Wanted: A Job

It occurred to me yesterday, once the tears had slowed and I was able to think of something besides how much I'm going to miss seeing Jack and Molly every day, that I'm officially unemployed.

Yikes!

The words of my father are echoing in my head as I write this "You don't quit a job until you have another job".  Oops - sorry Dad!

While that rule is great for most situations, I feel that it simply doesn't apply this time.  We needed to make this move.  It was the right time, the need was there, and at some point you just make a decision and go with it.

Unfortunately, one of the casualties of making a life changing decision was job hunting.  I've put it off, knowing that I have too many other things to deal with, and (until now) never really thinking about the reality of not having a job.  That was, until reality hit me. 

Yesterday, I received my last paycheck.  Gulp!  Unfortunately, with our financial reserves being what they are (or aren't), the pressure is now on to not only make our move quickly and economically (anyone who has moved across the country, or even out of state knows how impossible that is), but to find some means of income immediately upon our arrival in Ohio. 

So, now the big questions start to bounce around my head.  What kind of job do I want?  What am I trained for?  How much money do I need to make in order to pay the bills?  Do I take a job that will simply provide a paycheck and a daily activity, or do I wait and seek out something that I'm passionate about doing?  What am I passionate about doing?  And...the list goes on.

I can't help but feel like we're being pushed in this direction, so part of me wants to believe that the right situation will present itself - I just hope it happens before we have to sell a kidney on the black market in order to pay the water bill!

A Letter To The Kids

Today is my last day working with the Jack and Molly.  *Tear*  I know that we'll visit each other, we'll Skype, we'll talk on the phone, we'll send cards and presents, but it just won't be the same.  I've seen them practically every day (minus the odd vacation apart) for the last 4 years - I'm the closest one can be to a parent without actually being a parent.  I love these kids as if they were my own, and I am already missing them. 

So, in light of the fact that we're all beginning a new chapter of our lives (them without me, and me without them), I want to leave them with some thoughts and words of wisdom.

Dear Jack and Molly,

I love you both more than words can say!  You are such amazingly wonderful little people, and I've been so blessed to be a part of your lives over these last years.  It has been truly incredible getting to experience so much with you, the good and the bad.  You've both challenged me, trusted me, loved me, and allowed me to be such a big part of your lives, and for that, I will be forever grateful and proud.

It occurs to me that in the long run, I won't have meant as much to you as you've meant to me, but I want you to know that it's ok.  I'm blessed to know how special these 4 years have been, and to appreciate all that I take away with me. 

Jack Man, be a good boy!  Play, get dirty, have fun, be silly, keep reading, keep swimming, keep asking questions, and don't sweat the small stuff!  You are such a smart little man, and I hope you stay passionate about learning.  I am so proud of the little boy you've become - you are absolutely incredible!  I'll miss our conversations, our lunch dates, our movies, our sleepovers, our tennis lessons, and most of all, I'll miss the funny way you have about explaining things.  Please continue to have lots of fun, make good choices, and show the good behavior that I know you're capable of!  You're my goose!

Molly Moos, stay sweet.  Continue to be friendly, and outgoing with people you come in contact with.  Give hugs, blow kisses, be independent, keep laughing, keep singing and keep dancing.  You are such a happy little girl, I know for sure I'll never meet anyone who's quite like you.  I will miss your giggles, hearing you sing along with songs that you know, your excited voice when you get good news, and most of all, I'll miss the way you lay your head on my shoulder and pat my arm when I give you a hug!  Please be a good girl, don't fight with Jack, and keep your enthusiasm for life!  I sure love my Little Miss!

You have both changed me more than you'll ever be able to understand.  You've taught me about patience, about unconditional love, and about the kind of parent that I want to be someday. 

It has truly been one of the great privileges of my life to spend these years with you. 

I miss you already, and I can't wait to see you soon!!!

I love you, I love you, I love you!!!

-Erin

Thankful For Memories

This is my last week working in California.  I came out here just over 4 years ago, not knowing what life on the west coast would be like for me.  Looking back, I can't imagine it being any other way. 

