Lots To Do Today...

Well, since we have to be out of our apartment on Thursday.....I have LOTS of things to do!!!

I guess I'll start with one day at a time, so today (Saturday) my list is:

Clean the kitchen
(I already loaded the dishwasher and scoured the sink clean)
Clean out the van, except for stuff to go to charity
Wash, dry, fold and put away ALL laundry.
Give dog a bath.
Wash dog's bedding.
Clean bathrooms
Dust and Vacuum and Mop all needed areas

Oy, this is just to get prepared to pack stuff up!!! But if I can actually get all of this done, then the packing won't take long at all. (Luckily, in some ways, we have stuff in storage that's already packed, just needs re-taped and stuck in a truck!) I can't wait to be settled...

Saying Goodbye...

Is hard to do!!!

I dropped the kids off at the preschool at lunch time and headed for the BBQ at my principal's house. (HUGE house and HUGE yard, by the way----absolutely gorgeous place!!!) It was fun hanging out with everyone "one last time" in a casual, non-school setting. After the BBQ, I headed over to Christina's house (after picking up the kids too, of course) and we hung out and just had a good time chillin' with each other for part of the evening. Why the heck didn't we do this sooner? Why did we wait until I'm leaving to start hanging out? Oh well, at least we're still in the state, so it's very possible to visit and hang out in the future. Several people said they go to New Smyrna or places like that a lot, so there are definite possibilities for visits then too.

I just loved my job and co-workers. It will be hard to duplicate that one again, but hopefully wherever I end up for employment, there will still be a similar sense of comraderie. I even got a hug from my principal before I left, which really surprised me, but was really cool. (She comes across as being pretty proper and all, but she is a great principal and does her job very well!)

If only I could commute (as Christina keeps suggesting) or move my school to the other coast, that would be perfect!

Bittersweet...

Okay, if you by chance looked at my previous blog, you'll see why I haven't been online much in the past week!!! Goodness! But now all of that crazy schedule is behind me, and it was kind of hard to let "now" go and allow it to become "then"!

I really loved the school I worked for, and loved the teams of teachers I worked with as well! They are some great ladies, who I've been able to call friends, and I know that even now I can turn to them for support, or an ear to listen if needed. One teacher is a YP wife too, and she's a total trip! I made a "wanted" poster of her with a bunch of info her loving hubby passed on about her, made 50 copies and had them hanging ALL over the school...along with the one I made blown-up and had laminated and had hanging on the main door to the school office!!! hehe Her reaction was classic, but I think even funnier was me running from the window and tripping and rolling across the floor in hysterical laughter!!! I finished up doing stuff for my teachers and I cleaned out my file cabinet and work room, I was surprised to only be carting two boxes of junk home. Not too bad. I got a pretty orchid from one of my teams (along with a gift card for when we move...to restock our pantry), and the other night at Outback the other team gave me a card with a cash gift, of an undisclosed amount inside. I was appreciated, I worked hard, and I am sad to be leaving that "job"---because it wasn't a job, it was fun and I enjoyed every minute of it (except for lunch duty, but you're crazy if you like being a cafeteria monitor for about 300 kids and only having one other grown-up working there at the same time!!!).

This afternoon I finished at my daughter's preschool (worked there to help pay the tuition), and even though I dreaded being there, it was a little hard to realize that this was the last time I'd get to see some of those little cuties!

So now, I am officially unemployed...that feels kind of strange. But I know that the right job will open up and life will go on. Tomorrow is a BBQ at my (former) principal's house, and the kids will go to the preschool while I'm there, and so I might have a harder time realizing it's "totally over" after that!

The new "agenda" is to pack, purge and move...pray our "home" will be nailed down in the next few days, because I think it's going to take a miracle to get it all worked out! (But what's new, right? We've been at our wits' end and then God comes through, so I'm sure He will now too!!!)

Baby's Going to Kindergarten!!!

Elisabeth had her preschool graduation tonight. She was really excited and then when she was onstage, she started fussing for me. I was able to get her calmed down and then she was the best one up there doing all of the hand motions!!! Can't believe my "baby" is going to Kindergarten in August!!!

