Time -- How much do we have? What are you doing with yours?

Back at work today and I have once again been ordering like crazy! Am I nuts?? I don't think I've stopped to figure out just where all this yummy new inventory is actually going to go once it all gets here! 


Ahh...the "logic" of a woman -- we'll just figure it out when the time comes, huh? 


Like that little something we buy that we don't need but MUST HAVE and we somehow find just the right spot for it anyway....and in the end, its as though the spot has been crying out for it all along! 


Well, I'm going to need to find lots of such spots in our storeroom for all this new merchandise!! Pretty great "problem" to have!! :)

I'm reminded of how easy our lives really are - even when we feel like our lives are spiraling out of control, we really don't realize how good we actually have it. All this was brought into perspective yesterday (I mentioned above being 'back at work today') during a nice long visit with a dear friend who is in the fight of her life (the fight FOR her life) battling serious cancer. 


I left her room of isolation (she's just received a bone marrow transplant and must be totally isolated) feeling so utterly brought to my knees in gratefulness. She just turned 34 last week, has three small children and hasn't lived a 'normal' day like you or I for the last year or so...

Do we ever truly know how blessed we are? 


When the slightest thing goes wrong in our day, we tend to automatically fly off the handle or get totally distressed. 


I can assure you, my dear friend Brooke would give anything right now to have her worst problem be that she's running late for work and suddenly spills an entire gallon of milk on the floor. 

Most of us in that situation would "lose it" right about then and proceed to raise our voice at our kids, then drive into work (speeding, of course) with a temper just this side of road rage.

Not until you come face to face with having to reckon with the fact that you may or may not see your kids grow up can you really -- no, I mean REALLY -- appreciate every second of every day. That trip to the grocery store you are dreading? It takes on new meaning when you contrast it against having to trade it for a trip instead to the hospital for a scan that will tell you whether you you'll see next Christmas or not. 

Deal with that and I assure you, nothing is ever the same again -- but strangely, in a very good way.

So I say all that to say this: the next time your hubby walks past the "obvious" mess and it doesn't occur to him to do anything about it (I honestly believe they don't really see the same things we do!), rather than read him his rights, give him smile -- heck, give him a kiss. Not only will it totally throw him off, you'll be smiling on the inside knowing you'd rather pick up that mess once again -- and again -- and again, for many a years to come.

This, my friend, is truly living 'the beautiful life.' No amount of dreamy decor will ever, ever subsitute for a peaceful, calm home -- full of people who look past each other's flaws and faults and instead sees the gift of life in them and in yourself. 









I will be the first to admit that I'm the worst at wanting everything in order - in my home, my life, my office (ugh! not for a while, it won't be in order!). My poor family instinctively grabs their drinking glass when I pass by because they've learned that I instinctively tend to almost absent-mindedly go to pick it up and take it into the kitchen to put it away. 


My husband & I were sitting on the couch one Saturday morning, leisurely reading the paper and chilling. My husband excused himself for only one minute and when he came back into the room he found the paper he'd been reading was already put away, the pillows on the couch were back in their places, tv was turned off and armoire cabinet doors closed, and coffee cup back in the sink and rinsed out. All in one minute (hey...why can't I get everything else in my day done that fast???).

I'm no one to talk when it comes to telling myself to 'just relax" and don't worry about the housework, etc...But I long to be that person. I long to look at a room that screams "tidy me up!" then look over at my daughter and then choose life -- real life -- my daughter. As I close out this day (it's almost midnight), I'm reminded that my friend, Brooke, hasn't left her room since I saw her yesterday. And she won't leave it tomorrow either. 


She honestly envies those of us who are out there in what we'd call the rat-race -- buzzing around all day in our chaos, running from the school to the cleaners to the grocery, then home to hurry and do laundry and then vacum up all that dog hair (thanks, Nicodemus...) -- she hasn't left her room (the size of a modest laundry room) for weeks. Can you say "stir crazy??" 


So...how about it ladies, what do you say we purpose to take one day and consciously try and keep a new mindset, based on Brooke's vantage point from her small enclave. Think we can last even one hour? One hour of pure, unadulterated gratefulness in everything. Tomorrow I will have a chance to put my money where my mouth is (and in my car...) since instead of holing up in my office to get some more done, I have to take a few hours and go deal with my car at the dealership. Big deal. I'd still rather do that than be in Brooke's shoes (or room).

So, my mind goes back to the clutter that is surely bound to begin overtaking my workspace soon as we prepare to unveil all the new goodies for the store -- but, who cares? 


Let the clutter begin. I'm thankful that, as far as I know, I have plenty of time on my hands to sort through it all and have fun in the process. How about you?