Wednesday:

I‘m so bummed. I was supposed to go to something important today, but I’m sick and decided not to. Sorry to be vague, but depending on what happens I may have more details in the future.

On the bright side, although I’m sick I have a day off from my new job. Yes, I was hired by Instacart and have been working for the past week filling online grocery orders at the local Wegmans. As with my PTA life, I won’t be writing about job life here. But I’m happy to be working at a fast-paced job and to be earning money. The kids and hubs have adjusted pretty well (it’s just 25 hours a week, give or take). Also, it is super convenient that after my shift, I can grab needed groceries for us. Plus, I run into someone I know frequently, I’d say on average 2 people a shift, which is pleasant, even if I usually can’t talk because I’m working (speed is the name of the game for Instacart). A change from office jobs where it’s you and your coworkers all day, all the time… (awww, no offense, former coworkers, love ya!).

I appreciate home more now that I’m not here all the time, and I appreciate time with kids more now too. I even got down on the floor and played with Gemma and Sebastian on Saturday morning, and I haven’t done that in a while…

Hmmm, hard to not write about the job when it feels like that’s all I’ve been doing or thinking about.

Prior to starting work, I was continuing to declutter. I culled all my books and the kids’ books and gave the kids’ books to a friend through a Facebook resource exchange site. Today, I finally called the library to find out if they accept donated books. They do, if they are like new, so I boxed those up and they are ready to be dropped off. (In fact I drove by but couldn’t find parking near the library). A few other items (board game, candle, kitchen stuff) found new homes through the resource site as well. I’m reminded of the famous Elizabeth Bishop villanelle, One Art.

The more you give away, the easier it is. The emptier the house becomes, the emptier I want it to be. Good-bye, good-bye, good-bye.

I also sold some decor items I had listed on Facebook way back when, and sold a digital camera and another Easter dress on eBay. Then just last night I made a Poshmark sale. All told the sales amounted to about $67, I think.

I’ve also been continuing with removing stains from baby clothes, and hope to get those lots up on eBay soon.

The last Saturday in January was mild and sunny, and so I cleaned up the backyard — finally taking down all the netting and hardware cloth that was still up, and yanking out all the dead tomato plants. I also put some old kids toys out with the trash. Looks much better.

The next day, I made some new candles out of old candles. Worked pretty well, but something is up with the wicks — the flame struggles to burn.

I got my hair cut today at Hair Cuttery, and the boys got theirs cut on that nice Saturday. Was thinking of posting on the resource exchange that I’m looking to barter child care for haircuts.

My crocheting is suffering, since I started working. I haven’t done much except redo the first 3 rows of a sock pattern over and over.

Cooking has been suffering a bit too, but I did make homemade chicken soup with my homemade stock from the freezer. That was last Friday and I ate it all weekend. This past week I brought home taco fixings for dinner one night, and then the next night I made sour cream enchiladas with the leftovers. (As always, not everyone ate these things, but enough of them did that I’d call it mildly successful. Some had quesadillas). I froze the leftover enchiladas.

BTW, the most popular food at Wegmans? Has to be bananas. 95% of my orders include bananas. Made me think of this old post of mine.

Today (Saturday):

No work today. Sebastian has a birthday party; I have a PTA-related meeting in the afternoon and possibly another meeting later tonight. Sold another Poshmark item on Thursday and got an offer on an eBay lot today. Would like to do some more decluttering and some more clothes listing today, if possible. I suppose I should plan something for dinner but that isn’t going to happen. Also need to make a point to go to CVS and spend my $9 in Extra Care Bucks on toothpaste and cough medicine. Whew! Too much excitement.

Tomorrow: Working 9 to 5. What a way to make a living 🙂