Pooped

Arrive home after a 13+ hour day - dogs are kenneled and frantic. Howling, literally...and I'm soon to realize it's because it's 8:15 and they've had no dinner. J. and B. are at church rehearsing for Sunday - they are playing at both contemporary services - on Father's Day - how cool is that?? H. is at football practice. I head to the family room to let the dogs out and the phone rings. Rush over the gate, back to the kitchen - miss it. Rush back over the gate, let the dogs out, phone rings again and I decide 'to heck with the phone' - take the dogs out. Bring them back in. Sit down to get the messages off the phone. Dogs start barking like crazy again - and I realize after a few seconds it's because there's someone at the door - I didn't hear a knock or the doorbell. It's H. home without a key to let himself in. Good thing I left work to be here or he'd be sitting out on the front stoop or at the back patio table vegging.

H. wants to immediately call a friend who allegedly invited him to spend the night. H. also has a voicemail to return re: a city-wide youth group rally on Friday evening. AND he tells me as he's calling back his friend about the rally that he's been invited to a party - also on Friday afternoon. The kid needs to learn to use a calendar - I can't keep up. He'll have to miss practice Friday which doesn't seem to bother him a bit - I think he's starting to feel a bit worn out and less than excited about football at this point. But I say nothing and remind him that missing a practice for any reason may be all it takes for him to get cut. He says he doesn't think so. It's a girl's party so he's got to be there. H. calls the friend who invited him over for the night back and the friend informs him that no, he can't have anyone over but asks if he can come over HERE to spend the night? After a very long day with another one just around the corner, I say no. With a look that says 'are you kidding me'? Yeah, that one. The phone rings AGAIN (third time in less than 30 minutes) and it's a girl for H. - they've been calling and calling [so that's who it was] and want to know if he can meet them at so and so's house to 'hang out'. Just down the street. He goes. I say be back by 9. At the latest.

I am past tired. Have entered a third dimension of tired. Achy. Muddled brain. Short tempered. Too tired to care about blogs or email or checking our account balances or anything else. I am drinking some water, taking a couple ibuprofen and heading to bed. For what I pray will be a long restful sleep. So I can get up early and do it all again.

On a good note, I'm really starting to enjoy the job at the moment. It's really, really busy and crazy but I'm liking it. Things are starting to make sense. My new boss and I seem to have figured out a 'rapport' of sorts and the 'guarded, stilted carefully scripted' conversations are gone. We take each other at face value - up front, honest. To the point. It's how I think we both really are and we just spent the first 4 months or so trying to NOT be our true selves with each other. Which doesn't work. He's a nice guy and I really think he's happy I'm there - something I didn't feel for a really long time. So things are gelling. Of course, I still have a budget to put together - and present to the Board - and get county and state approval for. But hey, minor details, right? (NOT). But the other administrators seem to appreciate my 'approach' to budgeting and I think that's half the battle - they like that I'm easy to talk to, 'get' their issues and try to fix them as best I can. So that's nice. I think I'm starting to feel like I'm making a bit of a difference - and that's what it's all about for me. I want my time here to matter - and I think it is starting to.

I had breakfast with the lovely N. last Saturday - it was a treat to see her - we always just pick up where we left off, which is the great thing about good friends. The 'gaps' of time you don't see or talk to each other just melt away into giggles, chatter, laughter. It was a lot of fun - and was the first time I've seen a college colleague that I didn't end up feeling homesick. So perhaps progress is ensuing.

OK - dogs are whining now. Need attention. I will go spend some quality time with the other females in the house and then head to bed.

Nightie night.