h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I'm now sat at home, stubbornly refusing to move from the sofa. Decided the only time I'm moving is to eat and go to bed: everything else can wait until Monday. After the week I've had I think I've earned it.

It's funny how little things can be so massive when they bring their friends along to play too. Every single thing that's caused me grief this week could be ignored under normal circumstances but they've all hit at once and by yesterday I was just a physical wreck. There was almost an element of morbid curiosity to it: I haven't felt so utterly exhausted since I was at university and it's nice to see how I held up.

First problem was my family staging on of their ever so delightful intrusions into my life. My family flare up as an issue every so often but I've gotten pretty good at building a firewall to protect myself from the worst of their nonsense. Problem is now I've got someone who is making it their mission to remove this firewall: she's trying to do it for the right reasons but isn't taking into account that I *want* the firewall, when I have to deal with my family I find I can't sleep. So this week I've only been eking out a few hours each night. Which is fine, I can handle a week of little sleep, I used to work on summer schools where I'd do 18 hour days on less than 3 hours sleep a night.

Then we had work, and some times work is the gift that keeps on giving. This week was one of those times. On Monday I had the day of the abusive parents, on Tuesday the entire 6th form decided, en masse, to kick off, on Wednesday me and m'colleague had a major event to run: took months to arrange but it went off flawlessly. Thursday it was colleagues turn to annoy me: they'd 'arranged' (in the loosest sense of the word) an event, asking for my help and when said help was provided, instead of gratitude, they were actively rude and their event was an absolute disaster (note to self: never help with an event me or m'colleague haven't had complete control over). Friday, apart from a major head wound and broken arm to deal with, was pretty standard but pretty standard when utterly exhausted isn't good: at one point I had 6 people demanding my attention simultaneously and 3 of them were assistant heads. It doesn't help that the school seems to be the incubator for about half-a-dozen different strains of cold at the moment and I'm getting all of them one after the other.

Still work has always been and will always be a chaotic shower of and I've made my peace with it. Plus it often surprises by being fun, or funny, or making me proud. On Monday I was in hysterics because a parent (who'd previously been perfectly fluent in English) demanded a interpreter to talk to me. During a long and acrimonious meeting, I unthinkingly answered a question she'd asked in Urdu before it'd been translated. The look on her face was priceless as she realised I'd been able to understand the abuse she'd been spouting and the interpreter had been too polite to translate. She quickly made her excuses and left the building. I'm also bizarrely proud of one of the lads who told me off on Friday for giving him the brush-off: he was so polite, so determined and so *right*.

My life has also been unusually busy: on Monday and Tuesday evening I had Urdu class more-or-less straight after work, on Wednesday night I had my counselling, on Thursday I had the aforementioned debacle at work and then yesterday I went to see a poorly friend and do some stuff for him. This all meant that I've been getting up at 5.30, leaving the house before 7am and not getting back until after 10pm on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and not before 8pm Thursday and yesterday. It's probably for the best I've not seen anyone whilst cycling this week because I'd have happily murdered strangers when I was out in the freezing bitter darkness this week.

All of these combined left me so far beyond tired, I have no words to describe it. At the end of the school day yesterday, my line manager came into my office where I was slumped over a personal statement and commented that I looked exhausted: I think my manic laugh scared her a little and I explained that I was tired on Wednesday, by Friday I wasn't sure how or why I was still standing.

But here's the thing: I was still standing. If I totted up everything I did last week, it'd be an impressive list for a good week, let alone a week where I was so severely impaired. I loved the Urdu classes and I'm clearly making use of them, the event me and m'colleague ran on Wednesday was a huge success and has been complimented as such by everyone involved, my 6th formers were the one bright spot in a ruinous night for the school on Thursday and (most importantly for me) when my friend needed me on Friday I was able to suck it up and be there for him. That's a remarkable set of achievements from a week that, not too long ago, would have seen me either get a sick note or a suspension from work.

So today and tomorrow I'm luxuriating in the sensation of doing absolutely nothing.

I missed seeing this- haven't been to my PS for a few days...

That sounds like it was an overall shitty week, and I am especially sad to read that family-related stuff.

I hope this is shaping up to be a better week.

I do so hope that this week is not nearly so stressful HI

Twice since you posted I've opened a window to reply to this, maybe to offer some words of encouragement, commiseration or (what's the opposite of commiserate? Concelebrate?)

Anyway - it never rains, does it? This following week is hopefully being less eventful, to give you time to digest everything.

This week I seem to be testing the definition of insanity by doing exactly the same thing and expecting a different result. So far, at the half-way point, it actually seems to be working. I've had two Urdu classes, I've got a big event tonight, the only real difference is I've got tomorrow evening to myself but so far (touch wood) I don't feel tired at all.

It's funny, when I wrote the post on Saturday it was a bit of a rant because I was so exhausted but now reading it back, it seems very positive to me: 'look at what I got done despite being so tired' sort of thing. I quite like it.

Thanks all for the kind words