Lugging my rear axel

A day-inna-life-a Ali, starts with a 5:15am alarm clock ring. Push the snooze for 9 minutes of guilt ridden napping, then have to wake up all over again. Ever notice how much more detailed and urgent that last few minutes of dreaming is? Up to make the best of bed-head (because I know what kind of stylistic damage I'm about to impart upon myself for the next 12 hours), and put on a pair of Levi 501s and a long sleeved tee-shirt. Neither of which was made to make a woman feel in any way confident. I've a mental check list which goes something like: cards-keys (tools for the day), sunglasses-sunscreen, helmet-gloves, food n' water. Then I start looking for the other things equally important, but have never become part of the mantra...cell phone, stopwatch, easy up, lawn chairs, sun hat, wallet, cooler, ice. Pick up the newspaper off the front drive, back out the driveway then stop to lock the gate behind me, then off to work by 6:05. Arrive to meet whichever instructor I will be working with this day, unlock the storage containger and pull out 12 bikes (backwards, and down a ramp), check each for gas, damage, and startablity. Then pack up the vehicle with bucket of cones, 2X4's, trash buckets, chairs, rosters, nametags, take these down to the "range" where we will be riding, and set everything up for the requisite skills exercises this day. Are we pooped yet? Oh yeah, by now it's only about 6:40, the students are starting to show up. Greet them, sign them in and assign them helmets and bikes, go through an equipment check to make sure they meet our liability requirements, and NOW we can start the day. Class time: 7:00am. They will be trained and entertained for the next 5 hours. Whew! What a day! But wait! When they're done, these ones will leave and the NEXT batch of students show up, and from 12 till 5, they TOO will be trained and entertained. When they too have fininshed,I now have to return these 12 bikes to the bin, break down the easy up and the chairs, pick up all the trash, reload all the personal belongings, and check out the paper work to indicate who showed, who failed, who will move forward. And oh yeah: Try doing all this when it's about 98 degrees outside. (Like today) So when my friends ask if I want to meet them for Taco Tuesday, and I say sorry, I just can't.... I always secretly hope that they understand. I'm pretty sure they don't. After reading through this tirade, I'm hoping that you, my blog friends, can in anyway understand how great it feels to crawl home, take a cool shower, crack open a beer and plunk down on the couch to sit for the first time today, to eat whatever is the most umcomplicated thing in my fridge, and to screen my calls and not answer most of them. And I usually plan to go to bed very early. Please don't think me unsociable, it's just that this is what I've chosen to do for a living. The teaching part is very very satisfying. It's all the work that goes along with it that makes it kind of sucky. Thanks for listening. Thanks for being tired along with me! G'nite, now