Furloughs and stuff...

Funny story. This past Tuesday while at my son's Trail Life meeting, I ran into someone that used to be in my church small group and works with Jon on his UTA weekends. As we made small talk, he mentioned how much he respects my husband's job because he could never do a job that involved so much uncertainty. I laughed and said it's not as crazy as it seems. Then we parted ways and I thought to myself "Why would he think Jon's job has such an element of risk? It's a government job."  Ahem.

Fast forward to Thursday night. Jon walked in for dinner and said, "I think I'm getting furloughed next week." Um. What? I'd been so busy watching North Korea news that I missed the impending government shutdown. And now it's Saturday, furloughs begin Monday, and that's that.

So what does this mean for us? First off, we're fine. =) I am optimistic that that won't last long, and we will hopefully not have any real issues. If it does last longer than a few days, we're still fine because we have savings for times like these.  Practically speaking, we'll curtail most of our discretionary spending since we can't be certain how long this will last. That will be tough only because I really like having Moe's Monday, and Marco's Pizza in my back pocket. I'll also have to continue to avoid Starbucks. Will they miss me? No. Actually, Moe's will miss me. The Moe's guy notices when we haven't been in awhile, and asks if everything is okay. My Moe's cares. Unfortunately for the kids, we're in the middle of our big birthday month which means birthday dinners will not be celebrated at places like Basil's in downtown Charleston this year. Sorry kids, blame Trump or the Dems depending on your political flavor.

If I can sound completely selfish and shallow for a minute, this whole thing is bad timing for me. Hear me out, please. If you haven't noticed by my other posts, I'm deep in winter homeschool burnout. DEEP. This whole furlough thing, while not an actual big deal for us at the moment, is still something that insists on taking up brain space. Also, it means my husband will be home all day, every day if it actually happens. All. Day. So really, I need Congress to get their act together so that my husband doesn't follow me around all day, and I can eat at Moe's on Monday if I want. It's all about me.

Speaking of homeschool burnout, I ended up going to a small homeschool conference last night and today. Honestly, I didn't want to go. I've known about it for weeks and weeks, but I didn't even register until the night before and only out of a desire to have something to do that would take me out of the house without the kids. Everyone has been especially needy, and I do not like to be needed so strongly. I want to be wanted, not needed. Needed means you're taking something out of me for yourself. Wanting seems to offer some give and take. Need reeks of obligation to me at the moment. Maybe I feel like it takes away my choice in the matter? If someone in my family needs something (or even perceives that they have a need), I feel obligated to handle it. Handling it might be me explaining to them that they can do the thing themselves, but it doesn't matter. I still have to be involved in the process.  Obviously, its not a bad thing to need someone, but it's a little exhausting at the moment. I mean, I need Jesus. I'm beyond thankful that He doesn't roll His eyes and feel a deep desire to crawl back into bed when I come to Him with my needs. But I'm not Jesus. I'm Mindy. Mindy is sooooo not Jesus. Mindy wants to crawl back into bed sometimes instead stopping what I'm doing to take away electronics because a child chose screentime over taking a shower LIKE I TOLD THEM TO three and a half hours ago. For the love. Seriously. That just happened.

Anyway. The conference was good. I didn't exactly get what I was expecting to get out of it (more practical tips on assessments), but it was encouraging and made me want to parent again. So that was a good thing. Also, can sports be almost done? I'm so over basketball. Right now my boys and husband are watching basketball on TV. Again. Like, I have other things I'd like to watch or do, but they're talking to the screen like the TV is giving them a direct line to the coach. Nobody can hear their coaching tips but me, and I don't even understand or care what they're talking about. Maybe if they cleaned the kitchen while they watched basketball, I'd be more amenable.

Okay, I guess that's it. I'm a little irritable, sorry about that. I still want to run away to Universal Studios, but I can't. Instead, I will probably try to find a new book to read. Something ridiculous. Maybe I'll reread Twilight or something equally mind-numbing. I'm open to suggestions.