I have grown so much as a person, learned so much, gotten through so much, and experienced so much, I don't know what I'd be like if I'd never come here.

I wouldn't have met Ben.  I wouldn't have made some of the closest friends I think I'm likely to find.  I wouldn't have gotten a 4-year-long dress rehearsal for parenthood.  I wouldn't have learned first hand how difficult kids can be, and I wouldn't know how tough stay-at-home moms have it!  I wouldn't know how challenging, and amazing, and frustrating, and entertaining kids can truly be, yet how different they are!

So, today, I'm most thankful for 4 years worth of memories.  The hugs, the laughter, the tickles, the cuddles, the games, the time-outs, the tests of patience, bath times, bedtimes, singing in the car, watching movies, bowling, going out for ice cream, first steps, first days at school, sleepovers, illness, (did I mention cuddles?), Starbucks, going to lunch, vacations, swimming - everything that you do with kids, are caught off guard with, take for granted - I'm thankful for all of it.  The whole kid package!

Jack and Molly are two of the most amazing little people I ever expect to come in contact with.  They have each changed my life, and I am so thankful for both of them.


*Love you guys*

The Perfect Pillow

I want a good pillow.  Am I crazy?  Have I lost my mind?  Apparently.  I feel like at the end of a stressful day, when all is once again right with the world, I deserve to lay down in my bed with a fluffy pillow cradling my head as I drift off to sleepy land.

Apparently, I dream too big.  A pillow that maintains its shape and firmness?  A pillow that doesn't store and radiate body heat and make me feel like I'm in the damn Sahara Desert?  A pillow that is comfortable without me having to crunch it in half or fold my arm underneath it?  Ha!  Dream on, crazy lady!

Now, I don't know what the standard shelf life of a pillow should be, but we seem to be going through them like toilet paper!  I don't want to throw anyone under the bus...but...my husband is a pillow killer.  Whew, there, I said it.  Boy, does it feel good to get that off my chest.

I just bought us new pillows ($20 each - I splurged!), and he's already broken it down so much that he has a 2nd pillow underneath it to help prop his head up to a comfortable height.  What's a girl to do?  Is there any hope for a simpleton like me who just wants a decent night's sleep without having to spend a fortune on some freaky designer pillow?

I am a firm believer in "you get what you pay for", but honestly, I'm not about to spend $100 on a pillow!  Scratch that, I'm not about to spend $50!!!  Especially because there's no way to test drive a pillow Yes, you can do a test run in the store, but putting the pillow (in its plastic cover) on a nearby shelf and attempting to simulate how heavy your head is when you're lying down will only get you so far (and yes, I've been "that lady" in Bed Bath and Beyond).

I want some pillow expert to come to my rescue.  I want to be told "This is the pillow for you" and know that I can trust that the pillow won't have a visible head imprint after only 2 weeks of use!

I know that this might seem like something completely trivial, but I don't care.  It is starting to affect my life, and I don't like it.  I just want a decent pillow, people!  Is that really too much to ask?

My Husband, My Hero (Again)

Today, I am thankful for my husband, Ben.

Thankful doesn't seem to come anywhere near the right words to describe how grateful I am to have him in my life.  When I need him, he's there.  When I fall, he picks me up.  When I'm sad, he makes me laugh (or at least smile).  And, anyone who has ever had that, knows what a gift it can be, especially in your darkest hours.

Despair is an ugly feeling.  But, I'll admit, over the course of our relationship, I've felt despair more times than I care to admit. 

Between last night and this afternoon, I was feeling it again.  The evil lurking hopelessness seemed to creep up on me, and before I could fight it off, I was wrapped so tight that I was struggling to even see my way out of it.  I was in a hole, unable to fathom what I would need to do to improve my situation, trying hard not to give in to my urge to sit down and give up.

Ben was there for me.  He doesn't always have the right words (and he'll be the first to admit it), but he knows how to be there.  He knows that sometimes I don't even need the right words, or for him to "fix it" (as much as he wishes he could) - but somehow he knows that just by standing by me, offering a gentle touch, and holding me when the tears finally start flowing, that it will make me feel even just a little bit better.

