another day done

Thursday night. 11.31 pm. The house is quiet. The lights are out. Except for the lights here in the great room. My cat, Cici, is lying on the futon right by my head, with her nose buried in my hair. The day is done.

Today. I didn't have any deep thoughts today. I cleaned my house. I sent my son to a baseball game and traded him for a little girl. Only for the afternoon though. I hemmed curtains. I had Bible Study. I helped to get Ethan ready for and in bed. Then I watched a Tivoed The Amazing Race season 3 episode. Not too exciting, huh?

I'm a bit nervous about my new job that starts in just over a week. I know that I'm a good teacher. I love children, I love teaching. I like the idea of working in a private school setting, and a church setting. I was very comfortable in my old school though. I had good friends, and knew the system. But it was far away. And the trip was long. And the time spent travelling was hard. Two hours a day, most days. Too much for me. So changing jobs was a good decision in many ways. But will I get along with the people I work with? Will I figure out the routine and the stuff that goes on during the day? I know, in the end, that I will. Just a little nervous right now.

The Fresh Prince of Bel Air is on. Will Smith reminds me so much of my brother, Jon, when he was a teenager. I miss my brother. He lives in Georgia, and I don't get to see him as much as I would like. Even when I go down and visit, he has a job and a life, and when we do go over, Ethan occupies most of his time. I love seeing that bond between them, but I do miss my brother. Most siblings, well, they have that typical brother/sister relationship. For my brother and I, it was always a little different. Our parents were truck drivers, and were gone a lot. Jon and I were the only consistent people in each other's lives for a long time. Even when I fought with him as a kid, it was so good to have him around to fight with. As we got older, and life changed, our roles within the family changed. Jon felt like he took care of the two of us, and in a great many ways, he did. He was my chauffer, my protector, my ATM :), and my stability. I don't think I did nearly as much for him as he did for me. It frustrates me that people perceive my brother as grumpy and unfeeling. When I had a huge hysterical crying fit and locked myself in my room, Jon was the one who forced his way in and held me as I cried. When I got married, my brother was the one with wet eyes and hard hugs. When he plays with Ethan, the light in his eyes and the love in his voice is unmistakable. Why is it that just because he's not social and outgoing, that people think he's made of stone? Why is it that he can't see how wonderful he is?

Why is it that we, as humans, are often unable to see the good in ourselves? Why must we ignore the positive aspects of ourselves and focus on that which needs work, or that which is negative?

Crud. Now I'm feeling all soap boxy. Time for some more chocolate covered raisins. They'll keep me busy. Let's just skip to Jenette's Tips of the day, shall we?

On cleaning your house: Give yourself a set time limit to focus on one area of the house. If you need to work in your kitchen, set your timer for 5, 10, 15 minutes, whatever is necessary, and stop when the timer goes off. Or, if you're working on a specific task, say, gathering papers from around the house, do THAT. Don't get distracted by the crud on the floor, or the kitty litter that needs to be swept up. Baskets and containers are wonderful things!

On fixing impromptu dinners for unexpected guests: Pasta, salad, vegetable, bread, and go out for ice cream later. Be gracious and enjoy the unexpected, rather than being grumpy that your schedule was changed. You know what I'm talking about! :)

I think that's it. I really should write things when I think about them. Waiting til the end of the day makes my writings so much less interesting.