Coming Home: To A Bachelor Pad

Yes, the job is done. I can sleep, eat, and work at home. What an experience! Lots of good and bad. I'll probably write a couple of entries to cover it all, including how my boys with autism managed.

The scariest part of being home is realizing how a "presentable" home can change so drastically without a woman's touch. Mind you, I am not a clean freak. Far from it. I want my home to be comfortable, livable, lovable... With my oldest son frequenting our house more, there are six males here. The house will inevitably reflect that. However, I could describe my house as a bachelor pad. They were perfectly happy with it, too.

Games systems, guitar hero, cds, and dvds were left on any open space. Pans were not left in the sink, per my strict orders. However, they could be found left on the stove. They did put the food away, but then again, six males and left over food? Not to worry there.

The dining room table had the mail, which had been neatly organized into a "junk" pile and a "good" pile. Laundry was done, but that folding part eluded all.

Dusting had not been done. Crumbs in the carpet told telltale signs of eating in the living room. Hence, I am actually splurging to have my carpets downstairs professionally cleaned.

So, for now I will catch up on the home schooling front, and organize the chaos a bit at a time.

Welcome home, Mom!

Working Full Time: Honeymoon Is Over

I'm on my fifth week of full time employment. The paycheck is nice. Very nice. Everything else is on a downward slope. Laundry is building up. Dinner isn't getting prepared. The chores are sliding. Home schooling? Don't make me laugh.

AND I'm tired.

I am not pushing to have everything done. My boys, including the two with autism, are rather typical. If they can get away with not doing their work, they are not going to do it.

It's late, even as I write, so this entry will be short and sweet. The (good) news is that I was offered another temporary full time contract, and I have accepted it. I have not told the boys yet. Can't wait to see the "surprise" looks on their faces when they find out they have a few more weeks to go.

HAHAHAHAHA

It's All Relative!

So my niece was talking about the longevity of her relationship with her boyfriend. "We've been together for 19 months."

I thought I'd tease her. "Well, 19 months is a drop in the bucket compared to 20 years of marriage," I beamed.

Little did I know that my mother was behind me and laughed. "Well, 20 years is nothing compared to 50 years of marriage."

Moral of the story: there's always a bigger and better fish than you lurking... Be humble!

The Side Effect of Working--Losing Weight

Well, I never expected to lose weight while working. I sit all day, reading a computer screen. I don't call that exercise. Yet, the scale definitely says that five pounds have mysteriously disappeared. And no, I do NOT have to turn around for someone to find them "behind" me, as my dear father joked.

I can attribute this weight loss to a few factors.

1. I don't snack.

2. I don't cook.

3. I am too busy to eat.

4. My schedule is crazy.

So yes, I eat about 1200 calories between breakfast and lunch. I don't eat dinner, not necessarily by choice. It's just the nature of my schedule for now. As soon as I get home from work, I teach piano. After sitting all day, I don't want to sit anymore. Consequently, I walk three miles. Once back home, I start checking the home schooling assignments. The boys have usually cleaned the kitchen, so that last thing I want to do is create a mess that I have to clean. Also, by the time I'm ready to sleep, I too tired to notice that I didn't have dinner.

We'll see if this keeps up.

End of Week Two: PAYDAY

I have officially finished two weeks of working full time, and we have survived. At home the laundry needs folding, but at least the boys have CLEAN, wrinkled clothes. They work together to get dinner done. Sometimes Dad or Grandma does help with directions of a recipe or supervising any needed cooking. My kids are learning skills that they will need in life. Overall, I am impressed with my dudes! What a great payoff!

Now for me... I looked at my checking account, and POOF, direct deposit yielded a nice sum of money. So cool!

Now for the "not so fun" side: I am juggling the home schooling, piano teaching, grocery shopping and working.

The home schooling is not smooth, but some of my kids are maintaining their schedule quite well. Other kids need prompting. I am not going to name anyone yet... I do remind them that whatever they don't get done now will have to be done over the summer. They don't like that idea. Grumble, grumble, but it gets done.

Piano lessons are going smoothly, just scheduled a little later in the day.

Grocery shopping is still my domain, "realm" if I think like royalty. I have to work out a way so that my 18 year old can start taking this on. He can drive a car. Can he manage a cart? Grocery shopping just cuts into time that I really need to use for home schooling. Feel a change coming? Yep.

Working. I enjoy my coworkers. I've found that business casual in AZ is different than CA 15 yrs ago. Shorts? T-shirts? When I last worked in Corporate America, business casual meant a collared shirt, dress pants, etc. Other changes: People talk about personal issues more freely. And the language? I remember when people got fired for using "those" words.

Anyways, the work itself requires a lot of reading, and I enjoy it. I love getting out of the house and being with adults. Having conversations about many subjects with many people is so new. The best part of all, of course, is getting that first paycheck. Yippee.

The payoff so far as been so much more than cash for my kids and myself!

Photo credityomanimus

Mom and Sons: We Made It!

Yep, I made it through my first full time work week in years. The boys all took turns cooking dinner. Most of the time they had the dinner table set when I walked in the door. Laundry has been done; well, the clothes are cleaned and waiting on our couch to be folded. They did a great job overall. I love my kids!!! I'm very proud of them.

Home schooling has taken a beating somewhat. Only when my mom has been here has everything been done--on time. Tomorrow will be a "make-up day", but somehow I'll make it fun since it will be Saturday. Maybe it'll be a movie night if we get everything done. Will have to think about it.

I also did thoroughly enjoy going to happy hour with my oldest son. I have not seen him in a social setting in a very long time. I can't tell in words how much fun it is to talk and socialize with my adult son. We can agree, disagree, debate, laugh, etc. while enjoying a margarita and nachos. I LOVE MY KID, and I do love that he is out of the house.

You moms with little ones-- life with your precious babies does go fast, but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy them when they move out too! No one ever told me that.

SIGH.

The Second Day: Yea and Oops

Today was another success--if you ignore that fact that I forgot to pick up my son from school. OOPS.

I have spent the last week writing down the schedule, where everyone has to be, and who is driving said person at what time. Yesterday and today, my husband, son, and mom have been perfect. Guess who forgot her responsibility? Me.

What is really ironic, is that I always pick up Ryan from school on Tuesdays and Thursdays! How could I forget? Actually, it was quite easy. Do you remember what it felt like to get out of school, waiting for that last bell to ring? Waiting, watching the second hand... Well, I relived that, and boy, when that last "bell" rang, I was out the door, running to the car--FREE. I couldn't wait to get home, see my boys, and get a few minutes of rest before teaching piano.

I was half way home before my brain registered that something was wrong. I suddenly remembered poor Ryan. So much for that quick trip home. I had to turn around and backtrack. Of course, as soon as I realized my mistake, Ryan was calling my cell phone, "Mom, where are you?" I told him I'd be right there, well, in ten minutes. It actually took me twelve minutes. Anyways, he was waiting patiently for me in the school office, reading a magazine. Not too bad, but still: Oops.

Now for the successes: I'm learning many different ways to think. However, there is a lot of reading, so by the end of the day, my eyes are dying. I'm really enjoying the job. Also, I came home, and Cam was making his dinner that he practiced last week. All was under control. So far, I'm impressed with the kiddos... Yea!

Day Two Down!

photo creditr3v || cls