The light at the end of the tunnel

We finally started to see the light at the end of the tunnel on Wednesday night or Thursday morning. With the subfloor in place, and the tub in place our house began to feel whole again. On Thursday I did the floor, not perfectly I admit. On Thursday night my husband fixed some of my mistakes but let others stay. A reminder to us someday that this project was done by us, humans, not perfect, just learning as we go.

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Tomorrow morning we will leave the hotel. I think we are all homesick by now, and rather looking forward to it. I'm not looking forward to the mess of home, but I am looking forward to having a kitchen and a yard again. It will be nice not to have to plan an activity and a restaurant every night. As much as I like swimming every day, I am ready for a break.

Image by Sarah and Jason via Flickr

When we get home we will need to finish the tub and the toilet. Hopefully the child will cooperate. Then we'll go do some fun things that we want to do. I'll let the husband hang with his friends, and I'll take the child to a small-town fair probably. The tub will dry. Eventually we'll need groceries, a shower curtain, and a few other things. Eventually it will get done.

In the meantime life goes on. My mother has left messages on the home machine which I have not returned. I figure I don't need to since I'm not home and not really hearing them. I'm just getting the news from my husband. Also a visit to my doctor's office this week told me that the "tests came back fine". They can't find anything wrong with me, but if I want to see a specialist for the pain a referral is available. What to do?

For this weekend I plan to just go with the flow. I'm looking forward to pajamas on a Sunday morning, maybe with coffee and pancakes. On Sunday I don't want to have to be anywhere or have anything planned.  :-)

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First Things First

"First Things First" is a slogan that reminds me to take things one step at a time. Not just one day at a time, but to live in the moment, and slow down. It's easy to get ahead of ourselves.

The little voice in my head is saying "It's 4pm and after work I'm going to pick up the kid, and meet someone, and go out to dinner, and tomorrow we're going to do this and that, and the weather is going to be...." Whoooooa!

Right now I'm going to post this blog and drink some coffee. I still have an hour left of work and some work to do. Period. Right now my husband is probably resolving some last minute work crisis before our 3 day weekend begins. Right now my daughter is saying goodbye to a beloved teacher who is leaving her job after today to begin a new chapter in her life. Right now I am here.

First things First. Slow down. Take things one step at a time. It is way too easy to go too fast. A simple thing like "Get the kid ready for bed and get her to sleep" is really many steps, and I have to slow down. What if she's not ready to be done playing with her toys when the clock says she needs to brush her teeth? I can't just assume that I'm going to have my finger on the remote watching a baseball game at 9:30pm. I need to get there first.

So if I am going to enjoy the holiday weekend, I need to remember to slow down. Not everyone is listening to the same little voices in their head that I hear, and if they are, they are probably hearing different things. I need to think about what really matters, and cut out the stuff that doesn't. Do I really need to check my email on Monday morning and log into Facebook? Or is spending time with a loved one more important? Before I have dinner, I have to get to the restaurant safely first. I need to pay attention, live in the present, and enjoy the journey.

Happy weekend all. I probably won't post again until Tuesday.