Ahhh....

Contentment is not the fulfillment of what you want, but the realization of how much you already have.

"This is really sad," Adventure Guy said as he joined me lounging in bed last night. We had assumed the position: pillows propped, laptops on laps, television tuned to an episode of Weeds on DVD. The kids were in bed, and we were enjoying those precious moments of quiet before bed, our time.

And that time is far from sad. While we may need to ditch the electronics from time to time, that comfortable familiarity is something I value most in our marriage. After nineteen years together, he knows me far better than anyone else. He's my confidant, the one I want to talk to about the good and the bad, the exciting and the mundane.

Contentment is not exactly something I've striven for in my life. I'm much more of the type to disregard accomplishments as soon as I've achieved them. I've always been the one looking toward the next task, the next challenge, the next thing to possess. But, suddenly, I find myself in a place I really like, a place I have to call contentment.

Careening toward forty at a rapid pace, content is not exactly where I expected to me right now. I hated turning 39. I had been dreading the next birthday. But, now, admittedly 6 months from the big date, I'm not focused on that milestone like I was earlier. I attribute much of that feeling to Adventure Guy, but I also know that my new job has something to do with that as do the current ages of my kids. I love the new challenges at work right now, the opportunity to make a significant difference in the operations of All-American Public Schools. And I love having older kids, even dealing with Dancer Girl, our resident teenager. I enjoy being able to have a different level of conversation with my children than I could when they were younger, and I especially enjoy catching those glimpses of the adults they'll turn into in just a few years.*

While I'm sure that one day soon readers will surf by the find me bemoaning the latest personal or career crisis or the everyday craziness that is my life, for tonight, all's right in Suburbia.

*In case the above post made anyone feel like throwing up just a little bit because of the sappiness, I should mention that my current level of contentment does not rise to the level that I would feel comfortable posing nude for a Times Square billboard like the women I just saw on Ophrah did. There's got to be a limit to this whole contentment thing.

And A Points-Free Weekend Was Had By All

After logging another thousand mile trip on the trusty Suburban, we have returned safely home and promptly panicked once Adventure Guy and I realized all the coordination it's going to take to get our three children and ourselves to our evening commitments tomorrow night (that's commitments, not being committed, though it feels like I may need a little "rest" by the time the evening's over).

But I digress....back to the long-weekend which is much more fun to contemplate than is the beginning of the work week.

The weekend went very much according to plan. We were ready to hit the highway once we picked up Soccer Boy from school--his school starts and finishes an hour later than the girls' schools do, so we had already retrieved the other kids from the bus. Our trusty new route did indeed cut off a good amount of time, so we rolled into town in time to begin our eating tour of College Station.

My friend over at The Testosterone Zone often writes wonderful reviews of classy restaurants which serve gourmet food. Her posts make make my mouth water. There will be none of that here today. As I told Adventure Guy when the Suburban rolled into town Friday night, "This is an official points-free weekend." He suggested I use that as the title of my post. In total disregard to my Best Life and Weight Watchers efforts of late, I decided to eat whatever I wanted during the weekend. I had saved all my bonus points for the occasion, but, trust me, there's no way I stayed within the total. But I have lived to diet another day.

First stop on the greasy and/or fried food whirlwind was Double Dave's Pizzaworks. Double Dave's started in College Station and has since expanded to other cities, but it's a rare treat for us, having not made it yet to a location near Suburbia. We were happy to have a franchise open in my hometown, so it's not quite as rare an indulgence as it used to be. We had just enough time to down a dozen and a half pizza rolls, soft drinks for the kids, and not-so-soft drinks for Adventure Guy and me before heading out to midnight yell practice. It was fun to introduce the kids to an Aggie tradition that Adventure Guy and I enjoyed while we were students there, but it made for a late night. By the time we rolled into the house at around 1:00, everyone was more than ready for a good night's sleep.

There's a saying about the "spirit of Aggieland" and the traditions at A & M, "From the outside you can't understand it; from the inside you can't explain it." I'm finding that to be true in my accounts here. I ran across a new song during our visit, though, by an Aggie who's trying to make it in country music these days. Check it out at his myspace page. I wish I could share the video that they played at the game, but I'm not having any luck finding it yet.

And now, back to the eating! Saturday morning the girls and I slept in but were treated to round two of the food tour by Adventure Guy and Soccer Boy who were nice enough to go fetch us Shipley's donuts for breakfast. Forget Krispy Kreme. These are the perfect donut food, especially the plain glazed ones still warm from the oven. Then, sugar fix taken care of, we set out to buy an obscene amount of Aggie paraphernalia at the local bookstores. We bought Best Friend her requested A & M logo for her car, Mother-in-Law some t-shirts, and replenished the kids' stock of shirts, shorts, and jerseys. Oh, and I bought a cute belt that has no Aggie logo whatsoever.

After stopping by to visit Father-in-Law and his wife, we continued the food tour, going to Wings 'N More for lunch. While the rest of the family indulged in the signature chicken wings, I, in true no points barred fashion, had the steak fingers. And the onion rings, and, of course, the cream gravy as a dipping sauce. Fried-food heaven, I tell you. It's a good thing I only have the opportunity to eat this stuff once or twice a year!

The next stop was campus for a visit to the Memorial Student Center, where Adventure Guy and I were both involved in a number of student activities while we were at A & M and the Quad, where we watched the Corps of Cadets step off to march in to the game. Adventure Guy was a corps member as were my father and his father. We ran into several people we know and also met up at the end of the afternoon with our friends from Houston who were in for the game. I'm sure Adventure Guy would want me to note that one of the people we ran into was a yell leader during the time we were all at A & M. The term yell leader should automatically be translated into "big man on campus." After we finished visiting with him, Adventure Guy said, "Please tell me I've aged better than Yell Leader." I was able to assure him that he decidedly had!

Adventure Guy's ego appropriately stroked, we began the climb to our seats for the 6:00 p.m. kickoff. The kids were excited because we split them up so that the girls could sit together with their friend from Houston and Soccer Boy could sit with her brothers. This left Adventure Guy and me with the really good seats all to ourselves in the new endzone club area. I have to admit, I prefer being out with the general public, though the bathrooms in the club area are primo. The game itself went fairly well, and I'm happy to say that A & M did not go the way of Michigan this weekend.

