Thursday, December 17, 2015

Holidailies Day 17: Of Cold and Caffeine

These are the two major factors in my life today, it seems. With only a few regular work days to go before a blessed break - my bank account will be the only thing mourning, the rest of me is more than ready - I have been called on to fill in at the front desk of one of the other sites. The fun part of this assignment is that the front desk is situated outside, with no real protection from the elements. And because it's December, and California seems to be having a more seasonally appropriate winter this year (so far) it's COLD.

Let's be real, I am a true California wimp when it comes to the cold. Yesterday, I had on a long-sleeved undershirt, my staff shirt, a sweatshirt, and my leather trenchcoat, pants, my warm shoes, double layer gloves, plus a blanket over my legs and I was still at popsicle status when I finally got inside. Took me a couple of hours to thaw out completely. Today I'm planning on adding a scarf and a beanie, at the very least. I'm considering wearing leggings under my jeans and an extra pair of socks. Like I said, I'm a wimp. It doesn't help that the job is mostly sitting, which is not really the way to keep blood flow going to your extremities.

I realize this is a very first world problem, and it's very temporary. I'm mostly just trying to sike myself up for it, and praying more than a little that it will be slightly warmer today and not windy. Windy would be the worst.

Caffeine is the other major factor, because I may or may not have overdone it on the caffeine front last week in my desire to stay awake while writing my paper. By that I mean, I definitely way overdid it and now, as I'm drastically reducing my consumption to "just enough to keep me from keeling over" I'm paying the price. It's been a toss up all week, in the season of sickness. "Am I actually sick, or did I bring this on myself?" Today though, I'm letting myself have a little more, because it's slightly important for me to not be spacey when I'm working a detail-oriented sort of job.

That is the thing with working with kids, actually. I've noticed that even if I'm really blah, I can draw enough energy from them that I can usually make it through. I collapse as soon as I get home, but I can be alert and present for the time that I'm at work. When I'm doing front desk, which is largely just sitting and very little interaction with the kids, I get that less, so I have to figure out how to stay alert.

My current plan is to relax this morning, which I am so far succeeding at doing, thankfully. Plus, the rest of the coffee I bought last night to warm myself up. Also, sleeping helps too, I've noticed. It's funny what you forget when you're in school.

Until tomorrow.

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