Breadcrumbs and Trail Markers..

Whatever I write this morning, I will have to write fast because I can already hear my children starting to wake up.  It was just a small cough, but soon the shower will be running, someone will be asking where their socks are and the answer is always the same - they're in the laundry basket with all the other clothes that I have not had time, well at least energy, to put up yet.  I know that some people reading this might have 4, 6 or even more kids and feel that any complaining about how household chores seem to fall by the way side by someone who ONLY has 3 kids might seem a little bit like whining, but it's my blog..I'll whine if I want to. 

But this is not going to be a whine fest.  Although, if I lived in Napa Valley, I would enjoy going to a wine fest as long as their was cheese available. NO, this is going to be a nice little encouragement to those of us (and I believe this applies to a lot of people these days...with or without children) who feel a bit...uh, overwhelmed, especially with the holidays quickly approaching. I have developed a mental survival system called "breadcrumbs and trailmarkers" so that as I scurry through the day, I can help myself.  I am usually not a very good list writer as I tend to either forget what I am supposed to write down, forget the list or think that making a list is yet another item for the "to do list"..THEREFORE, I rely on the mental capabilities that the Lord provided for me in the form of a brain. It's not real scientific.  It's kinda sad actually because there is zero logic to it, but it works..sometimes. So, no money back guarantees here...

First and foremost, let me outline the "Trail Markers". These are the things that we must do each day in order to survive on the trail or path that we've chosen to walk.  These things are usually constant like markers on a walking trail that aren't supposed to move.  For instance,  I find it imperative that each morning, I bathe.  I know this is hard to imagine, but I really do shower and when in the shower, I think and pray about the day.  It can be a long shower. THEN before leaving the bathroom/bedroom, I am completely dressed including what little makeup I wear. I only do this because if I don't take care of personal hygiene..well, who will?  I will wind up going to work with no socks or maybe my house shoes instead of my 'goin outside shoes'.

SO, being dressed, now I must walk the dog who has been patiently waiting in the laundry room..because that's where she sleeps so she won't jump on me in the middle of the night).  This is yet another trail marker and as you can see, the trail markers are daily habits.  My time is running out because now I have three kids up and have already had to get up for 4 different interruptions all within the last 10 minutes and Troy isn't even up yet which reminds me...wait I'll be right back......OK, now Troy is up and I can type for another 5 minutes)... Do you see how challenging it is already to write?  Oh well, I digress..as usual..

What have we learned so far?  Yes, trail markers are just the daily habits that don't really change.  But, breadcrumbs...Ah, those are the things that make life run smoothly.  It's an easy concept to remember.  It's like leaving yourself little reminders...but not in the form of a list which I have already mentioned how much I hate. No, this is more of mental reminders. I'll use laundry as a prime example.  I knew that last night I wouldn't have time to wash Ellie's blue jeans that she has to wear for her book report costume today (fodder for another blog), so to remind me to wash and dry them this morning (cause I get up so early), I left them out on the counter where I keep my phone...cause I would have to see them when I got the phone.  That reminds me to put them in the washer.  Mission accomplished.  The only snafew (and of course this NEVER happens..I say sarcastically) that could alter the outcome would be if I was so totally amnesic to the fact that I even have a daughter who needed jeans then that wouldn't work....So, that's the bread crumb example.

I would love to sit and think up some more, but the house is too loud for me to think anymore, and I'm hoping I have left myself some breadcrumbs along the way..cause I forgot to eat breakfast..and I'm already feeling overwhelmed.   Bottom line, we're all surviving the best way we can, and if that means we forget stuff along the way, then maybe it's ok.  I have often prayed this:  "Lord, today, please help me remember the things I need to remember, forget the things I need to forget and not worry about it "  It works too..cause I've already forgotten most of what I was worried about for the day..Sufficient for the day is it's own trouble which is a paraphrase of something in the bible that I'm too lazy to look up right now.  Now, go eat some breadcrumbs.  

Times..they are a changin...

There is much to do on this beautiful, sun shiny, bright and colorful fall day.  Yet, here I sit...typing cause there are so many random thoughts that have been passing through the little neurons in my noggin lately that I feel drawn to the keyboard.  I'm thankful that Troy is at work and the kids are at school so that I can actually have some time with the keyboard.  I see another computer (possibly a secret laptop) only for me in my future.  Ah, one can dream, right?

