Good Energy

Hi, Barb,

Thanks for the long phone chat this morning. I hope the rest of your Sunday went well, doing "boyfriend prep" :)

I came home with the intention of parking on the couch and doing nothing the rest of the day, but my kitchen counters were covered in dirty dishes from last night, so I had to get that out of the way before I could relax. Then J went out to work in the yard, but not before starting a load of laundry, so that has become an all day task. I did spend a fair amount of time channel surfing (there is seriously nothing on tv on Sundays) but never could really veg out. So here I am - not very inspired to write, but....

Did I tell you about the ad in our local paper last week, calling for guest columnists? Each Wednesday, in the paper from the city, there is a section devoted only to the news in this area of the county. They are forming a panel of 4-5 volunteer writers, each of whom will write one column per month. Columnists are expected to write about current events, and to keep it as local as possible. Possible topics include politics, health, education and the environment. Guests may also share unique wisdom in a personal experience or social trend. Applicants have to submit two sample columns of about 450 words, by Friday the 14th.

So, I cut the ad out of the paper, and K called me the same day to tell me about it. Of course I'm wildly interested, but the thought of writing two columns (about what?) by Friday is so daunting. Jeez, I can hardly blog! How am I going to come up with news?? I haven't given up on the idea yet, though. I'm confident that something will come to me for the samples. If you happen to think of any brilliant topics, let me know. I need a jump-off point. I have no experience writing a column, so I don't really know where to start (other than reading the one in this week's paper). Funny how this comes up now, after all we've done to start writing again. How cool would that be, to write a little rinky-dink column in our paper? Good energy, I tell you.

I also have my PTA newsletter due this week, which I enjoy doing, but now feel a little pressured by. (I have a freakin' column to write! I don't have time for a PTA newsletter!) It's good, I guess; if I can keep the motivation up, this will keep me busy and out of my own head for a few days. The hard part is physically moving my body to do things...sounds lazy, I know, but I I feel like lead lately. I'm sure that's normal, but I didn't expect to be debilitated by this and it's more than a little annoying. I spend a great deal of time talking to myself, in an effort to keep moving. Literally, picking up the laundry basket and saying out loud, "Ok, let's go. Let's just get one load done, then you can sit down. Put some music on. Turn off the tv. Up we go, up the stairs..." Seriously, I was doing it in Target yesterday too, when I couldn't remember to check off the things on my list. "Ok, look at it again. Go through each item, one by one. Look in the basket. Don't freak out on this." I'm sure I looked a littly loony, wandering among the kitchen gadgets, but then again, people probably thought I was on my Bluetooth.

So that's my thing for tomorrow and Tuesday. I think we'll probably take JJ to the movies on our day off, then I'm hoping to drop him off with K for dinner and...whatever after that. I did do some more research today and found out that there are transition homes for teens in our county that are available for kids who can't/won't go home but whose parents don't want them at a friend's house. The woman I talked to about this today said that our counselor should be able to refer us to that option if we don't get an agreement to come home. This, I think, I would be alright with, moreso than another week or however long at S's house. It would give us time to figure out a plan and I wouldn't feel like such a failure of a mom. I guess it would just feel more like I was doing the right thing. Don't ask me why, I really don't know.

Anyhoo....we're going to stay home for dinner tonight and get JJ in bed early. He didn't get to sleep until after 11 last night and he's been outside since 11 this morning. I'm not sure if he's even eaten anything since breakfast, unless he ate at JK's house and I don't know about it. The two of them have been inseparable the past couple of weeks. (Did I send you Halloween pics?) She dyed his hair pink yesterday - man, she's got him wrapped. He assured me it would come out in the shower; normally I wouldn't care about hair color but it appears to have been a gateway to my life falling apart lately, so I'm going to steer clear with this kid.

Ha ha...sense of humor, remember? Off to heat up my leftover lasagna and call it a night (it's pitch dark already at 5pm. I really hate that. )

Have a good day tomorrow, and welcome to W for an overdue visit...talk to you soon.
Love, A