After the game we visited with Father-in-Law a bit more and then turned in for the night. He left the next morning, and we decided to run on over to Houston to visit some more with our friends there, instead of spending more time in College Station as planned. The kids got to swim, and we got to conclude our feasting weekend with a trip to our absolute favorite Tex-Mex place, Lupe Tortilla. Their chicken enchiladas with green chili sauce are the best I've ever eaten, and the fajitas are fabulous too. I managed to indulge a bit in both and left absolutely stuffed. My two older kids were introduced to Mexican food at Lupe's and I can still remember Dancer Girl as a toddler powering down their barracho beans like she'd never have a chance to eat again.

This morning we drove the kids by our old neighborhood and showed them the two houses we lived in when we were there. Dancer Girl can remember a bit about the second house, but Gym Girl was too little when we moved to remember anything. Soccer Boy finds it strange that we lived anywhere else before he joined the family and emphatically states that HE never wants to live anywhere other than Suburbia unless he can take all his friends with him when he moves. That being unlikely, I think we'll stay put!

So, now we're home, and I'm the only slacker who's not unpacked. I've been wasting time catching up on blogs and having a nice glass of wine instead of getting to work. But I'm sure there will be plenty of time for that tomorrow.

We Are The Aggies; The Aggies Are We

Here in Suburbia, we're ready for some football. Tomorrow as soon as Soccer Boy's school is out, the rest of the family will be waiting in the parking lot, Suburban (appropriate, isn't it?) loaded, prepared to make the pilgrimage to College Station, Texas, home of Texas A & M University. Aggieland. Adventure Guy and I both graduated from A & M as did both of our fathers. While we do not quite rise to the rabid level of fandom that leads some Aggies to refuse to pay for their children to attend college elsewhere, we do view it as our duty to sufficiently brainwash the children into "choosing" to attend there on their own. This is more of a challenge now that we live out-of-state rather than 90 minutes away in Houston. But, we do typically manage to get to at least one game in Texas and one away game each season.

Tonight we were well into our preparations (The t-shirts were chosen, the bags packed, the pile of movies for the car trip prepared) when Adventure Guy arrived home from a meeting intent on making his own preparations. Those preparations involved the following:

One incredibly ugly shirt, vetoed by LSM.

One highly annoyed black Labrador refusing to cooperate for cute photo op.

Once we had selected a lovely polo shirt with a discreet A & M logo for Adventure Guy and given up on torturing the dog, we quickly finished up the travel preparations. Barring any unexpected developments, we'll be on the road by 4:00 p.m. tomorrow. We may even make it into town in time for Midnight Yell Practice.

Several of our friends will be in town with their kids, and Adventure Guy's dad and his wife will be there as well. We're looking forward to a weekend of eating our favorite college-era foods (I've been saving WW points all week!), hanging out with old friends, and then taking the kids to the George W. Bush presidential library* on Sunday before making our way back leisurely on Monday.

I'm always amazed at how much I need a long weekend by Labor Day. I'm even looking forward to the long drive. Adventure Guy and I get some of our best chats in while we don't have the distractions of work and home. I may or may not have time to post while I'm gone, so I'll catch up when we return. Have a great weekend!

*Disclaimer: One of the things I pride myself upon is that I never, ever voted for anyone named George Bush in any election. Not for governor, not for president. However, this is history, people. It seems like a shame not to take the kids to see some history while we have a chance!

1 Down, 35 To Go

I am truly enjoying my new job. It's exciting to have new challenges. Having been in my previous position for several years, much of my work there had become routine. That said, last week, the first full week of the school year, brought about a number of challenges. When Friday afternoon rolled around, I was thankful for the weekend. I'm hopeful that the remaining 35 weeks of the school year will not be quite so eventful.

Thanks to the people who continued to surf on over to the Suburbs since my last post. My goal is to post at least every other day, which I obviously did not achieve this week. So, to catch up quickly here's what been up in Suburbia since Tuesday.

• I helped host a shower for the new wife of a colleague. It's interesting to see how showers have evolved now that most of the brides involved are no longer 20 somethings. This shower involved dinner at a great restaurant, good wine, lots of laughter, and a limo to make sure no one had to drive after all the fun.
• I dealt with my first PR crisis at work. It's always fun to talk to the media, particularly when our local paper is guaranteed to get something wrong or misquote you. This time they didn't misquote me but they did get some facts wrong. I often had to speak to reporters in my previous position, so at least I'm used to that aspect of things. For this issue, I also was the liaison between the district administration and our school board members, which is a new role for me. I just had to remember my earlier statement about being excited about new challenges while taking on this task!
• Gym Girl had a school crisis involving not being selected for a program she was really hoping for. I'd rather be disappointed a hundred times than have to deal with one of my kids being disappointed. She's dealing with it pretty well now, though she was upset on Friday when she got the news.
• We had a new fence put in since our old one was rotting out at the bottom. The fence is lovely, but it took three days longer than it was supposed to, requiring the dogs to stay in the kennel that much longer as well.
• Adventure Guy's mom gave his step-dad a surprise 65th birthday party. We all went over for a cookout and got to see some family that came in for the occasion.
• My father in law and his wife were in town and visited us from 8:30 to 9:45 a.m. on Saturday. Yes, really.
• Gym Girl and I travelled to the state capital to attend the All-State Gymnastics banquet. Gym Girl was named to the All-State team last spring, and this was the recognition event. She had her name announced and received a plaque.

Amidst all that excitement, we managed a few more mundane things as well. I introduced the kids to one of my favorite television series, Freaks and Geeks. We're through the first season. It's been fun spotting all the actors who went on to big careers. I loved this series when it came out because it captures high school so perfectly, and the kids seem to be enjoying it as much as I did. Hey, it's one aspect of Judd Apatow's work I can actually share with them. It's not likely we'll be taking them to see Knocked Up or Superbad any time soon.

On tap for today is actual relaxation. We went to church and Sunday school, and, while I'm currently doing laundry, my only other big plans for the day involve taking the girls to see The Nanny Diaries. I loved the book and am hoping the movie is better than the reviews indicate!

Sleepy In Suburbia

I thought weekends were supposed to be relaxing. For one that didn't have any big commitments, this weekend was quite tiring. We're still adjusting to being up and out of the house at an earlier hour for school, and the kids were really tired by Friday night.