Here's one of her pictures from the evening...

Crazy times....

how am I supposed to be ready to move?!?

Here's my schedule for the next little bit...
Wednesday (today): work 7:30-3:00, tutor 3:00-4:00, kids to the pool 4:30-5:30 (and hubby out of town)
Thursday: work 7:30-3:00, tutor 3:00-3:30, work at preschool 3:45-6:15, Elisabeth's preschool graduation 6:30-??? (and hubby has a meeting, so not coming home as planned)
Friday: work 7:30-3:00, tutor 3:00-3:30, work at preschool 3:45-6:15 (hubby should be home when we get home)
Saturday: 2:00-4:00 Nick's going-away get together w/ friends at the pool (otherwise, cleaning and packing may commence today!)
Sunday: hubby leave house by 6:00, kids and I leave house at 7:00 to go to new church, 9:45 worship service (yes, it's over a 2 hour drive there...), afternoon (sometime) is the church picnic followed by another 2 hour drive home arriving "whenever"
Monday: work 7:30-3:00, tutor 3:00-4:00, dinner with co-workers 7:00 (kids at sitter's, hubby gone again)
Tuesday: work 7:30-3:00, tutor 3:00-4:00 (wow, nothing else scheduled yet?!?)(and hubby out of town)
Wednesday: work 7:30-3:00 (LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!), Nick might spend night with buddy, work at preschool 3:30-6:00(and hubby out of town)
Thursday: work 7:30-3:00, (luncheon for all school staff & my last day at work), work at preschool 3:30-6:00 (last day for that too)(and hubby out of town)

Yup, well that's my schedule for the next week or so.... and we're supposed to move in two weeks!!! OY!!!

Okay.......going to take a nap now, though I did enjoy our hour at the pool this afternoon, very nice and relaxing!!! :)

Paralyzing Procrastination...Paralyzing Perfectionism...WHICH IS IT?!?

I'm one of the world's worst procrastinators, and I admit that. I won't go to the extreme of saying I'm "the" world's worst, I'm sure there are people out there who are even more so than I! But on top of that, I'm also a perfectionist. At work I've been labeled "The Overachiever"...but really I'm the classic underachiever, at least in my mind. If only I could get motivated to do stuff outside of work the way I do my job, then I'd definitely be an Overachieving Perfectionist, but at home and in my personal life I'm an Underachieving Procrastinator. I'm the epitome of an oxymoron I guess, or maybe I'm just a moron! hehe The problem is that "if it's worth doing at all, it's worth doing right" and I haven't had time to do things to the level of "right" that I "have" to do them, so they just go undone.

Anyway, with half of the month over, we have only half of the month left to find a place to live. Not to mention the fact that I have a stack of folded up boxes leaning against the wall in the corner of my living room ready to be filled. I haven't dropped off the stuff to charity that's been sitting in my van for 3 weeks, I haven't been to my storage unit to take stuff I KNOW is going to charity out and get it out of the way. I work best when under pressure, and I fear that I'm seeing that pattern happening in this situation, even though with all that is in me I want this move to go smoothely and un-stressed and un-last-minute. "If only" I didn't "have" to work... "If only" I weren't tutoring... "If only" I weren't working two evenings at the preschool for that discount in tuition... "If only".....yeah right, just more excuses, or are they good reasons for me not to be motivated to work my butt off when I get home after being my usual "overachieving" self all day?

Jerry's gone, so I'm "single mom". When he comes home, it's my "day off" but instead of getting stuff done, we're trying to make up for the lost time we missed while he was away. I guess we'd better just start ignoring the "family time" and buckle down on the organization for the move, and wait to catch up on the family time when June comes, right? But that's hard to do when we've been without our "Honey/Daddy" for several days and nights!!! Like now, he left a day early because of a youth event...next week he'll have one less evening here because of a church administration meeting. Oh, and next Saturday is Nick's "belated birthday/going away" swim party...yeah, I'll get lots of packing/organizing done next weekend, won't I? Especially since I'm planning to take the kids to our new church next Sunday for worship and the church picnic.

