Sometimes all it takes is a couple hours away from home before I miss the solitude. Am I becoming anti-social?
Wait for it… no, really.
I should have waited before I said anything about the job offer. Hubby and contract boss went back and forth on salary for awhile and discussed future possibilities but hubby didn’t receive an official offer. Contract boss said he’s going to do some figuring, some planning, etc. etc. before making hubby an official offer. So we’re still waiting.
On a positive note, contract boss does have hubby lined up for some additional contract work. They have a meeting tomorrow with the client they worked with last week and they will be attempting to convince the client to hire them on permanently instead of it being a one time project. Also, the boss does have hubby in mind for a couple other projects.
We’ve been debating if the contract boss feels any need to hire hubby on permanently. The contract hourly rate is higher than the potential salary range, but the boss wouldn’t have to provide full time hours if he kept hubby on for contracts. We’re just waiting. And praying. And waiting some more, hoping a full time offer will come from somewhere. At least the contract hours plus my unemployment is enough to pay all the bills! That’s an improvement from where we were a month ago.
MIA but with good reason
Forgive me for being MIA. I’ve been a bit distracted over here.
Hubby might, just might, be receiving a job offer tomorrow. We are really praying that the offer will come through. So far, all signs are positive and this is the most solid lead we’ve had yet. Oh, I so hope hubby will soon be working again!
We went swimming in the rain! It was cold!
Plans
Tommorow will be an exciting day. In the morning, hubby and I are making pizza. We’ve switched around our menu to avoid using the oven in the hot afternoon/evening. I planned ahead and made the crust this afternoon. It’s in the fridge, awaiting being rolled out and topped with sauce, mushrooms, and onions.
After breakfast, we’ll visit the library to return a pile of books and pick up more. I compiled a list of books to check out – 17 of them ranging from memoir, biography, fiction, historical nonfiction, and religious inspiration.
The afternoon will be spent straightening up our spare bedroom because my brother arrives in town tomorrow night! He’s only spending the night and will then be leaving to pick up his wife at the airport and drive back to his house. To kill time before Emme’s flight arrives, we’re going geocaching Friday morning! I’m hoping to locate 6 or 7 caches.
Social commentary?
Last night, hubby and I borrowed Bolt as our free Redbox movie. Based on the preview, I expected a tame, fairly clean kids animation. Wrong! The movie is rated PG, which I suppose is appropriate, but I was really surprised by the (bloodless) violence in the first 15 minutes. It reminded me of The Incredibles, another supposed kids movie that my children won’t watch until they are teenagers.
However, after the first 15 minutes, Bolt reverted to a clean children’s movie. It was really cute! My favorite line in the movie came from Mittens, Bolt’s traveling partner. She exclaims that “this is a map of the whole world” and rolls out a map of the United States. Social commentary, anyone?
Oh, to eat burgers again!
The Lord reminded me this morning to spend some time in prayer and Bible study before starting my day. It was hard for me to sit still and read when I wanted to be up “doing” something but I’m happy I listened. I read three chapters in Mark about Jesus healing numerous people. It amazes me that the Jews had Jesus in their midst, heard Him preach, saw Him healing people, and still wanted to kill Him. I wonder if we would do the same today.
I pushed myself again to complete all of my “active” housework early in the day. I completed everything on my list, especially those jobs that require me to be moving around the apartment exerting energy. By 10:45 I ran the dishwasher, washed some pots by hand, baked cornbread, vacuumed, cleaned the two litter boxes, swept the kitchen and bathroom floors, took out the trash, swept the patio, and wiped down the toilet and bathroom sink.
Hubby was off work by 11 today. We ate lunch together and then hubby took a nap while I created a menu plan and shopping list for this week. In the heat of the day (100+ degrees), we decided to go grocery shopping. I didn’t really want to leave the house while it was so hot out, but we desperately needed to buy food. Our fridge was completely empty except condiments and our cupboards held half a box of Cheerios, a couple cans of tomato soup, and some oatmeal. That’s it.
