The Wind, The Week and the Waiting

As Hurricane Irene batters the East Coast (it's dark and windy here, and Jasper is a little freaked out), and hot on the heels of this week's other natural disaster (the earthquake centered near Richmond VA), we conclude our staycation week. Of course, I didn't get as much accomplished as would have liked. A couple of things I should (could) have done the summer, but did not (yet) were to paint the front steps and the back privacy fence. I'm just not good at home improvement, and Mark can't be convinced to do those things either. So, alas, they still look bad: all chippy and faded and such. Maybe I'll get some ambition to do those things in the early fall. Another thing I did not yet get around to do prep work for a church committee I'm heading up this year. Procrastination at its finest! (AKA vacation)

The week wasn't too exciting, and it was even a little boring. We did all the running around we wanted to do, and with being a little cautious about our money situation (with extra bills related to the RIT bill and the possibility of Mark getting laid off in December), we didn't do anything too exciting (i.e. day trips or shopping). Annalisse had to work most evenings at her new bussing job at Otto Tomotto's, and there were a couple of days when Cam did nothing but play video games all day (THANK GOD HE GOES TO RIT ON WEDNESDAY. WITH MOST OF HIS FRIENDS ALREADY AT COLLEGE HE'S EXTREMELY BORED. HEY! MAYBE I CAN GET HIM TO PAINT THE PORCH STEPS...) I tried my best to get a nap in here and there, but that didn't work out too well either.

One thing I did enjoy (surprise, surprise!) was cooking. Yes, cooking!! I had a chance to think of some special things I wanted to cook for the week, and could actually take the time to prepare and cook them. We had a great German meal (complete with our awesome neighbors to share it with), I tried shrimp scampi (a little bland...I think I need a different recipe), I made Cam's fave mac-n-cheese, and tonight I'm making Chicken Mirabella.

Another thing I really enjoyed this week was reading The Devil in the White City, a fascinating true story of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, complete with murderous intrigue. Great book! I highly recommend it.

So, tomorrow I head back to work and I actually feel ready to tackle a new year with renewed energy. The greatest part about my week off is that I could step back and think about my job, and how I want to approach things this year. A nagging question: after a tough recruiting season and very difficult external factors affecting applications and enrollment, will this be a year of change for me? We shall see.

For now, though, I'm savoring the last quiet moments of my vacation, and plan to hunker down and ride out the storm (literally, and, I suppose in some cases, metaphorically speaking).