Weekend Recap

Random bits of information from the weekend:

• Friday night I said goodbye to my best friend who moved to Tennessee this weekend. It was depressing, to say the least. Thank goodness we both have Verizon... free mobile to mobile minutes... :)
• I combated that depression on Friday night with Oreos, a self administered pedicure and 2 episodes of Bones. It worked wonders and I really enjoyed showing off my freshly painted toenails at church today... not that anyone else noticed them, but I stared at them a lot! (I've completely neglected my toenails since the pedicure I got on my birthday... back in early November, so they've been looking atrocious for a while now...)
• Saturday I took Megan shopping for new church shoes... after 2 hours and 4 stores, we finally compromised. I bought her shoes that had a higher heel than I wanted, in return for the privilege to borrow them on occasion. They are totally cute and fit both of us!
• Eric and I have been watching episodes from the show, My Own Worst Enemy with Christian Slater. Both of us are undecided if we like it, and we suspect it got cancelled since there only seem to be 9 episodes to date.
• Today my alarm clock went off at 5:45 instead of the programmed 6:45. In Arizona, we don't switch for Daylight Savings, but my alarm clock took it upon itself to switch automatically, so we got woken up an hour earlier than we needed to... needless to say, it ruined my day. I've had a headache all day long that even brought on a few hours of nausea and upset stomach this afternoon. I finally got desperate and took Excedrin at dinnertime and now I feel normal again.
• Eric rescued me this afternoon and took over washing dishes and making dinner for kids while I laid in bed and moaned in misery. He made the kids pancakes for dinner and they were in heaven. I think the boys might have OD'd.
• I'm reading two books about the WW2 era... One is The Book Thief, the other is The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society... I like them both, but they are so different. Interesting that I happen to be reading them both at the same time and didn't really know they were about the same era when I started. What strikes me is how amazing the people of that generation were. They got by with so little and endured so much tragedy, yet found happiness in the small and simple things of life. Definitely a lesson our generation could use...
• Tonight Brayden went to bed in nothing but spiderman undies and one flip flop. We couldn't find the other. He wasn't willing to wear any clean jammies he had and when I suggested he re-wear a pair from last night, he absolutely refused because they were "too dirty." Whatever...
• Tomorrow is our first official day of Spring Break. What am I going to do with the kids? I know I'll be rationing out the TV/Video Game time and taking them all to the library to find some good books to read over break, but beyond that, I don't know. Of course, I can put them to work on the weed problem in our backyard... it's a bit out of control!
• Only ten more days until we go on Trek with the Youth. I'm really looking forward to most of it, except the sleeping-on-the-ground-with-nothing-but-a-tarp-in-the-desert-with-all-the-tarantulas-and-other-creeping-things part... I don't think I'll get much sleep... and please don't share any tarantula "stories" with me before I leave... I've heard enough of those to last a lifetime!

Balancing Act

Brayden practicing his yoga moves... this one is called Downward Facing Dog Pose....

I constantly find myself seeking Balance. Balance between work and fun. Balance between church and other volunteering. Balance between taking care of my family and taking care of me. Just when I have a workable routine, life changes and I'm forced to start all over to figure out how to get everything done in a day that needs to be done.

I once read about a very good idea from Julie Beck... it goes something like this (I'm paraphrasing): divide your day into 3 categories: "must do", "should do" and "would like to do". Put all your daily tasks into one of these 3 catergories and then do them in the order of their priority." It's a great concept, but I struggle to know what should be on the "must do" list and what can go on the other lists. Do you know what I mean???

About a month or so ago I stumbled across a blog about exercising. That's something I've really struggled with over the last year. I feel like I haven't had the energy, time or interest in it. I'm finally getting back on track, and signing up for a Triathlon on November 1st was just the "kick in the butt" that I needed. Anyway, this blog was talking about daily priorities... this girl related that if she can get three things done in the beginning of the day, then all else will just fall into place. Are you dying to know what she said? It's not rocket science, but it really simplified things for me in my mind. The first three things she does during the day is 1)personal prayer 2)personal scripture study and 3)exercise. So about 3 weeks ago I decided those would be my primary goals during the day and then I'd just work up from there. I didn't know how hard it was going to be. There are days like today when it takes me until noon to accomplish all three. I'm not ready to abandon this plan, but I'm really wishing I could be a bit more productive and get them done earlier. I know I should just set the alarm and get up before my kids, but I am NOT a morning person and it just won't happen. I even thought about trying to get up an hour earlier than I do now so I can go to the gym without kids (before Eric leaves) and save $10 a month on daycare at the gym. Then I realized that no matter how much I fantasize about being that "together", it just isn't going to happen. So, I'm trying to be realistic, and be productive at the same time... is that an impossible expectation??? I need some input here... how do you achieve Balance in life?