Party On

Well, this is going to be short and sweet. Josh is leaving for San Francisco tomorrow morning for almost an entire week (I get him back Thursday night), so I’m clearly in emergency mode. The house is clean, Eli’s clothes are set out, my lunches and breakfasts are packed, but I’m still freaking out. I’ll have to get up at 5:30 every day once again just to make sure I’m ready before he’s up. Now that he’s mobile I have to watch him a little better. Instead of sitting there playing sweetly with his toys he’s crawling around, dumping my craft baskets and pulling on wires. This, granted, happens when two people are watching him. Say a prayer for me. I’m counting down to the 2nd. Well, say a prayer for all of us. Josh, Eli, and I literally all have ear infections. Hooray!  Eli: Week 37 I had a big week. I started crawling, I can sit up on my own from lying down and I even stand up in my crib when I want to get out. I figured out how to use my walker and am cruising around the house. ...

What a fun weekend! Yesterday Josh, Eli and I went apple-picking for the first time. Breeden’s Orchard was perfect (even if it was in the 80’s). We picked 9 pounds of apples and bought some fresh blackberry jam for a mere $15. Eli was up in the action trying to eat an apple, successfully picking his own leaf, and breaking hearts everywhere. What a little cutie! Next year though, I think we’ll try to get there opening weekend. There were quite a few fully picked trees. After we went to Kavanagh’s Irish Pub and pretty much pigged out on banger’s and mash, fish and chips, and Bailey’s cheesecake. Eli was the perfect little boy. He only tried to pull down a giant, candle-laden object once. We also stopped by Essex, which conveniently is right next to Kavanagh’s, and bought him his own little V-tech walker. That boy is obsessed. He loves it! We also got a Poppin’ Park Elephant for $12 which I was excited about until I got home. All but one of the balls is missing! Geesh. Replacement ba...

Y’all, I think Kito is dying. He’s been coughing up a storm and wheezing! I mean, we all know he’s an obese little dog so he’s been wheezing for a long time but lately it’s not just after running or getting excited. Being alive seems to tax him, but I can’t do it! I don’t want to put him down. Pray that he’s just got seasonal allergies. But seriously- pray that he gets better. I don’t want my pup to go.   On an unrelated note- I’m trying to assess my strengths. You may have noticed an obnoxious yellow poll at the top of the page. Well, the good news is the last time I was thinking about leaving my job the only thing on my list of things I like to do was “empty the dryer lint”. The not so good news is I’m not sure exactly what to pursue or strengthen. In a perfect world I would like to work for myself and make at least 6k per year after taxes. Is that too much to ask? I like all of the options, but there are pros and cons too. A ‘pro’ for all is I really enjoy the field. Act...

Life is hard. I know logically I have nothing to complain about. I have a loving, healthy family. I have a roof over my head in a safe neighborhood and something to eat and wear every day. I have a job that is letting me knock out my debt and that pays for vacations and other memory-making events. Heck, I got promoted in only a 2 year time span. So maybe this is a first world problem or a heart problem, as my pastor would say, but I’m so exhausted. I am totally burned out with work. I want recovery so much for my clients, but the barriers in their life are huge. I know it’s got to be hard to change lifelong patterns of unhelpful behavior. We’ve all done that to some extent and it’s rough! For them in their various difficult situations it’s got to be even harder. It’s not that I don’t have empathy for them, it’s that my empathy levels are drained. It’s as if my energy is literally being siphoned from me from 8-5:30 every day. That on top of this pending doom (2 of our 3 staff are leavin...