Thursday, August 12, 2010

A Day Off

As much as I love being active, one has to sometimes listen to the needs of their body.
I have to admit that this ability is one that I have to constantly remind myself of learning and adding to the routine of my busy life.

This summer is probably the most active and intense periods in my life. As soon as the sledding season was over in April and we completed our annual trip to Czech Republic, we found ourselves jumping head first into a string of events, from remodelling the dog food prep area of the house into a guest bathroom and kitchenet. Which lead into building the dog kitchen outside. Which lead into digging a 25m long, 2m deep hole to bring water from the well into the dog kitchen. Which lead into installing a water heater in the dog kitchen, and so on and so on.

A brand new kennel of nearly 100 square meters was built, with 8 brand new dog houses to be painted red. Gates to our newly fenced dog lot. Impregnating kennel floors and all wooden outdoor constructions wih cooked sap (ooh, yummy - getting high under the summer sun is extra effective!).

Add the routine care of 50 huskies, puppy walks, early morning training runs (weather permitting), taking care of our veggie garden and dozens of flowers (no, I simply refuse to cross those off my list of must have´s).

Add guests and folks that come for accommodation, kennel visits, outdoor programs.

Multiply that all with homecooked meals that are served to all those hungry necks three times a day, and don´t forget snacks! :)

Devide that by hours of a 24hour day. My calculator tells me that I am in a sleep deficit, my body feels exhausted and my inner Me gets paniced, because:

A) a huge pile of projects needs to be finished,
B) there are more projects to come before the frost hits the ground and bans us from comming up with more things to do,
C) the training season is aproaching,
and last, but very much on top of the list D) it is time to look ahead at the racing season, get in shape and conserve some energy for that.

Oh no, I have no clue or a recipe for how to deal with all this. But I came up with one brilliant plan.
I took a day off. And it feels great. Just plain great. Hard to describe. Hard to remember how many moths ago was the last time I had the luxury of having a day just for myself.

Jachym and Adela went to take Michal (who was our extra summer help) to the airport and do some major shopping errands. Which means I have the house, the garden and the 50 dogs all just for myself!

What will I do with it? Well, let´s see.

First, I slept till ten. Yes, till 10:00 am. From about 11:30pm. That alone was a great start! Although I admit having terrible dreams about some sort of alien toy in the shape of a bunny multiplying and terrorising a ranch, which actually had two different endings, as Mouse managed to wake me up and when I got back to sleep, the alternative ending came out. Strange state of mind. But at least I didn´t calculate in sleep who many boards we have yet to buy, what to cook for the next group of guests, if 2 inch or 3 inch screws will be better for the next project, or how to make the kennel top stable enough. My body rested and that made my day.

Mouse´s second gentle reminder in form of licking my hands and face till I started using my (first) eyes, then brain again, and two cups of coffee on the stairs, while enjoying the sun, filled me up with energy and the much needed feeling of tranquility.

Then I howled with the dogs.

In the middle of the awsome doing of nothing, the muse visited me after a long time, so I wrote a couple of blog updates (as you see) and I am off to play, snuggle, cuddle and thoroughfully enjoy the company of my 50 best friends.

This, folks, is my day off. I am totally grateful for it and I´m lovin´ it!

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