I'm blogging from my desk at work...while eating a salad...while a proposal prints behind me. Multi tasking is the word of the month, and what a month it has been.
Does my current age of 45 years have anything to do with the pace at which I live? It seems I should be, am, in my prime. Life is good, but wow is it full!
Today is a typical Monday. I'm supposed to be off on Mondays, and so I scheduled a vet visit for Boomer at 8:45 am. (a day "off" is an oxymoron) With a written proposal due Wednesday, work is a necessity today, so in I came after the vet visit (and $280 later...) But, backing up from that...I arose at 6 am, showered, and headed to the kitchen. While the coffee reheated in the microwave, I wiped the kitchen table, put away a few straggling groceries and a few dry dishes, walked through the living room and family room picking up and straightening. A load went into the wash and into the dryer. 15 minutes after my coffee had been hot I took it and my Bible and journal into the screen room and listened to the birds for a bit. Journaling and reading the Word help infuse "balance" into my life, as does the kitchen clean up routine each morning. Some might prefer the extra 1.5 hours of sleep, but for me this pre work routine is a necessity.
So, is that balance? Have I arrived? I still feel a bit harried, but what else would balance look like? I guess I wouldn't want to be sitting with nothing on the agenda (ok...I'll be glad to give that a try) and yet something does not feel quite relaxed enough.
Soaking in the Word does fill me up for the day. As does just sipping a good cup of Joe and staring at the beauty of God's creation. (Honestly I still can't believe I get to live here)
Once at work I dove right in, and also received text messages from Child # 3 and Child #4 who had awakened and read mom's "list" for the day. Some days I have the mother guilt of children home without me (age 12 and 15) but the reality is that when I'm home on the week end or on a Monday, they are either in bed or off and running. Do I need to be home for that?
And so, the quest for balance. Sustaining a life of physical, emotional, spiritual and mental growth and activity is stressful all in itself!
How do YOU measure balance? How do you know when you have arrived?
6.30.2008
6.17.2008
This too shall pass.
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Yes, we are still alive in Milwaukee. But we're soggy!
What a long ten days this has been. The photo shows the morning of June 7. Our late blooming variety of lilacs were just opening, filling the screen porch with the fragrance of heaven. I snuck out early to catch the morning sun and the glorious blooms.
By Sunday morning the bush was pretty much flattened. Inches...7-9, depending on who's counting...of driving rain hit us like a freight train. It just continued and continued, not allowing the earth to gulp it in fast enough. And so...the rain sought low ground.
Our basement was flooded. We knew we had seepage problems on the long south wall, and we had moved some brown dirt to try to alleviate it...but seepage was nothing compared to what we experienced on June 7 and 8. Our sump pump ran continuously...no breaks...for hours on end. And at one point it just couldn't contain the water and the water seemingly flowed through the walls. Thankfully it was one fell swoop, and thankfully it was clean rain water. Many people experienced a mixture of rain and sewer back up.
And so we began the process of lifting all boxes, and all portable furniture, to higher ground. WHAT A JOB. The helplessness and loss of control is a bit overwhelming. It's a force with which to reckon, and there is no time to wallow in pity...it's all hands on deck.
Our daughters moved into the family room, as their lower level bedroom was soggy wet. Since they prefer storing their clothes on the floor rather than the dresser and closet, there were endless loads of laundry. Their belongings, and our belongings, were piled in the garage to dry, and stashed in nooks and crannies throughout the first floor. One word described it from my perspective: chaos.
Long (very long) story short, we fared quite well. Some homes in our village had feet of water in the basement. We had just a covering, and just in one short time span. A lot of shop vac-ing, and a lot of carpet steaming later, our basement is dry but for the corners. We were able to purchase a large industrial fan, and we have a brand new dehumidifier. They are running constantly. The lower bedroom double egress window allows much fresh air in. The drywall and baseboard appear fine, and the carpet is dry and clean.
The Bible verse that kept coming to me was Matthew 6:19:
Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
I learned a lot this last week.
I learned to treasure a *normal* day. The dull and the routine is quite lovely, actually.
I learned to cope in chaos, and that I need some semblance of order in order to cope well. I kept the living room -- my quiet time spot, and my view to the park -- clear of the piles. I needed one spot to which to escape and look out.
I learned compassion. Seeing a flood on the news will never again be simply cerebral. Been there. Done that.
And I learned, well, I'm learning, that stuff is just stuff. Simpler is better and less is more. Our basement will end up with less in it, I guarantee you!
And I remembered the saying in which my mother found much comfort: This too shall pass. And it has. They're calling it the storm of the century, the "100 year rain." We made it. We're safe and we're sound. This too has passed. Thank you, Father.
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What a long ten days this has been. The photo shows the morning of June 7. Our late blooming variety of lilacs were just opening, filling the screen porch with the fragrance of heaven. I snuck out early to catch the morning sun and the glorious blooms.
By Sunday morning the bush was pretty much flattened. Inches...7-9, depending on who's counting...of driving rain hit us like a freight train. It just continued and continued, not allowing the earth to gulp it in fast enough. And so...the rain sought low ground.
Our basement was flooded. We knew we had seepage problems on the long south wall, and we had moved some brown dirt to try to alleviate it...but seepage was nothing compared to what we experienced on June 7 and 8. Our sump pump ran continuously...no breaks...for hours on end. And at one point it just couldn't contain the water and the water seemingly flowed through the walls. Thankfully it was one fell swoop, and thankfully it was clean rain water. Many people experienced a mixture of rain and sewer back up.
And so we began the process of lifting all boxes, and all portable furniture, to higher ground. WHAT A JOB. The helplessness and loss of control is a bit overwhelming. It's a force with which to reckon, and there is no time to wallow in pity...it's all hands on deck.
Our daughters moved into the family room, as their lower level bedroom was soggy wet. Since they prefer storing their clothes on the floor rather than the dresser and closet, there were endless loads of laundry. Their belongings, and our belongings, were piled in the garage to dry, and stashed in nooks and crannies throughout the first floor. One word described it from my perspective: chaos.
Long (very long) story short, we fared quite well. Some homes in our village had feet of water in the basement. We had just a covering, and just in one short time span. A lot of shop vac-ing, and a lot of carpet steaming later, our basement is dry but for the corners. We were able to purchase a large industrial fan, and we have a brand new dehumidifier. They are running constantly. The lower bedroom double egress window allows much fresh air in. The drywall and baseboard appear fine, and the carpet is dry and clean.
The Bible verse that kept coming to me was Matthew 6:19:
Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
I learned a lot this last week.
I learned to treasure a *normal* day. The dull and the routine is quite lovely, actually.
I learned to cope in chaos, and that I need some semblance of order in order to cope well. I kept the living room -- my quiet time spot, and my view to the park -- clear of the piles. I needed one spot to which to escape and look out.
I learned compassion. Seeing a flood on the news will never again be simply cerebral. Been there. Done that.
And I learned, well, I'm learning, that stuff is just stuff. Simpler is better and less is more. Our basement will end up with less in it, I guarantee you!
And I remembered the saying in which my mother found much comfort: This too shall pass. And it has. They're calling it the storm of the century, the "100 year rain." We made it. We're safe and we're sound. This too has passed. Thank you, Father.
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