirt.  It's that kind of quiet, comfy day.

GDA and I have a salsa social to go to tonight.  He is performing with the Salsa Heat training team, and I'll be there to cheer him on, and maybe catch a dance with afterward.  With every fiber of my being I would rather be staying home than going out... but sometimes you have to take one for the team.  And who knows?  Maybe once I'm there I'll feel better.  Goodness knows I don't want to be the weepy girlfriend who never wants to do anything. 

I just want to feel like myself again.  Getting a bit of breathing space today has helped.  (As well as created a hunger for MORE!)