Balancing Act

As I sit here watching the Olympics and reflect back on my day today, I realize I am still in the clothes I walked in this morning, have my hair pulled back in a pony-tail and STILL sporting no make-up. I could have earned a gold medal today in sweeping the floor of corn, ground beef and sticky rice. You could also call me "Dish Pan Hands" as the dishes started early this morning from our batch of pancakes and continued until, well...the dishes that housed our taco salads tonight are still on the kitchen table calling my name. Washing and hanging out two loads of laundry WAS on my to-do list today until our washing machine decided to stop mid-cycle, maxed-out with sheets and water up to the rim. I have starred at my two fully-loaded suitcases by the front door that have yet to be unpacked from spending a week on the beaches of North Carolina and a week in Georgia visiting family. I shut our master bedroom door (when the Time Warner tech came to fix our Internet) in order hide the unmade bed, and you can't forget the pile of clean dish towels that didn't get folded last night hiding out on the unmade bed. Laney's cloth diapers are piling up in the bathroom where I store them, because our washing machine is broken, and we haven't figured out what is plan B just yet. I just remembered that Laney's one and only sippy cup is still out in the car and needs to be washed and filled in prep for tomorrow morning, where I will rise early with sleepy, tiny eyes and stick-straight hair matted lop-sided to my head.

And 'I' am supposed to ENCOURAGE you to be a woman of balance this week? Can I laugh any more? Looking at today, who could be less qualified? I will say that not every day looks like this, so I share my day with you to put you at ease, hoping you are realizing that you aren't the only Mama out there struggling to keep her head above water at times. I must be able to accept and expect days like today, where I go to bed with so much more to be done, even though I was as busy as a bee and felt like I worked my fingers to the bone. I will say that I got to spend a lot of quality time with Laney today playing outside and on our walk. Those moments are so very fleeting, so if anything, that part of my day made my heart glad.

What has helped me on the days where I am thriving and on track? Not intending to beat a dead horse, let me agree, and do so quickly, with the other authors that spending time with the Lord is of utmost importance. I feel very burdened throughout the day until I sit down and spend some time with the Lord and when I do spend time with Him during Laney's nap time, it never seems to be at the caliber that I desire it to be. There's just something about a still, quiet house at dawn and a hot drink in hand as you ask Him to clear you head and help you think straight. I, with Leah, have a hard time rising early because I like to stay up late, but I prefer to spend that time with Him in the morning. Once I get used to waking up early, I'm on a roll and consistency is the fuel. Stick with it. Have at least one friend make a pact with you to get up at the same EXACT time every morning, so you know you're not the only one seeking the Lord and denying those tempting cozy zzzz's. Accountability is powerful.

Dishes: Props to my dad for coming up with this ingenious idea. Have you ever felt like in order to maintain and keep a clean kitchen, the dishwasher must be unloaded. Order is contingent upon unloading the dishwasher. Here recently, I switched things up a bit. I hand wash the dishes and put them IN the dishwasher to dry. Think of your dishwasher as a huge drying rack that hides all of your dishes, and you can unload them at your convenience. I used to rinse off the dishes before I put them in the washer anyways, so why not have a soapy rag in hand and rinse it. We will save money by not using so much water and since I just don't have the time to wash, rinse, dry and put away, this system has proven to work great. I don't have a big enough drying rack to hold huge pots and pans, and believe it or not, I don't like dishes sitting out, even if they are clean. I like bare counter tops.

Out-grown clothes: I already have a labeled storage container in the garage where I can immediately store away clothes Laney has outgrown. There's nothing like a basket of outgrown clothes just lingering around waiting to be stored away. The times where that 'basket' is lingering around only happens when I'm just too lazy to go out to the garage, but already having a place to put it really helps keep things organized.

Well folks, that's about it. Like my roomie used to say, "I got nothing else." If I think of anything else tonight, I will definitely add to the post in the morning. Be encouraged!