Recharging

It's Friday!!

Once upon a time, Fridays were really exciting.  I was out of school with a whole weekend in front of me.  Or I would finish up a work week and have two days off in front of me.  In college, it meant Ben & Jerry's ice cream and the X-Files with Abby.  As a young single adult, it was a date night or a dance night.  With Terence B.C. (Before  Children) it meant a trip to the temple.

Nowadays, Friday is mildly exciting.  I've finished another week of the school grind, and I have a couple of days without school driving and homework battles with the kids.  But Terence always works Friday night, I have six piano lessons back to back in the afternoon, and my days of eating a pint of Ben & Jerry's in one sitting are gone with my vanished youthful metabolism.  So I'm not one of those people who wakes up and posts "TGIF!!" on facebook.  Still, there is this lingering sense of the start of a mini-vacation.  I don't know why.  As any mother can attest, you never really get a day off.

A day off.

I received some fantastic advice from a friend yesterday evening.  I've gotten a new job at church, one which will take significantly more time than my previous responsibilities.  My friend has been in a similar position before, and she had a few very practical (and much appreciated) suggestions.  One of them was to make sure that I took time regularly to get away.  To allow myself a mental as well as physical break from the demands of the job.

I've had a little bit of a breather during January after the Christmas season rush, but now things will pick up again.  Renaissance Festival season begins quite soon, and that means we will see very little of Terence during the weekends until about April.  I'm used to this, and in fact I'm grateful, because the extra income is always desperately needed.

However, how do I make sure that I can periodically take a break, to have some time to mentally recharge, even when my husband won't be available to help?  When I won't have any time to get away much?

What are the ways that you make sure you get a day off when things are crazy?  Or how do you recharge if you don't have a way to take a vacation?  Any suggestions?