He is my rock, my constant, my saving grace. 

Today, I'm thankful for Ben.  No frilly words, no elaborate phrases - just me fighting my way out from under a cloud to be thankful for the greatest thing that ever happened to me!

*I love you, Patoots*

An Undomestic Goddess

Today I was struck with a cold, hard realization.  I am not domestically inclined.  Scratch that, not only am I not a perfect picture of domesticity (somewhere my mom is trying hard not to laugh), I fear that I am its antithesis.  I don't like to cook, I'll do anything I can think of before I clean, and I'll do laundry only when I'm out of clean underwear. 

This startling truth hit me today while I was using my precious time off to do some (much needed) cleaning.  After vacuuming the bathroom (because apparently in addition to the dog, Ben and I are also shedding), I set to work on our carpeted bedroom, hallway, and family room.


This past Christmas, my mom bestowed upon our humble household, a new vacuum cleaner.  I'm sure, of course, that she was not meaning to imply that our house needed to be vacuumed, that our current vacuum wasn't up to the job, or that without the proper motivation we would likely never vacuum again and slowly bury ourselves in dust, dog hair, and crumbs (though you're getting warm on that one).


This wasn't any old vacuum cleaner.  It was a super-dee-duper one!  I won't get in to what brand or model it is, because, honestly, it doesn't matter.  Suffice it to say, my cousin did research online before purchasing hers a few years ago, and was soon followed by my aunt and my mother.  (Apparently every female in our family needs one of these vacuums)


I will say one thing, it's a cool little sweeper.  It has lights on the front that indicate whether a given spot is clean.  It goes from red (really dirty) to orange (only a little dirty) to green (clean).  Usually when I vacuum, it takes only a few (or a dozen) extensions of my arm to get an area clean.  Even in the areas that belong to the dog, I can get that little green light to appear in well under a minute.


Today, when I fired up the vacuum, I feared that it was malfunctioning, and was already dreading the phone call to my mom wherein I would have to tell her that our brand new, "hardly been used" vacuum was broken.


I swept and swept and swept the same area to find that the damn red light was still staring at me (not even blinking, just staring).  So, I moved on to another spot (fully committed to my "vacuum malfunction" theory), but figuring that at the very least, I was getting the worst of whatever was lurking in the carpet fibers.  Same thing - seconds turned into minutes, and before I knew it, I was LITERALLY dripping with sweat as I ran the vacuum over and over and over the same patches of the floor with no result. 


I emptied the filter, and at one point even sat down with a pointy nail file and cleaned out in between the little filter folds.  Why didn't I just replace the filter?  Well, because we only have a few, and our vacuum has been discontinued (so the filters are hard to find), and oh, yeah, because I'm not domestically inclined!


Long story short, after emptying the filter 6 times (or was it 7?), spending 20 minutes cleaning out filter folds, and sufficiently drenching my shirt with sweat, I did what anyone in my position would do.  I gave up. 

Even though this was the first time I'd encountered a carpet that refused to be cleaned, quite honestly, I don't expect to lose much sleep over the fact that the little green light never made an appearance over the carpet in any spot that we actually walk on.  

While I know how to do laundry, change sheets, even dust furniture (if the occasion calls for it), I (most often), choose not to.  Can you blame me?  Why dust furniture when it's only going to get dusty again?  Why wipe down the counters every single day, knowing that within 24 hours they'll, once again, be covered in spots and crumbs? 

Those of you who are neat freaks are probably about to lose it, so let's just say, if we ever decide to spend time together, it won't be at my house (until, that is, this undomestic goddess hires a cleaning service)!

Leftovers

There are those who look forward to leftovers, who appreciate the thriftiness that they represent, who purposely cook extra food so that they can have it to take to work the next day.

I am not one of these people.

I don't know if I'm recovering from a traumatic event involving leftovers when I was a child, or if it's simply a matter of taste, but in any case, I hate eating leftovers!