We played it low key on Friday. I treated myself to an "end of the first week of school" pedicure that afternoon since I didn't have any afternoon carpooling to do. Then I cooked dinner while the kids settled in for the High School Musical II viewing session. I had put on beef tips in the crockpot that morning, so I just made veggies and mashed potatoes. I usually serve the beef tips over rice, but the kids requested the potatoes this time, and it's just as good that way. My tip for great mashed potatoes? Add some garlic and a bay leaf to the potatoes while they're boiling. Then mash them with some whipping cream and butter. Definitely yummy, though, of course, far from low-cal. Adventure Guy got back late from his sales conference in Las Vegas. His plane was delayed, and he arrived about 1:30 a.m.

Saturday morning, I went to my Pilates class. I was proud of myself for actually getting up and going since I woke up when Adventure Guy came in and didn't get back to sleep for a while. I love the Saturday morning teacher, though, and I always get a good workout from that class. Saturday afternoon we babysat for my niece and nephew. My sister-in-law had helped me out one day when I had a babysitting crisis earlier in the summer, so we owed her one. I must say, however, that I think it's a bit more difficult keeping up with her 1 year old than it is watching Soccer Boy! Her daughter is 5, so she's no problem at all, but I'm out of practice with a toddler. I spent lots of time closing doors, monitoring toilets, and making sure he didn't get anything tiny in his mouth.

Adventure Guy and I took turns running errands with the girls while the other did babysitting duty. He took Gym Girl to the music store, and she is now the proud owner of a viola. She's starting orchestra this year and is so excited about it. Swim Chick plays cello, and I've enjoyed the benefits of her choice of a school-provided instrument. No such luck on the viola. It was less expensive than I expected, though, so that's a plus. I then went out with Swim Chick to buy her new dance supplies. In fact, I need to formally rename Swim Chick. She has not been swimming with a team since last January when she broke her collar bone. When she took a hiatus to recover, she realized just how little she missed swimming competitively. I'm a bit sad, since she's been on swim team since 3rd grade, but she's moved on. She's decided that she'd like to return to dance lessons, which she gave up when she started swimming. Her goal is to be ready to try out for the pom squad in 9th grade. She'll be taking a ballet class, a pom technique class, and a hip hop class. So, I guess Dancer Girl is born!

Having spent all our money on various kids' stuff, Adventure Guy and I took our friends up on an invitation for a low-key Saturday night. We went to their house for dinner and then played canasta. It's funny how things go full circle. When they were still childless, they'd come over to our house so that we could play cards after our kids were in bed. Now, we go to their house because they have four kids under five! Yes, four kids under five. Unfortunately, one thing that hasn't changed is that Adventure Guy and Best Friend's husband continue their reign over the canasta series. They are two for two in our recent matches. They also own the historic advantage. I'm sure Best Friend and I are about to come into our own, though. I guess we'll have to make more time for Saturday night card games in the near future.

Today was church and Sunday School. Adventure Guy and I are teaming up to lead a series of discussion about effective discipline for kids in our Sunday school class. Teaching adults is interesting compared to my experiences teaching high school kids. A lot of the techniques work just as well, but it's honestly more of a challenge for me to work with adults rather than teens. After church, I worked on my scrapbooking. I am now officially less than one year behind. I just finished October 2006. I also moved all my supplies upstairs to the gameroom. Now that it's nice and clean, I have a new cabinet to store all my stuff there instead of in my bedroom. It looks much nicer now.

And, now, it's time for our traditional end of the weekend experience: watching Entourage. I love Vince--those eyes!

We've Shopped Til We Dropped

I am not much of a shopper. I don't like to deal with crowds at the mall, and I don't tend to shop for recreation. Now, I love to buy clothes and shoes, but I tend to do it in big clumps of power shopping rather than as an ongoing activity. But, it's back-to-school time, and my girls convinced me they could not return to school without a few new things. Swim Chick actually needed the most since she insists on continuing to grow at an alarming rate now that puberty has set in full-force. She had passed down several shirts to Gym Girl (who, fortunately, is still pretty receptive to this), and had also outgrown most of her jeans. I am also fortunate that neither girl is tremendously hung-up about labels, and Swim Chick loves shopping at Plato's Closet, a resale shop geared for teens. We took in several of her nicer things last week after the mass cleanout and found a couple of pairs of jeans she liked there for about a $5 net cost.

But, yesterday, we spent the afternoon buying school supplies, first at Soccer Boy's school, where they sell pre-packaged sets for each grade and then at a local store where the girls got locker shelves and organizers, plus some really cool crayons that roll up. I also bought some new frames at Hobby Lobby to use in my new office. I've framed several of the photos Swim Chick took at Sea Camp this summer. We were planning on the mall trip occurring yesterday afternoon, but I managed to end up with a lap full of Diet Coke after Soccer Boy and Gym Girl decided to fight over the french fries at our late lunch stop. Natural consequence? We all went home. Adventure Guy and I had a wedding to attend last night, so there was no time for going back out to finish our shopping trip once I had to come home to shower and change.

So, on shopping trip take two, we managed to find several things the girls liked at our various stops today. I picked up some new shirts for Soccer Boy at The Children's Place, and, better yet for everyone involved, Soccer Boy did not have to go along with us because he was invited home with a friend after church. Once we picked him up, we had dinner and then went grocery shopping. Adventure Guy is at a national sales conference in Las Vegas for the week, so we planned some quick meals for the rest of us.

I can't believe that school starts Thursday. Summer has flown, but I'm excited about the upcoming year. We meet the younger kids' teachers on Tuesday, and they are looking forward to that. We already know a few kids in their classes, but it's always fun to see the whole class list. I'm just hoping that it will cool down a bit before then. It is hot, hot, hot right now after our record cool June and early July. I guess it's finally summer...just in time for the first day of school!

Here are some of my favorite photos from Swim Chick. I think she has a good eye.

Just Another Relaxing Weekend in Suburbia

I'd like to report that due to Nazi-like enforcement techniques (thanks, Adventure Guy!), our game room and the three children's rooms are still lovely to look at this weekend, just as they were last weekend after we finished the massive cleanup project. My own closet even remains pleasantly clean and organized. It's so nice not to feel that sense of dread when I venture upstairs. One week down. Now, my goal is to keep at this organization stuff for the rest of the school year so that we make it a real habit. So far, predictably, Swim Chick has been the most resistant to the room upkeep. She did react well to my threat on Saturday morning (or actually afternoon), though. After she'd been asked to get up more than once by the emissaries I had sent from downstairs, I went up and told her that laundry was being sorted downstairs and that she could either get up and bring hers down or she could do her own laundry. It's amazing how quickly a "sleeping" teenager can move under such duress.

