Realities & Blessings {On A Monday}...

I really would have just skipped a week of R&B...really. Because I'm trying to let go a little...of things that aren't necessary. But trust me when I tell you that this practice is 100% necessary today. I am in great need of finding some blessings today before I drown in a sea of self pity. And for goodness sake, if friends like Laurie {who is battling lymphoma} and Hyacynth {who just lost her father} can find blessings in their realities, then I can certainly find them in mine.

Reality: We have had some long weeks here as of late. Brent has worked a six day week, followed by a day of school out of town. It had been a hard couple of weeks for us, having little time to re-gain our footing.
Blessing: As a result of his long week, Brent had a day off through the week. We surprised Rayne at school and we all went for a picnic lunch in the park with lots of time to run loose on the playground. It was such a nice break from all the crazy business we'd been having. The weather was perfect and we had the whole place to ourselves. It is seriously my happy place right now and I'm including a lot of pictures from that day in this post!

Reality: We went away this weekend to visit my brother and his family. The dogs went to the kennel for the weekend and came home with stomach bugs. We were looking forward to a restful evening last night and a good night's sleep to make up for the total lack of sleep we all got on our trip. However, we spent almost the whole night {and now I am spending the entire day} cleaning up dog messes of every kind all over the place. Two dogs + two stomach bugs = a LOT of messes. On top of my already overwhelming to-do list, including tackling the laundry from last week that did not get done while we were away, I had to make a quick trip to the vet and am scrubbing floors like every 30 minutes.
Blessing: At least it is the two dogs and not the three kids with massive stomach bugs. A little floor scrubbing here and there cannot be as bad as complete bed and clothing changes every 30 minutes. Plus, it's a really good exercise in letting go. {see next reality}

Reality: I came here last week, completely overwhelmed with the duties of my life, asking for your organizational tips. I was really feeling lost, frustrated, unmotivated. By Friday evening of last week, I had completely worn myself out and was feeling physically ill as a result.
Blessing: I'm learning to slow down and let go...and really getting some good opportunities to practice that. You all gave me such amazing support and advice and what I really kept hearing over and over was "let it go, be with your kids, this is just a phase." And you are so right. You also gave me a lot of really great concrete tips which I'm going to take some time and think about to try to come up with some systems that might work well around here. You should really go back and read through the comments & suggestions. They're incredible. Thank you!

Reality: The girls have swim lessons three nights this week and three nights next week. Add that to the one night of dance class they have every week and, yes that's right, we have four nights of quick dinners and running out for the next two weeks. I love our lazy evenings and after dinner walks and I will miss that time for us all to relax and connect at the end of our days.

Blessing: On a day like today, I am super excited about the prospect of getting out for a bit this evening and getting a whole 45 minutes to read or write or {most importantly} to not clean up dog messes! These two weeks come at a really good time as I am in need of some mental space to figure some things out and develop some game plans. Sure, it's no leisurely me time at a coffee shop with some sort of sinfully expensive coffee drink in front of me...but hey, I'll take what I can get!

Wow...there really is power in positive thinking! When I started this post {which was, granted, two hours ago} I was really not doing well; there was yelling, ranting, going off on tangents, waiting rather impatiently for Brent to get home, etc... But I really am feeling much better. Thank you for allowing me an impromtu Monday edition of Realities & Blessings...I really needed it!