Last night I reached a new level of exhaustion that I was amazed to have achieved – until this morning. It all started a couple of weeks ago when I volunteered to cook for 150 people that participate in the Ryle Marching Band. My daughter is on the color guard team and I’ve been so impressed with all their hard work I just wanted to help in some way. So after careful planning and estimation – I started cooking on Thursday for Saturdays dinner. I literally finished cooking 1 hour before the food was to be delivered at the school for transport to the competition. Crazy. I then proceeded to volunteer to be a bus chaperone. Go ahead and say it – I agree with you – I’m a dumb ass. Excellent observation. So I hop on the bus already tired and sporting an awesome headache that will not leave for the remainder of the day. After the 45 minute obnoxious and loud ride to the competition my headache is far superior than any recent one I remember. I help organize the food area with plenty of time left over before dinner service. Terrific! I get a chance to go to the field – sit in the bleachers – and watch Kennedy and her awesome color guard team win BEST color guard out of 20 schools. The entire band’s performance was so incredible I was once again brought to tears. Hip Hip Hooray!!! Hurry – it’s time to serve the food before finals. My beloved hubby and I head over to Ryle’s area and finish setting up food just in time to begin service. 150 people later we realize that as usual – I’ve made way too much. Not a problem! There’s a family in need so the food will not go to waste – yeah! We help clean up feeling sooo drained. Then of course we find out about the trophies received and I love seeing my daughter so incredibly psyched out and happy! It’s time to go back to the field and watch the bands perform at finals. It’s apparent that not only are the parents fatigued but so are the teenagers in the band. I immediately know the performance is not as good as the one in the preliminary portion of the competition. The color guard has a rifle drop and a flag drop. The marching band has a few uneven lines. I keep my fingers crossed because I see other teams are dropping also and not marching as well. What can they expect when the day started at 8:30am and it’s 10pm??? All in all we still did terrific. Ryle came in 3rd – congratulations to them. It’s over – it’s almost 11pm. I’m completely whacked. We all stumble back to the buses and I literally have to wake myself up on the way home. I’m supposed to be chaperoning – so I do a quick look around – HAND CHECK!!!! We get back to school, unload the buses – reload up our car. The entire day is summed up in one moment for me. We’re walking back to the band room and my daughter is talking with friends. Suddenly I hear: “Hey everyone – it’s my mom and dad! I LOVE YOU MOM AND DAD!!!” Unexpectedly there are 20 or so teenagers shouting out their love for us and I know without a doubt that, though I feel done-in, I would do it all again in a heartbeat just to hear my child exclaim her appreciation in such a manner. This is what it’s all about. I cry a little and grin a lot.
Reader – did you think I forgot to finish my story about my exhaustion? Not at all. We collapsed at home in bed and woke up early-“ish” the next day. By Noon I was wide awake, showered, and out doing my normal weekend errands such as grocery shopping etc. At 3:00 I realize the exhaustion of the past three days has not left me. Being the smart assertive girl that I am, I listened to my husband suggest an energy drink and immediately agreed. Zip fizz is the best – so we partook. At 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5am this morning I was cursing this company for their excellent product and positive that contacting an attorney with intent to sue would be the best path of revenge to seek.
I sit here now, sharing these events with you, and wondering if there’s any fix good enough to keep my eyes from doing the “I’m so tired I wiggle” dance that they’ve been participating in all morning. Seriously – exhaustion – it’s not underrated. It’s not anything but pure agony. Of course it’s also Monday morning. The combination is almost too much to bear. But of course I will be fine. I will run my “after work errands” and then go home and throw the trout I set out this morning in the oven. After dinner I will kiss everyone goodnight and collapse for sure. Tomorrow’s another day!!!!!!
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