I must write quickly though..."Write like the wind" as I like to say even though the wind doesn't really write does it?  It just sounds good. I must clean the house because on Monday mornings, it looks like the fraternity from Animal House met the Northern Army and they teamed up to march through my house pillaging and rummaging through everything from clothes which are all over the floor to dishes that make a nice tower to the ceiling.  So, there is much ado about a lot of stuff that will have to get done, and the urgency strikes me slap in the face because my days as a "Stay at home Mom who manages to work part time to keep her RN license" are just about over.  I'm about to enter the insane world of "Working Mother".  God help us all. And, I'm not kidding about that last part.  I will not be able to do this without some Divine Intervention...possibly in the form of a housekeeper...but we'll just wait on that to see if I actually like the job.

My youngest is now 6 years old.  I always said I would eventually go back to work..."Eventually" has finally come. And, on October 31st, I begin the new adventure.  It's as a home health nurse, and I've done that before..only part time or PRN which meant that I really didn't have to work everyday unless they really needed me and I wanted to.  That's been nice.  However, as busy as I am here, and as I have managed to stay without working full time, I think it's probably time to start banking some money for the college eds that will hit me in a few measly years, and maybe even help with retirement. I figure if it doesn't work out, I always have this blog...which pays, uh...well, maybe I'll like the job.

SO, yes, times they are a changin...I'll throw a modified version of the Ecclesiastes verse about "a time for everything" in here cause I can..It's my blog.

There is a:
Time for work, a time for play
A time to start another day
A time to work to earn a check
A time to clean your house cause it's a wreck
A time to rest and sing and pray
A time to visit along the way.
And during all the time we're given,
If we see why we're livin,
Then, all the stuff that we go through.
Will make this life seem not so blue.  

Cheesy, I know..But kinda true eh?  Well, it's time to crank up some music and get the laundry folded and begin the "procrastination breakdown" which I will have to bust through if I am to get my house ready for the impending sabbatical I'll be taking soon. My lofty and completely unattainable goals for the day are to catch up on the scrapbooks that I'm five years behind on, have all clothes folded, put up and organized to make for easy dressing in the mornings, clean out my closet for said same reason, and maybe clean out the car just cause I'm under the delusion that doing all that will help with the transition for us all.  Again, it's only Divine Intervention that will save me..or really, anybody else for that matter.  I think I'm taking the "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" verse in Philippians a little to seriously.  HAHA. We'll see.

If people were dogs...

I've heard it said that after awhile, some people will start to resemble their pets.  I've even seen pictures that back up this theory. However, I wonder if the physical attributes are only just the beginning.  What if, maybe even subconsciously, we pick pets based on their personalities and how well we think they match ours? For instance, I would never want a nervous, frantic, yippy Chiwawa.  I think they're cute and all, but I just don't like being around things or people for that matter who seem to have a lot more energy than me, and granted, that's not really saying too much most days. It drains my energy to be around people like that. Someone who is hyper and "so excited" all the time and never ever gets even slightly down or calm, actually makes me step back and start to wonder what is wrong with that person. I don't think anybody is ever legitimately that way 100% of the time. Negative people affect me that way too. I prefer those balanced people who put me at ease.

It wasn't always that way.  There was a time when I thought something was wrong with me because I wasn't always happy and hyper and basically, a walking cheerleader.  I'm not saying I'm perfect. I'm just saying I don't dwell on my imperfections. Maybe I just don't care. That was back when I was a young whipper snapper and not a middle aged mom of three who is occasionally, hopefully accidentally, given a senior discount at a store because the teenager behind the counter is too afraid to ask if I'm 55 or older, and she really isn't a good judge of age just yet. I don't blame her.  I've actually been in that same situation before, and I know it's just easier to give the discount than to ask. But, it does make me want to go buy Clairol.