Our weekend started slowly and then ramped up. I was able to join some colleagues for a late Friday afternoon "meeting" that involved margaritas at one of the local Mexican restaurants. I then took myself to the mall for some shopping. I tried on some dresses with the thought of buying a new one for a wedding we have coming up this weekend, looked at some shoes, and then settled for replacing some makeup that had seen better days. I came out far to the good by indulging at the Clinique counter rather than in the shoe department.

Saturday morning I made it to Pilates class. We had a substitute, and, while she ultimately gave a good workout, she just wasn't as dynamic as the usual teacher. It was also a good thing I knew what I was doing because her instructions weren't very complete or clear as to proper technique. She must have tipped her hand by subbing at the Friday morning class too because Saturday morning is typically packed, and attendance was low this week. Once I was home and dressed, Gym Girl and I went out to pick up her birthday cake and a few last minute favor items. Then it was off to the laser tag place for her birthday party. The group played two games of tag and then had the party room for 45 minutes. Fun, easy, and not too expensive: a definite birthday party success. Gym Girl's best friend came home with us to sleepover for the evening, and I took everyone to Blockbuster to spend one of Gym Girl's gift certificates she received at the party. The kids settled in for movie night, and Adventure Guy got ready for our party Sunday afternoon by preparing brisket and ribs for the smoker.

Adventure Guy has been wanting a smoker for a while, and I bought him one for Father's Day. This was the first time he'd actually tried it out, and a friend from church who is an expert came by to show him the ropes. They did all the prep and got the meat smoking. It smelled mouthwateringly good, but we wouldn't know the results until Sunday afternoon. In the meantime, we got some sleep and then went to church and Sunday school this morning. After church we came home to prepare for the Sunday school get together that inspired the brisket and rib preparation in the first place. Fortunately, the house was in pretty good shape, though I did hang a few pictures that have been sitting around forever. The main task was getting the yard in decent shape. Why does grass tend to grow just fine in my flower beds but not so well in the places I want it to grow? We all worked outside for a couple of hours and then got cleaned up for the party.

I must saw Adventure Guy's first run at using his smoker was quite a success. All of the meat turned out great. We went through most of it, but he does have enough leftovers for dinner tomorrow night. Other people in the class brought all the side items, drinks, and desserts, so I actually had little to do to prepare. It was a fun evening. We are truly fortunate to have such a caring and fun group of people in our class.

Tomorrow I begin my first full week in my new assistant superintendent position. I can tell already it's going to be a challenge as I make the transition. I'm excited, though, about all the possibilities for impacting students' lives. In each position I've worked in in education, I've viewed my work in light of how I can affect kids. First, it was the 140 students in my classroom; then it was the 2200 students at my school; now, it's the 9300 students in our district. No matter what else happens, I intend to keep the well being of students in mind each and every day as I go about my work. After all, I have three very special reasons for doing so: Swim Chick, Gym Girl, and Soccer Boy, three of those 9300. And as for the other 9297 kids? Well, they're all mine now too. And they'll have someone at All-American Public Schools looking out for them.

Repeat After Me

Change is good. Change is good. Change is good. I have officially been in my new job now for two days. I'm a bit overwhelmed because I've been doing both jobs since the Board of Education confirmed my appointment to the assistant superintendent position July 9th. Invariably, if I was at the high school, I was needed at the central office, and vice versa. But now, my replacement is hired, and I've done some transitional work with him this week. I'll be available tomorrow as well, and then I'm going to concentrate primarily on the new job. Of course, I'll always be open to answering questions that come up, but I'm not going to schedule time in my old office after tomorrow. In fact, I moved out the last of my things this afternoon, and I'm almost settled in the new space.

Getting settled involved transferring all the already-scheduled meetings and to-do's. I now have 59 new things "to do" than I did at the beginning of the week. Wow. All I can say is that my predecessor was very organized, and I appreciate the detail that she left me about what needs to be tackled as I make this transition.

On other fronts, I am continuing with my Best Life program and counting my points on Weight Watchers. I'm doing well on avoiding fried foods, increasing my fruit and vegetable intake, and eating whole grains. I'm still having more of a challenge with eliminating soft drinks. I'm doing okay at limiting them. In the two weeks I've been diligent, I've lost four pounds. I'm particularly pleased about that because I've had several "events" that I've been able to manage while staying within my points. I've got another 8-12 pounds to go to goal. Even though I've lost at two pounds per week so far, I don't expect that to keep up. In past experience, I slow down to between half a pound and a pound per week eventually, so I expect it will take me about ten more weeks to get to my goal. I'm hoping reporting my progress here will help keep me on track until I get there.

Also, as my summer winds down, I'm starting to look forward to a couple of trips I have planned for fall. Over Labor Day, the whole family is taking a road trip to Texas for a long weekend of college football at Adventure Guy's and my alma mater. Then in October, I'll be attending the annual August Mom's reunion in San Antonio. I can't wait to see everyone there since I haven't been able to make it the last few years.

I seem to be rambling now, so I'll sign off for the evening. More later on the big weekend...Gym Girl's birthday party on Saturday, and a Sunday School class get together at our house on Sunday.

Trials and Transitions

I am deep into the "transition" phase for my new job. Except, that right now, that means I'm trying to do everything in both jobs, but I don't officially leave the old one and start the new one until August 1st. I'm also dealing with spotty childcare right now since I was not planning on working a lot these last couple of weeks of July (based on my old work requirements). While theoretically, those requirements are still in place, I'm getting invited to a lot of meetings that are related to my new job, and it's very hard to say "no."

I am mostly taking the day off tomorrow, though I do have to go in and do an interview. We're in the last-minute hiring phase, and I don't want to miss the opportunity to nab this candidate if she's as good in person as she is on paper. She has an offer from another district, but I caught her before she'd accepted, and she says she'd prefer to come to work at All-American High. So, I'll go in tomorrow and interview her, even if that means going in for a while on my day off. I'm also planning to go in some on the weekend to finish packing and clearing out while I won't be disturbed.

On the home front, Swim Chick and Gym Girl are now in my hometown, visiting with their grandparents. I met my parents half-way last night, and my mom will bring them home either Sunday or Monday. I think I'm going to lobby for Sunday so that my mom can help with the above-mentioned childcare dilemma for Monday. That means, though, that I should do more in the game room than I had planned to do on Saturday. That, or I should just buck up and admit it's a pit, and not let it bother me. We'll see. The problem is that we have far, far, too much junk that's collected over the years of conspicuous toy consumption, both on our part and on the grandparents' parts. Theoretically, I really want to do a major cleanout of that area and our study. The problem is, I really, really want someone else to do it. Since that is unlikely, I'll have to figure out a time I'm willing to put aside all the fun things I'd rather be doing like hanging out at the pool, scrapbooking, reading, blogging, sleeping...the list goes on.