In my opinion, there are only a few foods that taste anywhere near edible the next day (or God forbid, 2 days later), and Lord knows, I can't sustain an existence on pizza, beef stroganoff, and Thanksgiving dinner (as much as I'd like to).

While I can usually control the portions that get cooked at home (aside from the fact that I'm married to a man who would eat nothing but leftovers if he could), the hardest is going out to eat.

There is nothing worse than having your server come to your table at the end of the meal, take a look at your plate, an ask if you'd like a box.

"Yes, please", I hear myself say, rather than "Hell no!  Don't you know that this box will simply take up space in my refrigerator for the next 2 weeks before I remember that it's in there, and by the time I get around to digging it out from the corner that it's been banished to, the food in the sacred to-go box will be completely unrecognizable, not to mention have the capability to clear a room in 10 seconds from the smell it emits."

But, I always take my box of leftovers, smiling politely as we exit the restaurant, wanting nothing more than to dump it in the closest trash can, before heading home to a guilt-free evening, completely devoid of conversations involving "do you want to take the leftovers for lunch tomorrow?"

I know that leftovers are the unavoidable result of eating - you cook too much, you're not as hungry as you thought you were, any number of reasons that we find ourselves reaching for the Tupperware at the end of a meal, but really, they're such a pain. 

Apparently I'm missing the part of my brain that tells me to prepare less food, or says "no, don't order that, you'll never finish it", but it seems that I've learned to ignore it!  So, until I master the sacred art of preparing food for 2 (or eating everything on my plate at a restaurant), I'll have to try my best to embrace the dreaded leftovers.

Sharing Custody Of The Remote

I consider myself to have fairly eclectic taste in tv shows and movies.  Comedy, romance, drama, action, documentary - I like it all!

Ben and I have a variety of shows that we record on DVR, and we're constantly "trying out" new programs. 

NCIS, Franklin & Bash, Psych, Happy Endings, Deadliest Catch, Seinfeld - these are just a few of the shows that we watch on a regular basis.  (Yes, I realize that we probably watch too much tv)

Of course, we do mix in a more unusual collection of shows - Hollywood Treasure, Pawn Stars, Storage Wars, My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding - the kind of "reality/documentary" programming that offers just enough information to be interesting, and just enough drama to be entertaining!

While I know there are shows that Ben just isn't interested in (and in my defense, I only watch Bridezillas when I'm bored and can't find anything else), I find that there are more and more things that he watches that I'm just not into. 

Case in point - Hogs Gone Wild, Swamp People, and BBQ Pit Masters.  I don't get it!  With the exception of BBQ Pit Masters, I find that I don't even want to be in the room while he's watching his shows.  While I accept the validity in what the people on the shows are doing - tracking down wild hogs that are destroying neighborhoods and are a danger to the community, or hunting alligators in order to pay their bills and feed their families - I just don't want to watch it!

Even now, as I sit writing this blog, he is in the next room watching Swamp People with a level of enthusiasm that concerns me!

I realize that when you share a life and a home with someone, there are going to be times when you have to let your partner have their way.  You have to eat foods that maybe aren't your favorite, you have to allow him to sleep with the window open and 3 fans running during the night in order to control the temperature in the room (that's a topic for another time), and sometimes, you watch a tv show or a movie that you're just not interested in. 

While I realize these things, that doesn't mean I have to like it!  So, I'll just hide out in the kitchen or the bedroom until the alligator shooting, tooth missing, incomprehensible folks on Swamp People wrap things up until next week.

Thankful For...

It's sometimes hard to remember to appreciate the simple pleasures in life.  I am as guilty of this as anyone.  I've tried, over the past weeks and months, to step back, take stock, and enjoy.  It's not always easy, and there are times when life's challenges make finding something to be happy about seem like an all but impossible task.

But, here I am, on Thankful Thursday, finding something to, once again, be thankful for.

