New Beginnings

Today was officially my first day post-residency. Yesterday was our "graduation" which was a bittersweet day to say the least. I've been working toward this transition for a couple of weeks now, taking time for other things and enjoying a few days off here and there for various activities. Still, the vast expanse of available time is a new one for me. I'm not gonna lie, it's a little bit overwhelming!

Today was planned as a day of rest. I need some time to really get myself back to "normal" or as close to normal as I can get! This week will probably be spent being domestic, particularly cleaning and doing laundry. I am looking forward to having a few days away next week of doing nothing but reading for fun, sitting in a comfy chair, and probably eating too many sweets! You can hear all about it after I return. I'm pretty much keeping this one under my hat for now. I'm not good with keeping secrets or surprises, especially when it's something I'm really excited about, so I figured I'd try to give it a shot. Sorry if it bugs you like it does me!

Starting when we get home, I will be working hot and heavy on getting all my materials finished up for board of ordained ministry stuff. It's due the middle of November, but I'd love to get it done sooner! I've got a really good start on everything, so I hope I can keep my motivation going! I'll be very relieved when everything is out of my hands for a while!

Last week I did start a new ongoing project - The Pastor as Shepherd program. Yes, I'm a little bit nuts for jumping straight from one program to the next without any real recovery time. But this is only once a month for nine months and I believe is going to be invaluably helpful to me. I am excited about the people who are in the program with me and I'm really loving the way our facilitator, Bart, teaches. I think we're going to have a great year together! Next month I will be one of the case presenters. Normally I'm really nervous about having to present stuff, especially to a new group for the first time, but I'm actually looking forward to the feedback I'll get from this one. Plus, I already have three ideas for cases to present which takes off a little of the pressure. Plus the reading is interesting. It's concepts I'm generally familiar with, but in a different context which makes it really neat. Stay tuned for more on all that!

One thing that I would like to make a part of my routine, if not every day then at least three times a week, is a walk in the park. Jeff and I finally went to explore Veteran's Park the other day and it was really nice. The walking trails are neat and it'll be good for me to get out on a regular basis. The weather right now is perfect, especially if I can get up and out early in the morning. My long-term goal is to work myself up to running, but we'll start with walks in the park for now!

I am going to get back to cooking and meal planning and would like to also incorporate some sort of cleaning schedule into my life. We'll see what that looks like for real in a few weeks when my "real" routine has kicked in.

Escape Day Spa

I know this isn't my "normal" thing (or as close to "normal" as I usually get) but I couldn't resist the temptation to share this little jewel that has become a part of my life.

I didn't even know this place existed. In my google searches for day spas, it just never popped up, or if it did it never registered on my radar. It's relatively new (only been open about 10 months). Thankfully, my darling baby brother discovered it for me and got me a gift certificate for my birthday. He warned me that it was a small place and was easy to miss. It really wasn't hard to find at all, and it had a really peaceful charm to it.

I decided to supplement the gift certificate a bit and treat myself to a 90 minute hot stone massage. This might be the single greatest treat I can give to myself, I love it so. It was a tough call, especially in reviewing their menu of services and finding out I could get a private yoga session. Still, the massage won out for this one. I mean, do you blame me? I made my appointment about two weeks in advance, but about three days before my scheduled appointment, I discovered I had scheduled it post-call and I wanted to be able to enjoy it so I re-scheduled for later in the week.

Well, somewhere along the way in the process of re-scheduling, there was a little glitch. I had it down as 3pm, but they had it in their computer as 5. I had a meeting at 6:15 so obviously that wasn't going to work and I was afraid I'd have to flake out on my evening commitment or at least be charged a fee to re-schedule so late. Thankfully, they were SO sweet about it and bent over backwards to not only get me another appointment, but to make sure I didn't have to wait a week and a half for that other appointment. There are not words for how much I appreciated this level of customer service and how excited I was to go back. I mean seriously, if they pay this much attention to the "front of house", I could only imagine the care that goes into the treatments!

