Turning Over a New Leaf

This blog has been plagued with long posts in the past. This is no longer acceptable so I must turn over a new leaf. It is my desire to post short, poignant articles about our latest shenanigans. Today will be the first of those posts.

Life has been busy and challenging with three kids involved in three different (elementary, middle and high) schools, and a house with more issues than the most messed up person on the planet. We have encountered a lot of funny or discouraging or even some downright sad situations, but more importantly, we have encountered them together as a family. We have laughed and cried together, been bull-headed and gracious to one another, but this year has brought us closer.

We still have not painted the living room, the laundry room is only in the tearing apart stage and the kitchen has not changed one iota, but we have done the important things: new windows, new roof, new insulation in the attic, ceiling fans in bedrooms, vent fans in bathrooms, rewiring where needed, new light fixtures inside and out, new faucet in bathroom, and even new toilet seats. Everything that we have focused on have improved the safety and livability of the house.

I have made some minor improvements inside but not as much as I had hoped. Now I think I have enough interior stuff on hand to keep me busy for the year. After all, I am also keeping up with my blogs, writing a novel and being Mom to three great children. I have had to rethink what is most important in life, but that doesn't mean that I have this down yet.

As a matter of fact, just yesterday, I was "on the rampage" so to speak. I let everyone have it, they all were very obliging as I spoke my mind, and then I fell into bed last night exhausted. I woke this morning with a little less stress and a stronger idea of what I'm doing. Now if I can somehow reconcile yesterday with my faith - oh, yeah, I think there was a little element of repentance in there for not being so nice to my family. They all forgave me, and I have been able to forgive myself, and now I have a few things to finish around here.

If I've learned anything over the past year, I've learned the importance of first things first. My youngest daughter and son have rooms that are so messy that it seems they are always struggling to find somewhere to put all of their stuff so it has this lovely tendency to migrate into the common areas. As I write this, I'm shaking my head at the unbelievable nature of how we get this under control as long as I stay onto them, but the second I let my guard down, it starts to suffocate me again.

At any rate, today, I am finishing my blog posts and going to head into their rooms with them to organize and straighten everything, to remove unnecessary items (ie TRASH!) and make sure they have a system that works for them. Until next time, wish me luck!