All the blogs abuzz

All the blogs are abuzz today with reminders to get out there and vote. I scheduled today's post on Sunday and seeing as I had already taken part in early voting, the idea to put an election-related post on today totally slipped my mind. But after reading through several very thoughtful and appropriate posts like this one, I've decided to bump down the laundry chronicles and add my two cents and that is this: no matter where you stand on the issues, no matter who you like the best, no matter if you think none of the candidates are your very favorite, get yourself to the polls and vote. Because I have to agree with Scheiss Weekly on this one; if you don't vote, you forfeit all whining rights. And you also show a great deal of disrespect to all those people who came before us and fought so dang hard for the right!

The Laundry Chronicles - Weekly Edition

So any of you that read my blog on a regular basis (so basically, my sister) know that laundry is not my forte, passion, friend or anything that implies a positive attachment to it. In fact, I'll tell you what would have made getting my vote for President a whole lot easier: someone who was going to find some good "save the environment reason" for me to buy disposable clothes. Although I suppose that still wouldn't eliminate my least favorite part about the laundry process: putting it away. Bleck! Just thinking about it makes the anxiety start to bubble up in my stomach.

I've turned over a new leaf recently and have lists and lists and spreadsheets and spreadsheets of my daily/weekly/monthly/hourly tasks and what time I should carve out to complete them blah blah blah! And I have to admit that having a schedule put up on the wall looking all nice and neat and OCD-like has really lit a fire under me to accomplish accomplish accomplish those tasks so I can check them off. So the past two times that the laundry has gone through the washer and dryer, it has also gone through the folding process, back into the basket, and..........................wait for it.................INTO THE DRAWERS! That's right folks, it's been put away all nice and neat like I had hired a real professional or something. But here's the problem (and you knew there had to be one or there could be no more Laundry Chronicles). I have this overwhelming pile of laundry next to my bed that was thrown there and added to again and again before I completed this recent transformation and I'm having a hard time finding the time energy desire to do anything about it. It's like I don't want to go near it, like it's a part of my old life, the bad life, the one where I couldn't manage to put away the laundry and if I approach it and try to do something about it, surely all those feelings of guilt and failure (yes I AM being melodramatic) will just come flooding back. And we can't have that. Because that just might be enough to extinguish this tiny little flame that has been lit under me. So for now I guess I'll continue to close my eyes or turn my head when I walk past and pretend that it's not there. Is there such a thing as a laundry therapist? I have issues!

Family Moment Monday

The other day I was thinking about how rare it is that hubs and I together actually sit down and play with Pumpkin together. Usually it is him or I because one of us is entertaining her while the other one showers/gets ready/completes some task/gets food ready etc. But we always try to carve out some time every Monday night after hubs gets home from work that we designate specifically to spending time just the three of us. Usually it's about an hour and consists of singing a few songs and a few rounds of Ring Around the Rosies or Patty Cake. It's cute to see how excited Pumpkin gets when she realizes that we are both participating and one of us isn't running off to get something done. As she gets older we will be able to teach her things, play other games and even use it as time to discuss family activities/issues. I think the most important part now is to get ourselves into the habit of making time that is real, solid, "put everything else on the back burner for a minute", family together time!

For other ideas to use for family time, go to Motherhood for Dummies and check out Family Moment Monday.

SHE'S BAAAAAAAAACK!

So I am very aware that I have been somewhat absent as of late on here. However, I think I have figured out a way to keep up with posting and in the process rid myself of all those guilty feelings that come from not keeping up with posting. Ready for it??? Yeah it's nothing big and I'm not even gonna tell ya because it will reveal how technologically backwards I am sometimes. So stay tuned this week and see if I'm really as smart as I think I am. Now I think I'll go eat some leftover Halloween candy.........give myself something new to feel guilty about. :)

Writers Blogger's Block

Need I say more? Well yes actually, I do need to say more but I can't. That's the problem. I just don't know what to say despite all blog-worthy events that have taken place in the last few days. Maybe that's the problem; there's so much going on that my brain doesn't have time to stop thinking/feeling/wishing/praying long enough to compose a decent post about the above-mentioned scenarios. Either way, I'm stuck. Maybe a little cookies-n-cream dairy dessert will get the old wheels turnin again. I'll keep you posted. (maybe) (okay, that was a very horrible pun. see what I'm dealing with here!)

It's Autumn Time

I have had a candle burning in my dining room all morning. It is pumpkin spice. Every year as the summer churns to an end, the days get shorter and the bright yellow school buses begin to appear, I pull out this candle. It excites me for fall, my favorite time of the year ever since I was a little girl growing up in Idaho. I can sit on my couch, close my eyes, take in a deep breath and suddenly I am outside at a football game, snuggled up in a blanket or surrounded by trees full of reds, oranges and yellows. I watch the leaves flutter as a crisp breeze gently floats through, reminding me that winter is right around the corner. And then I open my eyes, and I remember that I live in Texas now and we don't get fall until the end of November and the leaves never really change much here, they just fall off. So I get off the couch, go throw on some shorts and a T-shirt and take my daughter outside to play until the next time I am yearning for the autumn time of my youth!

More to Learn

The other night I went to bed early, around 9:30 pm. However a mere two hours later I awoke for apparently no reason. I rolled over, pulled the blanket up snug around my chin and closed my eyes expecting to doze off immediately. But sleep did not come. I tried reading, surfing the internet but it seemed nothing was willing to assist me on my journey to dreamland. And then thoughts began to fill my mind. I was unable to figure out why those particular thoughts visited me that night. They all had to do with past heartaches, sorrows, and trials I have experienced. And I was surprised to find that, despite several years having passed, the wounds were still raw and a bit tender. As I lay there that night, surrounded by stillness and darkness, I couldn't help wonder why. Why after all these years did the memories still wet my cheeks and cause my heart to ache? And then I heard it, the small, quiet whisper in my head that said "There is still more to learn." I almost laughed out loud in contempt. What if I don't want to learn anymore? What if I just want to forget? I could write volumes on the things I have learned from some of those experiences. Isn't that enough? I've learned patience. I've learned forgiveness. I've learned that I don't always know what's best for me but the Lord does. I've learned to enjoy today instead of waiting for tomorrow to be better. I've learned that just because something makes you feel important, doesn't mean it's right. I've learned to swallow my pride and admit when I am wrong (okay this one I'm still learning.) I've learned that counting my blessings on a daily basis makes the hard times not quite so hard. And that doing good for others can drag me out of any rut of self-pity, no matter how deep or muddy.

And then I stopped. The list wasn't finished; there was more that could be added. But I reviewed it in my head shocked to find that despite the real pain I felt over some of these struggles initially and the dull ache that still remained, the growth that had come from experiencing them has far outweighed any hurt they have brought. I mean, look at my list! And it's not even finished. I quickly continued the list in my head and then in a somewhat pleading manner, instead of wishing for the complete elimination of the discomfort associated with these memories, I began to hope that what I have yet to learn will be at least close in value to what I have already learned.