So the much-anticipated appointment arrived and OH. MY. WORD. I got absolutely, without a doubt, the best massage I have ever gotten in my life. So stinking awesome. There just plain aren't words to describe the bliss that was that hour and a half of my life.

I will absolutely be returning, there's no question about that! The only hard decision I have to make is what service I want next! So yeah, I highly recommend them. Give them a call or even book an appointment online. You'll be so glad you did!

Nesting

I've heard about the idea of nesting in several different ways throughout my life. Most of the time, it refers to creating a safe, warm, comfortable space. Generally, it involves physical space. The two most common ways I've heard about nesting is setting up a house and decorating, or cleaning and preparing for the arrival of a child. But lately I've come to understand nesting in a broader sense of making preparations. I've heard the writing of birth plans and even advance directives called "a special kind of nesting" referring to creating that environment of love, care, and comfort for someone. It's about transitions in all different forms.

I have found myself doing a unique form of nesting of my own lately. I'm facing a big transition with the end of CPE. In addition to all the emotions of leaving that community and those responsibilities, I'm facing these wide open days with lots of possibilities and very little direction. I'm not a very good "fly by the seat of my pants" kind of person, so I need some structure.

In addition to the change of having time on my hands, this will be a big change because I will be at home all day by myself, which has never been the case since we have lived in this house! Jeff lost his job right after we moved, so even before CPE, he was always here with me! As much as I love spending time with him and having him help with stuff around the house, I do miss being able to do things for him like have dinner waiting when he gets home or doing the shopping and taking care of the errands so that we don't have to do the "work" stuff on the weekends!

I've had lists and plans and schedules on my mind for a while now. I guess that is my own form of nesting. Of preparing my space, both physical and mental, for a change. Whether I stick to these plans or modify them is yet to be seen, but that really isn't the point either. Making plans is like a security blanket for me. It makes me feel as though I have some control over all that's happening in my life, even when I know I really don't.

It's still a month away, but I've already got several lists/plans going. Meal plans, grocery lists, chore schedules, and I'm sure plenty of other things will surface as well. In the meantime, I'm sure I'l come up with plenty of other things to plan and prepare for! And if you need anything planned for you, let me know!

Holiday Re-Cap

Yes, I have been MIA for a while, and I'm sorry about that. I still have a backlog of cute things that I expected to get shared pre-Christmas that I still want to share, so we may be observing a REAL 12 days of Christmas around here!

Let me quickly re-cap the last week:

Saturday (the 18th) Jeff's family from the Huntsville area came down here to celebrate with us. We had more folks than we originally thought we would, but it was great fun and we enjoyed it. I got so caught up in trying to get everything prepped and cooked that I didn't take pictures of anything! But it all went well and when I eventually do it all again, I will certainly share photos!

Sunday (the 19th) some of Jeff's family stayed over and went to church with us to see the choir program. Everyone did a great job (especially my sweet hubby!) We went to lunch at Silvertron Cafe afterwards, which is always good (especially on Sunday brunch!) but I was sick as a dog and couldn't really enjoy it. By that night I was flipping miserable, but had to be on call at the hospital overnight. I didn't sleep at all, not because I was busy, but because I was just so sick. Not a good night.

Monday (the 20th) one of my co-workers carried the on-call pager for my last two hours so I could come home, take medicine, and sleep. And that's exactly what I did. I didn't stop for breakfast, did not pass go, did not collect $200. I just came home and took some Sudafed cold and sinus nighttime stuff and slept for most of the day. When Jeff got home, we went and got our iPhones (which ended up being a long and miserable process in which I seriously considered napping in the floor of the store, I was that pathetic!) I was still kind of feverish and miserable at 9pm when I was ready for bed, so I sent an e-mail to my supervisor at the hospital and took a sick day for Tuesday. No sooner had I hit "send" that we got a phone call telling us Jeff's grandfather had died. We knew it was coming, but it was still hard news to hear. Jeff went over to spend the night with his grandmother.

Tuesday (the 21st) I started in on another day of medicine and sleeping while Jeff helped his family with funeral preparations and all that unfortunately has to be done after someone dies. Then I got a call from my little brother asking me to come home because my dad took a surprising turn that morning and was no longer able to use his legs at all! It was definitely a scary thing for everyone, so I went home to be with them while Jeff was with his family. Jeff came up to see us that night.