Okay, I guess I need to go and start making a list. Maybe I can actually get "something" done around here if I had an idea of where I should start...there's so much it's just overwhelming. But I'll tackle it like I would eat an elephant..."one bite at a time." I just hope I can stomach all of it!!!

Change Is Good...It's Transition That's A Pain!

Okay, I know it's been awhile since I posted and all, but it's been crazy busy lately and there's no end in sight to the insanity!!!

Yes, Jerry got the position and has now started!!! (Been there for 1 1/2 weeks now...) Here's a pic of the main sanctuary, I just love the old Spanish Mission style architecture, and when you're inside, it feels like you can go back in time and visualize the young families in the 1920's sitting there worshipping God!


So May 1, Jerry left around 6 a.m. to drive to DL and arrived there before the 1st service. I was "supposed" to leave around 7-7:30 a.m. to arrive in time for the 2nd service (9:45 a.m.)...yeah right!!! Kids didn't cooperate, needed to get gas in the van, sloooooooooow cashier at the convenience store, and then fairly uneventful trip up I-75 to Wildwood. I'm driving along SR 42 and Elisabeth states that she "can wait until we get there to go potty." (Yeah, we're still almost an hour or so away, but...okay!) Driving along, driving along...STOP!!! Traffic was at a stand-still in my lane for a good 15 minutes (so much for the GREAT time I was making!!!) because a semi had overturned and spilled out cases of bottled orange juice all over the road. AND...as we're sitting there, Elisabeth says her tummy hurts and starts coughing...great here we go!!! She ended up getting car sick WHILE WE WERE STOPPED!!! (sheesh!!!) We finally got there, but were 20 minutes late to the 2nd service, so I ducked into Jerry's office with the kids and we just hung out there until it was time for the 3rd service.

We had a really good day, ate at Sonny's with the pastor and his family (minus their son), had a nice reception held for us in the church parlor, and ended the evening having pizza with the youth group, playing a cool variation of "fruit basket turnover" and a short worship set followed by Jerry speaking for a little bit. I drove home with the kids and we went on with our everyday lives in WC, minus "Daddy".

Week one went by fairly smoothly here, just had a hard time sleeping to such a quiet place! I'm used to at least hearing the TV going or typing on the computer if Jerry's not in bed next to me, what a weird feeling that was!!! He came home Thursday evening, just before the kids went to bed. (Took them awhile to calm down!) He came by the school and picked up Nick after lunch to go see "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"...I wanted to see it too...(said in my whiniest voice possible)!!! We hung out most of the weekend, watched "Pirates of the Carribbean" and ate pizza. Ate out at "Los Vallartas" (two days late) in honor of Cinco de Mayo.

For Mother's Day, I got a new earring for my upper ear, and Jerry said to get some new clothes...I ended up buying nothing b/c I didn't like anything I saw. (Trying to get some extra poundage off before summer, can buy clothes later!) On Mother's Day, Jerry was told to stay home since our new church wasn't having anything but morning worship services that day. We attended our old church, St. James UMC, one last time as a family, and went to Applebee's for dinner. The kids got me a card and an African violet and a lily, both were so pretty!!! I needed to get some plants, I left mine at our old placee when we moved last summer....

Jerry headed back to DL on Sunday evening, to get caught up on some other necessary "business" and thus started another week of dealing with the transition...

Monday I had a migraine, skipped work, kept the kids home and they fended for themselves (actually did well, didn't trash the place much at all!!!) while I slept until 3:30 p.m.!!! I woke up with my headache still around on Tuesday, but went to work anyway. It's been a crazy week at school, and I have a list about long as the coast of Florida of things to do to get ready for our move....man, I can't wait for summer and getting settled into our new place (wherever that might be)...

So here I sit, week two of this crazy month, and hoping I can get through it without forgetting anything major, and getting everything done that needs to be accomplished! I just can't wait to get back to "work" in helping out with church stuff, I'm so excited about our new church family and getting involved there! Everyone seems to be so great...