Wisdom Defined

I am a great example to tell you what wisdom isn't today. A wise person does not wait 15 years in between having their top and bottom wisdom teeth removed. At sixteen, I had a stay at home mother to take care of me while I set up camp on the pull-out couch in the living room. Couldn't miss me- donned in two bandanas tied together with pea packs on either side of my mouth. I was perched there as my mother was too afraid to let me go up and down the basement stairs where my bedroom was located. She was there to giggle at me when I had my dose of pain medicine and I thought I was invinsible enough to crunch on a carrot. She was there to keep the fudgicles frozen and the oatmeal coming. For a whole week.

At 30- not quite the case. 12 hours before going under the dental lights, my husband was diagnosed with a classic case of Influenza. Temperature at 102, aches, exhaustion, lack of appetite and energy. In fear that my children were to be down with the same thing by the next day, I sent him off to the bedroom and haven't really seen him since Tuesday. I wasn't going to rely on him too much for the remainder of the week- but at minimum to help out with picking up the kids the afternoon of my surgery and maybe pajama patrol.
So, this flu-event has left me to re-freeze my own pea ice packs, wrap the scarf around my own head and scoop my own ice cream- not to mention whatever else I juggle daily (breakfast, drop off, pickup, dinner, bath, pj's, reading, bed). I slept on the couch last night not because I couldn't walk down a set of stairs, but because I was avoiding the Influenza Man.

One thing that I can tell you is self-reliance is king. When all else fails, you can rely on yourself.

This is all taking place during my spring break vacation- I'm thinking now I will be taking additional personal days shortly after this "break"- I don't think many would blame me, really.

And did I mention that my mother left to return to Maine, the day before my teeth were taken out? Now, that's wise.

A Blog Confessional

It has been five months since I've last blogged.-please forgive me. I am vowing to spend a bit more time here, especially since life is in a better place.

The day after I posted last, I found the perfect job at the perfect location, posted online. By the end of that weekend, they had my application. I made it a point to be in front of the decision makers three times before I even interviewed and rose to the top of 6 finalists, making it official on December 18th:

"Lisa, we're delighted to offer you the position at the Foundation. You are welcome to start on January 1st, but I'm sure that'll be too-"I cut her off, "I'll start on the first. I'll finish up things there easily by the end of the month. Thank you. I am so happy to be a part of your organization."

I hung up the call and burst into tears. It had happened. I was leaving the misery on my terms, not theirs. Within an hour of that phonecall, I had proudly delivered my pre-printed resignation letter in the hands of my boss. He was just as happy as I. We were finally free of one another.

It's now been three full months since I started my new gig and I couldn't be happier. I have my own tasks to accomplish, my own activities I organize and run and I've even raised a few bucks for them, too. All of the women I work with are fantastic- and for the most part, are all packing a full workload, a couple of kids, sport schedules and husbands to some degree. So, when the school rings your cell phone at the wrong time during that meeting, we just utter the name of our child, grab our keys and go- we all understand and appreciate that we understand what we all are up against every day. I have found you- you women life jugglers- I knew there were more than just two of us.

And we've added soccer to our lives. But that's for another blog.