Deja vu again

I sat down to write a post tonight about feeling restless, which is probably the reason why in the past 72 hours, I've contemplated getting a dog, going for a radically different haircut, and re-decorating Robbie's room. But as I thought about the post, it seemed familiar to me.

This is why: Restless.

And I'm recalling the quote from St. Augustine: "My heart is restless, O Lord, until it rests in You."

So I guess prayer is in order. Probably prayer that is offered somewhere else other than my car as I'm speeding toward the office, having left 15, 30, 45 minutes later than I'd intended, which is usually when I do my praying. I'm going to really work on building some quiet, reflective time into my days this week.

Oh, and Mike is home again, so perhaps that will help me feel a little more grounded, though I'm sure there will be some transitional moments as we all get used to being under the same roof again. But it feels good to have five of us here.

Your prayers for us are certainly appreciated. And as my Dad would say, we'll pray for you, too.

Restless

That's me. I'm restless right now. Not just RIGHT now, but in my life in general. I feel like I can't get settled or grounded. That's not a bad thing -- it's not like I'm wishing for someone else's life, more like I'm looking to shake up my own a bit.

After I dropped Annie off at volleyball tonight, I drove around for about 30 minutes looking at houses for sale. Now, we have a perfectly nice house. Probably very nice. But we've been here almost 11 years and I'm getting the 11-year itch.

Oh sure, if we were actually to move, I'd be here complaining about having to pack up more than a decade's worth of stuff, wringing my hands about when someone is going to buy our house. But I don't think about that when I'm scanning the 4-bedroom with basement options on the local real estate site.

When I'm not thinking about buying a new house, I consider selling my car and getting a new one. Not NEW new, but new to me. Smaller, cheaper. Just something to get me to and from work.

You know I must be a little off when I say that I've even begun reading with some measure of seriousness the "Dog needs a good home" e-mails that get sent around work. To quote what my mother will say when she reads that, "I need a dog like I need a hole in the head."

The good news -- for Mike, anyway -- is that my restlessness is limited to houses, cars and pets. Not husbands. Not yet.

Maybe this is a midlife crisis. Maybe its cabin fever -- the effect of taking two warm weather vacations then having to come back to more winter. (I know, boohoo for me!) Maybe it's some deep psychological phenomenon.

Whatever it is, I think I'll buy a new pair of shoes tomorrow and see if that's enough shaking up to snap me out of it.