Sunday, November 15, 2015

What the Future will Bring

The end of my contract is five weeks away and my mind is starting to turn to the topic of What Happens Next? because it takes a while to get new jobs lined up and there isn't a lot on the horizon in the local area and my LinkedIn account hasn't been updated in a long time and I've been having so much fun with my current job that I haven't been in the mood to look elsewhere.

Plus my brain, when not engaged during the normal working day, is completely obsessed with trying to get the basement done. So there hasn't been much time to think about it.

Maybe 1% to 5% of my brain.

I've been trying to get a few things done downstairs but it's one of those things where I need an entire, solid day of nothing-but-the-basement in order to get anything done. I can't start anything unless there are hours and hours available, because there's no point in starting something and then getting distractions every two hours because it takes me so long to get re-started that nothing gets done before the next distraction comes along.

Thursday was a sick day; lots of body aches and lethargy that didn't allow much of anything in the way of accomplishment. Friday was exhausting at work so there was nothing left by the time I got home; we had Papa Murphy's and watched Fury Road and then it was time for bed.

Saturday was the final wrap-up of the season for the Marching Band Pit Crew. We met at the high school parking lot and winterized everything (putting the podiums in the big trailer, pulling the batteries out of the tractors, putting stabilizer in the fuel lines, cleaning up all the trash / debris, getting the vehicles ready to be parked for the winter back in the bus barn). Then we went out to Bob Evans for breakfast (my favorite meal!) and talked about the season, what went right and what went wrong. Man, those guys can really get yapping when they get the chance!

By the time we were done, it was nearly 11 and time for lunch. But I was anxious to get started on the basement, and James was willing to pitch in, so I gave him a few assignments and he got right to it. He secured the fence around his mother's blueberry bush (to keep the deer off), then fixed the basement wall where the plumber had "stolen" a stud. While I finished up the basement shower wall supports and then worked on the electrical, trying to figure out how I'm going to break up one circuit (which has too many loads) and wire in two additional circuits.

Today, Sunday, was one of those all-day headaches. Probably sinuses. The temperature outside was a bit unusual for mid-November, but very comfortable. I taught Sunday School and then Children's Church, and then was going to work on the basement but first had to go out to the store to get additional circuit breakers and by the time I got back, my head was aching too hard for me to get anything done, so I took a fifteen minute nap and then suddenly it was dinnertime and Cheryl and I had to go out to our Bible Study group, which was meeting back at the church (owing to the fact that the host couple was sick; and, besides, two of the children of one of our small-group members were getting baptized at the church after youth group, which meets from 6:30 - 8:30). Actually, when we got to the church, we found that our small group had decided to just attend the youth group worship service, so we did, too; and then we went into the big auditorium and witnessed the baptisms; and then we went home.

This coming week is the final week for Mary's play. Two nights of Tech rehearsal, then the Dress Rehearsal, then three performance nights. I'm hoping to attend all the actual performances, including the Dress Rehearsal, but we'll see how things go. Once that wraps up on Saturday, she'll be moving on to her Second Session of Driving Instruction, which is only three days long (mostly dealing with how to parallel park), and then she'll be getting ready to take her driving test. And become a full-fledged driver. And maybe even get a job. Although with the number of AP classes she's taking, it would be preferable if she waited a while on that.

James has his job at Meijer now, working 3rd shift (stocking shelves), so he and Deb will be time-sharing Ruby. Can't wait to see how well that works out! Eventually, I'm hoping to get Serenity working again so Deb and James can take Serenity II and Mary can drive Ruby.

It's nice that at least two of the kids are working. I really enjoyed the time when Adam was working, too, and hope he finds something else soon. He was so cheerful and confident, and even though it didn't appear that he cared about making money, it was fantastic to see him smiling again. Ah, he has a lovely smile!

Not too long from now, we'll all be smiling again, because it will be Thanksgiving and there'll be lots of yummy food to eat! With pumpkin pie and mashed potatoes and gravy and whipped cream and biscuits and all sorts of other delectibles. Oooh, I can't wait.

No comments: