How the Other People Live . . .

I am blessed with a work schedule that allows me every other Friday off. This is time I get to volunteer at my children's school and have afternoon dates with the hubby. It's like a gift from above.

This particular Friday I decided to stop by the local Starbucks after dropping the kids off and before volunteering. I was shocked how many moms I ran into there and I could feel myself turning green with envy, thinking,

"They get to do this every day."
"They get the joy of female companionship every day."
and
"Wow."

Working full-time has it's pros and cons as does working part-time and being a full-time homemaker. This little peak into the other side was pretty intoxicating. But, no, I wouldn't trade my career for it or my husband who currently has the best work/life balance of any man I know. And I'm sure that the women I shared coffee with romanticize my position too.

Anyhow, my hat goes off to any woman who can stay with the kids and make a home for her family. And if she gets to enjoy coffee with her friends as a reward once the kids are in school, well, she's earned it!

Quote for the Day

“If only we'd stop trying to be happy we'd have a pretty good time.”

— Edith Wharton

Story of the Day

One day a small opening appeared on a cocoon, and a man sat and watched for the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and it could go no further.

So the man decided to help the butterfly. He took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily.

But it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings. The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time. Neither happened!

In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It never was able to fly.

What the man, in his kindness and haste, did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening was God's way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.

Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If God allowed us to go through our life without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as we could have been. We could never fly.

I asked for Strength ...
And God gave me Challenges to make me strong.
I asked for Wisdom ...
And God gave me Problems to solve.
I asked for Prosperity ...
And God gave me Brain and Brawn to work.
I asked for Courage ...
And God gave me Danger to overcome.
I asked for Love ...
And God gave me Troubled people to help.
I asked for Favors ...
And God gave me Opportunities.
I received nothing I wanted
I received everything I needed.

Happiness

I've been thinking a lot about happiness over the past year and working to understand how to have more of it in my life.

I have listened to tapes from the dali lama, I have spent countless hours on The Chief Happiness Officer's blog, I have started and continued yoga, I have worked to stay healthy and most of all I have spent more time living in the moment.

So, when I came across this quote, it gave me pause . . .

The pursuit of happiness is a most ridiculous phrase; if you pursue happiness you'll never find it. - C. P. Snow (1905 - 1980)

Just as I type this, happiness happened to me. My darling daughter gave me a butterfly made from pipe cleaners - too sweet!

So the point of today's blog is that happiness is right here, right now, and right below our noses. We don't need to pursue it, we need to acknowledge it!

Stress

The evilness of stress finally took hold of me and I came down ill this week.

Between

- work being stressful, both the work I am doing (labor negotiations, training a new employee, annual regulatory reports) and the boss,

- spending the time and effort to find a new job (resume prep, searching, networking, informational interviews, obtaining approval from references, etc.),

- and lastly my dad and "something on his lung",

I'm just done with.

Took yesterday off, but kept in touch with the office via e-mail and took on kid duty after school - not sure how much rest I allowed myself. Went to bed early, but work up two hours ago with a racing mind.

Had hoped that emptying it might help . . .

Trying to stay strong.

My Other Job

I've taken on another job, it's called finding a new job and I do it in the evenings and on weekends.

It involves getting references lined up, updating and tailoring my resume, identifying opportunities, and getting the word out that I'm for hire.

This is in addition to my daytime job of working for an idiot.

This job search keeps me motivated, it keeps me from getting too discouraged when work gets nasty (like when my boss accused me of insubordination), and even my husband helps out in the process by researching opportunities and keeping an open mind.

I'm about to panic though as it seems my husband is about to lose his job.

A good thing, in general, but a little sooner than we had hoped.

Lots of change, but the family is strong.

10 year wedding anniversary coming up - party woo!

The Bottle

My husband and I have put ourselves on a financial diet recently to prepare for him quitting his job this summer. Diet is the best word for it becasue that is how it feels. I feel like we are restricting calories (things and perks) and exercising (spending time to save even more money, like spending time shopping sales or doing things ourselves).

So far it is going okay, but one thing I am missing is my bottled water. I know it's better for the environment to drink from the tap, but I am a water snob and have been enjoying bottled water in my home. Those nice big bottles of always ready, clear, cold water. But now it is gone.

Tap water is more convenient - I can get it from any of our 4 faucets in the house - and it's better for the environment - no diesel trucks delivering plastic encased water to me.

Oh well, if that's all I have to complain about, drinking tap over bottled water, then life must be pretty damn good!