What I Did On Summer Vacation by Misty OurHouse

This past summer, I took a lot of breaks. I took a break from blogging and a break from work: I only worked part-time this summer. Working about 24 hours a week and being home for the rest of it taught me a few things. No matter how much lip service I had paid to saying that stay at home moms work just as hard as working moms, I really had no idea that stay at home moms work HARDER than anything I do. There is the scheduling and the constant entertaining and the having to shop with children. And the fact that when you are with kids all day, you can't really even pee by yourself, let alone go through your Reader? Holy Moly. I am so glad I did it, really. And I liked having so much time with the kids, but I was really glad for my break of coming to work three days a week.

I joined WeightWatchers near the middle of the summer and lovelovelove it. It is basically the only thing that has ever worked for me and I was going around telling people, "YOU should join WeightWatchers!!!" Until I realized that wasn't a very nice thing to say... *Cringe*

This summer, Honey and I went to the beach for a weekend for our anniversary. It was so nice to be able to go out without feeling like you're eating at gunpoint. (Hurry up and scarf down that $50 meal, because the youngest is going to blow at any moment!) We walked on beaches and strolled through shops. It was totally relaxing.

With the kids we went on a Disney trip just this past week. And another thing I learned is that they *say* Disney is for kids...but I am not so sure. Swimming pools, now those are for kids. But rides and scary animatronic animals? Not so much. Brother had more fun than the little Bean. And there were bright spots, don't get me wrong. Like the Buzz Lightyear ride where we "got the naughty aliens and put them in timeout." Or how Brother talks incessantly about Expedition Everest and how much he loved it. And how Jelly Bean kept saying, "Guess What? We goin' Disney World!" every 5 minutes.

And of course there was another life lesson incorporated into this summer's curriculum. I think it was a course in irony. Honey got a new job with a huge raise and over the summer, thanks to this job and the work of two years prior, we paid off our debt. It took two long hard scrimping saving years, but we did it. Nearly $40,000. And we were so so proud of ourselves. It was so hard, but we had arrived. Now we could do the things we wanted to do. We could fix up the house and take more trips and do more things with the children. And then, like so many before us, Honey lost his job less than a week after our debt was paid off.

Now, we were in a decent position for this to happen. But it was a new job. A lucrative job. And such a blow to us. It made me really grateful for MY job and how dependable it is. It made us look at what things were really important and where the fat could be cut. He was only out of work for about a month. He worked his ass off, interviewing sometimes two and three places a day. Today was his first day at his new job. It isn't the fancypants position with the sky high salary that he did have, but it is a step up, and I am grateful.

So, I learned to be thankful this summer. I am thankful for my family, for my friends, for my resources, and for our perseverance. Because life is hard and wonderful and difficult and charmed, all at once, all the time.