Days Off are meant for relaxation, right??

In an attempt to comply with the required early and late hour coverage at the Surgery Center and eliminate overtime one co-worker, Cindy, and I work 4 ten-hour shifts giving us a much appreciated day off during the week. Doing so also helps the other secretaries eliminate the cost for extended daycare services. Cindy and I realize our hours are a temporary gift from administration, as the office manager absolutely hates the fact we've make it work and proved her wrong.

On two prior Tuesdays, I've shoveled pounds and pounds of snow, slush and sleet. It may be great cardiovascular exercise but, seriously, who wants to spend their precious free time doing that? Those Tuesdays weren't exactly "days off".

Yesterday, started out much better. No snow! I went to town, bought a few groceries, and stopped to visit my sister-in-law to give her a belated birthday gift. We talked about our jobs, my niece's bridal shower, my nephew's return from Korea with his wife and son and my daughter's upcoming wedding. We crammed a whole bunch of chatter into that 60 minutes.

After a quick lunch, I decided to take another small step in spring cleaning. Mandie and I hand-washed the china and crystal on Saturday plus dusted the table, chairs and tea cart. I washed the bay window and curtains on Sunday. Tuesday was dedicated to scrubbing the walls.

Everything was going along well until I stumbled into two wooden drying racks I'd moved out of the dining room and into the kitchen. I'd forgotten I'd leaned them against the oven. As I made my way back to the dining room, I hit one with my foot.

This set off a chain of events:

• my right foot hit one rack
• the rack toppled and struck my leg
• I raised my foot to step away as the rack fell but put it down between the slats of the rack
• while attempting to escape that predicament, my other foot hit the carpet and slid

Every move I made was ill-advised. No matter how I tried to keep my feet under me, I failed. It felt as though I were moving in slow motion as I completely lost control and found myself half-sitting, half-laying on the kitchen floor.

My goodness! I screamed "OUCH" several times as I did a mental physical exam making sure nothing hurt badly enough to be broken. A few Tylenol and a warm soak helped very little. This morning I feel as though I'd been hit by a bus. No visible bruises, though. Go figure?

Yes, I had a day off. A day off of work and a day ..... off my feet!

I may be forced to reconsider this four 10-hour-day work concept. I'm not sure my body can't take the abuse. LOL