Crazy Little Thing Called Temptation

I do not resist temptation well. Case in point, I have a little glass fish candy dish, (thank you for the sweet birthday gift B,) sitting on my desk full of miniature version of several different candy bars. I have this as a ministry to my staff. Because when you work with 9 small children from 9 different families with 9 different parenting philosophies, you need a chocolate fix every once in a while.

I usually buy a mix that has very little of what I enjoy eating, but this time I bought the Hershey's miniatures, and I happen to love all but the dark chocolate ones, so I find myself pulling a piece out of the fish's mouth several times a day. I rationalize this with, it's just one little piece it won't ruin all the hard work I'm doing to try and get myself to a healthy weight so that I can look into corrective surgery for my shoulder.

I have on many occasions tried to remove caffeine from my diet and I find that it is all I think about, over and over and over...man I need a coke, I could use some caffeine. This does not just apply to food, but to other things in my life as well.

I am tempted each and every morning to stay in bed, just five more minutes which usually turns into 9 (you know when the snooze goes off again). The same is said for stopping for coffee, though I can prevent that most times by being in the wrong traffic lane for turning into the H-E-B that houses my favorite coffee shop.

But what did you learn today, you ask? Ah, today I learned that I can in fact resist the most insidious of temptations, goofing off. I left work early so that I could be with my kids while my husband attended a meeting via webcam conferencing. (They stayed home from school due to fever.) And what I really wanted to do was lay down in bed and chill with my handy dandy laptop. I even came into the room, plugged in the machine and pushed the little button.

As I sat and waited for it to boot up, it occurred to me that I would not be home during my usual chore time tonight due to praise band rehearsal. So I sent the machine back to sleep, after a bit of an inner debate over what I needed to do and wanted to do, and went into the kitchen. I got all the dishes washed, swept and swiffered the floor, and started a load of laundry. It felt good to get those chores done. When I was finished it was time to take the girls to the doctor. While there, instead of playing silly clicky games, I got half a chapter in my novel written.

I'm actually quite proud of my choices today. :D

A New Skill

I do not like to be uncomfortable. But then who does? I am not very good at asking for help or for someone to do something for me. Nor am I very enamored with the idea of approaching complete strangers to do this asking.

With that being said, I am finding that I am in fact better at this than I believed. My preschool is holding a silent auction and it is my job to procure items for this auction. I have had to step outside my comfort zone and ask complete strangers for money, in a fashion.

Thus far I have been rather successful with this endeavor. Though I am still not enamored with doing it, I do have a better confidence in my ability to do so. I can in fact walk into a business and tell them my name and why I am there and ask them to donate to our school.

My heart still beats fast, and I have to take several deep breaths before opening that door, but I can and I have and it is wonderful to know that I can still learn a new skill.

The Rare and Elusive Things

I posted on Facebook the other day how it would be really cool to get actual snow in Austin. So I did a little research and according to the Austin American Statesman, we have gotten snow a total of six times in the last ten years with the highest amount on Valentines Day 2004 with a whopping 1.6 inches. The rest of the days were barely measurable amounts of .1 and .4 inches.

The most snow ever dumped on Austin was 9.7 inches on November 22 and 23 1937. So, it is safe to say that it just doesn't snow in Austin. Though I did delight in the joy the children of my work place had in the light flurries we had in December. The squeals and giggles that ensued are a heart memory I will always have.

Of course this got me thinking about other things, which invariably happens as my mind wanders...a lot. What other things in life do I experience rarely and yet revel in the joy they bring?

I think the most elusive of the rare is time to myself. Oh sure I spend forty minutes each day commuting to and from work, but I'm not really able to enjoy that time alone as I'm concerned with all the wack-a-doos on the road with me. Though the upside is that when it's not raining or unbearably cold out I get to roll the windows down and blast whatever music I'm in the mood for. Not too long ago, I had Mondays until the children got home from school to myself and I was incredibly spoiled to them. I would clean, sew, read, get pedicures, or watch crappy daytime television. All of those things I would do if I was still a stay at home mom while my kids are in school. Though honestly, I am glad I work, because after a while, I'd be really bored with my own company.

