Today was a tough day. It would have been tough anyway, just because it was a one day return to work after having a holiday off. There was a part of me who wanted to just take the day off, have a 4 day weekend and make today into a “lay around the house day,” but as I was watching fireworks last night, it dawned on me that I should be sending out a notice for our July quarterly meeting and I hadn’t even thought about it. Seriously- where did June go? Anyway I should have listened to myself on the original plan. I should have stayed home. I should have turned off my cell phone and pretended to disappear. Mad landowners seemed to be the theme of the day. They were calling, they were getting board members involved, and they were coming into the office with their big mad. Now, I have worked with the public for a very long time. I have helped people accomplish things, even after they were nasty to me. I remain professional while telling people to F off and I sleep just fine at night. But some days, when the poo hits the fan, and then keeps hitting again and again, I can’t help but feel a little bit grouchy. I am paid good money to manage things. I feel like I do a reasonably good job. But ya just can’t please all the people all the time amIright?
I was exceedingly happy to come home today. I had a list of things I wanted to accomplish and I got some of them done. The girls and I relaxed and painted a little bit. We got some lawn work done and some of the house cleaned up. I will have time to finish it tomorrow, because I am going nowhere. I refuse to leave home, I refuse to answer my phone, and I refuse to engage with the general public. I am hiding, resetting my mind, perhaps floating in the pool, and definitely drinking pina coladas.
I needed to shampoo the carpet. The reason I needed to is named Norma. I love her, but she is hard on carpet. She is picking up some basic commands, but potty training isn’t coming easily for her, and so, since it was nice out, and I was cleaning, I made her stay outside with Ollie. At one point, she snuck in somehow, and I found her passed out, wrapped in my couch covering blanket. It was so cute I let her stay for a little while.
I made the girls some offerings today. They could clean inside or they could learn to mow. Harper decided that today was a day to learn to mow. Now Jim taught both the youngest to run the mower a while back. He showed them how to start and stop, and how to go backwards. But they had never run it with the blades engaged. Harper was nervous, but seriously, we don’t have a pristine lawn, and we don’t actually care if there are some missed places, we just like to keep the grass low enough that we can see the rattle snakes and copperheads before we step on them. She is more than capable of that! And so we reviewed the safety parts, and I cut a path for her to follow. She spent a little time getting acclimated and now she is my newest lawn cuttin girl! Saige also took a turn. They both did great!! Saige is way less nervous - I don’t think she worries quite as much about messing things up.
Mallory had given me a file with the all the photos she took, and I struggled to get it open. She helped me this evening and I ran across this sweet, amazing photo. It reminded me who I am, and why I need a job- to pay for fun stuff for these 2 (kidding. Sorta).
I also remember my father In Law having a sign above his desk that read “don’t let the bastards get you down!” Tonight, things seem brighter. I’ll survive. Mad people always calm down eventually. Mad board members sometimes step out of their comfort zone to serve on a board, and need to be educated about the way things go. And sometimes they have the right to be mad, because we are all entitled to our feelings. I certainly am not perfect and occasionally I mess up (not this time, but occasionally). I’m still not leaving the house, but I will have a good weekend and I will get everything handled.
Preston sent me this sweet photo of him and Sunny from last night. They are actually home tonight. They were supposed to go camping at the lake. Unfortunately, we had about 7 inches of rain this week, and some of the campgrounds are under water. They cancelled their camping reservation. Preston decided that they could camp here, if it was ok. Jim and I truly don’t care. When your kids are growing up, they bring home other people’s kids. Some of those kids are around so much that you get attached to them. Then, when your kids move out, it is hard, but you also lose your “extra” kids and that is hard and sad as well. I was happy to see some of the “old crew” and see for myself that they are doing ok. I am sorry that their camping trip got cancelled, but honesty, the kids being home always truly makes me happy. Side note/ the girl Preston is dating - Sunny- is very sweet. We are enjoying getting to know her. I’m glad Preston feels like he can bring friends over here and crash out. I hope he will always know that we enjoy having him around.
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