Anyway, if we resemble our pets personality, then I have finally managed to get the perfect pet for me.  Bear is the black lab in the picture above.  We adopted her about a year and a half ago. That picture represents her normal pose throughout the day.  Most of the time, she is easy going, loves the kids and habitually sneaks around to get extra food wherever she can find it...the garbage, the floor, the kids' plates...I'm like that too...well, except for the places she finds food. She loves to see people come to her house, but in some ways she scares them off because she can look mean and vicious..just like me!  If someone dares to walk by with another dog on her sidewalk, she will let everyone in the neighborhood know that this is her territory, and "how dare they bring another dog on her property!"  I'm not like that though..unless you count the fact that I don't like people to bother my personal space.  I am a big fan of personal boundaries.

Another similarity is the fact that if she has to go outside and do her business, she will get right up in my personal space and whine and run around like she has to go pee and then when I get the leash and my shoes on, you'd think she had won the hot dog lotto. My husband thinks I'm like that because when I really need him to turn off the tv and help me put the kids to bed or something else that I think is urgent, I get right up in his personal space and won't let him sit and watch tv either..Oh my gosh!  I think I'm morphing into my dog!

I could turn this into a spiritual blog about how we should all be like Jesus and not worry about being like other people or dogs. I'm certainly not going to compare my Savior to a K-9, but if I were writing a story and wanted to symbolize Jesus that way, I would write him as a German Shepherd. One who is always there, protecting, comforting, leading like a seeing eye dog for a blind person. One who knows when to rest, when to move and when and how to attack to protect those in his care.  But of course, I'm thankful, Jesus is much more than that.  I don't want to "put God in box" which I've always thought was a funny metaphor. You can't put Him in anything, and you can't compare him to anyone or anything.  He just is that He is. 

So, whether I'm a lazy lab, a hyper yippy dog or a mutt in between, I'll try to remember that "It's a dog eat dog world," and "If I can't run with the big dogs, I'll just stay on the porch" and "I might not have a dog in that fight" and maybe somehow, I will learn to just "Let sleeping dogs lie".  I'd better be careful before I start a new religion called "Dogism"...please don't tell me there's already something out there like that. I just don't want to know. I don't want to go "Diggin up bones" anywhere...I'll stop now...:)

So many houses...so little time.

"You may attempt to be cool now by downplaying your desires, but the Moon's visit to your 8th House of Intimacy has you thinking about warmer things."

That was how today's horoscopy thing started out.  I have no idea what it means or even how it could remotely describe the day. And, as I mentioned previously, I don't know how many houses I have, but I'm pretty sure that I don't have 8 houses devoted to intimacy.  I wonder if I would have more houses of employment (other than the recently mentioned 6 houses of employment from a previous horoscope) if I had paid more attention to the 10 levels of hell that I've heard about.  I wonder how many levels of appetite exist?  Currently, my 4th House of S'mores is wishing we could go camping soon. Yesterday, my 3rd House of Pancakes was followed by my 9th House of Homemade Apple Pies followed closely by my 2nd House of Pepsi...shadowed by the ever present 18th House of Indigestion. I just don't get it...but that's really ok...Please don't explain it to me.  I can feel my eyes start to glaze over just thinking about how I would feel if someone who actually understands mumbo jumbo ever started to explain it to me.  Hmm, glaze...that reminds me of my 10th House of Honey Baked Ham.

Vague and mysterious horoscope or not, this weekend was a pretty decent one.  However, a day is never without a conundrum around here.  I just lose count of them, and I really like the word conundrum.  We picked Troy up from the airport. We went out to eat at the BBQ place.  I folded clothes. The kids bickered over who got to be on the computer first and for how long.  I got new tires on the car - something which my 7th House of Procrastination has been holding me back from for the last 3 months.  I broke up at least 10 arguments between the kids. I walked 3 miles. I went to work to admit a couple of people. Troy changed the oil and the brake pads on said same car. We watched football. "War Eagle!" and "Roll Tide!" I folded clothes. We went to a church even though it isn't the one we're members at (that's another conundrum and blog for another time). We went to Girl Scouts. I folded clothes. The gerbil died and I'm sure is up in the 8th House of Gerbil Heaven. Jacob is rolling around in the floor with the dog as I type even though Troy and I have both tucked him in already.  And amidst all that, I have a of life changing decision (just involving where I will work) on my mind. So, all in all, it's just another day in paradise without the little fancy umbrella drinks, but I still have more clothes to fold.  Where, oh where is that 1st House of Housekeepers that I so desperately need?