I am looking forward to tomorrow night, though. Adventure Guy and I are going out to dinner at Flemings with a friend of his from work and his wife. I have dutifully calculated the obscene amount of Weight Watchers points I will need to cover this meal and have worked it into my weekly total. I'm trying to decide if the fried onion strings are worth breaking one of the Best Life rules for--I've done very well so far with the "no fried food rule," so I'm not sure. I've been pleased with what I'm seeing on the scale this week, and I want to hold out for a good weigh-in on Monday. (Yes, I know, I'm only supposed to be weighing-in once per week. That isn't going to happen!)

Deathly Hallows, Parties, and Dieting, Oh My!

It was a fun-filled weekend in Suburbia. On Friday night Swim Chick and Soccer Boy both had sleepovers here while Gym Girl went to sleepover at a friend's house. I decided to take the easy route for dinner and ordered pizza for the group at our house. I am proud to report that I was able to work a couple of pieces into my points for the week, though I did violate the "no white flour" portion of the Best Life rules.

Once we'd finished dinner, Adventure Guy took Swim Chick and her friend to one of our local Border's for the Harry Potter party. Evidently it was quiet the place to see and be seen for the local middle-school set. The girls had a great time taking in all the excitement, and then, shortly before midnight, they set off for Wal-Mart where they purchased our three copies of the book. Adventure Guy was glad he had the girls with him because, while Wal-Mart wasn't requiring pre-purchase, they were limiting the books to one-per-customer. And, yes, we bought three copies. As I've said to many people who wondered about that, I've spent $18 on lots of things I didn't get as much enjoyment out of--Adventure Guy and I weren't willing to share, and we decided that Swim Chick ought to have her own copy as well, having shared with us the last time around. We could have lived with two copies, but now that Adventure Guy and I have both finished, we've loaned our copies out, so I feel we're doing a good deed. I'll write more about my thoughts on the book once a few more people have had the chance to finish it.

Saturday we had a lazy morning and a great afternoon at the pool. It was fun to relax and spend some time outside without risk of rain! The water is perfect right now, and we all enjoyed visiting my with my inlaws. That evening I ran to the store to prepare for the second big party of the weekend, my mother-in-law's birthday, which we were hosting the next day.

Adventure Guy grilled his beer can chicken again for the crowd. I made side dishes, cheesy potatoes and baked beans, and we bought rolls from our favorite artisan bread store. Adventure Guy's step-dad took care of the cake, and my sister-in-law brought salad. Everyone thanked Adventure Guy again and again for "cooking." Anyone want to explain how seasoning two chickens and putting them on a grill is immensely more difficult in society's eyes than making all the rest of the food?

Other than the party, which lasted from about 3:30-5:30, Sunday was all Harry Potter, all the time. Adventure Guy and I both finished, though he is still bitter that, even though he had a head start on the book, I finished before he did. There are not many things that majoring in history and English in college guarantees, but reading speed is one of them. It's impossible to do that much reading and not get pretty fast at it.

With all the eating and sedentary activity (read, lying around with a book in front of my face) that made up the weekend, I am pleased to report that I am down 1.5 lbs. for the first week of dedication to diet and exercise. Since I knew that the party was coming, I was extra careful with my flex points this week, and finished with a few points to spare. When I count points and exercise, I tend to lose .5-1.o pounds per week, so I'm expecting that it will take me 15-20 weeks to get to goal. That seems like a long haul, and I know that will take me right into the holidays, so I am intent on getting there and not "slipping" like I did last year around the same time. One thing I had confirmed for me this week, is that I am a much better at getting my exercise in if I do it in the morning rather than waiting until after work. Not only is it easier to come up with excuses later, but I the workout seemed so much harder the day I went in the afternoon. So, bright and early again tomorrow, I'll be hitting the gym.

1236.8

That's the number of miles the "trip" setting of my odometer registered as Adventure Guy and I pulled into the driveway this evening upon our return to Suburbia. Since we took off last Tuesday, we've visited two different cities, learned one new time-saving route, eaten at two of our favorite Tex-Mex restaurants, endured three days of pouring rain and threatened flooding, caught zero fish on a half-day Gulf fishing expedition, spent quality time with 14 relatives hailing from three states, and divested ourselves of all three children for the rest of the week. Ahh, vacation!

Swim Chick and Gym Girl are attending a week-long Sea Camp at Texas A & M Galveston. No, we really don't farm out the kids for the entire summer, but my father-in-law proposed sending them this year, and the timing was great with our 4th of July visit. We were able to leave them with him to take care of drop off on Saturday, and they will fly home next Sunday. Gym Girl is in the Adventures of Marine Biology session, and Swim Chick is taking Coastal Photography. We've sent her off with our digital camera and all the accessories and are hopeful she'll be able to teach us a thing or two when she gets back.

While the girls were spending the week away, it worked out perfectly for Soccer Boy to have his week at what we fondly refer to as "Camp Nonnie and Grandy." The kids spend a week with my parents each summer, and they like to divide it up so that Soccer Boy goes one week and the girls go another. That way my parents can cater to the different interests that the kids have at this point. On Soccer Boy's agenda for the week were playing lunar golf, swimming at my grandmother's house, a trip to the Star Wars exhibit in Ft. Worth, a children's play, and lots of interaction with his three cousins.

Since the kids are gone, Adventure Guy and I are going to take advantage of the time to get caught up at work after being out on vacation. We've also both vowed to get back into our workout schedules and to clean up the game room while the kids are gone and can't protest about the stuff we want to get rid of. Yep, we really know how to have fun!

You've Gotta Love The One-Day Work Week

Today was both my Monday and my Friday this week. Tomorrow we are leaving for Galveston, Texas, where Adventure Guy's dad has a beach house. We'll do all the 4th of July celebrating at his place and then drive back up through my hometown to visit with my brother and his wife who are coming in from California.

The kids are looking forward to seeing everyone, and I am looking forward to that and a few more days off. This week is always pretty dead at work, so it's a good time to be away. When I get back, I need to wrap up hiring and finalize our technology order. I'll blink and it will be time for new teachers to report.