Wednesday (the 22nd) was visitation for Jeff's grandfather, so we came back to Birmingham for that. It was definitely sad, but it was nice to get to see the family and meet some of Jeff's family friends that I had heard about for years but never met! We came home and had our Christmas here with just us. I got a SodaStream machine, an immersion blender, and a really nice bath pillow. I got Jeff a dock for his new iPhone that plugs into the tv so we can watch movies (part of the reason we HAD to get them Monday), a vest set to go with his tux, a pipe lighter, a small pocket knife, and a few other odds and ends.

Thursday (the 23rd) was the funeral. It was a nice service, but still very sad. Papa was a mason, so the people from his lodge came and did a ritual which was neat to see. Again, it was nice to see some folks and get to catch up, but I wish it hadn't had to be that way! After we stopped for fried chicken (Jeff's post-funeral ritual) we stopped by and saw folks at his grandmother's, then headed on back to Cullman to begin our grand Christmas tour! Somewhere in here the charger for my laptop completely died. I was not a fan.

Friday (the 24th) we did "Christmas morning" with my family. Jeff's big present was a helicopter he flies with his iPhone (the other reason he had to get it early!) that has some cameras on it so he could check the gutters and whatnot. It's pretty cool. He also got the Star Trek movies and some other little things. I got a bunch of new work clothes and a new stole made by my friend Jacquie from divinity school. Stay tuned for more on that! We left late afternoon so Jeff could take his grandmother to church for the communion service and go to their family Christmas eve party and so that I could go to my church and do the communion service. It was nice. I had intended to stop by his family Christmas Eve party after I got done, but ended up just going to his mother's. We spent the night there and did most of our Christmas that night. I got a new outfit and some little things.

Saturday (the 25th) I got my "big" present from his family, which is a Cricut! I'm very excited about trying it out. Then I had to go to work at the hospital. It was a pretty quiet day, but I did have some stuff to keep me busy. It was a white Christmas! It actually stuck in Remlap and Cullman, so I got to see lots of pictures. Unfortunately, as hard as it was coming down for most of the day, it just didn't stick around the hospital. Still, I took a few free minutes and went to a nice window with a good view on the 9th floor to watch for a while. I got the best gift after I got home, which was sleeping in my very own bed!

Sunday (the 26th) I had to do my regular church service, then we went BACK to Cullman to see my extended family from Montgomery and Ohio. Always fun times when we all get together. We got a beautiful sign that says "The Herren Family: Established 2009", a beautiful, fluffy down blanket (perfect for napping on the couch!), and all kinds of great things from my aunt including gift cards for places at the hospital, candy and treats, and the Stieg Laarson books on CD (so they will eventually make their way to my iPod!)

Today (the 27th) I am home sweet home! I am doing laundry, re-organizing the kitchen, unpacking, and returning the car chargers for our iPhones, and getting a new charger for my laptop. I really need to be writing and working on stuff for work, but that may just have to wait until tomorrow when I'm actually back at work!

So now, tell me about your holiday!

Playtime

I don't quite know what to do with myself. I think I have finally established a schedule that works for me. On the one hand I am thrilled because I really do thrive on order and schedules and plans and preparation. On the other that has just NOT been my life for over a year now. I ALWAYS had something that had to be done. I always felt like I was playing catch up.

Don't get me wrong, there is stuff that I could be doing, like unpacking the boxes in the basement. I probably will attempt a little of that before the day is over. But there is nothing that DEMANDS doing right now.

I really do get a lot more work done at the church than I do trying to work from home. I'm just not as distracted at the church. True, it's not as easy to do things online, but the essentials (like returning e-mails or looking up a phone number) CAN be done. Plus I'm not tempted to play on facebook or anything else and things get done pretty quickly.

My sermon is prepared. I have a plan for Sunday school. I have all my notes typed and printed for the VBS meeting on Saturday. I have the movie for Saturday night. The house is clean. The beds are made. The laundry is done and put away. The dishes are done and put away. I have a plan for dinner.

