Beginning, but not AT the beginning (a sort of introduction)

Sometimes things hit you and the knock you off your feet.  Life has a way of speeding around the corner like an unseen bicycle delivery rider and slam into you, leaving scrapes and bruises (and maybe broken bones) as well as remnants of Moo Shu pork and fried rice all over the pavement.

I had this happen recently.  Although, in hind sight, I should have seen it coming.  There were prompts and cues that hints.  Missing items and furtive glances and loneliness.  So I had to make a big change in my attitude and get back on track.



Hello, my name is Liz Mitchell, and I'm a blogger.  I'm currently in a mid-life crisis caused by unemployment, depression, lack of communication in my marriage, and obesity.  I decided to start a blog to help me get through this stress: as a bit of catharsis, and a bit of a record keeping, and a bit of a place to just write things out that I just can't put on Facebook.  I always resort to deep breathing when I find things getting out of control, so my theme is pretty self evident.

I'm a married mom.  I try to work in the oil and gas industry where there is work available.  I have a lot of hobbies that I love that I don't have the money or time to do.  I do seem to spend a lot of time gazing out the window at gathering storm clouds.

So here I am, spending summer with my kids, trying to entertain two very bright and energetic little girls AND study a few online courses AND keep the home fires burning for my working husband AND hopefully finish a score of DIY projects.

The Monsters

Okay, so I've got a lot of goals for the summer.

• The first one is to get a job.  But I've been working on that for over a year now (I was laid off in June 2016), and things are still slow in oil and gas. The first and a half one is to finish some study I'm working on through Lone Star College.  I decided to finish an AAS in Industrial Electronics Technology, to make me a bit more marketable in the industry, so I'm taking online courses this summer while the kids are home.
• The second one is to keep my kids from driving me crazy if I'm not working.  Entertaining those little Monsters is a full time job.  Luckily they like swimming at the neighborhood pool, playing with friends, drawing and coloring, and going to the library.  I also promised to teach Erin to write in cursive this summer, provided she improves her lettering ability.  I also want them to work on some math memorization.  I'll become the EVIL mommy when that starts.
• I have a list of DIY projects to get going.  A lot of them weren't meant to be DIY, but since I have no job, we have no money to get help, so it's sink or swim to get them done.  It's a good thing I have some wicked tool skills.
• Lastly, I've been working on improving my physical and mental health for a while, and I'm really trying to get back to lifting some weights.  I used to (many years ago) "lift heavy", and I loved it.  But life gets busy, and you get distracted, and you get older, injured and weak, and make excuses.  But I am going to do this (I've sort of already started, but more on that later).

Thanks for taking a moment to read about my soap opera.  Tune in next time for more mundane life stories.  Be sure to take a deep breath!