I was recently in Hawaii for work; this is a place I spend nearly 50% of my time, so much so that I often refer to Hawaii as my second home. My most recent trip ended up being a bit more hectic than usual when Hurricane Lane decided to head toward the islands. My trip was extended an extra five days and while the hurricane was downgraded to a tropical storm by the time it got to Oahu, it was still tiresome as I had to reschedule a huge work event. After seventeen days, I returned home.

Jet lag is always a bit of a pain as there’s a 6-hour time difference between the East Coast, where I live, and Hawaii, where I have a work project. When I travel to Hawaii the first 5+ days I wake up between 2-3am, often working from my hotel room until it’s time to go for a run or hit the gym. Returning from Hawaii is usually a bit easier on me and I’ll recover in a day or two. But not this time.

I returned on Wednesday and felt fine that day and the next. When I woke on Friday I felt like I’d hit a brick wall, I could barely drag myself out of bed. My morning run and coffee did nothing to revitalize me. I contemplated calling in sick to work but remembered the stack of work waiting for me so I went into the office, stopping by my boss’ office first to tell him I would be leaving by 3pm as I was exhausted. Around 1:30pm he stopped by my desk and said, “If you’ve gotten done what you need to, leave at 2pm.” He didn’t need to tell me twice and by 2pm I was headed home where, after walking Daisy, I went straight to bed. I napped for 90 minutes, the perfect amount of time. I felt better when I woke but still a bit groggy. That night, sleep eluded me and I was up till after midnight, which is late for me – I’m usually in bed around 10pm (I get up at 5am every day).

Saturday dawned bright and hot. I went to the gym and then began making my way through my to do list. I’m a big fan of lists — I’m very Type A — and without a list I would surely forget about a dozen things.  This weekend’s list was pretty heavy so I was grateful Monday was a holiday and that I’d have extra time to get it all done. And jet lag was still hanging around – I took a 2-hour nap on Saturday afternoon. Because I’m Type A I have a hard time taking naps, after all, that’s time I could be using to do something productive. But my body needed it and I am trying to listen to what my body needs. Sometimes it’s a nap. Sometimes it’s chocolate. The point is, I’m listening to it.

To Do List

 

Over the weekend I finished my first (paying) freelance editing job, editing a full length poetry manuscript. I finished it on Sunday night and sent it off to my client. It felt great to finish it and it was a good lesson for me as I realize I severely undercharged for this job. Then I started doing the final edits to my own full length poetry manuscript. And since I’m the new poetry editor at QU Literary Magazine, I worked on those submissions too.

I’m quite grateful for the 3-day weekend, even if it wasn’t long enough and I’ve added more things to my to do list.