I skipped blogging yesterday because I was spending the day with my son, quite unexpectedly. The day before yesterday, the Columbus Police found a syringe full of cocaine in the possession of a Columbus school bus driver, on the bus. The driver worked for an outsource provider used by Columbus Public Schools. Apparnetly late that evening the outsource company determined that their Columbus office had never run criminal checks on any of the bus drivers in their employ. They called Columbus Schools officials and said they weren't sending any of them out until they were checked. That left Columbus schools too short of buses and drivers to open their doors, and in ripple effect, the Columbus Catholic schools closed, too, because many kids come in on CPS school buses.

Thursday is Ski Club day at Sam's school, which means he has a ski pass good every Thursday. So after I kept a morning appointment, he and I had lunch together while watching an old episode of The Incredible Hulk, then we went to the ski resort. He skied for about 4 hours while I sat in the lodge sipping coffee and reading Dan Brown's Angels and Demons. On the way home from skiing, he told me it ranked among his top ten all time best days!

My morning appointment yesterday was with the firm where I had an offer to become a financial advisor back in May. They are definitely still interested in me, so I just need to make up my mind if that is really what I want to do. I'm leaning toward it, but not firmly decided yet. The first couple years take a lot of hard, grueling work with long hours, and while I am not opposed to working hard, I don't know if it is the right thing to do when my son is 13. But back when I proactively worked on what kind of work I'd enjoy, this is what I came to, so if I decide it just isn't right for my family, I don't know where to go from there. My friend Jamie, who is a professional life coach, is giving me three free coaching sessions, and I hope to meet with a career counselor next week as well, and I'm hoping that all that professional guidance helps me make the right decision about whether this is the next step for me.

I have also downloaded writers' guidelines from a bunch of places and am hoping I can write something to sell to bring in a little interim cash.

But today, I'm largely being a domestic godess. I did the grocery shopping, I'm doing the laundry, I ran the dishwasher and I'm about to empty it and start refilling it. And I finally, FINALLY forced myself to take all the junk from my office out of my trunk. So far it has only made it to the corner of the family room, but I won't leave it there too long. It feels too good to have a clean family room. But in the trunk of the car, it was largely out of sight and out of mind and it seemed like as long as I left it there, I didn't have to think about it. It became a big mental block for me. So I'm pleased to have broken through.

Tomorrow Bob is at a Boy Scout leader training event most of the day. Sam and I are meeting one of his teachers at the library for some help on a project, then we've discussed going to see The Pursuit of Happyness together. I like the idea, because I realized recently that with all his school issues and social issues, sometimes it feels like all we ever do is talk about problems and hash out how to do stuff. It had been way too long since we relaxed and had fun together. Yesterday felt nice in that way, and tomorrow holds promise, too. And for me, the day ends with a black tie gala on somebody else's nickel. It doesn't get much better than that! I'm wearing a red gown that was already in my closet. I'll try to get a photo I can post!