Spring Break: Running On No Sleep

Part 1:

I’ve been itching to write a blog post for at least five days now. I’m happy to finally have a moment to breathe. And oh, how breathing feels so good right now, as I’m sitting again a big tree in a park, with the clear blue sky above me and the Spring breeze whistling through the trees.

I think this might be long, so prepare yourself for a rambly narrative with far too much detail. 

It all started on Wednesday night (I guess early Thursday) at 3am. I got picked up at 3:30 to drive a family to the airport and then drive their car back. I went back to their house and was able to squeeze in an hour or so of sleep before I had to wake up, feed the dogs, and head to work. By the time I got off work, 5 hours of babies screaming at me (they were having a Monday, on a Thursday), all I wanted to do sleep off an ever-growing headache. But atlas, I went back to the house and let the dogs out, then headed down to the school to see if anyone had survived the last of their finals. I wasn’t surprised to find few survivors, just Hannah and Charli. It seemed that there were no plans for the day, bummer. I went to the apartment and loaded the car with enough clothes and food to last me the two weeks I’d be gone. 

As I carried heavy bag after heavy bag, my headache grew and grew. I finally sat down for a couple minutes and contemplated sleeping instead of hanging out with anyone. Then I saw Charli post on the class page about taking part in the 40 Days of Life prayer vigil. This was something I had really wanted to be a part of, so I grabbed my stuff and headed back to the apartments. We were hoping to recruit other people, yet sadly no one responded so we headed out. It was a nice drive to Pullman, the perfect gloomy rainy day. We met Nate in front of Planned Parenthood and began to pray together. I had never done anything like this, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. But we just stood together and took turns praying for an hour. It was beautiful. Halfway through, a group of people (I think they were Catholic, as they sounded like they were praying rosary) began praying on the other side of the parking lot entrance. It got really cold and rained on us, but I didn’t care. I’m so thankful I was able to be a part of such an amazing movement. 

As we were driving home, I noticed my headache was gone and I felt completely rejuvenated. Somehow, I always manage to be amazed by the Lord’s work, even though I should never doubt His capabilities anyway. On the way home, Charli’s apartment decided to host a Juno movie night for their screenwriting class. When we were setting up, we realized Rachel had taken her DVD drive with her. But aha, not all was lost. We decided to watch Tallulah, a very similar movie, in style and characters, to Juno. It ended up only being our two apartments watching, but Leaf showed up not long after it started. We all chatted for a bit after the movie, but that’s another thing. I had to head to the house to prepare for Friday’s adventures. Charli and Hannah decided to come with me and keep me company as I made cookies for the long drive. Thank goodness they came too, as I was so tired that I started crying when I couldn’t find a hand mixer or parchment paper. Charli just about saved me from having a full-on cookie meltdown. We finally went to bed, snugged into a big king size together. I never appreciated how comforting it is to sleep with other people, especially when you’ve been sleeping in a big house alone. 

Friday morning, I sprang out of bed (as much as one can spring on 5 hours of sleep) and headed to work. I felt antsy with anticipation as the hours went by. When 12:45 hit, all that was seen of me was a blur rushing out the door. I had 15 minutes to go to the house, let the dogs out, change into my bathing suit, gather snacks and towels, eat something, and be at the school to pick people up. I managed to make it only 1 or 2 minutes late. However, only Leaf and Froh were there so I was safe. By and by, people arrived and soon enough, we were packed in the two cars (with Leaf, Charli, and Handerson with me, and Christy, Joelle, Bobby, John, and Froh in the other) and on the road to the hot springs.


To be continued...