We have another week of reorganizing, unpacking, and general chaos settling behind us. I'm able to pay more attention to every day life matters again--dishes, laundry, cooking--without it being an undertaking. I'm starting to learn where things are. We still have a few boxes, but most of them are unpacked and in the basement. It's about time. We've been here a month.
A couple days ago I was sitting on my bed folding laundry. The windows were open and cicadas were chirping (buzzing? Whatever that noise is.), and I realized this house feels more like home than anyplace has in a long time. Maybe ever. I almost didn't look at it. I saw the listing on realtor.com and thought it was just another flip where the people came in, ripped out the character and soul, and modernized everything. And they did, sort of. As far as I know, the only things original are the stained glass and block glass windows in the living room, and the hard wood floors on the main floor. When the other offer fell through, Eric walked this house without me and brought me back the next day, and I realized they hadn't ripped out the soul after all. The day we closed, the sellers sent us the before pictures. This house needed to be gutted and redone. Someone had paneled or wallpapered every wall. The only bathroom was the one on the main floor and it was a train wreck. Maybe this house feels like home because it's happy to be pretty again! That hasn't stopped the weeds from growing in the back yard, though.
Work seems to be settling down a little. The newbies are getting more confident and asking for more hours. I'm not without personnel issues, of course, but I finally got it through my head that it's not up to me to fix everything. It's actually better for them if I make them find coverage for the shifts they can't work. I'm not obligated to give everyone the shifts or number of hours they want to work. I do my best, of course, but I don't feel guilty anymore.
I get to spend the day with family tomorrow. It's my grandma's 99th birthday. It's not the Official Party because my aunts are out of town, but Dad decided we needed to mark the day, so I'll drive up after church. It's only 3 hours, and I've been meaning to day trip up there since we moved to Chicago. I hope my cousins come, too. It's been too long since we were all together. I think it was my great-uncle's funeral.
That's pretty much it here. I think we're finally through crisis mode, just in time to go back to St. Louis for the Games next weekend, on our anniversary, no less. It's nice to be able to breathe again.
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