What Does “Survival Mode” Look Like?
Good news and bad news all around. Got up this morning and changed the sheets on my bed, rebooted the laundry, and made breakfast. Dropped the kids off at Vacation Bible School and then started on my “recovery errands list.” First stop was the bank, to deposit the money from the curriculum fair. Then to […]
When Is a Day Off Not a Day Off?
When it’s a working holiday, of course! I was off work Wednesday and Thursday because I work for a synagogue and the holiday of Shavuot (First Fruits) is a no-work holiday. It was nice, but it’s leading to a strangely disrupted life-rhythm: two work days, two days off, one work day, three days off, three […]
Arguing Over Household Chores?
When I was married, my husband was laid off three times in five years. When he would get laid off, I would increase my teaching for the Red Cross to help keep some money coming in — leaving him with the kids while I went and worked from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. So I’ve […]
Preening My Feathers
And no, not because I’m a chicken. Because I got myself back on track this weekend. The pace of life got very crazy when my boss left in mid-March, and I fell out of a lot of good habits I had been trying to cement into my life. Like getting up early and exercising, eating right, […]
Things I Miss, Being a Single Mom
Let’s start with the obvious: Household help. It was wonderful when I had a housekeeper. She came on alternate weeks and did the dusting, the vacuuming, the bathroom scrubbing, the windows, and the kitchen. She was a dream. I had a yard guy, who also came on alternate weeks and mowed, edged, mulched, and picked […]
I Hate Weekends
I know that sounds really insane, but I always seem to be more tired—no, more exhausted—on the weekends than during the work week. It’s not that I don’t work hard at my job; I do. But somehow it doesn’t generally drain my every physical, mental, and spiritual reserve like the weekends do. Probably I expect […]