I’ve loved being a stay-at-home wife for the past several months.  It gave me a chance to start my Etsy shop, to paint more, to cook relaxed meals, and to just feel at peace.  But every season has its end, right?

Sometimes while I was feeling at peace, I also felt like a bum.  Sometimes I wanted more of a schedule.  Sometimes I wished that my copious amounts of cooking and laundry got me a paycheck that I could share with Scott.

Solution?

Job!

I’m starting a new job at a local university on Monday.  It’s a short quarter-mile walk from our house to the office, and that’s only the beginning of the future job awesomeness.

You know what I like in addition to having a new job?  I like that this past week, I’ve been a project machine around the house.  I knew that I had a very limited amount of time left as a lady of leisure, so I started tackling projects I’ve avoided for a good long time.

Stained, dirty walls in the pantry area?  Repainted!  Stained, dirty ceiling in the kitchen?  Repainted!  Toenails (not stained or dirty to my knowledge, but in great need of TLC)?  Painted.  (We’ll get back to that one.  First, take a look at the kitchen ceiling.)

The ceiling painting was the biggest task.  In my opinion, it’s not that gratifying to paint something the same color it was before just to get rid of a layer of stain.  But paint, I did.  (Yes, that was a mental pat on the back that you heard just then.)

Can I also say that painting my toenails in the winter is kind of a big deal for me?  It has never been my dream to have freezing cold feet for hours before going to bed.

While my feet aren’t on par with Liz Lemon scary feet, they have been cracked and dry for years and years.  Somehow, without assistance of lotion or anything at all, Scott’s feet stay smooth and moisturized.  Mine, on the other hand, develop cracking canyons a few times a year.  Sad foot canyons.

I found a solution this week, and it’s been glorious.  I’ve been wearing my giant Uggs every day at home, because they’re warm and wonderful.  Then it occurred to me that these wonderful shoes could easily turn into spa tools with a few extra ingredients.  While I was painting walls and ceilings and cleaning paint off of the floor and the counters and everything, I added a thick layer of lotion to my feet, topped them with a pair of fuzzy socks, and put the faithful fur-lined boots back on.  In one short week, my feet are already looking like feet again instead of geological features you might find in a desert.

And thus, I declare victory over this week of non-jobness.