I've always loved to read.  As a kid, I would keep a pile of books next to my bed, and after I'd been tucked in, would sneak a book under the covers with a flashlight so that I could spent just a few more minutes in whatever world the book transported me to.  I can completely lose myself wandering around a bookstore, browsing the titles, reading descriptions on the back covers, and contemplating a purchase (or purchases). When going on vacation, my dilemma isn't what clothes to pack, it's what books to bring.

No matter what the genre, the author (though I have my favorites), or the circumstance, I am always thankful for a good book! 

I've been lucky enough to read several good books in the last several months.  It's always satisfying to pick up a book and feel instantly invested in the story, the characters, and not want to put it down.  I'm famous for reading before bed and thinking to myself "I'll just read one more chapter", and before I know it, I've been reading for 2 hours.  Those are the books that I crave! 

Even better are the ones that make me laugh out loud!  Denis Leary's book Why We Suck: A Feel Good Guide To Staying Fat, Loud, Lazy and Stupid, was just such a book.  When I was reading it, I kept Ben awake with my constant laughing, and drove him crazy as I tried to explain what was so funny about what I was reading.  I just started another book a few nights ago that is, so far, proving to be just as funny. 

Of course, not all books need to make you pee your pants to be worth reading.  Some are meaningful, some are suspenseful, and a good one usually leaves you wanting more. 

Whether I'm floating in the pool on a sunny Saturday afternoon, flying cross country, or reading "just a few pages" before going to bed - I'm always thankful for a good book!

P.S.  If you haven't read Heaven Is For Real, you should!  I read about it in People Magazine and after finding it in Target, read it in one day.  It's a wonderful true story about a little boy who, after a life threatening illness and surgery, describes to his parents how angels sang to him, what Jesus was like, and who he met during his brief trip to heaven.  Incredible!

If Only I Ran The World...

Oh, if only I ran the world!

Don't we all feel that way from time to time?  I can't count how many times in any given week I think to myself "if only I ran the world..." when faced with the kind of irrational, irresponsible, or flat out idiotic behavior that makes me want to pull out my hair and scream in frustration.

You know those moments - someone runs a red light and there is no cop around, you deal with an idiot on the phone about some ridiculous insurance claim that there is no way to fix, or you see a loved one in a tough spot and you can't do anything about it.

Certainly, if they could see it my way, they would agree that I'm right.  That is a stupid policy, Mrs. Insensitive and Uninterested Insurance Claim Representative.  You belong in jail, Mr. Drive Through A Red Light And Look At Me Like It's My Fault That I Almost Hit You.  You shouldn't have told my dad that he can keep driving, Dr. He's Not Impaired Enough To Revoke Driving Privileges. (And the list goes on)

That's when I wish I could just slap on my "Mrs. Fix-It" hat, push up my sleeves, and dive right in to attempt to right the wrongs, correct the course, or simply give someone the slap to the back of the head that they need.

Unfortunately, I don't have a "Mrs. Fix-It" hat.  I can't dive right in (especially with complete strangers), and even with benevolent intentions, I fear that a slap to the back of the head would send the wrong message.

What's a soul to do?  Pray for enlightenment? (For them, because clearly I'm right).  Argue until I'm blue in the face?  Scream in frustration, hoping that it will ease the pain of perfection that I've been cursed with?

Now, I realize that I'm not perfect, and I realize that some things just can't be fixed.  There will always be idiots, there will always be injustices in the world that drive us crazy, and there will certainly always be situations without solutions.  Such is life.

I need to channel my energy on things that I can control, rather than focus on the impossible situations and those around me that I can't change (even if I am convinced that a slap to the back of the head would be beneficial).

Again, if only I ran the world...

Baby Fever

Let me start by saying, no, I'm not pregnant!

But, apparently, I'm the only one.  I feel like I can't log onto Facebook, or email with a friend, or pick up the phone without hearing news that someone is pregnant (sometimes for the second or third time). 

Is there something in the water?

