And on, and on, and on, and on, etc.

It’s been quite a grueling week, but the worst of it will be done by midday tomorrow.

I had three different trainings to co-facilitate over three days in a row this week (Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings). It’s hard enough retaining enough information to do the same training three times, but three different sets of material with two different co-facilitators and two pretty different audiences is its own kind of challenging.

Yesterday, we had more than 90 participants. Today, we had 60-something, and we expect 90-100 tomorrow as well. Great experiences, but they really take it out of me.

More things on my plate this week:

• Tons of work to get ready for the upcoming Fall semester

• My final project for the second course in my doctoral program is due this weekend

• CSWE accreditation paperwork with a deadline that’s approaching fast

• Counseling clients, most of whom are really struggling

• Coco’s first birthday, and all the special plans that go along with that

• Grades for the two classes I’m teaching, which both wrap up next week

• A concert in Cleveland last night

• Grant reviews for a program I’m assisting with

• A dentist appointment on Friday

Yes. Like I said, grueling. Every day brings with it a whole host of new and inventive things to exhaust me and tasks that I must accomplish RIGHT NOW.

I was absolutely thrilled to find a dog-sitter for the girls on Rover. She came over to meet with me and the pups and it felt like a really good fit, and so we tried her out while I was at my show last night. It went perfectly. I cannot possibly give her a higher recommendation than I already have, but I’m doing it on this platform as well.

I know that I have friends who love Ivy and Coco and are glad to take care of them for me. I also feel like I need to work on sustainable solutions for the long-term that don’t add more strain and stress on my support system than necessary. So just like Jessie was an addition to my support system instead of asking friends to come and vacuum my floor, I’ve now added Ashley to my support system to watch the girls. She was incredible. If you need someone to watch your dogs or cats, let me know and I’ll pass your info on to her.

I have to share with y’all the review she left on the app for my dogs. Sitters note how things went on a given visit, to give a heads-up for future folks who work with us. About Ivy, she said, “Ivy is a sweet old lady!” And about Coco, she noted, “She’s hilarious and spunky! Absolutely love playing with her!”

I couldn’t have put it better myself.

So hooray for expanding my supports, hooray for a great concert last night, and hooray that this week is almost ready to start wrapping up.

By the way, for those of you in Northeast Ohio, I solved the whole “Blossom traffic is impossible and awful after a concert” problem! It’s simple: just leave the venue before the headliner starts performing, and the parking lot is deserted. I bought an ice cream cone and had a lovely walk back to my car.

Keep moving forward, one foot in front of the other. Get through it somehow. Then rest. That’s my plan.

Matt