Week 1 of 52

August 12-18, 2018
The first week of my sabbatical started off quite strangely. On Saturday morning I was diagnosed with tonsillitis. I had suspected strep so was a little surprised,  but happy to take home the enormous pills I was to take for the next 10 days.

I slept all day Saturday, missing my mother's 70th birthday party, and all of Sunday. Monday I was awake more but had headaches, nausea, and more. I had been told I would be contagious for 48 hours and wouldn't start to feel well until after 72 hours - a very accurate forecast.

I had planned to help at my church's summer camp - a week of full day activities for 160 kids. I handle the administrative bits and any problems that arise, as well as being a trained First Aider. On Tuesday I was finally upright, eating, and free of headaches, and I made it in to camp from Wednesday-Friday.

Among other things this week, I caught up on my union email (I'm the vice-president, representing close to 400 library workers in Canada's 6th largest city) and updated the spreadsheet where I track the time I spend on union activities: 87.5 unpaid hours year-to-date. Friday night I attended a special meeting we had called to update a by-law that the executive feels does a disservice to members. Unfortunately a slight majority of those who showed up to vote felt otherwise and the by-law will stay in place for now.

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday I dropped my oldest son off for a couple of hours each day of Executive Functioning training (for ADHD and Autism). The next oldest is serving as leader at the summer camp. He is small in stature but mighty in leadership skills. The two youngest are enjoying days filled with spiritual truths, fun music and games, and field trips.

Saturday morning coffee with an awesome friend of almost 12 years. I am blessed beyond measure to have her as one of my two besties. 

Saturday evening oldest son had his second video session of the week with his aunt, who is a clinician who works with people to improve executive functioning and emotional management skills. So that will be 8 hours of training for him this week. If that sounds like a lot, it's not. An "intensive" program would total 25 to 40 hours per week for 1 to 3 years. We don't have the funding for that.