Monday, January 24, 2011

Random Thought X's 10.

I will be honest. I have not been very motivated to blog as of late. I have half a dozen unfinished posts just sitting in my blog dashboard. I have a theory that my creativity comes upon me like the flu or PMS (sorry guys). It's not an every day occurance, but when it happens it is intense and all incompasing. I have long held to the idea that I better get all my planning done whenever I am in one of the "creative hurricanes"...'cause when it is not there...it's just not there. Which can be a big problem for someone who calls herself a Freelance Writer. And has relied on more than one check from a writing job.  Though they might be few and far between right now.

Can I be any more pitiful? Probably. But I'm doing a pretty good job of it right now. I feel like everytime I talk to somebody I have some sort of sad story to tell. I have never had much patience with whiners.

Anyhoo, I do have a few random thoughts today.

1. I went the Y today. Yeah. They know me there. We do have a family membership, though The Studly Muffin has been a handful of times. He used to keep his weights on our porch. He would come home from work (at around 2:30am) and do his workout with only the stars as his audience. I didn't let him bring it to the apartment when we moved. Along with the stars most of downtown Springfield (including our Apartment neighbors) would be slightly disturbed by a grown man lifting weights on an Apartment balacony at all hours of the night. But this is not about The Studly Muffin. It's about the crowd at the Y. What are you all doing there! I know this is still January and all. It is still a little early to neglect that New Year's resolution, but phleease. You're totally cramping my style..and taking my parking spot.

2. Josiah and I also made a trip to the library today. This week our library is having a Food for Fines drive. Meaning you take in your canned goods and they remove any fines from your account. Okay. We go to the library every week. When a family goes as often as we do there is bound to be an occasional over due book.  Or three. So I went through my canned goods and bagged up a few (or 10). I won't give you a run down of strange and unusual things I found in my "pantry." I will admit to the package of mini-marshmallows I found under my bed...which I  know were left over from my 2009 Holiday baking. Not to worry. Ozarks Food Harvest did not receive my moldy marshmallow. I fully intend on using them in some jello this week.

3. The Tax Man is almost here. Which means because we are poor, not employed in a church and still can claim a child we will be getting a refund. Minister's taxes can be a nightmare. We always had to hire an accountant who knew about those dreaded Minister's Taxes. Now we can use one of those free online services. You just point and click. That alone almost makes up for not being in fulltime ministry. Almost...but not quite. Anyhoo...I have plans. I first plan on taking a trip to see my favorite hair dresser and going for Sushi. A girl has to have her priorities in order. Troy has some other priorities...like paying of bills and buying groceries. I don't get it. The man knows how to suck the joy right out of everything.

4. I am so over Winter. My flip flops are calling me. beke. Beke. BE-ke. BEKE! (my flip flops are kind of crazy and all).

5. I've already been hit up to order  Girl Scout cookies. At the Y. Just a glance at that multi-stripped order form sent me back in time. Of course, I was the worst Girl Scout cookie seller of all time. I still really stink at selling things. Here is my Avon spiel (circa 2005). "I am putting in an Avon order this week. Here is a book you can look at. If you want. Don't feel like you have to buy anything. Oh. You need shampoo? And conditioner? The shampoo starts on page 22. They might be kind of high. I don't want you to feel like you have to buy anything. If you want I can give you 40% off. And I'll throw in the conditioner for free."

6. I bought 5 boxes of cookies. I know. I'm supposed to be taking care of myself. My rationale is that I can take them to our Small Group at church to share. Those people love cookies. Right?

7. And I'm contributing to a wonderful organization like the Girl Scouts.

8. And Josiah needs to experience the delictable world of the Thin Mint and the Peanut Butter Patty. Such memories we are cultivating here!

9. Anyhoo.

10. I'll walk an extra lap at the Y. Promise.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Trash or Treasures?

So it's Day 6 of the New Year. And I am knee deep in organizing the Dreaded HomeSchool Cabinet. Help! I need an intervention! Already I have found several resource books I forgot I had and have spent a good portion of the morning thumbing through them. Then I found an old notebook I made in 8th grade for an English project titled "My Autobiography"...I was pretty dramatic and fruity even back in those days...and spent  a few minutes blubbering at the pictures I had included in that 8th grade notebook of my Grandma Polly and my Uncle Michael, who have both gone on to be with Jesus. After that I found an old Smithsonian magazine featuring the artist James Audubon and I started sketching out a lesson plan to include an artist study in some of Josiah's school work. So just a few hours into it I have managed to create a few piles on the floor, put 3 or 4 books in the box for storage and have thrown away some faded construction paper (which was really hard to do).