I'm not sure how much updating I'll be able to do while I'm in Galveston, but I'll post for sure when I get to my parents' house. Happy 4th of July to everyone!

Nice Weekend

Why is it that I am able to post less frequently in the summer when my schedule is theoretically less hectic than I am during the school year? I'm not sure the answer to that question, but I noticed I hadn't posted anything since Thursday. I'm sure everyone has been waiting with bated breath to find out what was going on in Suburbia this weekend.

Friday night we went over to Best Friend's house for a little dinner and game night. Except everyone was too tired to actually play any games, so it ended up being dinner and sitting around their living room until we all admitted it was time to go home. Our lives are exciting. The good news was that this was a mutually agreeable conclusion. Best Friend is still in her baby and toddler parenting years, so she had not gotten much sleep the night before between night feedings and scared kids arriving during a thunderstorm. Adventure Guy seemed to suddenly be coming down with a little virus that's been making the rounds and wanted to get home to sleep as well. Fortunately, he seemed to recover during the day on Saturday, and it doesn't look like we shared the virus wealth with our friends.

On Saturday, we slept in and then the kids went to see Ratatouille with the same friends we hung out with the night before, or actually the older kids and the dad. Best Friend stayed home with her baby, and her husband was willing to take along my kids in order to have some help corralling his own. I was just thankful to have some time to work on my scrapbooking and to not have to actually see this movie, though my kids agreed with the good reviews it's received.

Saturday was also Adventure Guy and my 17th wedding anniversary. Several times during the day I thought about some nice things that I could post about that, but I never quite got around to it. I was too busy enjoying a nice dinner out and a trip to a grownup movie, Sicko. Suffice it to say that I am very happy that I was smart enough at age 22 to marry Adventure Guy and even happier that we have managed to grow together rather than apart over the last seventeen years. I know I've said it before, but he's truly my best friend, and I couldn't ask to have a better father for my children.

Today it rained, again. Just like it did yesterday and the day before and the 15 or so days before that. I am so tired of rain. We had a very relaxed day today. Went to church, ate lunch out, looked at some open houses (mainly just for the fun of it, though I'm always looking for the perfect house), and watched a couple of movies. I continued to work on my scrapbooking, and I'm officially up to July of last year. I'm feeling good about the progress I'm making on that front. I swear I will not ever get this far behind again! My goal is to finish at least all of last year by the end of July and then get started on catching up with Swim Chick's school album and this year's family album. The good news is that I actually find the process relaxing; I just got behind and then didn't put aside time to get caught up until now.

That's all of the excitement in Suburbia this weekend. I'll have a short week at work as we are headed out of town on Tuesday to visit Adventure Guy's dad for the 4th of July. More on those plans later.

Lazy Days

Yesterday and today I have been enjoying a couple of days off. Yesterday was my first day off since the end of school that I spent at home. I grabbed a few quick days at the first of the month and visited my parents, but Friday brought the first opportunity to sleep late in my own bed, and then get up and wonder, "hmm...what am I going to do today?" It was heavenly.

I ran a few errands on Friday morning and then met for lunch with the teacher who will be going to China with me in March. Our task for the day was matching our students with the students who are coming from China. We have profiles from each of the Chinese students, and we worked to pair them with students we think they'll match up well with personality-wise. Each step we take on this journey takes us a bit closer to the reality of the students' arrival in September. We can't wait to meet everyone. I've been emailing one of the teachers, and our students will begin emailing their partners now, so it will seem like they already know each other by the time the kids arrive.

Friday night Adventure Guy and I went out to dinner. While we were waiting for our table, we wandered in to a furniture store and found the family room furniture we've been looking for--on sale! I've been campaigning to replace our sorely worn set for a while now. Ten years of kids and dogs has done in the old stuff, though it held up well considering what we put it through. We'd been looking for a while but not finding exactly what we wanted. Adventure Guy has a good eye for decorating, better than mine really, and he immediately liked this couch. It's a sectional that curves into almost a semi-circle. It has nice leather piping trim, so we matched it with some leather chairs. They delivered it today, and I'm really excited about our new look in that room. Of course, I'm sure that this will likely start an updating trend for us. We need to paint and replace some of our carpet. We're also looking at updating the kitchen countertops. Decisions, decisions!

Today I made it to yoga class. My intention was to go to Pilates, but the instructor had a last-minute family crisis and all the other Pilates people were in a training seminar. So, yoga it was. It was a good class, and I enjoyed it. I can tell I haven't done a lot of those moves recently, though. I'm feeling it a bit this afternoon. After I got back from the gym Adventure Guy and I went to lunch and then ran a few more errands before meeting the furniture delivery guys. I worked on my scrapbooking (yes, I'm actually catching up), and now we're about to meet my inlaws for dinner.

Tomorrow, all we've got on the schedule is church and Sunday school, so it should continue to be a pretty laid back weekend. Unfortunately for Adventure Guy, the camp schedule means he doesn't have the kids at home for Father's Day. I'm getting him the smoker he's asked for, but his day should be pretty uneventful for the most part.

I'm also still waiting for the results of the ultrasound I had done last Thursday. Hopefully I'll have the report on Monday. At this point, I'm just trying not to worry too much about it and working on enjoying the weekend.

A Step In Time

Adventure Guy's first job out of college was completing a management development program with Conoco. The program provided excellent training and was recognized throughout the industry. The only problem? It was located in Ponca City, Oklahoma, the original company headquarters. The good news was that he would spend one year completing the program and then be transferred into Houston, the current company headquarters. I was finishing college at the time, so our plan was to marry after I graduated and he was transferred. I would find a teaching job in Houston, and all would be well.

You may have guessed already that things did not work out exactly as planned. Only a few weeks before our June wedding, the director of Adventure Guy's division determined that it would make more sense for Adventure Guy to stay in Ponca City to complete his first independent engineering project, which was based in Wichita Falls, Texas, a city closer to Ponca City than Houston. All of the sudden, instead of moving to Houston, I was headed for Ponca City, which has a population of around 30,000 people but feels much smaller. Did I mention I wasn't certified to teach in Oklahoma? I've always told Adventure Guy that my willingness to follow him to Ponca City must forever prove my dedication to him and our marriage.

While the location was not ideal, the circumstances we found ourselves in led to real bonding with the other MDP trainees, all of whom were young, recent college graduates. We hung out together in bad bars, roadtripped to the nearby college town of Stillwater, and spent hours enjoying ourselves on beautiful Kaw Lake. I worked as a legal secretary for a local law firm and made more money than I would have as a first-year teacher in Oklahoma at that time.