Now I think I'll watch a movie and do some knitting!

The Countdown

Here is approximately what is happening into my mind and my home in this week leading up to our Open House.

Monday - Can't even think about it yet. Not in a "party" frame of mind, especially since I have other stuff to do on the personal and professional front before I can get to the "fun" stuff of entertaining.

Tuesday - Realize I'm now less than a week away, the weekend is behind me, I've already slacked off on one day I could be working (Monday) and I need to get my rear in gear. This is also my volunteer day at the hospital so household chores like laundry commence upon my return home. This includes a frantic search through the kitchen towels for a "presentable" dish cloth that matches the kitchen, and putting out matching towels in the master bathroom (which would never normally match!)

Wednesday - Start seriously thinking about the food stuffs of entertaining. We need finger foods and wine and sodas. I really wish I had one of those cute lemonade dispensers but don't have the money to spend on something like that. I suppose I could pull out the punch bowl I insisted on keeping in the move... Anyway, back on track. I think I gave away all the cute plates leftover from the wedding so I'll need to get more. A trip to the store is definitely in order! Jeff did most of the serious outside work today so we have flowers and an herb garden and a few tomato plants. I attempted to be productive and got all my dolls into the case.

Thursday - Today is errand day. We'll have to get some dirt to go into the raised garden beds out back. We have to go get the new porch swing and get it hung. Now that I have a menu in hand I have a grocery list and I can go to the store. I'll probably make a last ditch effort to get a few more things unpacked from the basement but I figure that will pass after a couple of hours! Dusting and cleaning the bathrooms are also on the agenda.

Friday - I doubt I'll get out of my pajamas all day. This is a serious prep day. Last minute cleaning of windows, cabinets, and other places that probably won't get noticed; getting all the food as ready as it can be; rearranging the stuff. Before I go to bed there will be at the very least a diagram of what goes where on the island tomorrow and everything else will be absolutely ready (except for the fact that my clothes will be laid out and the bed obviously won't be made)

Saturday - I'm in full-on freak out mode. Normally I would enjoy sleeping until about 9 and then acting like a crazy person but I have double booked my day because, well, I am a crazy person. I have a brunch meeting at 9:30 (which means leaving the house by 8:30) and I WILL be leaving by 11:30 so I can get home. I want to stop and get some fresh flowers but it probably won't happen. Inevitably someone will be early (I'm guessing my in-laws!) but all the food should be ready to simply be put out and Jeff can handle that! Hopefully I won't be too frazzled when I come in!

When it's all said and done I'm absolutely exhausted, but loved every minute of it and can't wait to do it again!

This week's list

Last week was not nearly as productive as I had hoped it would be. Because Sunday is a work day for me, I count it as the start of my week. So let's see what the coming week has in store for me, shall we?

Sunday - Church. I really won't have time for much else. I'll be doing good if we make it home between morning and evening services. We may just go visit with Jeff's grandparents for a little while, I'm not sure.

Monday - Wash towels, go to the bank, pay bills. Maybe clean the bathrooms. Almost certainly do some cooking.

Tuesday - I have a meeting in the afternoon. In theory the morning will be slightly productive, but I doubt it!

Wednesday - Church in the morning. I may try to make up my hospital time that I will probably miss because of my meeting. I need to dust, too.

Thursday - Grocery Shopping. I don't know why, but I like grocery shopping so much better on Thursday than on Monday. I'm a strange creature like that. I think Jeff and I are going to try to have a date night of pizza and a movie, but we'll see.

Friday - Probably little things around the house like vacuuming. The boat show is in town and I promised Jeff I'd go with him at some point. I'd also like to sit and work on my crocheting for a bit. I screwed up the last one but I'm going to try again.

Saturday - Hopefully I can finish up some stuff for the church. If we haven't already made it to the boat show, we will.

