Today is the first day we’ve had the windows open in six months. We’re so confident hopeful that spring may have actually arrived that Tom took the plastic sheeting off the windows. The tulips in our yard are hesitantly poking up, fully expecting to be frozen, the trees are starting to show the very slightest haze of green, and all the dog poopsicles from the winter have been collected and properly disposed of. This is the latest spring I can remember, but my memory is not only crappy these days, but is colored by the fact that fourteen of my last sixteen springs were in an entirely different climate and spring there hit with stops and starts. In fact, my friends in Colorado are currently enduring a winter storm, expecting a full foot of snow, even as they’re still nursing sunburns from Sunday’s gorgeous weather. Cross my heart, I feel bad for them; no one south of Anchorage should see that much snow on May first.
So with the warm breezes that caress my skin rather than smack it, I suddenly have a bit more energy. Sadly, it’s tempered by the muscle-relaxant-hangover I have this morning. My TMJ has flared so badly that muscle relaxants are pretty much the only way to calm it while I sleep. During the day I can focus on my jaw and relax, but when I’m dead to the world I’m still clenching and grinding and injuring my teeth, even with a night guard (my second, for those who are keeping track; I chewed through the first one a couple years ago). So far I’ve damaged one filling (left side…fixed), have begun the drilling joy of a crown (right side…half fixed), and suspect there is another cracked tooth (left side…currently being ignored by mutual agreement with my dentist). Needless to say, my teeth hurt, and as chewing should probably not be done by the still-functional front teeth I will be beginning a liquid diet immediately. No, not wine, though that is a delightful idea; I’m still taking the muscle relaxants and I really like living, despite not being a total fan of my life right now.
Yesterday I completed the training to be a SENG parent group facilitator. It was a fantastic couple of days and I’m still digesting all that I learned. There is a huge screaming need for groups like these for parents, and I’m excited to get some groups going, hopefully this summer.
I read a fascinating article yesterday on the freedom to quit. I don’t necessarily agree with everything in the article, but it’s been a good thing for my mind to chew on. There’s a freedom in being able to quit something…and I’m scanning my list of projects wondering which one(s) I can quit, which ones are no longer serving me or my goals.
In case you’re not in the middle of a job search, here’s a newsflash: it’s ugly out there. Found out last week that I’m not qualified for a clerk position at a community college. Couldn’t even get an interview. So. Yeah.
Something positive happened with our house! The surprise! The joy! Several weeks ago the drains in our furnace room made known their deep displeasure with the world, and a plumber came to visit. An hour of sewer pipe rodding and inside pipe snaking, and everything was hunky-dory. And then, lo, the skies opened and there was much flooding in the area. Ye Olde Sump Pump rose to the challenge, and the sewer pipes did their job, and there was no flooding in The House of Chaos while husband was out of town. The sump pump earned itself a pony. And a battery backup; damned if I’m going to tempt fate with areal flooding and a power outage.
The dog. She smells.
Coffee.
Dear service provider: if you say you’re going to send an estimate within a certain timeframe, receive an email query about the aforementioned estimate and promise delivery by the next day, and a week later still don’t have it to the homeowner, kindly do not be surprised or offended by a less than stellar review on Angie’s List. Yes, it’s spring and the busy season and I don’t care. Love and kisses, the woman who wants the brambles the hell out of her backyard.
Boring post? Yep. But such is my brain today. Many apologies.