SUPERWOMAN!!!!!!!!!!

"Here I come to save the day!!!"

In merely three days, I have become "Suzie Homemaker." My house has never been more organized, our refrigerator so full, pantry so stocked!


My incredible fear of becoming useless and unworthy has driven me to "homemaking mania." Every "project" I have imagined starting in the past three years, has become the one I have decided to embark upon in the first few days of my official unemployment and childless state. The complete desperation with which I vacuum, scrub and shine should alert me to the fact that I may be going a bit overboard, perhaps taking on too much, too soon?


Let me give you an idea of what I have accomplished during the past two and a half days:

•  Made homemade zucchini bread with my freshly grown zucchini (my Nana's recipe...tastes like heaven)
•  Made homemade banana bread with the black slimy bananas which have been languishing in my freezer for six months for this specific purpose
•  "Power" shopped at three different stores to stock up on organic produce, bulk grain staples and ethnic products so I can try all the recipes I have collected over the past twenty years (didn't actually buy any packaged food items, I'm proud to say, although I have a feeling that might backfire on me)
•  Oh....organized all those recipes I've collected over the past twenty years and actually chose three to try this week (This entailed flipping through all of my magazines and cookbooks (eight!)and pulling out my favorite vegetarian recipes, then recycling the leftovers.)
•  Made homemade granola, stored it in an airtight glass container instead of a plastic ziplock bag, because now I have NO excuse not to be "green." After all, I have nothing better to do now than scrounge through my cabinets for possible reusable containers, do I?
•  Made homemade spaghetti sauce from the freshly picked tomatoes from my garden (which, by the way, is extremely watery!!!)
•  Used the leftover zucchini and made my own version of "fried green tomatoes"....except with the z, of course. Froze it because boys are going to be with their dad.
• Steamed MANY servings of brown rice and wound up freezing THAT as well because boys will be gone.
• Washed and cut celery, watermelon, yellow melon, strawberries, blueberries and grapes so my kids might actually eat something healthy. Ran out of containers in which to store them, so wound up using the damn Ziplocs. (I can wash and reuse, right?) Side note, can you freeze that stuff
•  Rode my damn bike to the farmer's market and bought the most expensive organic corn on the cob I could find only to let it sit in the fridge because- yup- the boys aren't home to enjoy it. Oh, and also bought pickling cucumbers so I can make homemade pickles.

• Made homemade pizza dough, with yeast and everything!! (again, into the freezer)
• Scrubbed the floor under the fridge, dishwasher and oven because...well, it was NASTY! I don't think I've ever done that before
• Did three loads of laundry and hung each load out on the clothesline to dry (Forgot to bring one load in overnight, so when I eventually did, found many critters making themselves comfortable in our various undergarments.)
• Sewed on a loose button, hemmed a pair of jeans and took in a pair of shorts so B couldn't walk around like a hoodlum with his crack and boxers showing
• Cleaned the shelves in the refrigerator (figured out where that "smell" had been coming from!)
• Replaced the pedal on my bike, fixed N's broken chain on his bike, hung up shelves in his room and resharpened the electric pencil sharpener
• Researched cheaper health insurance, car insurance and home insurance and made changes to save money (Yes!!$$$$$$$)
• Researched cheaper TV and internet services and switched to Dish Network and AT&T where I will now save $10 per month!!!
• Volunteered to tutor adult english language learners for two hours a week, signed up to substitute teach in my kids' district, as well as instruct aqua aerobics to senior citizens on Saturdays.
• Last but not least, went to an hour indoor cycling class and then a 45 min. pilates class last night and almost bit the dust.

So.....those of you who know me are not surprised by this. And those of you who have just read this are thinking, "Oh my God, how will she sustain this?"


I won't.
 In situations like this, I tend to go all out, 110% until I BURNOUT and then flop down like a dead, stinky fish. I am writing this all down so that I can give myself a warning....SLOOOOOOOWWWWWWWW down.


I know deep inside that being unemployed doesn't make me worthless and doing a million and one things at once doesn't make me a better person. It only makes me strung out and depressed in the end.


So, my dear friends, I am making myself a promise right now that I will CHILL OUT, and not worry incessantly about how much I'm doing with the time I have, but whether what I am doing is helping me become a better person.


P.S. The boys came home from school yesterday and after looking in the pantry and fridge and finding nothing "pre-packaged and ready-to-go" stated that there was "nothin' to eat."