Grow Where You Are Planted

The funny thing is that I started writing this post a few weeks ago.

I didn’t even know what I was talking about then.

You see a few weeks ago I felt like I was winning life because I got this sweet community college library job in January where I didn’t really have very much work to do at work. So I could use my “work” time to blog and write quizzo games or do whatever else I wanted to do in front of a computer for 7 hours a week.

Then, a few weeks ago, it occurred to me that maybe I should be using my time to achieve even more! I wasn’t doing enough. (This is a theme with me, I want to super optimize my time so that I am doing the maximum amount one minute and staring at my phone and zoning out on Instagram the next minute. 

Basically, I thought, I ought to use this gift of time to learn a new skill set.

You see, one of the benefits of my job at a community college is that I can take classes tuition free. I do still need to pay for books and other miscellaneous fees, but don’t have to pay tuition for classes (thought I believe there are semester limits on the number of classes I can take per semester). 

I thought that I had it all figured out because I came to the decision that I would start doing the coursework and I could probably use some of my worktime to work on the classes. I could use these community college classes to make myself a more knowledgeable librarian. I could learn a whole new set of skills. I could do paralegal coursework and possibly work as a law librarian someday or I could take IT courses and be a more computer services type librarian. 

When I came up with this plan, I thought that I was really growing where was planted. I applauded myself for being so novel. But do you want to know what is really novel, that’s right. . .the Novel Coronavirus, which has upended all of our lives.

As of right now, my public library job is closed for at least another week and my community college job has migrated online for the rest of the semester. I am not really sure of what my community college job will consist of for the rest of the semester but suffice to say, just like most people, I will probably be working from home.

But at least I still have work for now, which is more than some people can say, so that is good.

Still, I don’t feel like I have it figured out at all. I am no longer sure I want to sign up for summer classes because who knows what will be happening by the time summer comes around.

I am just like everybody else, I am staying home, washing my hands, and putting off making any real decisions.

I guess all I can do right now is to be thankful that I am not sick and nobody in my family is sick. I can pray for those who are sick or financially impaired by everything that is going on. 

Also, I am trying to do some things everyday that make me feel like I accomplished something. 

For example, on Thursday when I made waffles for breakfast. Then cleaned up from making said waffles and unloaded the dishwasher, which doesn’t seem like much of an accomplishment but it is when a two year old and a four year old are attached to you even though they have perfectly good toys to play with. It was well after 10 am by the time breakfast was cleaned up and I was ready to get dressed.

One Friday, I did two new things that I have been meaning to try out for some time.

1)I made homemade pizza crust completely from scratch for the first time in my life. My mother made homemade pizza for my entire life and I used to help her but I have always been afraid of making the crust on my own. Well, yesterday I did it for the first time.

2) Also, I amazed myself when I stuffed my bike, Mr. Man’s bike, and Toddler Nugges’s bike stroller in the back of our van and drove us all to a park that connects to the bike trail. I wasn’t sure they would all fit, but they did. This is huge because it will give us more places to enjoy riding once the global pandemic is over and the public restrooms at biking places are open again.

Here are some pictures

One More Picture to Share:

On Monday thru Wednesday, I was very obsessed with cleaning up the bushes in front of our house. We really haven’t done much with them since we moved in five years ago, but by golly this is going to be the year when we figure out what to do with our garden and the plants around our house.

The goal for me for now is to keep on keeping on, I guess. I will find little projects that make me feel excited about life. I will do what I have to do to make this fun for the family. Lately we have been having a lot of kitchen dance parties where we ask Alexa to play songs we have never played for eachother.

How are you keeeping on right now? Reply below.