Oh My God . . Dorina is My Hero

. . . so Maddy says as she enters her room upon returning home from school this evening. You see, we are ever so fortunate to be in the good graces of Dorina, our housekeeper. For fear of sounding snotty or uppity, I hesitate to say it, but here goes. . . good help is so hard to find. Dorina is our angel. {She is also the angel of a couple of our friends as well.} I have learned that when a family decides to have both parents work full-time outside of the home (as we have done), then something's gotta give. Being able to do it all, and do it all well is a myth, a lie, a falsehood, a fairy tale concocted by those who've never tried. We choose to pay someone to do chores around here that would otherwise take us hours to complete over the course of the week or during the good part of a Saturday.{No exaggeration there -- we've tried it and we know the horrors!} I absolutely refuse to allow our time together as the "party of three" to turn into stress-filled, floor-mopping, furniture-dusting, shower-cleaning days. . . just won't do it. So maybe we just cut out an extra trip to a restaurant each week or skip the trip to the mall to stock up on more "stuff" in order to afford Dorina's services. . . so completely worth it and a better deal for everyone in the long run. Really, Dorina is my hero as well; it's because of her, we have more time to "be" . . .and for us, just "being" is what we treasure most.

Flashback Photo
September 2007 -- Gelato in the Afternoon: I remember that we spent a couple of hours that day just aimlessly wondering around (mostly chasing after Maddy), and ended with a cup of her favorite flavor, mint-chocolate chip. We treasure each moment of it.

Tune in next show when I explain my belief in "mental health days" as legitimate ways to use sick leave.