Skip to main content

The Ends Are Tying Themselves

Just a few weeks ago, my life seemed in such a state of disarray, I couldn't drag myself out of bed in the morning. The school year was wrapping up. My much anticipated vacation was canceled. We couldn't seem to find a home we both liked. Our bank account was about to reach the point in the year when it would only decrease. The strain of holding "it" all together was just a little too overwhelming so I slept. And slept. And slept. If you know me, that's all you really need to know because you understand that if I'm getting more than six hours of sleep a night, something is wrong.

The time I wasn't sleeping, I was praying that everything would work out exactly the way it was supposed to. I wasn't worried because I knew it would. It seems like all those little loose ends are finally tying themselves together. This week, I've managed to find two positions in the area where we will be moving. I applied for a loan so we can purchase the property we've been eying. We sign the loan papers tomorrow. The homeowner accepted our offer, so we will now also have a little bit of cash to start some of the repairs on the place...and she wants to be out of there by August. I've discovered that the world won't collapse if I stand up for myself and fight back every once and a while. I think my greatest accomplishment so far, though, has been my own little landscaping project around our dining room. I actually bought and planted some lovely Mexican Petunias, Sweet Potato Vine, and Diamond Frost there today.

So once again, I made it through this dip in the roller coaster of my life. Now it's on to the next one, which will consist of telling my boss about the move, turning down a position, starting some wicked home repairs, and preparing myself to leave behind my beloved home. This will all nicely coincide with a new school year in a new district. There's wonder in here somewhere, and I intend to find it.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

A Restless Soul

Someone recently told me that I have an impulsive streak. ("Just an observation, not a criticism.") My initial reaction was to vehemently deny that statement despite the fact that I had just confessed to walking into Total Wine and buying $200 worth of wine just because it seemed like a good idea at 11:00 on a Thursday morning. Me? Impulsive? Don't answer that, especially if you know the truth. I shared this with my therapist yesterday and his eyes lit up when I said, "I think I have a restless soul." The fact that his eyes lit up is significant since we spend most of my sessions arguing with each other about ideas like whether or not a book he recommended is filled with psychobabble bullsh*t or why I should do a bit more thinking with my heart instead of my head. For once, he agreed with me and quickly pointed out that this is not necessarily a bad trait. In fact, it's what stirs my needs to explore and to write. It's also the reason why I don't, by...

So Not the Party Girl

In an effort to be more social, I agreed to participate in the first annual cookie exchange at work this morning. I've never done an cookie exchange before, and that fact alone didn't bode well for my social phobia, perfectionist tendencies, and leeriness about eating food from other people's kitchens. But I persevered. My grandmother recommended her favorite cookie recipe (which is actually a cake recipe--cut into bars). Last night I whipped up a delightful batch and licked the icing bowl clean...after I spread the bulk of it on the cookies. I wrapped everything in some plastic bowls and topped them with a Christmas bow. All was well until I was 1 dozen cookies short. At 10:45 last night I drove 7 miles to the nearest store (Walgreens) and then drove another mile to the Winn-Dixie for powdered sugar. I washed dishes as I listened to Letterman, and I was finally in bed around 12:30. And up again at 4:45. The cookie exchange was DELIGHTFUL. I laughed as I sipped black coffee...

Gators and Bees and Snakes...Oh My!

Let me preface this by pointing out that we have a deaf, epileptic Great Dane, a one-eyed cat, and a slew of young cats outside that we just haven't been able to part with. Love for animals abounds here. It seems we have a critter fest going on around here lately. In mid-September there was the Great Goose Massacre courtesy of a visiting alligator. Two weeks ago we had the Invasion of the Bees that left nearly 100 dead bees in its wake. Last week was the Demise of the Rattler. Alan heard a strange sound when he walked out on the porch last Sunday. He thought at first that it was a large dragonfly caught in the screen. It turns out that it was a rattle snake, coiled up and ready to strike. He says that he will never get the rattling sound out of his head, but I think he was a bit more freaked out at the thought of watching one of the kittens get struck by the snake. (Bonsai was apparently completely willing to risk his life to investigate the snake.) His first words to me when he pi...