As for meal plans, it'll really depend on what is on sale and what I get at the store. I really don't know what I'll do between Monday and Thursday. We still have some leftovers in the fridge (although we're very close to having them all eaten up) and I can always do the old standby of chicken and rice. I REALLY want to roast chicken breasts and try making a baked lemon pasta I found a recipe for, so we'll have to see where that works itself in.

Groovy

I'm slowly getting back into the swing of things domestically. The house and the move and the holidays have had my life and my routine turned upside down for far too long, but thankfully that is changing. I'm so glad I finally have a groove I can settle into.

Here is a peek into the new schedule at Casa de la Herren for the rest of this week and next week

Thursday - laundry and possibly some dusting. Dinner will probably be honey mustard pork loin, broccoli, and baked rice (if we don't get snowed in!)

Friday - clean the bathrooms and possibly wash a load of towels. I think I'm going to make risotto, although I don't know what we'll have to go with it. Maybe turkey.

Saturday - probably heading down to Montgomery if the weather isn't too bad. Dinner is to be decided based on the day's activities. If we get home in time, I'm thinking pancakes and bacon for dinner!

Sunday - church. Housework just isn't happening! Dinner will be leftovers.

Monday - vacuum and sweep. Dinner will probably be chili.

Tuesday - volunteer at the hospital. Housework may or may not happen. Dinner may be jambalaya and green beans

Wednesday - dust and change the sheets. Dinner will be roasted chicken breasts with mashed potatoes and english peas

Thursday - laundry day again. Dinner will be teriyaki beef and I may try my hand at fried rice.

Friday - bathrooms. I may also try to do some baking. Dinner may be mexican (we have a gift certificate)

Saturday - no house cleaning (here at least). We're going to celebrate his mom's birthday a couple of weeks late with a fondue party.

Sunday - church. Dinner will just be whatever is quick and easy.

So there you have it. We'll see how well I do at following this (especially when it's so flipping cold outside I don't want to leave my bed!) but I feel good about it because I have some direction and won't spend the day wandering aimlessly through the house. One day is going to become my craft day, where I can work on all the little projects that I really enjoy but haven't been making time for. I'm thinking maybe Thursday, but we'll have to wait and see. That is still a few weeks in the making.

Oh Baby!

No, I'm not pregnant. I don't pan to be for several years. But I have been thinking about it lately. I know Jeff has too. His long-time crush from high school (I might even go so far as to call her his first love) is now expecting. And I can see it somewhere in his head that he's thinking about having kids. 

Whenever I think about having kids, of course the first thing to come to my girly little brain is decorating! How do I want to decorate the nursery? What kind of playpen, highchair, stroller, and car seat do I want? I have a few things that have been made in my family and handed down (that are all gender neutral thankfully!) so I know I want to use them. For the most part, I've decided to keep everything yellow and green and not any particular pattern, just solids and perhaps a gingham. Because I have handmade items from the last couple of generations, I want to make something for my baby too! Part of me wants to learn to quilt so that I can make the quilt or a pillow or something. I'm sure I'll come up with something I can make, I'll just have to wait and see what it is! I would love to have as much handmade stuff as possible because there is so much love that goes into making something for someone and I want my child (or children) to be surrounded by as much love as possible! 

The next thing that came to my mind was work and maternity leave. I have always said that I would love to be a stay at home mom. Part of me thinks I still would, especially when the kids are tiny because I don't want to miss any major milestones. But, at the same time, I know you can't see everything. I remember my friend Julie's little boy rolling over for the first time while I was babysitting for him. She was a stay at home mom but it just happened to be in those couple of hours that he actually rolled over for the first time. And I was thrilled to get to see it but part of me thinks if it had been my child I would have been heartbroken to not see it. But at the same time I know he did it again and again and there were lots of other firsts that she got to see. And I think that taught me that there's no way you can see everything and if you try you will only be disappointed. You won't be able to relish what you do see because you'll be grieving what you don't get to see. 