Nine months later we were indeed transferred into Houston. The best part about it was that all our friends were going with us, all the Conoco employees having finished up their first projects. We are still close to a number of these people as well as to several who joined us in Houston, having completed the MDP in Denver, Atlanta, or Lake Charles. We enjoyed life in the big city, buying our first houses, eating in decent restaurants, and eventually beginning families. Little by little, people were either transferred back out into the field or chose to leave the company for other opportunities. And suddenly, it's been 17 years since we were all living back in Ponca.

About a year ago, Adventure Guy's boss from Conoco decided it would be fun to have a reunion of the people who were in Ponca City during the two years she spent there. She single-handedly pulled off the get together that took place this weekend. People arrived from multiple states to converge on the company party room for barbecue and catching up with each others' lives. It was fun to hear about who was still working for the company and what had happened to those who had left. Several people had brought old pictures, and it was amazing how little the group had changed. Adventure Guy and I got to spend most of our time with another couple we'd lived near in Houston and have kept up with but not seen in a number of years.

The town itself has, unfortunately, not changed for the better. Since our move, Conoco merged with Phillips, and most of the Oklahoma managerial positions were moved to Bartlesville, the Phillips headquarters. The shift in demographics is obvious, and the town has the feel of one that is in decline. At one point, as I stood outside a convenience store looking at the desolate landscape, I turned to our friend and said, "We actually used to live here. Can you believe it?" He replied, "I just try not to think about it." Though I haven't thought about our life in Ponca City for a long time, the thing I know I'll never forget is the friends that we made during that time.

Some Texas Hidden Here In My Heart

Whoa but were doin fine, we can travel and rhyme
I know we been doin our part
Got a caribbean soul I can barely control
And some Texas hidden here in my heart

~Jimmy Buffett Migration

The opening strains of Margaritaville reached my ears as I eased onto State Highway 259. My long weekend was about to come to an end, but summer and my first road trip of the season were just beginning. Miles of highway and hours of time alone stretched in front of me. A strange mix of memories and anticipation mingled with the songs from Jimmy Buffett's Meet Me in Margaritaville as I remembered summers gone by and looked forward to my reunion with Adventure Guy after several days apart.


The drive from my parents' home in Texas back to Suburbia is a long, rather lonely one. Each time, though, I'm struck by the natural beauty I come across during the trip. Wildflowers, rolling hills, and sparkling lakes grace either side of the highway. Often, my car is one of only a few cruising by the cattle grazing and the maize and cotton crops growing in neatly plowed fields.

And, best yet. There's the occasional "rest stop."

Don't worry. I'm a girl who favors the classics. Rather than partaking of the chili cheese meltdown hunger buster, I indulged in the ever-popular chocolate dipped cone. The locals were a bit concerned by my out-of-state license plates and my propensity for photographing the DQ sign, so I cut my stay short and headed back out on the road. Back to my music and back to making steady progress home.

I love my life in Suburbia: my work, my kids' schools and activities, my friends, our church. But each time I cross the border out of Texas, my heart aches a bit. I'm a Texas girl, born and bred. And no matter how long I'm gone or how far away I move, there will always be "some Texas hidden here in my heart."

Or Maybe It Doesn't

"Believe it or not, it does get easier." That was my enlightening and, I'm sure, ever-so-helpful comment to my sister today. I arrived last night at my parents' house and visited with them and my grandmother who lives across the street. This morning I slept in, then took my grandmother to her hair appointment and met my sister and her three kids for lunch. My nieces and nephew are almost exactly the same spacing in age as my own children. Right now they are 5, 3, and 1. Sometimes in the craziness that is my own daily life, I forget that when the kids were younger it was harder due to the sheer physical exhaustion that parenting young children can bring. There are definitely challenges to parenting older kids, and at times I'm flat-out scared about soldiering through the teenage years with them, but I'll admit right out that I'm enjoying these years more overall.

At the same time I had the opportunity to observe my sister, the young mother, in action, my own mother's experience with my grandmother provided an odd juxtaposition: the child becoming the parent. I've posted before of my grandmother's recent decline. Her memory continues to be a challenge. When I visited last, she talked constantly about the grass in her front yard dying and how unhappy she was about it. My mother arranged to have a crew come out to trim the trees and cut one down so that they could plant new grass that would have a chance of getting some sunlight and living. Last night, my grandmother was very concerned because she didn't want the tree cut down. She insisted that she didn't care about the grass and loved the trees. My mother told me that they had just had a long conversation about what to do, and that my grandmother had agreed about cutting down the tree. But, she called the tree service and made sure they only trimmed it and didn't take it down. This is just a small example of what my mother deals with daily, and I respect her so much for taking good care of my grandmother, even though it is often a frustrating task.

Part of what is so challenging about my grandmother is the seeming unfairness of her situation. While most people would not think it unusual for an 89-year-old to have some memory issues, dementia is not something we've had to deal with before in our family. Why did I take my grandmother to her hair appointment today? Because my mother needed to serve as driver to my 95-year-old great-aunt, my grandmother's sister. She was in need of a chauffeur to deliver her to her speaking engagement, a conference for aspiring authors where she delivered presentations to over 200 people at two breakout sessions. My aunt is an accomplished author who has published several books and too many articles to count. My guess is that few in her audience would ever put her age at 95. Even better? Their 99-year-old sister is busy redecorating her living room. Of course, she's having the furniture recovered rather than buying new and bought a rug on sale because, even though she happens to be a millionaire, she doesn't want to waste money she might need in the future! All that longevity and mental acuity is wonderful, but it really brings home my own grandmother's frailty.

On a bit happier note, tomorrow I'll be attending my nephew's first birthday party. He's a cute little guy, and I'm looking forward to seeing him dig into his first cake. I'm also looking forward to seeing some candids of my kids at camp. The camp posts daily pictures online, but there haven't been any up yet. From past experience, tomorrow should bring the first set. They do have cabin photos posted, though, and I can see that Soccer Boy is already wearing an outfit that doesn't match, leading me to believe that things are right on track. I'm betting that he is having a fabulous time complete with no mom to tell him that maroon and green are not the best pairing. And, really, who am I to say they're not? Have fun Soccer Boy, have fun!

