The Glow Fades

OK.  That's it.  My sunny attitude regarding this week's mandatory teacher workshops has officially clouded over.  No more shall I wax optimistically about the extra dollars in my next paycheck or be thankful that they are doing this in June rather than stealing my last precious vacation days in August. This was, without a doubt, the longest day of my entire life and I'm including that horrific day I spent getting a root canal without the benefit of working pain killers.  Seriously.  I would kill to go back to that delightful day in history.  I look back on it with fond and wistful nostalgia.

It all started when I fooled myself into thinking that having to be at school at 8:00 in the morning instead of at 7:00 would give me more time to enjoy the morning.  It doesn't.  Somehow, that extra hour evaporated faster than the morning dew and I ended up having to rush around like my usual manic self on a regular day.  I arrived in the cafeteria in a timely fashion but that was more luck than anything else.

It's not my fault, by the way.  Everyone told me that The Dresden Files would get better if I just stuck with it.  Not that the first few were bad, mind you.  They just weren't living up to the expectations I'd managed to set.  However, I offer up a sincere, "you weren't kidding" to those who spoke up for Harry.  I was utterly incapable of leaving the house until I'd finished Death Masks: A Novel of the Dresden Files (The Dresden Files, Book 5).  Then I accidentally started Blood Rites: A Novel of the Dresden Files and you can see how things would start to spiral out of control time-wise from there...

The agenda looked grueling, more so since they "adjusted" it over the weekend.  There were promises made for an early escape if we stayed on task, but even I knew that was just something presenters say to keep the masses from revolting around lunchtime.  We were in for the long haul and there was nothing to be done about it.

I managed to knit for a while.  That was nice.  But then I needed my hands free to hold the table steady in order that I might more effectively beat my head upon it and that was the end of that.

Tomorrow's presentation doesn't look to be any less exhausting, either.  To make matters worse, no one can really explain with any clarity just what the heck it is we are supposed to be doing on Wednesday and Thursday.  They don't even seem to agree on where we should be assembling.  And don't even get me started on the taunts coming from those who only have to attend two days of this exercise in mass torture.  We, the truly trapped and miserable, hate them with a passion that could ignite a thousand suns.

I find it highly unlikely that I will make it through the next few days without criminal charges being pressed.  That or I will find myself falling asleep and then I'll be nominated as team leader for one of the work groups.  Which, I suppose, is also a good way to end up wearing an orange jumpsuit.  It is going to end badly if someone doesn't release me unto the loving arms of my summer vacation soon.

On the other hand, maybe it's for the best that I'm not home this week.  When I dragged my weary self back to the manse I discovered not one, but two, work men dangling from the roof and hammering enthusiastically away at the facade.  It seems that the Intrusive But Trying To Be Considerate About It Guy brought his associate along today.  That would be the Guy Who Owns The Really Big Radio And Isn't Afraid To Use It.

It wasn't going to be quite the self-indulgent start to vacation I'd dreamed of either way.  While I'm certain that committing acts of aggression against those who seek to thwart me isn't going to end up well, I still can't help but wonder.

Would my cell be more conducive to the peaceful glow than life on the outside?

SA