Thoughts of LoWriter

It Ain't Pretty, but We Get It Done

I'm not gonna lie. I'm having a rough time out here in the Grove since the garden died off. I don't seem to want to do much, and the house seems to be descending into chaos. What's probably worse is that I don't really want to make contact with the outside world very much, either. So, basically, it's just me, the mess, the cat, and the dog. Yes, the mess is an entity. It has a personality, and I find it is best for everybody if I just leave it alone. I am not nesting.

But I hang in there all week until I can see my husband on the weekends. And as far as keeping house goes, it ain't pretty, but we get it done as best we can. Ben's been jumping from class to work and home to sleep and back again. At least his morning class is over, so we can go back to our opposing shift work where I cook at night, and he cleans up the mess I make in the morning. His personality is better suited to putting the mess in line.

Obviously, I'm not the best wife in the world. But I did make veggie lasagna a couple of weeks ago, and it turned out pretty great. The husband liked it. I didn't have a recipe. I did have phone help from D who's cool like that and still takes my calls even though I am pathetic and pretty stupid when it comes to cooking.

The proofreading seems to have dried up, and today I got insult added to injury when they left my name off the list of names of people who helped with the big project I spent 15 hours a week on this spring when I was trying to plan a wedding. So, the lesson I'm learning as I get older and wiser is that work is just work. You do your job, and you go home. If it becomes your life, you can only be disappointed.

I'm listening to my music right now, which is always a fun bright spot for me. I am contemplating making stuffed mushrooms, but I think instead, I am going to have left-overs and go to bed.

I keep thinking that it's gotta get easier, that we will turn a corner, and we will be able to go back to normal, whatever that is. Starting with our collective health problems and the layoff, going through our useless premarital counseling sessions, and right on through this whole working opposite shifts business, we've just had a rough haul. Soon, it's gotta be time for the universe to pick on someone else.

I've always had this hatred for perfect people, people who seem to have it all together and never have any problems. Monday's and Tuesday's children, fair of face and full of grace while the rest of us are just trying to muddle through as best we can.

But you know what? I expect when perfect unravels, it's quite a shock to those people.

So, for us, it's not pretty, but we'll get through, and then we'll appreciate normal that much more. I envision us one day working less and relaxing more, sipping wine or iced tea on the patio looking out at the babies and the tomatoes as they grow happily.

For now, it's just me, the mess, the cat, and the dog signing off from the Grove.

Posted by LoWriter at November 2, 2009 08:14 PM