Monday, October 24, 2016

Confessions and Frustrations (and lots of Good Stuff, Too)

True confessions and frustrations (in no particular order) from yours truly:

*Using your religion to shame someone about who they're voting for is not only wrong, it's gross. Everyone can justify their vote for many reasons, and regardless how you feel, you really shouldn't use Jesus Christ to shame someone. Christ has never --and will never-- use shame to persuade people. For every scripture or prophetic utterance you use to embolden your position, I will have another to strengthen mine. Not only that, but it's contentious, and that's definitely not something true religion teaches is okay. So, please, for the sake of everything holy (like, literally), please leave your religious utterances at the door if you're going to use them to spread contention or shame.

*My house is never all the way clean. Never. I will have parts of my home that are clean, but when some parts are clean, the other parts will not be clean. If the laundry is finished, it's a pretty much guarantee something else was neglected. There's just no possible way to keep my entire home clean and still give my kids the attention they need. Even when THEY are the ones cleaning (in fact, that's mostly the reason --I'm teaching my kids how to clean, so it takes so much longer and is never done all the way correctly). Also, I'm learning that as important as it is to clean (and teach the kids responsibility and to work), it's also just as important to have a peaceful and fun home. Balance is so hard!

*I've noticed that McMullin and Finn actually answer questions head on. They don't hem and haw and come up with stupid lies. Honesty and transparency are some of the reasons I'm voting for them.

*I'm a HUGE hypocrite. I think it's because I'm mortal. And imperfect. I try to be consistent in who I am and in what I want to be, but my actions don't always match my head/heart. It's that mortal thing, again.

*I still nurse my toddler and she co-sleeps.

*This was one of the best things I've ever read and watched. If you haven't seen this, yet, please, watch! Read! Learn! It's absolutely true and I have learned it for myself, very much in the same way the author did.

*I love herbal tea, flowers, lace, football, Autumn, boots, jeans, and sleep. I really adore sleep. Like, I wish I could sleep. All the time. Sleep. Zzzzzz

*I hate health insurance costs. Why do I pay health insurance that will only cover the bare minimum of my health costs? It doesn't give me any incentive to use it, especially when it's not covering well-checks. What the?? (Yeah, we need to look at our plan, again.)

*Debt, like many prophets have said, is definitely a burden. It's a heavy load. It's one of my greatest regrets. And even though we are plugging away and doing the best we can, that burden is still heavy and will be until it is gone. Young people --it's not worth it. I promise you, it's not.

*I'm still trying to decide if I'll attend my 20th high school reunion next summer. I helped plan and run my 10th, but it wasn't very well attended. I've heard from some people that they would rather have a root canal than go to a HS reunion, but I know others that really enjoy them. I don't know. FB kind of defeats the point, I think, but at the same time, it's fun to see where people have ended up. Honestly --and I never thought I would ever, ever, ever care about this --I feel old, fat, and blah; I don't know how I feel about seeing the people who saw me as young, thin, and fabulous. I'm pretty sure the majority feel the same way, so why should it even matter? It's that head/heart thing matching with my actions, again. I know it's stupid, but I can't seem to not feel that way. In fact, I can almost guarantee you that I wouldn't care about the way I look if I wasn't seeing people I haven't seen in decades. Isn't that weird?

*I love our library! No, not our home library (although that's awesome), but our public city library.

*Chic-fil-a is the best. It just is. Why?
--Well, first of all, they serve really good chicken (all of their food is so good, and because they keep their menu small, they do the food they do really well!).
--Second of all, top-notch, amazing customer service (so good, that my husband has commented on it more than once because he's a customer service guru. That's what he does!).
--Third, they are way into serving their communities (charities and even emergencies --like that time in Georgia during the storm that shut down traffic so they made food and took it to stranded motorists).
--Fourth, that have the wittiest commercials and marketing (grammatically incorrect cows promoting chicken. Who knew?).
--And fifth: They are closed on Sundays so their workers can have a consistent day off to worship or sleep or whatever they want. I love that. In a world that refuses to set aside a day for worship and rest because of the "bottom line" and "convenience," it's good to see a company stick to it's values and then thrive monetarily. They are doing really, really well! Seriously --has anyone tried to go to Chic-fil-a for lunch at any franchise, anywhere in the country, and seen it empty? It was busy in PA and it's busy in KS. That's another thing, too --no matter how busy they get, I never feel like I have to wait very long. The other day when I took the kids their for lunch, the lines were out the door. It took them a few extra minutes to bring us our food after ordering, and as an apology, they gave me cards for free food. I didn't even have to wait very long! They are always polite, always helpful, and it's always clean.
--SIDENOTE: The restroom at the Manhattan Chic-fil-a is like a mother's dream!!! They have shelving in the bigger stall with the diaper-changing table that had tampons, maxi pads, diapers, wipes, hand sanitizer, and a little potty seat to put on the toilet for small kids. At the sink they had mints, gum, lotion, hand sanitizer, and soap, and if I"m remembering correctly, a step-up stool for small kids so they can wash their hands. I mean, come on! It's the mother's dream bathroom!
Anyway, our family loves Chic-fil-a. This is why #1 is applying to work there! (*fingers crossed*)

*I'm reading Mrs. Mike, again. Because it's so good.

*It's finally getting cold. It was 45 degrees this morning! The trees are shedding their leaves faster and faster and I'm kicking myself for not photographing the amazing trees full or red leaves on Miller Parkway, because now most of them are bare.

*Never say never, but Brandon and I have come to the conclusion that we are finished having children. I'm feeling peaceful about this decision. For so long, I've felt great anxiety at making the wrong decision, but I finally feel content. This is a good sign! I'm sad, too. I think I will always be sad about not having more kids, though. It's not something I will easily rejoice, being finished, because having children has been the greatest joy of my life. I feel intense and overwhelming gratitude for the seven sensational stinkers I've got, and birthing them has been a great privilege! I'm sure if God needs us to have more kids, He will let us know. We've been in constant communication with Him over this, and although the decision was definitely not an easy one to make, I feel we are making the best one. I feel His love for me and my willingness to do what He's asked me to do, and that is enough.

*Why do cookies taste so dang good? (Yes, I know it's the sugar. And the chocolate. And the butter. And the flour mixed with the sugar and chocolate and butter.)

*We are going to Mexico for our 18th wedding anniversary trip in January. Huzzah! I'll write more about that, later.

*My current therapist might be the best therapist I've ever had.

*I'm conducting the music at Stake Conference this weekend. In fact, I'm doing a lot of musical things! I'm conducting the congregational music for the Saturday adult session and accompanying the musical number. Then I'm conducting the congregational music for the general session on Sunday, and I'm also singing in the choir for the general session. It feels awesome. I love music, I love serving through music, and I love being able to use my talents this way.

*My biggest regret of October: not finding a pumpkin patch like I did last year. I have one week until Halloween. I need to find one, ASAP!

*This quote I saw on Pinterest gave me great perspective:


*The End

2 comments:

sariqd said...

Love this list!

Handsfullmom said...

Loved reading this. Yay for peace about your family. And thanks for sharing the Me+Christ link. So good. I think so many mom's can relate to that.