Sophie Kinsella @ MindSay

It amazes me when I pick up the right book at the right time.  I love reading simply because a book can remind me of things easily forgotten.  The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella served as a reminder of many things.  It is actually the second time I've read the book; the first time when I was still living in California before my relationship with Josh began.  If I remember correctly, it was right after Alexa died.  Now, however, it seemed to make stronger points to me.

Samantha Sweeting spent every waking moment for seven years trying to become a partner in her top notch legal firm.  Twelve years before that was in preparation of becoming the best lawyer she could possibly be.  One single mistake (that wasn't even made by her) changed her life in a split second.  Mistakes in the legal world can obviously be costly.  This one happened to cost her client 50 million pounds.  Mistakes in her world were unacceptable, and so when the mistake came to light, she left without a single word - just walked out of the office and kept going until she landed on a stranger's doorstep.  The strangers mistook her for a housekeeper an agency sent to them.  Not having any answers of what to do about her life (especially after finding she was fired for her reaction to her own mistake), Samantha decided to make the best of the strangers' misunderstanding and remained as their housekeeper.  The funny thing is Samantha can't boil eggs much less do a load of laundry.  This top-notch lawyer ended up falling in love with the gardner and the charming country life she began to make for herself once she learned to slow down and smell the roses.  She learned to cook and clean.  Life drammatically changes for her and she just adores it. 

Suddenly the legal firm realized that Samantha never made a mistake, that a senior partner set her up to take his fall should his financial scandal be found out.  The firm fell over themselves to make it up to her and offered her an even better position in their ranks.  She was torn between accepting the offer and remaining where she was.  The gardner skipped town to make the decision easier for her.  But halfway to London,  Samantha leaves her partners on the train to find her way back to the love of her life even though she had no clue where to find him in Cornwall.  All she knew was she would find him somehow.

Gods, I love this book.  It's just absolutely wonderful. 

"It doesn't matter.  Don't beat yourself up for not knowing all the answers.  You don't always have to know who you are.  You don't have to have the big picture, or know where you're heading.  Sometimes it's enough just to know what you're going to do next."

Soft sigh in relief.  Lately I've been searching for all the answers and getting extremely upset whenever I'd come up empy-handed.  I often thought about going to the local metaphysical store to have my tarot read so that I get some answers, but I haven't had the money to do so.  Then I read these words and realized that it doesn't matter if I have all the answers.  It really is enough just know what to do next.  For instance, I know I need to find a part time job.  That's what I need to do next.  And it doesn't really matter what kind of job it is... I know I can do anything I put my mind to as long as I have Josh's support.  I know I'm starting school next month.  That's as far as I need to go... the only answers I really need.