Upon Reflection - Revised

Oh ... and that new (new to me) furniture that I was getting today, for the finished basement, wouldn't fit down the basement stairs. For realz!!!!! The Hubby-Man and father-in-law tried and tried, but it just wasn't going to happen. Basically trying to shove a really BIG square peg into a round hole. BUMMER! I was really looking forward to having something to sit upon in my basement. Guess we'll have to get out the bag chairs again.......

Really, didn't people in the 50's (that's when our house was built) need couches in their basements?

This is just one more thing that you can add to the list of "complications" that go hand-in-hand with living in a older home.

Man..... I really wanted some couches too.

Dear reader, what furniture, decorating, remodeling "complications" have you had with your homes?

Upon Reflection

As we edge closer to the ending of another year, and a decade, I was briefly reflecting upon things that were new this year.

- We have a second child, a son.
- I am finally an aunt, I have a sweet little nephew.
- Joe refinished our basement (and we're getting some furniture for it today).
- We bought a new vehicle (which I luv, luv, luv)

Dear reader, what were some of the new things for you this year? What big changes occured in you life?

I'm Not Super Mom

Funny that I should feel compelled to write this today as I have just begun 12 days of blissful Christmas vacation, but.... an event has sparked the anxiety within me and I shall henceforth vent.

I am not Super Mom. I know many women that are Super Moms. They work full time, bake, provide nutritious hot meals, volunteer, find time to workout, attend multiple social events and still devise solutions to solve world hunger. That is not me.

Personally, it is all that I can muster to keep my head above water from week to week just getting to work every day and taking care of my family. I'm not sure if I'm not motivated enough, smart enough or strong enough to manage all of the things that the World expects me to do, but I know that I am doing the best that I can at this moment in time. Pardon me World if I choose to focus on my children, my husband and I squeak my friends in there from time to time ;) Pardon me if I refuse to over commit my children and my family.

Yes, I should be more committed to work events. Yes, I should volunteer and share the MANY blessings that God has given me. Yes, I should say "yes" to everyone who needs something done. Yes, I should be both a mom and a saucy super model. Yes, I should be able to juggle "life" better. But again... that's not me.

Having kids is HARD! Working full time with kids is HARD! Trying to be a good mother, supportive wife, dutiful daughter, fun time friend, devoted employee, and still have time for me is REALLY HARD. The catch is..... that I wouldn't give up anything in my life. I love having children and really love the Hubby-man. My family is wonderful, but it's just flippin' HARD.

And so I acknowledge that I am not all that, and I know that I can't be all that. I am doing the best that I can and I refuse to be pushed into more than I can handle. So if that makes me a slacker, or lazy, or difficult, or unsupportive... so be it.

Does anyone else feel this way?

The Heart of Childhood

Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus

By Francis P. Church, first published in The New York Sun in 1897. [See The People’s Almanac, pp. 1358–9.]

We take pleasure in answering thus prominently the communication below, expressing at the same time our great gratification that its faithful author is numbered among the friends of The Sun:

Dear Editor—
I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, “If you see it in The Sun, it’s so.” Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?
Virginia O’Hanlon

Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or children’s, are little. In this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.
Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.
Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies. You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if you did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that’s no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.
You tear apart the baby’s rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived could tear apart. Only faith, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.
No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives and lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

Busted

Hmmmm, well I am a horses backside. Apparently, you shouldn't write/vent about family members in your on line version of a not-so-personal journal and then link it to other blogs. I'd talk smack about my husband too (hehe) but he reads this blog ALL THE TIME!

Dear Brother,
Please know that I love you sooooo much, but like all brothers world wide you frustrate me sometimes, and sometimes I write about what frustrates me. Nothing personal, it was just a bad day that you happened to be involved in. Please forgive me for blogging about you and your Christmas list style. In retrospect - at least you can formulate a list...... forget about Hubby-man ever creating a decent one to shop by. Jeez!
I'd understand if you gave me one of H's dirty diapers for Christmas.
In an act of penance, I shall delete my surly posting.

Your jerk sister,

Me