Meanderings

I looked over at my "evil" neighbour's car today, and instead of cursing it, as I have been for the last month, I felt some peace. Sam reported that she waved toward us this weekend, as we happened to cross paths in the parking lot. Perhaps she feels less rage herself. I have no interest in friendship with her, but a certain peace would be a good thing.

Even if Rob and I manage to keep ourselves and our behaviour focused on the important things once we move in together, how will his boys, ages 9 & 11, do with sharing their space? If we move into Rob's house, we would take over the tenant's suite in the basement, and it would make fine, new accommodations for the boys. They would each get their own bedroom downstairs, and they would have a bathroom, and their animals. I think it sounds okay, but it's a lot to ask of them- to share their house and their dad with the rest of us.

We have another offer coming in tomorrow- the fourth offer. This is actually the same couple who made offer number 2, which was insultingly low. Their counter-offer response was pretty bad, too, so we went our separate ways. They know we accepted offer number 3, which was withdrawn after the inspection. They may have guessed at the magic number- if they match the amount of the offer we accepted, we'll take it, and work on Plan A- buying a house together. If the offer is crappy, I'll be blogging some more about Plan B- moving into Rob's house...

I made myself a "star chart" today- my tardiness is becoming problematic again, and this is one suggestion of how to train myself into better habits. I was having a lot of trouble coming up with "rewards", or positive reinforcements for succeeding at the incremental steps needed for punctuality. The chart outlines a bunch of those steps, and I'm gonna, with the participation of the kids, give myself a star for each step I accomplish towards my goal of punctuality. After maybe 5 stars (to start with), I get to give myself a bigger reward. I'm gonna have to get the kids to give me ideas for those rewards, too- sad, really, that I can identify so little that might motivate or reward me. I hope that it will become self-rewarding, or habitual soon, but in the meantime, I'm open to suggestions of nice rewards for good behaviour...