Anticipation

I write from the calm at the eye of the storm. Tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. my children will board a bus that will take them to camp. In preparation, I have labeled many pairs of socks and underwear, filled prescriptions, paid enormous sums for strengthened contact lenses and eyeglasses prescriptions, purchased "pink ladies" jackets for one of the costume parties, and packed everything needed for 25 days into one duffel and one trunk for each child.

We are now awaiting the arrival of our long-time friends, the best man in our wedding and his wife, who are driving in from Houston to put their three children on the bus with ours. Adventure Guy and Best Man met when they themselves were kids at this camp. They've been best friends ever since. I find it amazingly cool that our children are now attending camp together at the same place. The ages line up nicely. We have pairs of 13 year olds and 10 year olds bracketed by a boy at each end, one 15, one 8. After pizza tonight, we'll let the kids hang out, dreaming of all the excitement that's in store while the grown ups dream about almost a month of childfree days and nights. But we'll be sad when we send them off tomorrow, really we will!

I'm also looking forward to a little R & R of my own starting tomorrow. I will wrap up our big retreat event at work and then take off for Texas to visit my family. Adventure Guy is, appropriately, running an adventure race this weekend, so I'm going to take advantage of the down time to spend a few days with my parents and my sister and her family. My nephew will have his first birthday party while I'm there, and I'm going to do as little as possible until Tuesday when I'll head home to start hiring new teachers and finalizing the master schedule. And, I am going to Catch. Up. On. My. Scrapbooking. There. I've said it in print. I must do it. I'll keep you posted!

There is a God And Other Weekend Ramblings

Today I entered the mall (on Saturday after finding a convenient parking space), walked into Macy's, saw the swimsuit in the picture, thought, "hmm, that's cute, and I really need a new suit," tried it on and bought it. No endless trying of suits that were not flattering, no agonizing about how the fluorescent lighting inevitably highlights both the paleness of my skin and the cellulite of my thighs. It's a miracle. I've needed a new one piece for a while and haven't found one I liked, and now I'm all set for the summer. Well, I'll be all set if I can bring myself to get back into the gym more regularly so that the two-piece that I have and do like is also an option! But, pay no attention to that. I look exactly like the model does in the picture. I promise!

I didn't actually set out to go swimsuit shopping today. Gym Girl had talked me into taking her to the mall to get her friend a gift from Limited Too, mecca of pre-teen shopping. This week has been birthday central. Soccer Boy and Gym Girl both had slumber parties to attend last night. Swim Chick went to a 13th birthday luau today, and Gym Girl has a party at the rock climbing gym to attend next Wednesday. Thank goodness for Webkinz, both popular and relatively inexpensive. I successfully hunted down two for Soccer Boy and Gym Girl's Friday parties.

Tonight we are concluding Adventure Guy's birthday celebrations with a trip out to dinner with friends. I'm looking forward to a nice, relaxing dinner. It's been a while since we've gotten out on our own. I don't think we'll make it to a movie tonight, but I'm not worried since the countdown to camp and 25 days without children is well underway. We'll have plenty of time to catch up on things like movies then. In fact, our major task for the weekend is getting everything labeled and packed for camp and picking up anything that the kids still need. Fortunately, we've been working on that for a while, so we're pretty close to finished with shopping.

Oh, and I also got a new phone today. I'm now busily trying to figure out all the bells and whistles, and I got the simplest one I could find! Hopefully, I'm up for the challenge. And, most importantly, I have achieved the status of having a phone that's nicer than my 13 year-old's.

New phone, a swimsuit that fits, and dinner out with Adventure Guy. All's well in Suburbia.

Of Tires And Men

I am a woman who likes to be taken care of--an admission I realize I'm not supposed to fess up to as an independent 21st-century woman. It's not that I need to be taken care of; I'm perfectly capable of doing that myself. Instead it's something I want.

Today, I exited my office at around 3:30 to make a quick run to pick up Gym Girl and get her to practice. I usually don't make this run, but I needed to because the girl who usually drives her was busy with graduation events. I hopped in the car, put it into reverse and immediately realized "something is drastically wrong here." A quick check revealed the back passenger-side tire was completely flat. So, I called Adventure Guy. After all, flat tires are the reason cell phones, roadside assistance, and husbands were invented.

Now Adventure Guy and I have a mixed history regarding my perceived need for rescuing and his inclination to provide such services. This is the man who went along to rescue someone else's wife during the 1992 Houston floods when I was trapped on the opposite side of I-10 from where we lived. His comment when I arrived home from work at 9:30 p.m. rather than my usual 4:00 p.m.? "Oh, I knew you could take care of yourself, so I wasn't worried." And, I know deep down that this attitude does not reflect a lack of caring, as it might appear to on the surface, but instead really does reflect his deep respect for me and my abilities.

Fortunately, today's event was much less critical than historic flood levels. Adventure Guy offered to come and help me change my tire, but I rose to the occasion and said I'd check with my Cingular roadside assistance plan first. He helped by looking up the number I was supposed to call, and I kept him updated on the progress. I am happy to report that the roadside assistance was prompt and effective, and I was also able to take the tire in to a local shop for repair prior to having to be at the gym to pick up Gym Girl (I had arranged another ride for her to get there in the first place!).

I'm pleased with the evolution of Adventure Guy's and my relationship in this area and our avoidance of any conflict over this particular event. I did find it amusing to observe the actions of the various other men whom I encountered during this particular escapade. First, my boss offered to change my tire (and meant it) and then, after I assured him that help was on the way, recommended the tire shop I ended up taking the tire to as being "good, fast, and cheap." He felt comfortable enough with my explained plan of action to head home without checking up on me further. The next man who arrived was a teacher from another one of the district's school sites. I know him, but not well. He also immediately offered to help me change the tire. We were talking when the roadside assistance guy arrived, and he wandered on off but stood across the parking lot to watch the process from afar. Two of our young teachers then arrived to check out what was happening. Both said they would have been happy to help me change the tire but also seemed relieved that the work was well underway. They stood around with me watching and making sure all was set before leaving.

I should mention that one woman recognized that it was my car that had a flat and came in to make sure I knew. I also had two offers of assistance from female colleagues. One offered to call her AAA service for me, and the other, whom I'll call Farm Girl, offered to take care of it for me herself. She once jumped my battery for me and changes her own oil, so I had full faith in her ability. As I did with my boss, though, I assured her that I had it covered. None of the three women seemed to feel any inclination to "check up" on my progress with the flat as most of the men did.

So the lesson for today? As I've always known, I am capable of solving problems like this on my own. And, as I now know, I also have plenty of people willing to back me up if I need a little help along the way.