Planning For The Hereafter

After my job, I mean.

Rick and I discussed this in bed this morning, watching the snow fall for a bit before one of us (ME) had to get up and go to work while the rest of us (him & the kids) did not. (Fair is fair - they had shoveling and other miscellaneous things to do in support of the household. But I still had to lock the tv and change the computer password to encourage completion of last weekend's kid chores.)

Anyway, it appears that I will be gainfully employed in my current role through the end of January, which is good because I can get my annual mammogram and other maintenance work done while I'm still eligible to pay with pre-tax flex dollars. But it also means I'm in this weird "trying to keep my mind on the job" limbo for several more weeks, and it means that I am not yet available to keep Rick company on a trip to, say, California in two weeks.

Still, I think it's important and entirely reasonable to state for the record (and for the family) that I will not instantly become the family chambermaid on February 1st. I will devote a reasonable amount of time daily (say, an hour) to cleaning, laundry, and all the other stuff that gets short shift now. I will still be responsible for grocery shopping, and will endeavor to prepare 4 home-cooked dinners each week; all I ask is that Rick and the kids each plan to either cook one dinner a week, or sponsor a replacement restaurant meal - their choice.

It seems more and more likely that I will continue to be associated with my office in some sort of irregular free-lance capacity. I expect that I am going to be getting increasing amounts of work as a '"pulpit fill" preacher, and I still have many months of classes and reading and papers to write before finishing my training as a lay minister. I am also going to participate in a regular yoga class, get back to walking daily, and do some other things that I consider investments in the future. And there are still going to be times when I lock myself in my room (or disappear into my favorite hammock chair by the water garden, weather permitting) and knit or read, no matter what some snarky teen has to say about things I "should" be doing.

So there.