Random thoughts

I haven't had much for a full blog post lately, so rather than waiting for inspiration to strike in my brain, I thought I'd jot down some of the more prominent thoughts:

1.  New job, new beginnings.

As of last week, I officially became the Director of Catholic Campus Ministry at Oakland University through St. John Fisher.  God truly blessed me (and my family) with this position.  For starters, a life in ministry has been tugging at my heartstrings for a long, long time - I just never felt that I was...well..."religious enough" for such a position.  Little did I know that there were many people in my life who felt the exact opposite and have been pulling for me to get into this line of work for years.

Furthermore, this job a.) is part-time for this year, but has the potential to grow into full-time (meaning I get tons of my time with my kidlets while they're itty bitty, and then when they go off to school, I can go back to work), b.) pays well enough to justify the cost of daycare for two kids and still bring home a bit o' bacon, c.) encourages me to continue researching, reading and challenging myself and my faith, and d.) surrounds me with people that I can have intelligent conversations - sometimes heated debates - with, but it's in a respectful and open environment.  I love that.  This is the beginning of a beautiful relationship.

2.  The kidlets' first day at school.

With the beginning of a new job brings the whole category F5 tornado of emotions that is dropping the kids off at daycare.  Excitement to be alone for a few hours and have an adult conversation, guilt for feeling excited, dread that I didn't pack enough of everything for them, fear that my son would hate his day...

My daughter I wasn't too worried about - after all, she was going back into the same classroom with the same teachers and the same kids.  Plus, my daughter thrives on activity.  She loves being busy, engaged and creative...so although there were a few moments of shyness in the morning, she moved right past them after a few minutes of snuggles and enjoyed the rest of her day.

My son, though...my son and I haven't been apart for more than a few hours since he was born.  We're thick as thieves, he and I.  So, despite the fact that I completely trust the ladies in the infant room (let's face it - if they could handle my daughter as a baby, they can handle anybody), dropping Teddy off in the morning was rough.  He cried his "Wait - why are you abandoning me?!" cry, and I let my tear drops fall right on into my coffee as I drove to work.

That being said, though - every picture that was taken of my hunka chunka's first day had nothing but smiles, smiles and more smiles.  When I picked him up, he was exhausted but happy as a clam.  My daughter squealed and ran to me, shouting "Mommy!!  You came back!  I'm so happy!", and her teachers claimed the only rough moment of the day was when she saw her baby brother and couldn't go be with him.  Cue the sound of my melting heart.

3.  Pinterest fails.

My hubby and I are trying to lose weight (and both doing well, I might add).  That being said, our diet is getting a bit boring, and I'm constantly trying to find new recipes that are quick, yummy, and super healthy.

But Pinterest...oh Pinterest.  Pinterest is doing nothing more than inspiring me to be an absolute fatty lately.

For example:  When I do a general search for "healthy recipes" under the "Food & Drink" category, I don't particularly want a step-by-step tutorial on bacon-wrapped onion rings that you can throw on the grill.  Or on how to deep fry your own elephant ears.  Or the different versions of buttercream frosting that you can lick straight out of the damn bowl like a sugar-crazed child delicately dab onto your homemade banana cupcakes.

And, might I add, there's really only so much you can do with quinoa.  I get it.  It's the newest super food with tons of protein and goodness and blah blah blah...

Just show me different ways to cook up a chicken breast and give me some new ideas for veggie side dishes.  That's all I ask.

4.  A quick home rant.

I live in a pretty rural area of Michigan, but we just so happened to pick one of the few homes in the area that's actually in a somewhat cramped subdivision.  I'm not crazy about it, but we have a beautiful and spacious home in a safe neighborhood, and there's a little bit of room for our kids to play...

That being said, there are a couple of things that are making me twitch these days...

A.)  While grilling up some chicken the other weekend, our neighbors were sitting on their deck, and they shouted over to us "HEY!!  That smells great!  Come on over for drinks if you want!"

Even though they were being neighborly and sweet, I legitimately can't stand the fact that my house is so close to other homes that people can freakin' smell what I'm cooking for dinner.

B.)  In my experiences in life, people generally mow their lawns on the weekend.  So, Saturday and Sunday afternoons have a tendency to be kind of loud and obnoxious, but after that, it's quiet.

Nope!  Not in my neighborhood!

People here feel the need to fire up their mowers (and every other stupidly loud lawn gadget) every day and every night.  No, really.  I'm home every day and every night, so I can guarantee you that on any given moment, someone will be cutting their grass.  And it's not like it just ends at six o'clock when people have dinner.  We have people that cut their grass at nine o'clock at night.  They don't even break for federal holidays!  My neighbor two doors down fired up his riding mower at 9:13 PM last night!!!

What good is a summer night when all I hear is
 
*BRRRRRRRRROOOOOOWWWWWWWWMMMMMMMMMM
putter putter putter
BROWWWWWWWWMMMMMM*


Well, that's all I've got for this evening, friends.  Sorry for the schizophrenic styling.  Better to write a little than to not write at all, though.  Have a great week!

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