Meanwhile, as I was deep in the organizational haze, Josiah kept "rescuing" treasures from the trash. At one point he had a few old index cards, a mangled Guidepost and a plastic knife sitting on his lap. When I asked him what he was going to do with it all he said, "Who knows? Maybe create something? Read something?" Yep. He's my boy.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Organizing 101

Well, we're 5 days into a New Year. I don't quite feel like crawling back into the old year, but so far 2011 has proven to hold some new challenges...or maybe the same challenges...just packaged differently. For one, I received a bit of news from the doc today I didn't expect. Not to worry, nothing life threatening...I've had enough of those. But something I wasn't expecting. It's to soon to see how it will all play out.

One of the resolutions I have for the New Year is to make most of our small apartment and organize myself. This is akin to training a box turtle to quote Shakespeare. I have started on the most challenging projects first, The Dreaded HomeSchool Cabinet. So far I've thrown away a few crumbled up Post-Its, a dried up Sharpie and Church Bulletin from September. My particular issue is distraction. Here is a senario.  I decided to gow through a closet. It's not too bad, really. I have far fewer clothes than The Studly Muffin (given that he has held onto everything since his college days...almost 23 years ago!) and it's mostly a matter of stuffing back...in an orderly manner...everything that has spilled out. I come across an old paperback Agatha Christie novel and suddenly I'm propped up against the closet door lost in some sort of murder mystery involving afternoon tea and arson.  I really need Baby Sister to come and boss me around. She is really good at organization and the Bossy thing suits her.

Anyhoo, another issue is the matter of the pick-up truck. And the issue is that we don't have one. Our little storage building is in another town and it's kind of hard to strap too much to the top of my Buick.  I've thought about duct taping Josiah to the top a few times and then decided against it. 

As you can see, this is one Resolution I am quickly talking myself out of. I wonder how much one of those professional organizer people would charge? Then I would feel like I would have to organize myself before she or he came over to organize!

Sigh. It's always something.

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Resolutions

A Mourning Dove. Taken by my mom, Sherry Lou Wilson, at my parent's farm in Stella, MO
So some folks call them Resolutions. When I think of being “resolute” I think of determination and commitment. Those particular qualities I have displayed in my life…at times. I am also guilty of giving in to my sanguine personality and “just going along for the ride.” I am usually one to make a list of goals at the beginning of every year. It is a good time to reflect and to gain focus on one’s life. I am also guilty of neglecting those goals and falling back into chaos and despair (well, not quite…but sometimes it seems like it). It’s easy to get sidetracked. The cares of this life can seem so overwhelming. And frankly, when one deals in life and death it’s easy to brush off the smallness of everyday life as trivial. More than any other year in my memory I am heading into 2011 with real burdens…not just for myself, but for friends and family around me.

Members of our family ending a almost 30 year marriage, the long journey of healing for a family friend, a road of hardships for a beloved nephew, friends facing a heart breaking battle for the privilege just to be parents, friends and family in devastating financial crisis, a young man who needs divine intervention in his life for direction and clarity, friends are faced with losing their home. And there are more.

In my own life I have seen God’s hand time and time again…moving, direction, shaping. But where does my own Faith enter the picture? What am I responsible for? My family and I have some serious needs this year…actually, this moment. I believe that God is in control. Some answers to particular prayers have been a long time in coming. What do I do while I wait? This is where Resolutions come in. There are things I can’t change…But there are some things I can explore, renew and revive. The others I am just going to have to leave up to him.

There is a list right now I am working on. And it’s called…you guessed it…Resolutions. The list resembles other lists I have made in the past. The only difference is that I have come to understand is that in everything I undertake I need divine intervention. I also need to understand that these changes in come in time…baby steps. I have spent so much of my life just trying to survive or trying to live a normal life, when the truth is I am not really all that normal. The truth is I just can start my New Year off by learning (again) to embrace life and what God has given me to the fullest. And rejoice in what He has started already.



So what have you resolved to do in this New Year?

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