Hijabi "Walking" Club

I'm tired again--are you surprised? I made the brilliant decision to pick up two extra shifts this week (seldom comes the opportunity, when I'm available, actually) and they are the oh-so-fabulous 3:30-7:30 shifts. Honestly, I prefer them over the 11:30-3:30 ones, but nevertheless, let's remember I do work 9 hour days in general. So now I find myself working 13 hours. It goes to 14.5 if you include the half hour where I get breakfast and the hour I get lunch. That is, I'm working from 3:30 in the morning until 6 at night, with an hour and a half of breaktime. I won't claim it's necessary for me to get a full 8-hour's sleep, but you see I'm sure where the trouble is if you do a little finger counting.

Twice this week I'm doing the 13-straight, and once I'll do a split shift, if you can call it that really. So, Monday I had dinner with someone finally, after putting it off a few weeks. After that I just made the bad decision to come up to school and catch up on news, so I didn't get home until maybe 10. Up at 3:30. I did actually doze off while at the lab yesterday morning... I think that's a good thing, except that the temperatures in here are becoming less less tolerable. It's insanely hot outside, remember, but there is ongoing construction in this building and they've blasted a hole in the wall downstairs so now the entire building cannot cool properly. And lucky Amy is on the 2nd floor with all the computers. It's hot, and it's humid, and even after sleeping I felt like I needed a shower. Ugh. So Tuesday (yesterday) I worked until 6 and then was supposed to go walking with my roommate and some other sisters.

They walk. In the hijab and everything--that was interesting. I've met some of these sisters before, but it's not easy for me to socialize with them seeing as how I'm just so much younger than they are. I posted a few weeks ago about my troubles in finding a way to exercise in hijab... I guess this is the solution. I'll probably still keep going to the gym, for strength training at least, or whatever else I feel I want to do besides walk. I can't say that I particularly enjoyed walking 3 miles in a jilbab, though, on a day where the heat index reached 104F. Alhamdulillah, there was a breeze, but overall it was not a pleasant experience. If it were cooler, I think the walking and the jilbab wouldn't have bothered me so much (sweatpants just a little too tight to not wear one, and there's no way I'd go it in jeans, ick) but the conversation wasn't really much I could identify with. That is, with no husband, no kids, no in-laws... you get the idea.

So it was 8:30 by the time I got home, and after that I took a nice looooooong shower. Then I ate some dinner (Alice wanted me to try her baked spaghetti made with turkey--and it was delicious, btw) and watching Bring it on while running some laundry. No, there really isn't an excuse valid enough to justify watching that movie but... I did anyway.

So it was around 11 when I got to bed, and 3 when I got up again for work this morning. 4 hours, 4 hours, then 13 hours of work. Can you just hear me sigh? But did I mention that that little walk was actually a little harder and longer than what I normally do, and since I did get up at 3, my body has been refusing to obey me and even sitting is uncomfortable. I guess I'm not used to taking curves like that, and we were walking around a high school track, but the sides of both my legs (though the left especially) are horribly fatigued. I had to fiddle with some cables on my computer at work this morning, and trying to get up off the floor... well, it wasn't pretty. I honestly could hardly move my legs, and it was all I could do to pull myself up with my arms. So aside from just being tired mentally now my body is going to object.

So, can I sleep when I get off work today? No! Having dinner with sisters tonight (luckily right after work) and they may still want to go walking after that (I don't think Amy will be going with them, though!) And I'll get a full night in tonight, inshaallah, plus a little bit. And then the weirdness starts again with my "split" night Thursday night--getting off work to sleep, then going to work again for a little while--then trying to sleep again. I did try to get rid of one of the hours of that shift, though, which may give me a little more time to sleep. And then it will be jumma'ah.

But then... get this... the lab is closed! At least at night, so I have the next week "off" more or less. And will probably then decide to connect my computer (which I still have not done.)

Would you believe that my biggest gripe about my apartment now is that there is no linen closet? It's very strange... I think Alice keeps her towels and things in the vanity but I hate to go in there. She was so nice to clean out her cabinets to make room for my things, I had no idea where to put things and came home one day to find she'd already put everything away! But anyway, now I want to find a place to store my towels, and I might just get a little upright storage container; I have room for one. And the mini-fridge can go back to my parents' house; next time I plan to drive out there, hopefully I'll remember to take it with me. Provided, of course, I can heave it down the steps and to my car.

So, maybe next week without so much work, but while I prepare for school (looming in the distance) I can take care of a few of these things I haven't gotten to yet. Among them, buying more hangers. I've bought hardly any clothes this summer, but it always seems I need 2-3 more hangers than I actually have. Hrm.

I did need to complain some, so apologies for anyone who was just inanely bored by this post. :-)