Ten More on Tuesday

Ah...why not?



1) We have still not heard anything from "the job". Which means to us that they have offered it to someone else and are waiting for confirmation from them before they set Jeff loose. I am...extraordinarily relieved. And sad. But mostly relieved. This would have been a very good move in the long term. But in the short term it would have been utter and complete misery. Jeff is keeping a stiff upper lip, but I can tell from some side comments that it hurts his feelings to not get picked. Even though there are so many non-personal reasons for them to choose someone else...someone cheaper, someone they don't have to relocate, someone that already knows the products this company makes. So the search begins again...and heaven only knows where we'll end up a year from now.



2) My friend Carrie called me for my birthday. I have been reading her blog and commenting on Facebook, but I don't think I've actually talked to her for about 3 years. Did you know that she has a delightful southern drawl? By the end of the conversation, I kind of wished that I had a pleasant way of speaking. And it makes me wonder what some of these other bloggers sound like in person. You feel like you know a person from reading their thoughts every couple of days, but in fact you don't even know the basic tenor of their voice. Strange. Except that I SHOULD have known and remembered Carrie's voice, since I was basically her neighbor for 18 months. Whatever. We talked for an HOUR and made me remember how much I loved living in Louisville.



3) Jeff is leaving for Vegas on Friday morning EARLY and will not be back until LATE Sunday night. Which leaves me scrambling for what to do with the children other than tie them up in the basement and eat bon bons. As we were drifting off to sleep last night, he says, "Oh. Work is sending me to Chicago next Tuesday, and I thought I might stay longer to visit one of the nearby plants." I responded the way any logical wife would. I slept on it, giving him no indication that I was stewing all night long. And then I pounced this morning, with this very speech, "You know, I think you should go to your friend's wedding the first weekend of October, and the fencing tournament in Cincinnati too. Because you obviously don't think you are needed around here, and since work is already planning on sending you to Mexico and then Brazil, that's 2 more weeks you'll be gone in the next several months. Maybe I should just move back to Ohio and you visit us when we fit into your busy social/work schedule." And then I broke into tears muttering how I didn't like being a single parent and stuck at home all the time with my support system 600 miles away, etc etc. And he sat there with his cereal spoon frozen halfway to his mouth looking at me like the crazy person I am. Good communication is the key to a happy marriage.



4) I am so excited for Andrew to start school. This year he gets to eat lunch with his friends, have art and PE, and all this other fun stuff. His teacher sent out a test e-mail yesterday to see if they worked, and I counted 20 students total. Only 8 boys. And then I went to the school website, and his teacher's page is already filled with information about the first few weeks of school, a letter for the parents and a letter for the students. As I read the letter to the students with Andrew, I seriously choked up. "We're going to do a lot of fun things this year, but don't worry. I'm here to help you whenever you need it." And I'm crying. What is wrong with me? I kicked his little bootie onto the Kindergarten bus without a sniffle. I sent him to pre-school with no issues. But this all day school thing is tripping me up BIG TIME. And then next year all the kids will have school, and then a few years after that? I'll need a new excuse to have a sticky kitchen floor and dusty window sills. -sigh- All part of that scheduled mid-life crisis, I suppose.



5) I got an e-mail from a friend of mine who sends her kids to the local Catholic school. She was just letting me know that their school librarian quit, and they need a new one PRONTO. I mentioned it to Jeff and he thought I should just go for it, and we pay for the kids to go to daycare for a few years so I can get my foot in the door. To which I said, "I thought you were finding a new job and moving us." He said, "Well, probably." End of conversation. Also? I don't think he knows how expensive daycare would be for 2 little ones...



6) Michael is taking off with his pretend play. He's always cooking in his kitchen, or using our pretend tools to fix furniture around the house, or taking his matchbox cars on little adventures around the house. This weekend I even caught him playing with Lily's doll house. He was making the mommy doll and daddy doll fly. "Ma! Fie!" He loves carrying around Lily's velvet Snow White purse as well. But he carries Matchbox cars around in it, so that butches it up a bit. Kind of like when Lily used to play house with Andrew's football figurines...making it their own.

7) I am in a cooking rut. I think I'm going to actually have to learn how to use the grill. With Jeff being gone so much and when he is here getting home so late, my normal summer routine is just thrown off. I purposefully have avoided using the grill because it gives me an excuse to not have to cook dinner (just all the side dishes). But then again, maybe it won't solve anything. Cooking for myself and then hearing everyone complain about it isn't very motivating. And I don't want to eat chicken nuggets all the time...ugh.

8) Apparently, I am just in a summer snit. I think I need to just accept that our family dynamics are changing...we are becoming a family where the dad is just not around as much. I was spoiled for years and years having Jeff home in the evenings and weekends. And he isn't traveling that much, I suppose, so I just need to get over myself, pick up my bootstraps and change my thinking. It isn't HIS fault that he's gone so much...I guess I'll just have to compensate for him being gone without having anyone to blame. Not my speciality. ;) I like having a scapegoat to bitch about.

9) We still haven't painted the trim around the edge of the kitchen. No excuse except for laziness. Perhaps I'll get industrious while Jeff's gone in the next week. It's ridiculous how these things just don't bother either of us.

10) My addiction to House Hunters and Property Virgins is apparently linked to the thought of an impending move. Once Friday came and there was no call about Jeff's potential job, I lost all desire to watch all the ones I had on DVR. So I guess if you want to know the status of Jeff's job hunt, just ask me what I've got saved on my DVR. Lord help us all if I start taping The Baby Story again. :)