Paycheck Player No More

I am typing this after only being unemployed for 36 hours.

Truth is..I don't usually work on Fridays and Saturdays anyway...so I have been surprised at the strange freedom I feel.

It is strange not having the Club as the backdrop of all my thoughts. I did not realize  how much of my time is spent on planning. You know..while I'm driving, while I'm cooking,while I'm somewhere with my kids... Always contemplating in the back of my head how to problem solve with various kids/families in overcoming some of life's basic hurdles. Also time-consuming is just basic planning in things like Be Great, Young Inventors, Backyard Ballistics, Odyssey of the Mind, Power Hour, etc. It is freeing to just be where I am..and not planning anything. It has been a long time.

Please don't misconstrue this. My family and I have been deeply enriched by our years at the Club

I was overwhelmed by the generosity of the Club Staff, Board and Kids when I left. They surprised me with numerous cards, hugs, candy (Snickers..my freezer is FULL),hugs, a collage of pics from the past 6 years, hugs ..more cards and a skit put on by some of the older OM kids.

The skit was complete with lots of humor on my grouchiness without coffee, my demanding of shower-taking and my ability to get lost everywhere.Made me laugh. Made me cry. More hugging.

..and then I came home.

So what is different? What is the same?

 A lot is the same. Same is the mountains of laundry. The bills to pay. The books to read. The dishes to wash. The garden to care for. The chickens. The family..etc. I am still looking forward to being Levi's aunt. We will still be without an air-conditioner. I am still discouraged by Arizona's passing of anti-immigration laws..and relieved Texas has not followed suit. Yet wondering, as we "secure" borders when our nation will remember that (ahem) The Berlin Wall Fell!..and why we think we are different.  I am still bemused by the Texas Board of Educations latest decision to rewrite history to fit a specific world-view..and wondering if they have LOST THEIR MINDS??? I am still not very good at keeping my opinions to myself....and last, but not least, the genocide in Darfur continues.

I will have no more pay-checks. That will be different.

I had time to visit with Austen's pottery teacher and to even play with the potterywheel. That was a nice different.


I could f-i-n-a-l-l-y say YES to Shakespeare at the Park with the boys this summer.

I had the luxury of hanging around Kerrville with NO AGENDA..while waiting for Cody to take his SAT Math 2.

Tonight I will volunteer at the Relay for Life..because I want to.

I am enjoying planning our road-trip to Michigan with the SAHERO OM team..where I am going as a parent..and nothing more. True..it will be an insane road-trip..with 4 homeschool moms and 7 teens in one van..(or maybe 2?) But I am really looking forward to it.


I am enjoying reading (or re-reading) and discussing the Ender Series with Austen because I have the time to do so.

and most of all????

I am enjoying wearing my own clothes and sandals!