Hosting my family here and also going out of town tomorrow so I also need to pack in addition to cook and clean (ish). The excitement never ends!

I relate to this, too. I'm at a smallish library so I wear a lot of hats. Chain of command isn't well defined. It's a lot. It's also by nature a creative job (my actual job description), which I love, but it's hard to have any oomph for much else.

I'm not sure what the official title is, but she trained as a welder. She works in maintenance at an aluminum plant.

I know without a doubt my job isn't in the same universe as far as stress goes as yours, but I do relate to the unexpected dislike of the schedule and especially to the bolded.

Mostly I just don't worry about it, but I'm not exactly fastidious about most things related to dress and appearance.

Yes, please! My friend is a former homeschool mom who is just such a hard, dedicated worker. She went back to school for her trade when she was nearing the end of her homeschool journey.

Hire the crew!!

That sounds like an excellent plan to me. ((((Hugs))))

I wish we could call a work day at @KungFuPanda's house--just show up and get it done!

Oh, @KungFuPanda--that is a lot on top of TOO MUCH. I'm so sorry. Do the chips "just" need spreading, or do they also have to be moved?

Thanks, @Scarlett. That's 100% dh's goal, but I'm conflicted because I have the possibility of advancing professionally in the next few years, and I'm already anticipating a hard choice. But--none of that helps the here and now. Ha!

If it doesn't have to be romance (somehow that's what I assume when I hear "summer read"), I loved The Homecoming, Kate Morton's latest. It's a mystery with many plot twists right up until the end.

4 kids, two of which are semi-independent in college, but whew! Even public school is expensive these days! My working allows us to afford certain things (like travel) that we couldn't otherwise. I enjoy my job enough to be VERY conflicted over the possibility of quitting in the future once dh is settled in the new position, though with his travel, I might have to.

For color correcting I like MAC paint pot eye shadow/primer in the shade painterly.

please don't quote. I might regret this and delete later. 🤣 BYOS= bring your own sad here's my sad: I need someone to mother ME. I feel rotten these days (low iron, lingering foot issues, perimenopausal stuff, YUCK). It has taken a real toll on me. I also switched jobs from teaching, expecting my life to get more manageable, but it turns out that 40 hours (down from the 50 or so I worked teaching on average each week) is still a lot of time out of the house. This is the first summer I've worked since I was in college nearly 30 years ago. Dh recently retired with the intention of continuing to work but something outside of his career field that would hopefully give him a bit of flexibility and lighten his load enough that HE could be more present at home. Well, he was offered a FT job not even a month into retirement that is similar to the one he spent a huge majority of his career in. IT IS A BLESSING TO HAVE THIS JOB, and I definitely know that. BUT--it still feels like the scenario isn't playing out the way I envisioned. Life is still super busy, I feel bad, and meanwhile I hardly have the downtime to make our lives better. And I need someone to take care of ME for just a little bit. so what's the theme of your pity party? And if you have any {gentle} advice for me, I'll consider it. 😉

Recommending this to my dear friend, a woman who works in a skilled trade

Off to Google!

Wow! Does your library have a large and active friends group? (I don't know if that's what it's called everywhere--basically an organization that fundraisers and supports the library outside of city and state funding.)

Wow! That's quite a prize!!!! I'm a public librarian and I can't even imagine how much the speaker fees for those authors would be! I'd love to meet Kingsolver in particular.

Honestly, my foot pain was such that it didn't matter too much which shoes I was wearing, my feet (mostly heels) hurt, and like @Jean in Newcastle, I was very "stove up" for the first 5 min or so after standing from sitting for any length of time. The biggest difference for me is a sense of stability and "groundedness" the minimalist shoes offer. I will say, too, that this is probably helped by the fact that Altras aren't completely cushionless, and that probably helped the transition. It's that wide toe box, though, that makes the difference--toe splay is everything!

Chiming in here to say I've had a similar experience. After years of babying my feet with Hokas and other highly cushioned shoes, I started wearing Altras (not exactly minimalist but almost) and they helped more than anything else. The foot needs to be strengthened and stabilized.

I also have a couple of pairs of Crocs platform-style sandals. They're comfy!

I need to read this!

My life hasn't been perfect or necessarily even ideal at times, but we've weathered a few storms and haven't sunk. I do attribute that to a stable home life as a child and also marrying well--someone whose temperament complements mine and who is just a good man who is a hard worker and good at what he does. Marrying well (not necessarily financially--just NOT having a mismatched marriage) can't be over estimated.

I have a friend who just started an interior design business (her degree is in interior design). I actually paid her to come help me figure out some things about our new-to-us house when we first moved in and before she started her actual business. Before she did that, she worked for a bath/kitchen supply store (where contractors and folks building new homes, plus those with plumbing needs, might go) that had a showroom. I'm pretty sure her job involved helping people with kitchen and bath layouts, etc. I'm not sure how this actually worked--like I'm pretty sure she only helped their customers--but the fact that she is an actual interior designer who later went on to start her own business makes me wonder if other such places have people like that on staff. I know that's a ramble, but maybe it will spark and idea. (so sorry about you dh!)