My New Life

As the family is strewn across the state in summer camp, I am left home alone during day for the first time since my daughter, who is now 13, was born. It has been a very exciting week filled with blogging, walking the dog, cleaning the house, and I even let myself get out and watch a movie I been interested in seeing since I read the book (The Mists of Avalon). It has been such a change since I stopped working in April. And this week even more so since I did not even have the kids at home. Tuesday morning I spent a very exciting time grocery shopping – Wooohooo! I dropped my daughter off at the bus, completed payroll at church, went to Wal-mart to pick up a Boost Mobile card (since my daughter has been using my emergency only cell phone for all sorts of conversations with me), and then headed over to BJ’s, where I found out that they don’t open until 9:00am. Not wanting to waist the gold I put in the gas tank of my car and since no one was waiting for me at home except the dogs, I opened the windows all the way and pulled out a book to read for the 45 minute wait until the store opened. It was then that I got a glance of my old self. At about 10 of 9:00, a woman drove up to the store. She parked her car, got her carriage, and went to the front door. When she reached the locked door, she became upset. As she stormed away, she saw me sitting in the car. “Mame, Do you know when the store opens?”

“The sign says 10 am. That is why I am just sitting here reading.”

“Humf!” She stormed toward her car. She got in and sped away.

I thought this was me a year ago. Hurry, hurry, rush, rush – angry at things that were beyond my control. Frustrated by our schedule. Now here I was reading a book, relaxed. What a difference a year can make.