Things I've Learned Recently (or knew before but had to be reminded)...

 - I like to think I'm a person who likes heat. I prefer hot weather over cool weather. I used to think the heat couldn't really get to me. I was wrong. The heat makes me cranky and irritable, and amplifies every speck of stress in me until I'm made of it.

 - I was sure I could keep the house in order this summer if I tried to tidy it each morning. I was wrong. Three boys vs. one me. The move in different directions, and mess stuff up faster than I can tell them to pick up.

 - I was sure by now that we would be further along in this divorce process. As of yet, every little thing has taken me much, much longer to accomplish than I assume. I sit down to complete a paper, and I need two days to collect all the data. Or I realize I don't have some of the answers. Or I realize I need to make a phone call, and the other person will be available on Tuesday.

 - No matter how much I wish that wanting a job will count in some cosmic, bigger universe way, it doesn't. And it didn't.

 - I can want two opposing things at the same time. For example, I want that other job. I also want to put my kids on the bus and to be with them as soon as they get out of school.

 - As much as I wish I were one of those people who reacted to stress by doing more physical stuff and forgetting to eat, it turns out I'm a stress eater. I can eat nine donuts in six hours. Even though I'm trying to rid myself of the few extra pounds I've gained over the past couple of months, I seem to be gaining instead. And very quickly.

 - When family or friends send me emails or call me, just to check in, I feel better. When they ask if they can do anything and I say "no," it's because they've already done it. I am so grateful for all of them.