Simple Words

#1 - I applied for a job with the county this morning and got an email later today that there is another position, similar but different, that they are looking to hire for quickly and if you want to be considered for the other one as well to email them. I did and do. And am almost more excited about that position because it is related to housing instead of education and I have more to learn in that area.

#2 - My partner talked to the financial planner he encouraged me to talk to earlier this year. The conversation was mostly retirement planning and different scenarios on how to be able to retire and what numbers he needs to shoot for. It was a very helpful conversation and he loves data and specific goals, so hopefully that will be a motivator.

#3 - My partner's youngest, besides our camping trip, has basically been on the couch reading all summer. The one activity her mom found that gets her out of the house is a weekly one hour horseback riding lesson. I took her there for the second time today and brought my niece and nephew along to watch. I think it's good for her to be the expert and explain about the horses to them.

#4 - When we got home the oldest had a linguine dinner ready. Since we're all home so much we've started asking each of the girls to cook one dinner a week.

#5 - Finally I didn't appreciate the way my partner spoke to me this AM (which no surprise which was a response for the way I'd communicated to him). Once I better understood the way my communication was ineffective I apologized about it. I asked him to apologize as well and he was reluctant saying I may have heard it contemptuously, but he didn't mean it that way. I said it didn't matter, if I heard it in a hurtful way, it was still hurtful. I reminded him of a time at the end of our trip when I said his daughter's name in a way that she immediately responded, "WHAT?!!" because it sounded like I'd said her name in snappy/yelling way - both to my partner, her and his other daughter. I gave that as an examples saying, "I apologized for that right away even though I'd said it completely innocently it just came out wrong. Or at least I think I apologized." Because I wasn't 100% sure I went into the living room, found his daughter and said, "Do you remember on our trip when I said your name in a way you thought was critical?" She didn't remember at first, but her sister was sitting right there and seemed to. "Well I'm not sure if I apologized for that.."
"You did apologize," she began.
"Well, I just want to be sure. I'm sorry for the tone of voice I used, I can understand how that felt hurtful." And to my surprise, saying this simple thing to his daughter made my eyes begin to tear.