Of course, I couldn't be happier for my friends as they march into the next phase of their lives - parenthood.  I've enjoyed seeing pictures of growing baby bumps, shots of grandparents holding newborns in the hospital, and the monthly images of the little ones as they grow.  Sometimes I can't believe that the people that I've known for years (or decades, in some cases) are mommies and daddies!

I went through this a few years ago, except it wasn't babies, it was weddings.  Older relatives and friends of mine told me that it would happen, and sure enough, it did.  There was about a 2 year period when it seemed that EVERYONE was getting married. 

Now, it seems that we are entering another phase - everyone has been married for a few years, so now it's time for the babies. 

Confession: For several years, I didn't think I wanted kids.  I've always loved them, I'd just never had that moment of "oh, I want a baby", and I figured that until I felt that, I wouldn't have any.  Well, 2 Christmases ago, for no reason whatsoever, I had my moment.  It just hit me, out of the blue, that yes, I wanted for Ben and I to have a family.

We'd only been married for a few months at that point, so obviously we decided to put it on a back burner for a while. 

Now, coming up on our 2nd anniversary, and feeling like "it's time", I can't help but be a little jealous of all my friends who have been lucky enough to start their families already. 

I realize that when you get married at 28, you don't necessarily have the option of being married for several years before having kids (especially when you'd like to be done by the time you're' 35!) 

The last year or so has been so crazy, we've had so many things stacked against us, and with another few months of chaos ahead, that while we've been "ready", we just keep putting it off.  

So, I find myself caught between a rock and a hard place.  Caught between my desire to start a family, and my need to make sure that we are smart about the timing.  I know that there's "no good time to have a baby", I just need to figure out if there is a "bad time" to have a baby.

*Sigh*

I'm Thankful...

Oh, the things we take for granted.  Apparently I've been doing too much of that, because the universe just handed me an unpleasant reminder of how lucky I am to have the modern conveniences that we sometimes forget to be thankful for.

Anyone that has been reading this (or my Facebook updates) knows that over the weekend, our AC broke.  Ordinarily this wouldn't have been such a big deal, except for the fact that it happened during the hottest week of the year, so far.  We had temperatures over 100 degrees, and our house was averaging about 90 during the day. 

Finally, yesterday, after a whole lot of brain damage and half a week of discomfort, we have a new AC unit up and running, and our house is a cool and comfortable 76 degrees!

So, not surprising, today I'm thankful for air conditioning! 

I know it might sound silly - who wouldn't be thankful for that, especially in the middle of the summer.  But when you've gone without it for 4 days, haven't had the luxury of walking in the house out of the blistering heat to feel that rush of cool air greet you, and have sat in the evenings praying for a breeze (or at least that the sweat would stop dripping down your back), you begin to see things a little differently. 

Aside from the inconvenience of having to live life in an oven, I had my grand plans of productivity dashed before my very eyes.  I'm sure there are people in the world who could rise above the heat, push up their sleeves, march into a room with no AC and dive right in to the organizing and packing that I had planned on doing this week, but I am not that person.  The heat got the best of me.

Perhaps this was a reminder that we take too many things for granted, or that we simply forget that not everyone has what we have.

Either way, message received!  I'm thankful for our air conditioning, as well as the rest of the modern conveniences that I could spend 10 minutes listing out. 

I'm All Out

You know those days when you can't seem to get ahead?  One thing goes wrong, (maybe not even wrong, just off plan) then another thing happens, and pretty soon, your day has completely gotten away from you and you're wishing you could just curl up in a corner and have a good cry. 

That was me today.  I just couldn't seem to catch a break! 

I won't indulge in the laundry list of things that seemed to knock the wind out of me today (beginning with the kid at Starbucks who didn't make my frappuccino a decaf as requested and left me feeling jumpy all day), but suffice it to say, this evening I'm out.  I'm out of whatever it is that gives you the strength to pick yourself up for another round, whatever it is that allows you to laugh (or at least smile) at life and move on.  

It just wasn't my day.

I feel like a truck has run me over, I've been knocked down from behind, and after an already not-so-great start to the week, I just don't think I have the energy to pick myself up again.