Another rarity in our life these days is time alone with the hubby-unit with out the kids. We don't often get a hankering to go out and do things with out the kids, because we actually enjoy spending time with our kids. Though it would be really cool to go out on a date with my hubby every so often.

Outside of family, rare things abound as well. Like, no traffic on the commute to work. That would be so cool. Or the opportunity to share my faith with a complete stranger. The opportunity to help a fellow human when he/she is expecting none. And my favorite of the rare things...serendipity.

So what can we learn from all of this? When one of the elusive rare things falls in your lap, embrace it, find joy in it and keep the memory in your heart to bring out on rainy days when the world is gray and cloudy and sucks just a little bit.

Minor Holiday Hullabaloo

I am a fan on minor holidays and enjoy celebrating them almost as much as the biggies of Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter. As a teen St. Valentine's day was always frought with angst. If I didn't have a boyfriend, the bitterness over the lovey-dovey crap prevailed and if I did have a boyfriend, I agonized over what to get him and how we would spend the day of love and romance. Now however, I find these kinds of days a great joy.

It is a simple pleasure to watch my children vacillate over which kind of cookie they want to bake for the sweetheart cookie exchange at King's Kids, and to help them make sure they got all 20 classmates names spelled right on their valentines, or to sit with them and go over the party supply list to choose what they want to bring. One of my favorite parts of this particular holiday is watching them delve into the little lunch sack type gift bag full of silly gifts, (this year a pair of valentines socks and a cupcake shaped marshmallow sucker) and with smile big goofy smiles, gush over how much they love what we gave them. Because, face it, all kids love presents, but as a parent it is heart filling to watch them open them and be amazed and excited.

I enjoy digging through boxes of valentines in several different stores until I find the perfect ones to give my co-workers. I sign them with pretty purple ink and attach the flimsy little cards to a piece of absurd candy of some sort, this year it's Tinkerbell ring pops.

But my absolute favorite part is when I am at a store, watching the men of all ages agonize over the perfect card for their loved one, from the love sick teen to the elderly man firmly rooted in the foundations of his marriage, to the thirty something who knows he can't forget like last year.

It is my hope that we all find a joy in these simple little holidays.


What I learned today: There are still very funny cards I can give my husband even after 14 Valentine's Days.

Um...yeah...no

So I completely suck at this blogging thing, but in my defense, I've been ill. Ok, so not the best excuse but the only one I have at the moment.

With that out of the way, I have to ask an odd question; do people really pay other people to come and scoop poo from their yards? As I drove to work today I was behind a little white pick up that advertised "We scoop your poop." "Business is really piling up" There was a name and number and then "Starting at 9.50 per month."

And all I could think was...have we really gotten to a point in our society where we pay another human being to scoop up the dog poo in our yards? Then I began to wonder about the other things that I did as a child/teenager that I totally pay someone else to do now or would if I had need of it.

For instance, I do not iron...ever...ok on the very rare occaision that the hubby-unit has a big wig meeting, then I'll iron his pants and shirt. I also happen to own two very nice white button down modern-oxford and a black pleated skirt. As a teen I would have ironed these items myself, now I take them to the cleaners to have them pressed.

I also love love fajitas, but I am not a fan of the process of making said yummy-ness so I buy the precooked ones...I often buy the precooked, easily packaged version of a lot of different foods. I am perfectly content to let someone else do the cooking for me.

I am wholly and completely dependent on my computer/phone/mobility devices to give me instant information whenever and where ever I need it, and I am really annoyed when I do not have those things at my finger tips.

I do not neccessarily think this is a bad thing, but it has caused me to think about the way I view my world. I let my mind wander over what it would be like to have a home with only one central family computer and a barely used television and I must say, I shuddered at thought. I let that go and wandered over what it would be like to prepare meals for my family using only fresh ingredients, and while it would certainly make me less of a gluten nazi, it would mean a lot more of my time at the end of a long day in the kitchen. Something I am just not willing to do.

So what did I learn from all of this? While I am dependent on the easy making bits of life, I can and will clean up the dog poo from my yard myself (if I had a dog and a yard...)