Stress-less Domestication

There's a lot to be said for a load of stress being removed from our lives. Overnight, I've gone from panic attacks, sleeplessness and lethargy to having a chilled out, productive day after a good night's sleep and an early (for me) morning.

See, my honey's had a position that's been causing a TON of stress for me. He deals with things a lot differently, but I had a chance to hear first hand (LOVE speakerphone!!) what he has to deal with the other day. This was Sunday morning, before he left for church. Let me tell you, it was AWFUL. It was all I could do to keep my mouth shut and not tell the person on the other end how unreasonable and disrespectful she was being. It even came down to her threatening his job, which was super stressful for me.

So yesterday he found out about a position that's open on the corner, just a minute's walk from our house and I convinced him to put his transfer request in. The supervisor there called him to make sure he wants the position and he said he did. Yippee!!! Then he had to call the unreasonable one and let her know he's transferring. Her reply: She's thankful he's leaving, and now maybe she can get someone in there who will do what she wants them to.

Now my honey's been doing HER job since September so she won't have to make a 30 minute drive down here each day. He hasn't been getting paid for it, but has been doing it out of the goodness of his heart. How dare she?? Sad thing is, he knows more about what's going on around the job site than she does. Sad, sad, sad. Too bad I didn't think to tape the conversations to turn into HR. But anyway....

Having said all that, it's amazing how much stress was taken from me just by knowing that in two weeks, my sweetie will be literally across the street instead of working two jobs from dawn until midnight. He's going to be working a split shift, which means he'll get to be home during the days, which also means I'll get to cook our lunches again!! Yipppppeeeee!!

So we've been cleaning house - Hannah's got OCD, and is an awesome little helper. Then I loosened up enough to give her a frozen fruit bar (Love Schwan's!) and sent her out back to play by herself for most of the afternoon while I browsed cookbooks and kept an eye on her. I even gave her a water pistol (I hate guns and don't think children should play with them, JMHO) so she could shoot the trees, as well as some candy! Wow, that's just NOT me at all!!

She helped me cook dinner, which is normally whatever we can throw together quickly, like sandwiches or whatever. We made an Italian meatloaf with bacon, roasted veggies with cracked black pepper and garlic, and steamed new potatoes with lemon butter and fresh parsley from our herb planter out front. Wow, I feel so stinkin' domesticated.

Scary, huh??

Nah, just back to feeling footloose and fancy free.

*Smiles*

Going Green(er)

So today's Earth Day, but we've been making a conscious effort to go green little by little over the past few months. We've been putting our newspapers and bottles out for recycling, and I'm starting to shop the farmer's market again. We've switched all but 3 of our light bulbs for compact fluorescent ones and we've limited out fast food meals. My laptop's set to hibernate instead of using a screen saver and I don't turn the heat or air on unless it's too miserable not to.

All this feels great, but I can't help wondering what else I can do? I'd like to start taking my own bags to the market, as well as buy only organic. I want to purge our home of toxic chemicals as much as I can and start making our own cleaning solutions. I found a great recipe for no-knead bread that begins with a starter, which sounds super easy and fabulous. Not that we need it, but I would like to make my own bread, but we really need a new oven.

Soooo, anyone out there have ideas that we can implement in our lives without a lot of effort? If you do, please let me know.

Smiles!

Updation...

Thought I'd post a quick update since I've been asked to. I feel like I lead the most boring of lives, and don't have a lot to talk about, so I don't post as often as I should.

There's nothing exciting going on, except for having a few 4 day weekends. Yay me! Hannah's with me 4 days a week, around the clock, then goes home for 4 days. Her mom had surgery, so it's the easiest schedule for both of us right now.

We bought an external hard drive and spent three days uploading all my cd's onto it. It's so nice to have all my music be portable! However, the sound card in my laptop seems to be wavering on the brink of going out. Which bites. It's all good, though.

I've found that I really like Edith Piaf's music. She's got a hauntingly beautiful voice that is just awesome. It's fun to find that my tastes are ever evolving. Keeps life sweet. Thanks to Beth for introducing me to her!

Hannah's writing now. She wrote down our grocery list on the blackboard the other day. She's such a good little helper. She can also read, as long as she doesn't realize that she's reading! We're hoping to get the Abeka curriculum in the next couple of months so she can start school for real. I've been working with her, but her thirst for knowledge is immense, which is a good thing. It's so cool to see her learning all these new things!

She plays on "NoodleNet" a lot and it's really helped her learn more quickly. It's a safe browser for little ones and there's all sorts of educational goodies on there.

We're looking forward to the return of spring so we can get some plants into our planters. The parsley, thyme, oregano and spearmint are all coming along well, but we're hoping to get some chives, basil and at least one grape tomato plant in for those wonderful summer salads. Yummy!

So that's all that's really happening around here. Now I'm ready for a cup of coffee.

BTW, for those of you in the H'ville area, there's a coffee shop on S. Parkway, right beside Donato's called "Angel's Island". She makes the BEST chocolate covered cherry mocha. And you can get it fat free! She's the sweetest person and has a return customer rewards card, too. Much better than the "well known" coffee house, and less expensive as well! Thanks to Poppi for letting us know about her shop!

Tagged!

Tagged Again - 123 Book Meme

I have been tagged by Jenn a while back and forgot to post! So here goes...

Per Jenn: Pick up the nearest book of 123 pages or more (no cheating). Find page 123. Find the first 5 sentences. Post the next three sentences. Tag 5 people.

Since I'm in my screap room, the nearest book is "The Ultimate Guide To The Perfect Word" It's mostly page titels and such, but here are the 6th,7th and 8th lines...

"Adventures of Building a New Home"

"Hospitatlity is making your guests feel at home, even if you wish they were."

"House, n. A hollow edifice erected for the habitation of man, rat, mouse, beetle, cockroach, fly, mosquito, flea, bacillus, and microbe."

And bonus line, just because it's so true....

"I am grateful for the lawn that needs mowing, windows that need cleaning and floors that need waxing because it means I have a home."

Now I'm supposed to tag 5 people, so I've chosen Lori, Gilbert, Faith, Jeni & Gennie. Please post here when you post your tag!