What joy it was to walk around the grocery store and buy more than just pasta. Oh, what joy! I used to take it for granted that I could buy whatever groceries I wanted. For the first time in 5 months, I spent more than $25 shopping for a week’s worth of food. Haystacks, potato salad, baked potatoes, stir fry, spaghetti, Boca burgers, homemade pizza, and macaroni and cheese are on the menu this week. Oh happy day! I spent $45 total by shopping the sales and printing out some great internet coupons, among them two free bottles of BBQ sauce!
I will never again allow myself to spend $100/week on groceries. That was our old food budget. Now that we’ve been broke, completely out of money, I’ve learned how to shop inexpensively. I know I still have a lot to learn compared to some of the expert shoppers, but I’ve made a huge dent in our grocery bill these past few months. We were even able to buy hubby some new socks!
Habit Sunday
I know I’ve posted about it before, but I have trouble getting everything done – cleaning, reading, cooking, spending time with hubby, taking care of the cats, etc. Our life has no formal schedule right now as hubby isn’t working except for the occasional contract job. Last week was kind of crazy since he was out of town for a couple days and worked a contract job Wednesday through Friday. This is the first week in months that I’ve been home by myself during the day.
I love my hubby very very much. When he’s home, I tend to just do things with him, whatever activity we decide we want to pursue. As a result, most of my housekeeping falls by the wayside. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with spending so much time with my husband. I just think that I’m letting him down in a way because our house isn’t clean, I’m not organized, and I’m really bad about making a nice supper. When hubby was working, right after I got laid off, I was making nice dinners. I was happy to be the wife who would greet her hubby with a hot dinner after he arrived home from a long day of work. Because we’re home all the time (excepting those days when hubby finds contract work), all our meals are kind of thrown together at the last minute.
We live in Arizona. It’s May. It’s hot. We’re broke. We’re also challenging ourselves to at least hold out until June before turning on the air conditioning and driving up the electric bill. Towards the end of last week, I discovered a very loose schedule that works wonders with this weather. If I plan my day so that the housework is done in the morning, it requires less sweat and effort. Then I can spend the afternoon job searching, writing, organizing, etc. All of these are things that require little movement.
Simple, right? I really wonder why I didn’t think of it before. This schedule also tied in well with my attempts at creating new habits this week. My morning cleaning schedule involves dishes, vacuuming, making the bed, sweeping, and cleaning out the litter boxes. As I’m trying to complete all the housework in the mornings, I challenge myself to finish by 11 and end up creating a smooth flow as I move from room to room.
The only thing I’m falling behind on is my personal Bible reading. Hubby and I read together every night so I am reading the Bible daily. However, I’m only reading it on my own about half the week. I’ll keep working on this.
My challenge this week is to fine tune my morning schedule and decide what tasks need completed daily versus weekly. I also need to spend more time in the afternoon looking for work.
100th Post
This is my 100th post. In commemoration of this auspicious event, I’d like to post one of my favorite Bible texts.
With what shall I come to the LORD
And bow myself before the God on high?
Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings,
With yearling calves?
Does the LORD take delight in thousands of rams,
In ten thousand rivers of oil?
Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts,
The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
He has told you, O man, what is good;
And what does the LORD require of you
But to do justice, to love kindness,
And to walk humbly with your God?
(Micah 6:6-8, NASB)
Amen. May I ever walk humbly with my God.
Flight status
Delta has made my evening so much more enjoyable!
On Sunday, I could only track my hubby’s flight status through the estimated time of arrival (he flew US Airways). Tonight, however, I can see where he is! I can refresh the page and it will show me approximately where the plane is, how much more time they have in-flight, and the estimated time of arrival.
Delta was brilliant to include this information on their website for excited wives such as I. Now I just have to figure out what I’m going to wear to the airport…