I'm Back

Sunday evening, my son and I drove home from Salt Lake. The windows were down, clean, cool air lifting my hair. My body ached- feet, calves, knees, and back. I am so unused to walking and bending all day long. But, this night, we were done and my heart swelled a bit at the knowledge.

My stint as a 'working girl' was hard. We left home at 6:30am and got back about 12 hours later- for 14 days straight. Some days we worked ourselves into a sweat, others we literally sat and read for 9 hours. There was no happy medium.

The job was interesting, even fascinating. I worked as a 'helper' at the Salt Palace for the AP Reading. Basically, we organized and set out AP art projects for the teachers to grade. I saw some amazing art. (And, some really, um, sad attempts). We got a few impromptu art lessons from one of the teachers, which made me want to take a class. I met new friends, ate way too much food, and got to spend two weeks with my son, my nieces, and my sister, Heidi.

Heidi and I were at the same table, which meant we spent the entire day together. There aren't many people I could work that closely with for that long without getting annoyed and/or tired of them. We talked and we laughed. It was great.

Now, I'm home. I'm still trying to assimilate myself back into the day-to-day routine. I started work when the kids were in the last week of school and ended with them home. I keep watching the clock, thinking about when the bus comes- even though the kids are right here.

My house is in transformation. As I lay in bed after my last day, I made a mental list of all the cleaning I needed to do. Then, I started making plans for the painting and rearranging I want to do.
I've deep-cleaned the bathrooms, washed and folded loads and loads of laundry, vacuumed, and made dinner- actually cooked food for my family. (And, this morning, I spent an hour reading the blogs I've been missing.)

The Handy Man is a champ. He stepped in every place he was needed. He made dinners, got the kids to their activities and single-handedly washed all the dishes we dirtied in those two weeks. He also rubbed my back and feet when I collapsed on the bed each night.

My hat  is off to all those working moms. I was not made for this. I've spent the past two decades at home, my body is used to holding children, making beds and, let's be honest, watching the Price is Right. We make a lot of sacrifices for me to be home and I realized after spending so much time away from my children- they're all worth it.