all will be well

Thanks for the comforting comments and prayers for Tim's safety as he traveled

 all through the night last night. I didn't get much sleep due to anxiety

 and the cats bothering me, but thank God, Tim arrived safely in Gatlinburg at 9 a.m. today.

And now, today, I'm back under contractor craziness.

Last May, my house was in disarray because of the entire first floor being painted.

I live in a ranch-style house, so that basically meant every room of the house.

Now we're having the two bathrooms semi-remodeled. We're just not having the bathtub

 in the main bath replaced, nor the shower stall in the master bathroom replaced,

 due to limited $$.

I thought this would be easy because it's just the two bathrooms. Ha! You forget how much

 stuff is in the bathrooms (especially underneath the sinks) that has to be totally cleaned out and put...somewhere! Which means piled in the bedrooms. And then I forgot that the contractors were going to patch the hole in my closet wall, so I just finished taking all our clothes and shoes out of the closet and putting everything on Tim's bed and floor. All the pictures in the hallway had to be taken down in case the contractors bump the walls.

 The new toilets, sinks, vanities, flooring, and light fixtures are all crammed in the spare bedroom.

The noise was so bad today, of course, and I had the kitties locked in the basement. They were totally freaked out. I ran errands most of the day but when I got home and the contractors left, I let the cats out and they slept five hours straight in their usual places upstairs! They obviously didn't rest or sleep in the basement. Poor fur babies.

  Have been doing laundry tonight, taking apart my closet, moving furniture, and took my shower since I can't do so in the morning (won't have time, then won't have a bathroom available). Didn't have time to go to my Monday night yoga class. Brian had to run to both Menards and Home Depot to get last minute stuff that the contractors need. I think we'll both sleep well tonight!

I know that when the bathrooms are done by the end of the week, it'll all be worth it.

And Tim will be home, too.

All will be well.

morning walk and news

I am so grateful that I now have the time for morning walks.

That I live in an area where there's still some open land.

This is conservation area just a stone's throw from my house ~

right off a road that gets a decent flow of traffic.

Walking gives you time to appreciate all the beauty that surrounds us ~

and clears your mind.

You see ~ almost two weeks ago, I finally left my job.

Yes, voluntarily. In today's scarce job market.

Some of you know that I worked three days/week in a government office.

I had been there for 6-1/2 years.

However, the stress of this job was making me sick ~

physically and mentally.

I had chronic migraines, IBS, and quite often was irritable,

exhausted, anxious, and lashed out at loved ones.

I had been talking about leaving this job for at least two years!

But it finally got to the point where I had to do something,

or I was going to break. The husband and I had a serious talk

about finances and decided that we'd probably be OK.

After all, we live pretty frugally.  There are some expenses

we've cut, and I'll talk about those at another time, in a new post.

 It is amazing how much better I feel already. I've only had one headache

since I've left my job (and that was from eating too much chocolate!)

and the IBS symptoms from stress and anxiety have nearly cleared.

I feel rested, at peace, have time to visit friends and family that I 

didn't get to see often, and time to work on projects around the house.

Oh ~

 and another good thing about living where there are still farmer's fields?

Free cornstalks and cat tails!

Good thing I didn't get shot by Farmer McGregor. ;-)