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Another Sunday afternoon, and I'm here with the news from this week -- as well as our meal plans for the coming week. Although I appreciate the "Menu Plan Monday" concept and eagerly anticipate finding out what some of the others have planned, Mondays just don't "work" for me. It's hard, getting back into the swing of the work week, without adding on one more "duty", like remembering to log on and update my blog. So I will continue to post my menu plans on Sundays, and then link to the Organizing Junkie's list of participants later in the week (as soon as the dust settles and I can remember to do it).

The first news from this week shocked and disappointed me personally. I can hardly form the words to tell you, but the firm that was providing me with most of my cleaning work has severed relations with me. Actually the firm is a sole proprietorship owned by "Beth". Beth farms cleaning assignments out to individuals like me, subcontractors. Roughly she works with about 30 subcontractors at any given time.

When I decided to start my own cleaning business, I chose to "play it safe" and find cleaning assignments through Beth's firm so that I would have plenty of work (and money) while I built up my own clientele on the side. As my personal client list has grown, I've been cutting back on the days when I was available to work for Beth.

After mailing my last paycheck 10 days ago, Beth has ceased all communications with me. She hasn't returned any of my emails or voice mails. I can't say why, because my work was always excellent and clients asked for me specifically. The big disappointment for me was the way Beth chose to end relations -- without a word. It's mystifying, although I can think of several possible reasons why she decided not to work with me going forward, perhaps

• because of the inconvenience to her, when I was injured and unable to work. It forced her to do a lot of juggling with other cleaners' schedules to fill in for me; or
• because I had reduced my availability to her while my own client list grew; or
• even because I set the standard "too high" for others to fill in for me. At least one of my clients wouldn't let Beth send out anyone else while I was injured. Other clients did have others come out to clean, but they complained that the others didn't clean as thoroughly (dusted around things, etc); or
• possibly for all of these reasons. I guess I'll never know, since Beth chose not to tell me.

Although this unexpected turn of events means I have gaps in my work schedule during the week, don't worry, this is not a devastating blow for me. I do have a few of my own clients, so I do have some work each week. I expect to get by just fine.

In fact, the way things have been going lately leads me to believe that I'm not supposed to stay in the cleaning business, but to go back to work for CMS. Here's the way I see it:

• The project that I will be working on first sounds like a real challenge, something I can really sink my teeth into. In other words, the work as described holds a lot of appeal for me.
• I felt that I hit it off with Kay, the hiring manager. I think we could work well together. I especially liked the way she spoke of her team, both as a group and as individuals. She spoke of them with pride and caring.
• Everything happens for a reason. Things have gone so well with my cleaning business. I feel confident, totally competent, and I've been enjoying working more than I have in a really long time. But then I had the thumb injury that kept me out of work for 2 weeks; then just a couple of weeks ago, the wrist injury that put me out of work for another week. No insurance, no paychecks, then:
• CMS contacts me from "out of the blue". I hadn't put out any feelers and wasn't looking for other work because I've been too busy building my business.
• Also "out of the blue" I received a $400 check from the attorney who handled the closing on my last house. Money that was set aside but then never spent, discovered while they were auditing their books.
• Plus a nice tax refund. Together with the $400 refund from the closing attorney, these monies have come just when I needed them most.

I see God's hand in all of this. Perhaps the cleaning business was only meant to be for a time, to rebuild my self-confidence which had gotten a bit bruised during the last few months at Wachovia. And laboring full time, cleaning houses, has proven that I have plenty of energy, enough for the most difficult of projects. Perhaps once God had shown me my strengths and abilities, he allowed these injuries to take place so that I would have time to examine my situation and be open to considering other possibilities (the job at CMS). Yet through it all, he has continued to provide for my needs (the real estate refund, the tax refund, and beyond -- keep reading).

The other really big news from this week is much better news: we received an offer on our house last night. The offer was about $6000 below our asking price, and our realtor recommended that we counter the buyer's offer. So right now, the ball is in the buyer's court, and we are waiting to hear her decision. I have to keep reminding myself to breathe, not to hold my breath!

And now, without further ado, this is what's on the menu for this week:

Monday: Greek Grilled Chicken and Vegetable Salad with pitas;
Tuesday: Chicken parmesan (from Volumetrics); baked potatoes; peas and carrots
Wednesday: Creole Meat Loaf; mashed potatoes; peas and carrots
Thursday: Leftover chicken parmesan with a side of spaghetti (leftover from Sunday); tossed salad
Friday: Take out or eat out
Saturday: Denver frittata; turkey bacon; fresh fruit
Sunday: Sub on a spud; tossed salad
And for dessert this week: Slow-Cooker Berry Cobbler