Working from hell (home)
Working from hell (home)
Working from home is pretty goddam sweet. Especially when dressed in bedtime casual, lounged out, taking a conference call. But when the first heat wave strikes, working in an at-home sweatshop becomes a very specific sort of hell. The kind where you roam from coffee shop to cafe, weighted down by laptop, hunting free wifi, cool air and minimally-priced coffee; a refugee without a...What’s mine is yours
What’s mine is yours
From a financial perspective, Jim and I have a completely retro, unevolved marriage. We share everything — all money goes into one big pot. Ok, not a big pot. More like a tiny little piggy bank that has droopy eyes which follow you around the room. We don’t define whose money belongs to whom, we don’t each pay our own share of the mortgage or the utility bills. At...Banging out some change!
Banging out some change!
A little under a month ago, my husband and I looked at our bank account and went, “Oh shit…” This was followed by a good old fashioned financial meltdown a-go-go. Cue strings, dim lights Cathleen: I need to make more money. (Eyes blazing with fear) Cathleen grabs laptop and opens craigslist. She considers the following positions: Lifeguard, copy writer, spiritual...I Hate Moving
I Hate Moving
I’m offering an open invitation to psychologists this week to hook my brain up to an fMRI to watch my brain explode as I pack for our move. What makes my brain churn like hot, angry lava is all the crap I seem to have collected over the years. Because I am maternal and lack cats or children, I personify everything I own, making donating or trashing items like tossing a loved one...This is the truth
This is the truth
Doing our taxes doesn’t make me fall deeper in love with Jim. And I don’t think Jim gets turned on at the sight of my bloodshot eyes and haggard, worried face. We’re hanging in there. Itemizing. Reminding ourselves, “Don’t finger point. We got into this together and we’ll keep our heads above water if we work as a team.” We’re staying...I clean up for you. Do you clean up for ...
I clean up for you. Do you clean up for me?
Can we get honest about housekeeping? Idon’tlikeit. I wish I had a habit of picking up after myself every day but I never cultivated the practice. While my parents begged/nagged/threatened me through childhood when it came to neatening up my room, I never really rose above “fire hazard” on the cleanliness-is-next-to-godliness scale. When I visit my peers’ homes, they are so...I feel guilty, but I need my space (no, ...
I feel guilty, but I need my space (no, not MySpace)
So, Jim is taking a long time leaving the house this morning. There’s some major foot dragging happening. He’s already missed a couple buses on the schedule. Mondays, especially cold, dreary, gray ones, can be supertough to find motivation. I adore the guy and I always want to see more of him. However…because our home becomes my office as soon as he steps out of the...If I could put time in a bottle
If I could put time in a bottle
When I was single, I thought marriage meant I’d never be lonely. But that isn’t true. I can’t seem to find time to spend with Jim. We have such opposite schedules right now and pass like ships in the night. Yesterday’s sighting: On the sidewalk at around 6pm, Jim was walking home from the office and I was on my way to work. It was too cold outside to linger very long. A quick...Shovel Me Sexy
Shovel Me Sexy
Last week, I shoveled out our car after what has become a winter of weekly “significant snow events.” As a Yankee, I find the backbreaking movement of shoveling satisfying. A tonic for the soul, not unlike how I imagine a Puritan must have felt after a good flogging. Shoveling snow is many things – rewarding, difficult, occasionally dangerous – but what...How do you spend your free time?
How do you spend your free time?
Does anyone else have this issue? I often define myself by what I don’t do but someday intend to do versus what I actually do (which is nothing). Example #1: Yoga One of these days, I am going to become a dedicated and enthusiastic yoga student. I regularly check class schedules at the gym and spend time reading about the miraculous health benefits of yoga online. When I...The Wives are...
Cathleen Carr & Robyn Okrant
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