Thursday, June 26, 2008

A Balancing Act...

Trying to achieve a balance between work and play has been my recent failure. I was raised to get my work done, and then go play. I go to work all day long and when I come home there is always something that needs done…yard work, house work, fixing something, etc. Lately my wife has been giving me static about not 'being there'. Her mom has been in town for a about a week and a half and is leaving in less than a week. We haven't done any 'trips' with her. She has been a huge help around the house and has done her usual visit rituals and helped plant flowers, played with the kids, etc. but there hasn't been anything "special".

I don't know how to respond. We have a lot of stresses on our life lately and I have gotten to a point where i don't know how to respond. Our truck doesn't adequately fit everyone. We looked at getting a minivan but, since the economy is in this funk, the dealerships are unwilling to payoff what we owe - and therefore we are not able to afford the van. Gas has hit all-time highs in the area, so making trips out to greater distances costs a pretty penny. The kids have been off for Summer Break and I feel bad that we don't have any 'special' trips for them to look forward to. Last year they spent a month at my mom-in-law's house in Colorado. The year before that we went to Disney for a week. The year before that was a week at the beach (i think) - my memory is kind of fuzzy about those kinds of details. another good reason for this blog.

So the icing on the cake is this Saturday is her 31st birthday and I am at a loss for something to do for her. I had the idea of going to a restaurant that we have always loved called "The Melting Pot". The problem with that plan is that it is a restaurant that has been targeted towards the adult audience. So i am not certain that my brood will be a welcomed sight. -- UGH! -- What to do...

I am working with my company now on figuring out a "new" schedule. There are a couple options we are looking at. The first is a telecommuting schedule. Something that will enable me on a regular basis not to have to come into the office. This schedule would be a 5 day a week schedule, but would enable to save $ on gas and time. The second idea is a Condensed Work Schedule (CWS). This schedule would have me working longer (about 10 hr) days 4 days a week (say Mon - Thur) and then have off the other 3. This schedule is nice because I will not only save $ on gas & time, but that 5th day is family time and not work time.

At the end of the day I am frustrated - Michelle is frustrated - and we aren't communicating effectively right now... :-(

I guess I need to step up my game and make some things happen

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