Off work for the next ten days

As I told Andrew earlier today, this is the best part of every break...the very beginning.  I'm sure everyone agrees with that.  I love my job, but I can't lie that having ten nights to go to bed and not have to be up early the next morning is always delightful.  I'm not entirely sure what the next ten days are going to bring, but I know there won't be any alarm for most of them!

A puzzle for my dad

 

At the end of the school year, our staff received Amazon gift cards from the school as a thank you.  Amazon carries my favorite puzzle brand, and I decided to check out what might be available.  As soon as I saw this puzzle, I immediately added it to my cart and knew that I had to have it.  Not only did I love the colors and the theme, but my Dad's name was Bob.  And if any man would have ever been the kind to own a hardware store, it was him.  As I told my boss one day recently, he could fix absolutely anything.

Putting this puzzle together brought me such joy, but in all honesty, it also brought a few tears.  I miss my dad so much, but I'm so grateful his suffering ended when it did.  I know my dad was truly a special man, and I loved feeling him with me while I put this puzzle together.  I had thought about gluing it together and keeping it permanently, but I had so much fun putting it together I decided to take it apart, and maybe next year I'll enjoy it again!

Back to work tomorrow

My little mini 'staycation' is coming to an end and I'm back to work tomorrow.  The nice thing is that it will already be Thursday, and I'm not sure if there is any need for me to work Friday.  Even if I do...it's a two-day week!  And next week I'll only work four days before before the office closes for the July 4th week.  This is what I love about my job in the summer!!

The last six days have been wonderfully special, starting almost right after I got off Thursday.  We had won tickets to the Dayton Dragons in a silent auction and we took our dear friends with us.  There have been some issues I won't get into, but the love and compassion that they have shown us during a really rough time is indescribable.  We watched about half the game, then walked across the street for a beer.  Then we spent Friday evening at their house hanging out as well.  It was a great start to the time off!

Saturday I didn't leave my house at all.  I did some cleaning, and just really enjoyed a bit of down time.  Sunday we had planned on church, but I woke up not feeling well.  Sadly, three days later, I'm still not feeling great.  The kids were all here Sunday evening for dinner, and we are enjoying the beginning of that tradition.

Monday, Andrew and I decided to head north and make a quick visit to the Air Force Museum, then we drove even further north to meet up with my mom and several of my high school friends.  A very dear friend had flown in from California, and it was so incredibly great to spend the evening together.  It had been nine years since he'd been here, and that is entirely too long!

Yesterday was our one evening "away", but it's a bit comical.  Andrew and I won a night at an airbnb property in a different silent auction, but I'm not sure it was even two miles away from our home.  It was so needed though.  We drove out to the state park for dinner, then drove back to the place and watched the Reds game before I turned in fairly early.  It was a really great evening to just have to ourselves.

Today, my California friend drove to our town and we spent the afternoon just the two of us.  I was kind of ready to be just "done" with people, but I'm so glad that we took this afternoon together.  It was so very special.

During all of this week, we've been under a heat advisory and/or warning.  It's been in the 90's all week with indices over 100.  This is NOT my kind of weather, and I suspect that is why I haven't been feeling great.  Sadly, there is no break until Sunday when it will "only" be in the upper 80's, then next week we are back to all 90's again.  Not at all enjoyable.

I'm ready to get to back to work...and then enjoy another weekend!

A few days off in the middle of June

It's the middle of June.  I'll be honest, time has not been flying by, and I'm 100% okay with that.  Part of the "not flying" though, has been our adult children, and that's hard.  My kids are good kids, but oh my goodness, some of the choices they make are astounding.  They were taught better, and sometimes it's hard to watch.  But, as they are adults, watching is all I can really do.

I've taken several days off this week, and I'm so very glad that I did.  I needed this down time, and I'm not feeling great so it's even more appreciated.  I'm very grateful for the life I have.