Being back at work for the first week after leave has been an interesting experience.  Having some much needed time off and experiencing the joys of not being "A Well-Respected (Wo)Man" was a very different experience.  I know that things will never be functional at my job but we pretend that things are normal and our facades are slowly tested over time for validity. Yet if you chip through the facade, and in my case, rebuild it, and return to the same scenario; well, "(it's) oh so good, and (it's) oh so fine" is the spoken or implied mantra to show up for work disregarding all the things that caused the problems in the first place. Yet I'm reminded how I am thrilled that we're lucky enough in my department to understand each other, and as much as possible give some slack to those who need it.

On Thursday we had our unofficial holiday party, where all of us had the time to talk that we don't have at work. It's an opportunity to bond, to touch on topics and hobbies outside of work, and most of all just to enjoy the fact that I work with some of the most intelligent people I've ever met.  My colleagues know me on the surface and know that I've taken leave, but it also gave me a chance to give a deflected response for the reason; not whole truth, but a version of it that let them understand after 8 years of this crazy overwork and 7 months of being sick this year, it was a necessary rest.  They seemed to sympathize more, and it reinforced for me the reasons why I worked  there in the first place, fought for a permanent spot, and returned after breaks.

It reminded me of the best parts. Was it a hard week?  Yes.  Will it solve problems?  Maybe with some co-workers. Is it somewhere I can learn something every day either from my colleagues or just from researching a topic? Absolutely! Where else would you possibly find that?  In my experience, the answer is nowhere.

 That alone made the week worthwhile.