The worst part of all?  Most of what went wrong today was completely out of my control.  I was handcuffed and forced to just take what was thrown at me.  Don't want to deal with this?  Too bad!  Have your own list of things to do?  Hahaha, better luck next time!  

Tomorrow will be better...I hope.  Odds are it won't be much worse than today, and that's saying something!  For now, I'll just relax, recharge the batteries, and think of something to be thankful for tomorrow.

Productivity Delay (due to weather)

This was to be my productive week.  Lots of sorting, organizing, and preparing for the move - truly taking advantage of my time off.  Ah, such are the best laid plans of mice and men.  There's always a snag, always something unforeseen that throws a wrench into things, somehow the darn fly finds the ointment. 

We were having a nice relaxing holiday weekend, looking forward to a productive week ahead, when it happened.  Sitting at home Sunday evening, I commented to Ben that it seemed warm.  He checked the thermostat, announced that it was almost 80 degrees in the house, and reset the AC to something a little more comfortable.  As the evening went on, we ended up opening windows and doors, letting in the cooler night breezes before we went to bed.

Monday morning, when we woke up, our room (which is usually on the warm side) was positively gross - it was as if we were sleeping in an oven.  After fiddling around with the AC for several minutes, we realized that it wasn't working - sure, it was running, but absolutely no cool air was blowing in the house.

Fortunately for us, Monday was only slightly warmer than the previous recorded temperature at a balmy 104 degrees (insert sarcastic tone here).  Being that it was a holiday, we knew that we'd just have to make the best of it until a repair man could be reached on Tuesday.  And so, we slowly baked ourselves in the house.  Figuring that it was better than being outside in the 104 degree heat and sun, we kept on the bare minimum and sat as still as possible, silently willing the sweat to stop pouring off of us.  Finally, we'd had enough and went to a friend's house to cool off and watch fireworks - I swear, air conditioning never felt so good!

This morning, I was up bright and early (probably because our house felt something like a sauna) and placed a phone call to the air conditioning repair man that Susan and Jerry have used in the past.  Not to my surprise, when I spoke to a woman about setting up an appointment, I was advised that he probably wouldn't be able to make it to our house until Thursday (possibly tomorrow, but she's not promising anything).  Dag nabbit!  I know Thursday doesn't seem like a long way off, but when you're sitting in a pool of your own sweat, praying for a cool breeze to sweep through the windows to lower the temperature even a few precious degrees, it feels like an eternity.

Now, I consider myself a fairly resilient person, but at some point, you have to draw the line.  It's not so much that I was looking for an excuse to not be productive this week, but when I'm faced with the prospect of doing major cleaning, sorting, organizing, etc. in a house that is averaging 90 degrees during the day, I'll have to pass.  Some things just have to wait, have to be put on hold, and are less important than not suffering heat stroke!

We are left, in the meantime, to the mercy of the AC repair man - please come soon, we're melting!


P.S.  Can you guess what I'm going to be thankful for on Thursday???

Much Needed Days Off!

This week I will be enjoying a much needed "stay-cation". 

Susan, Jerry and the kids are in Maine for a family reunion, Ben will be working, and I will be splitting my time (hopefully) between productivity and relaxation.

We have soooo much to do before we move - closets need to be packed, paperwork (long neglected in an ever-growing pile on the desk) needs to be sorted and filed, items not coming with us to Ohio need to be donated - in short, I've got my work cut out for me. 

So, my plan for the week will be to complete a small project each day, and then reward myself with a little time in the pool.  There is nothing better than floating around a clear blue pool on a hot sunny day with a glass of ice water and a good book (especially after a few hours of hard work) - that will be me this week!

I know that we still have more than a month before we move, but almost as soon as I catch myself thinking "We can do that later", or "That can wait", a little voice (sometimes in the form of Ben or my mom) reminds me that it will be so much easier to do this in stages, rather than run myself ragged for the week leading up to the move.

And so, I will be productive, I will stay on task, and I will certainly look forward each day to my reward of pool floating, book reading, and quiet relaxation!