Long Time No See

Not exactly "back," but not exactly gone.

My first summer being a "Work From Home Mom" has proved challenging. The hard part definitely isn't the "home" side (though, Break: Needed.) - the "work" side is what has proved challenging. Especially when I work from home, until I get an appointment, at which time I need to leave home - alone.

But before I know it, the summer will be over, they'll be back to school, and I'll spend my mornings not working because I'm just so lost by the quiet.

And then I'll only be able to blame the dog. (Who, by the way, is wonderful. And extremely time consuming. But also very cute.)

A few recent pics to share:

Mike and I at a good friend's wedding in May.

Alyssa fishing during our camping trip in June.

Evie sitting with "Mom" (Oh, Gawd, I know.) at the beach.

Alyssa and Evie after a boat ride.

(Nick doesn't "do" pictures often, unfortunately.)

I appreciate the checking in, friends. :)

Even by my Chinese Canned Ham friends. Because, why not?

I miss you dearly.

Meet Evie

As if things weren't crazy enough around here, we have added a new member to the family.

Meet Evie - she's a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.

We got her at only six weeks old.

Now eight weeks, she's a biting and pooping machine, but when she sleeps, I can hear my heart of ice crackling from the thaw.

She is very smart and learns quickly, so I'm hoping that potty training gets better...soon. :)

Trashy

Hi Friends. :)

Short update to excuse my disappearance because it's all the creativity I can muster:

I am officially a REALTOR in the state of Minnesota. I am STILL in training classes, but I'm trying to get out with people on appointments and such to get a little experience under my belt. To answer EVERYONE's question: No, haven't sold anything yet, but busy as heck anyway. I should be getting my first listing within the next couple of weeks. :)

Things are heating up with Nick getting to be that super fantastico magical number his mother keeps telling him about ("When you're 12, you get to decide where you want to live!"). Things have been really trying in this area of my life lately. However, we have FINALLY started the Total Transformation program that I received months and months ago. We've gotten through the first disk and it gives me a lot of hope - I plan on posting more about this later on.

I finally got to do a "Trash the Dress" (I like "Rock the Dress") shoot! We shot them at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. Here are a few:

I hope you are all doing well. I'm trying to make my rounds on the monthly reader catch-up, but I can't make any promises. :) Miss you all.

Work

It's hard to believe I've been out of work for two months already. I've been working harder than I have in YEARS. Actual, physical WORK. Hammers and saws and lifting heavy things and being so absolutely filthy that all you can think about the whole way home is collapsing in the shower WORK. Frozen snot, double-layered gloves, wearing men's long underwear LAYERED and crappy winter boots being thankful when the God-forsaken wind STOPS for a minute WORK.

Not that I didn't feel my old job was work - people don't believe how exhausting it is to HAVE to sit all day or to have to stare into the glow of a computer screen until your eyes involuntarily close or spasm. While that work left me so mentally drained that even emotional interaction became yet another thing to do, physical work left my body aching and tired, but my mind and soul energized.

When classes started, it got a little more complicated. See, the plan my mom and I formulated was this: I helped her work on the house she is remodeling, she paid for the classes I needed in order to obtain my real estate license. So I crammed 106 hours of class into a month, while helping my mom with her house and my brother with his business on my off days. Not to mention still being mom and wife at home.

Suddenly, I was getting the worst of both working worlds - I was physically aching and mentally drained. Since I finished up my classes the week before Christmas, I took time off the laboring work as well so I had time to bake like mad for our "homemade" Christmas.

We had our Christmas fun, but I can't help but feel like I cheated myself from enjoying the season, and subsequently feel guilty for feeling that, knowing that I was doing what needs to be done. And that given the times and our circumstances, we were lucky we had the time, gifts and food that we did.

Now that the holidays are over, I have this weekend to relax and get my house back in order before I have to push full-force into this new career. It seems almost cheesy starting down a whole new path in life at the beginning of the year. Like a really bad book plot. But at least it will make doing my taxes easier.

So, that's where I am with life right now. Taking every day for what it is and pushing past the tight cocoon of limitations I had set for myself, hoping that this leap of faith lands my family on their feet.