This has been a very strange week. Just – different. Monday went by both quickly in some ways and dragged on in others. The department I was in had a lunchtime pizza/cake party for me, which was really nice. Then I spent the afternoon cleaning out the last of my stuff, and finishing up just a couple of projects. Then I went upstairs, turned in my ID badge and other stuff – and that was it. I am no longer currently employed.

I’m wondering if I should probably have Ron change my header to read something like, “I am a full-time, out of the house, working mom recently laid-off, former working mom trying out the SAHM life with my 3 daughters…”?

Or maybe something like, “I am a former working mom, trying to figure out what she wants to do with her life…”?

No?

I think I’ll leave it for now. Maybe I should have a contest to see who can come up with the best tagline. 

Anyway, I picked up the girls from our neighbor’s a bit early and then didn’t really know what to do with myself after we got home.  The house was clean, the girls were playing nicely for once… I sat in the living room and wondered what I’m getting myself into. And if this is really a good idea after all. I just felt kind of – lost.  And I’m not really sure why.

The next two days have flown by – and I’ve really, really enjoyed them. The amount of stress I feel has gone down so much already. And – so far, the house is still clean. 

Here’s a quick rundown of some of the things that I’ve done in my first two days of unemployment…

#1: I’ve slept past 6:30am for two days in a row! Weekdays, even… And I’ve had no trouble getting up and out of bed around 8:00 am either day so far. The girls have been much easier to wake up also.

#2: Spent a 3-hour period yesterday morning just with Becca, after dropping off the big girls at their summer program. We played outside a bit, watched the kittens for a while, played Little People, and watched a Backyardigans episode (I just can’t always resist her little, “Pwease?”… Sue me.  ).

#3: Called our blog hosting company and reamed them out about the third outage in so many months. Spent the girls’ nap/quiet time writing blog posts and trying to get caught up on things after my sites had been down for 24 hours. Was completely amazed that Becca not only actually napped – but in her bed…

#4: Got out the wading pool and the new ‘hopsplash’ and watched the girls have a blast running through the water and jumping into the wading pool:

#5: Sat on the front porch and read for part of the time while the girls played in the water. I may actually even finish this book sometime soon. 

#6: Took the girls out to dinner at McDonalds and let them play in the play area to run off even more energy.

#7: Got everyone in bed before 8:00 pm, before Ron got home. Not asleep, mind you – at least Abby wasn’t asleep until well after Ron came home. But they were in bed, so that counts for something, right?

#8: Took Becca to two post offices, Target and Meijer all before lunchtime today while the older girls were at their summer program. Yes, two post offices – the first one had lost power right before we got there after someone crashed into a power pole. And we made it through all four locations with no screaming or temper tantrums!

#9: Took lunch for the girls and I to their summer program (it’s not supervised during the lunch hour) and let Becca run around and play with her sisters after she was done eating. She likes to swing – and she has to try out every single swing every time we go to a playground. So I lift her up and push her for like 30 seconds and then she’s ready to go on to the next one.  Silly girl.

#10: Brought Becca and Abby home (Hannah wanted to stay for the afternoon programming) and enjoyed the time during Becca’s second nap this week by catching up on e-mail and watching non-kid-related tv.

#11: Watched some of the most powerful thunderstorms that have come through this area in quite a while – while Becca slept, and Abby clung to me in panic-mode. Reassured her 5,309 times that there were no tornadoes coming. Although we did get marble-sized hail.

#12: Drove through the neighborhood in awe to see tree branches and actual trees down, on the way to pick Hannah up. Came back home just in time to watch storm #2 roll in (storm #3 is occuring as I write this). They’d done face painting at the summer program, so this is how Hannah came home.  I just wish it would last until Friday (it won’t – it’s already wearing off).

#13: Ended up having Kristi and Steve over with their boys instead of babysitting the boys for the evening since their power was out and Kristi cancelled her church music rehearsal. Ate McDonalds in the living room with the other adults while all 5 kids ate at the kitchen table. Quietly, for the most part even.

Yes, Aaron’s there – he’s just behind Hannah.

And so now I sit here with Ron, watching So You Think You Can Dance, and blogging while all 3 girls are asleep and knowing that I don’t have to get up at 6:30am again for the foreseeable future. Tomorrow my mother-in-law is coming to spend the day – the first time we’ll really have spent time with her since her kidney transplant. And then later on in the afternoon my friend Mary and her kids will be here for an extended holiday weekend full of fun, fireworks, friends, a craft fair, and Noah’s sixth birthday party. Exciting and exhausting all at the same time. And then next week the girls and I will be back on our own again.

I think I’m going to like this. 

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