When we moved a little over a month ago, we stepped into a new world of sorts. I've mentioned that it is more rural here, and it is a challenge to get used to the changes.
We now have to make a trip "into town" when we need to hit the stores. That for me is really very strange. My last home in NJ was off a major highway, and I had oodles of stores at my fingertips. Where we lived both before we moved and where we live now is nothing like that, but now we are even more remote. I find that I now really have to plan my trips so I don't waste gas. If I need to run to Walmart, I might as well go to Kmart, and perhaps even Lowe's if there's something I could possibly need there. The only problem with this is that just last week I tried this idea (except a different store combination and more stops), and I found myself exhausted and starved before I was even close to being finished. So my efforts to save on gas left me without any myself!
Though we didn't move THAT far away from where we lived before, it is far enough where I needed to wave goodbye, at least on a weekly basis, to my favorite grocery store. I love that store, because it is a bit of home- the same store I always used to shop at (different location, of course). I spent this past year really getting to know the prices and the sales, and I felt like I was doing a good job with our food budget. I can still shop there on occasion, but a weekly trip doesn't make sense both in terms of gas money and in the time it will take me to go and return. So I've had to attempt to get used to a new store. Brian's mom, who came with me on my first trip there while picking up some necessities, can attest to the high prices. (She is the bargain queen when it comes to food and there are few wiser in this area.) However, it is the closest store to me, so I've determined to make do and look for the deals. I go slowly throughout the store and take my time, looking at price tags carefully, and deciding what I can get there or what I'd be wiser to get elsewhere. It can be frustrating because I feel like I've taken a few steps backward when it comes to food budget planning, and I hope to find my new rhythm soon enough.
That is just shopping. I'm still trying to get used to these windy, curvy roads that nearly make me nauseous when Brian drives (he drives too fast), and when I drive people are on my tail because apparently this Jersey girl is only used to flat, even roads. Then there's the constant looking out for deer, because they're a plenty! Then again, never mind the deer, because a bear ran across the street as I was driving home yesterday! Thank goodness he was in front of the car ahead of me, but I couldn't help braking like a frightened student driver nonetheless. As for the other driver, he zipped along, seemingly unfazed.
Welcome to the Poconos! It's a new life, and it will certainly take some getting used to.
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Back to School
Today was the first day of school for Brian, and with that comes a bit of sadness for me. I grew quite accustomed to spending so much time with my husband this summer, and it is difficult to watch him go back to work.
That may sound silly to some, but being a teacher is akin to being a slave for ten months. I'm being facetious here, of course, but it is demanding. Brian doesn't simply work a 9-5 job and at the end of the day he's free to put up his feet or do as he pleases. I've worked many jobs myself, the standard 9-5 as well as teaching, and they are vastly different.
Where I came home to mountains of papers to grade, Brian has to constantly be playing back his band rehearsals so he can take notes and see where his students need to improve. He also must keep listening to the songs he is having his band perform and study the scores so he knows them like the back of his hand. On top of all of this, he works one or two nights a week at the downtown music center where he gives lessons.
Then there are the dreaded weekends, which happen more than I wish, where he is involved with some band competition or judging or what have you. I dislike those most of all.
If I sound like I'm complaining, I apologize, for that's really not my intention. It is simply that I miss my husband when he is not here, and I also hate to watch the stress that he must face throughout the school year. I think that is the hardest part for me.
However, in spite of all of this, I am grateful for his job and the fact that it provides for us. Brian is a good provider, and just as he works hard on his end, I work to make our home a haven that he can find solace in no matter how cruel the day has been. It is my pleasure to have a hot meal waiting for him when he comes home, just as it is my joy to serve it to him so he can simply sit and enjoy.
It's a challenge getting back into the routine as we both are trying to deal with the alarm clock at 5:20. I get up with Brian, too, because I like seeing him off to work, and I know it helps him to get going when I am up with him. I always have his outfits picked out and ironed, I make and pack his lunch, and I prepare his breakfast. These are just small things in my mind, when he is working so hard to provide for us. Yes, Brian worked this hard before we got married, but it is my hope that the things I do make life easier for him, and a little happier, too.
That may sound silly to some, but being a teacher is akin to being a slave for ten months. I'm being facetious here, of course, but it is demanding. Brian doesn't simply work a 9-5 job and at the end of the day he's free to put up his feet or do as he pleases. I've worked many jobs myself, the standard 9-5 as well as teaching, and they are vastly different.
Where I came home to mountains of papers to grade, Brian has to constantly be playing back his band rehearsals so he can take notes and see where his students need to improve. He also must keep listening to the songs he is having his band perform and study the scores so he knows them like the back of his hand. On top of all of this, he works one or two nights a week at the downtown music center where he gives lessons.
Then there are the dreaded weekends, which happen more than I wish, where he is involved with some band competition or judging or what have you. I dislike those most of all.
If I sound like I'm complaining, I apologize, for that's really not my intention. It is simply that I miss my husband when he is not here, and I also hate to watch the stress that he must face throughout the school year. I think that is the hardest part for me.
However, in spite of all of this, I am grateful for his job and the fact that it provides for us. Brian is a good provider, and just as he works hard on his end, I work to make our home a haven that he can find solace in no matter how cruel the day has been. It is my pleasure to have a hot meal waiting for him when he comes home, just as it is my joy to serve it to him so he can simply sit and enjoy.
It's a challenge getting back into the routine as we both are trying to deal with the alarm clock at 5:20. I get up with Brian, too, because I like seeing him off to work, and I know it helps him to get going when I am up with him. I always have his outfits picked out and ironed, I make and pack his lunch, and I prepare his breakfast. These are just small things in my mind, when he is working so hard to provide for us. Yes, Brian worked this hard before we got married, but it is my hope that the things I do make life easier for him, and a little happier, too.
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