Tuesday evening, I stood at our bathroom sink blankly staring at my reflection in the mirror while brushing my teeth. As I shifted my toothbrush from one side of my mouth to the other, I had a thought that maybe this was the first time I was brushing my teeth that day. Did I do this when I got up that morning? I paused to really think about it, listing my day’s schedule in my head. I had gotten up and showered. Then I think I brushed my teeth. No…I’m sure I brushed my teeth. Then I had to ask myself if it was still Tuesday. It felt like I had done more than one day’s worth of tasks. That morning, I sat through about twenty minutes of video for class and then I presented a paper for Journal Club. Then I started working on my last mini coding project for the class I’m taking. I got tired and frustrated with it around two in the afternoon and so I went outside to haul dirt to the east side of the house. I spent the next two hours hauling, grading and tamping dirt. Then I went inside to shower again and work on the computer some more before making fish tacos for dinner. I cooked. I cleaned and then we played a few rounds of Boggle.

By the time I was standing in that bathroom, brushing my teeth before bed, I was literally swaying with exhaustion. I suddenly realized that I have been doing a lot of manual labor. On top of my job, I have been taking care of the inside of the house, grocery shopping, doing the laundry, maintaining the yard, taking care of chickens, dog, cat, sometimes people, cooking dinner most evenings, no…cooking TWO dinners most evenings because of the Cabbage (that’s coming to a halt), and helping Michael build a retaining wall by hauling dirt and gravel and twenty five pound pavers. I am tired. So on Wednesday, I only did my job. Other than washing my own plate or bowl, I did not clean the house. We fend for ourselves for dinner on Wednesdays any way. So I didn’t make dinner for anyone but me and I didn’t go outside to help Michael with the wall. I was there to witness him place the last stone, but I did not touch a shovel or lift a finger except to take a few pictures.

It was great except for the guilt that would nudge in every once in a while, but I got good at shoving that guilt back. I finished my mini project and graded four assignments. I met with a science teacher in New Hampshire who wants me to talk to her seventh graders next week about my career path. I payed attention and took notes for at least half of the Wednesday Lecture Series. I started pulling microscopy images to show to students next week and travelled back in the way boat machine to find images of the things I did when I worked with Margaret and Phillip. We did a lot of cool stuff in that lab. Then I surprised myself by becoming excited to talk to kids about being a scientist. When I went to brush my teeth that night before bed, I was no longer questioning what day it was or when the last time it was that I brushed my teeth. I was simply getting ready for bed.

The majority of the wall is complete. Michael wants to cap it, but we need to buy those stones. We still have a generous portion of dirt that needs to go somewhere, along with leftover gravel. The neighbors may take some of the dirt and there are a few spots around the yard that could be filled in. We need to order mulch and plant grass seed. We are down to just the final touchups of this project. I am thankful that the neighbors are going to be the ones shoveling and hauling dirt away. I am thankful that we are mostly done with the retaining wall. It is a project that has consumed us for longer than necessary. I am thankful to be finished with my first Python coding class so I can now move on to learning how to use Python in ways more pertinent than game building. I am thankful for the opportunity to share part of my story with a group of seventh graders.

But mostly, today I am thankful for Wednesday.