I think the best way to describe the way I fell asleep last night is to say that I felt abundantly blessed.
I don't usually go for the mushy-emotional-sappy-religious-whatever-you-want-to-call it publicly. That's not to say I don't feel or act all those ways, but I tend to keep it to myself. (And Mick.)
But this weekend I really just felt like I was on top of the world. And it wasn't any one thing, and it really wasn't even any specific little things. It was just a darn good weekend. A productive weekend. And when I finally got to bed last night (our bed! from Georgia! We finally have it set up!), it was an amazing feeling.
Let's see if I can recap here all that played a role in that feeling.
I didn't go in to the office Friday, but took the day to run errands and clean. I have a four-drawer filing cabinet that pretty much holds our lives, and over the week I had sorted everything that has needed filing for the past TWO years. Yes, ladies and gentleman, I have not filed anything since we moved. It was in piles, relatively unsorted, in boxes both under my desk and in the basement. It is now 100% sorted and filed. It took me days, but the feeling of being done is somewhat euphoric. Maybe that's the Monica Gellar in me!
Also as a result of that project, we generated three giant boxes of stuff to shred. In an effort to keep the momentum of cleaning and organizing, those boxes were promptly taken to the incinerator at the dump.
At the same time, all of our accumulated cardboard recycling was taken to the dump to be recycled.
The kids and I returned our library books, they picked out the ones they'd earned from their summer reading club at the library, we went to the school department offices and I dropped off paperwork that was again (at least in my head) long overdue. I picked up books I need for a program I'm starting in the Fall. We went to the post office and submitted my teaching certificate renewal -- another thing that's been hanging over my head, written on lists, and generally giving me agida -- done! We stopped by the kids' school and picked up their supply lists and reading lists and summer math homework. (For the record, the kids did their summer work the week school ended. I put it in a safe place. So we'll just take that as a sign we should review and do it over again.)
An electrician came to finish some projects at the house in the afternoon, so we cleaned and tidied and organized, including scrubbing down the stove and oven. And I did all the laundry in the entire house -- washed, dried, folded, hung, and put away. (For the record, I now have just as much laundry to do today, but I am in denial. Eh ... maybe I'll go throw in some sheets and towels. They are easy to fold and will make the pile feel remarkably smaller!)
Our old, dead dryer that was sitting in the basement, we brought up, clearing basement space to work on our next project-in-the-works, expanding the kids' play area and organizing some of our boxes from the move.
We went to the storage unit, thanks to my in-laws who were able to give us kid-free time, and Mick and I managed to purge a bunch of stuff, consolidate a bunch of stuff, and combine the smaller unit into the bigger unit, thus freeing us of one bill per month. We donated a fair amount of stuff to Goodwill. (Opinions about Goodwill notwithstanding, they really do make it very easy to donate. And more than that, they are our only viable local option -- I'd typically prefer St. Vincent dePaul, or the Salvation Army, but those aren't local to us.)
We mowed the lawn. We have peppers growing on our serrano and anaheim plants. We took WHM to swimming, did a kids' craft at Lowe's, and -- thanks again to our in-laws -- cooked a fabulous lobster dinner at home Saturday.
Sunday we went to a family cookout a few towns over and ate like royalty. I made a cole slaw to bring, and it was a pleasantly surprising hit among everyone -- who knew a vinegar-based slaw would be so well received?!
Mick and I finally got our king size bed from the storage unit and we were able to set it up (again with help from my in-laws) in our room yesterday. Because of the layout of doors, closets, windows, etc., we have to re-arrange the bedroom to make it work, so that's a project to finish today and tonight. But, we got it. We had to go to Target to get bedding because when we moved our comforter was destroyed, and we already purged our sheets, saying we'd buy new ones ... Target was running a Cartwheel sale and had a coupon for $15 off $75 of bed linens. When you need King, everything is at least that much. Of all the weeks to have such a nice coupon, the timing was absolutely perfect. We were able to wash and dry the sheets and make the bed last night. On our way home from Target, we stopped at Mick's aunt's house and she gave us garden veggies ... buckets and buckets of garden veggies that we can't wait to dig into!
The list goes on and on. Nothing is earth-shattering. But all of it together made for a weekend of feeling on top of the world (even when my back hurt, which it did, and I wanted to cry, which I did).
Life is good. We have our health, we have each other, things are going well with both of our jobs, we still have two weeks left of summer... and my friend Becca just brought me into a wonderful little lead where she and I will get to lead some professional workshops for another school system, which is incredibly exciting and a fantastic opportunity.
So, when I woke up in my amazing bed this morning, I thought if I could vent and whine here to complain, I sure as anything should tell you all when I am contently feeling just amazingly blessed.
--Jen
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