Well, this one is almost me today this month, except substitute the words “time for a book” for “TV” and “time for sleep” for “beer” and I’d have to say we’re damned close.

I haven’t had the chance to enjoy kickboxing in weeks, and I’m sure there are some at the mats who wonder if I’m ever coming back (and what shape I’ll be in when I do get back).

Other than practice a week and a half ago, I haven’t even touched my guitar case or sheet music, anything even close. As much as I want to improve and get great at guitar, when you’re about to fall asleep just catching up on your e-mail for 10 minutes… yeah.

What kind of sounds could I coax out of that thing after no practice, or my piano–how would my hands feel with not practicing in so long.

I wouldn’t even wanna imagine my clarinet playing after such a long absence!

And then there are the pups. I decided to bribe them with treats that I’ll hand out over the course of the next few weeks because I feel so freaking bad about not being here today when I should’ve had a few hours to relax and then get crap done around the house today.

The disappointment on their little cute faces made me upset, but the real issue stemmed from the basic fact that somebody’s kid got really sick and they needed to go to the doctor. And since my floppy-eared kiddos don’t get sick like others’ do, that makes me the best replacement, especially since I (mostly) got over my own illness.

So, who were they gonna call?

At least, they’d better next time around!

Of course (facepalm is appropriate), that doesn’t mean a freaking thing. It’s like I’m a latchkey kid all over again, just instead of school and home it’s become work and home. I have actually reached that low point where all I do is go to work or plan my life around my work schedule to the point where work always comes first.

The trouble is, we’re in an awkward position where if I can’t do it, then it’s likely nobody else can, either, and we’d have to do some major damage control. I mean, let’s face it: everybody else has kids, husbands/wives, sometimes a one-car situation, sometimes multiple jobs that don’t allow for schedule changes very easily.

That last one’s the most common determiner of availability. Lately it’s been the first couple of issues cropping up as the main reasons someone can’t come in.

I’m just tired of dropping my schedule like a hot potato in order to feed the system. The only good thing that might come out of it is my next few paychecks might take care of anything I owe on income taxes without relying on credit cards to help.

Nothing to sneeze at, but right now, time for the things I enjoy AWAY from work would be fantastic.

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Gif scenes from The Simpsons, The Sound of Music, Who Framed Roger Rabbit? and Casper. The others I can’t remember where I saw them first, but the message was just right…