Right now working part time has been an interesting experience for me. I think I would have a very different opinion of the whole experience if I had an office and got out of the house more. But when I'm home I feel like I'm just kind of worthless because I'm so unmotivated and lazy. And I go absolutely stir crazy if I don't leave the house (and sometimes don't even get dressed) for a couple of days! And I feel like I would be the same way as a stay-at-home mom. I think it would be perfect for the first few months (especially before the baby is sleeping through the night!) but after a while I think I would go a little nuts. I don't want to put my child in daycare if I can help it, but I feel like I will go nuts if I don't do SOMETHING. And as much as I would love to volunteer, I feel like I would need to be making money that I could turn around and spend on a nanny! 

I know I would like to take a maternity leave of AT LEAST two months, maybe more. But unless I've got a "real job" or am in a good place to do something else, I don't know that I would want to take a full year's leave of absence from the conference. I know there's plenty of time to sort it all out and I can't do too much until I know I'm expecting, but it's a lot to think about! 

Television

I have never been a huge fan of popular TV. My favorite shows are often things that have been off the air for years and are being re-aired on Lifetime. Starting in high school there were about three channels I would watch - courtTV, Food Network, and Lifetime. And it stayed that way pretty much through college. I never really got into the whole "newest episode" of anything. And I loved re-runs of shows I'd already seen, especially if I'd seen it more than once because my attention wasn't glued to it. It was simply background noise. I like studying to spoken word better than music, so TV worked for me.

When I moved to Nashville, I didn't get cable. It was just an un-needed expense, and I had a pretty good collection of DVDs so I was happy. When I lived in the house we had cable but I couldn't ever figure out how to use the directTV or whatever it was so I probably watched it maybe a dozen times in the year i lived there. I just stuck to DVDs in my room. The last apartment I inherited a set of bunny ears but still no cable, so it was mostly DVDs still.

Somewhere in there, I discovered Grey's Anatomy. Like I said, I'm not one to jump on the "new show" bandwagon, so I was about three seasons late in getting started. I just downloaded them all and spent my Thanksgiving break watching all of them up to that point. And of course I was hooked, so I got as caught up as I could and anxiously awaited new episodes. I still wasn't one for "appointment TV" so I looked forward to my new download from iTunes and that was when I'd watch it. 

There is only one show I ever watched as it aired, start to finish, every week without fail and that was "True Beauty". I don't think I would have gotten quite as into it if it were longer than 8 weeks, and I think the only reason it worked was because it was right after I got home from a late class and it was perfect to switch it on while I ate dinner. 

Now that I am not working and have access to TV, I am getting hooked on so many different shows - Ice Road Truckers, The Deadliest Catch, Top Chef, Crossing Jordan, The First 48 and the list just keeps going! I have even spent an entire day watching a full season of America's Next Top Model! 

I am really getting into all of these and I honestly don't know what to do with myself! I need to be more productive.

Sleep

There are very few things in the life of my home that are sacred. I mean in the sense that they shouldn't be disturbed, interrupted, or otherwise messed with unless there is a MAJOR emergency. But the one thing we do have that is sacred is sleep. Bedtime, Sunday afternoon naps, and even dozing in front of the TV are all things that are just respected. 

For the most part, we keep a relatively normal adult schedule. We try to be in bed before 11 and are usually asleep before midnight. Jeff is usually up before 6 am during the week and 8am on weekends because he has to walk Patches. I tend to stay up a little later and sleep a little later, but I generally try to avoid the "up all night, sleep all day" cycle, if for no other reason than I have to be up at least two days a week. 

If we get a phone call after about 9pm, our hearts race a little because it's unusual. When the doorbell rings unexpectedly after 10pm, pure panic sets in. It seems only natural. In an age where everyone seems to have instant access to any number of means of communication, a visitor in the middle of the night who didn't call first is not going to be the start of any type of good situation! 

We had a surprise "visitor" (who has tentatively been identified) that decided it would be fun to ring our doorbell and run away at midnight on a Saturday. This seems like a typical childhood prank, except that we are hidden away so we know it was not random. And Sunday is one of my work days. Even though Jeff was still up working in the office, I was happily tucked all snug in my bed with visions of sugarplums dancing through my head.

It is not easy to sleep after that kind of panic-induced adrenaline rush. And there will be retribution for those who feel the need to mess with my sleep.