A little overwhelmed but ......

Those were some of the first words from my mouth this morning to a friend of mine back home who had called just to say hi and see how I was doing. Am I the only person who ever gets behind in house chores and errands and kid's dental appointments and that kind of stuff and then just feels overwhelmed by the energy required to get caught back up? It seems as though I have been constantly moving for the longest time now!

After being sick for a bit and trying to get my heart to beat correctly again there were so many things left waiting for me to do, and don't you know that every one of those piles of stuff and lists of errands and rescheduled appointments mocked my every breath that they were still there waiting for me. I've spent every day this week running from one place to the next at break neck speed all while trying to appear cheerfully together and organized.... for those of you who know me well hahahahahahaha.

Despite feeling run over with lists and chores and the endless multi-tasking we moms must endure all day every day things are going good. I can be thankful that finally I am able to get the kids to see a dentist, and that finally we can get Fred her glasses and stop watching her squinch up her cute little face while she reads. I can be thankful that our poor old falling apart suburban is holding up to all of those errands and toting the boys back and forth to their jobs to boot. I can be thankful that we made it through the coldest days of the year without having to buy any heating oil (at over $3 a gallon), and that our home has stayed comfortably warm all winter so far. I am thankful that Troy has stayed healthy enough to work despite the onslaught of nasty viruses all around us and that even though there were many days that the company closed shop without pay the last three months our bills have been paid and there has definitely been no food shortages. And I am so very very very thankful that my peace in knowing my needs are met is not dependent on our stock market or a 401K or any other such gamble but on the God of the universe who owns all I'll ever need and distributes such needful things to me in abundance!!!!!!!!

So even though at times the circumstances of my life may seem overwhelming I'm still on shouting ground anyway! I even caught myself in the dentist's waiting room telling the other moms in there how good the Lord has been to my family and that no matter what we were going through that very minute we just had to say God is Good anyway, all while my little preacher boy sat there grinning his head off with the blood tinged gauze from his extraction peeking out the corner of his mouth.

It's been an adventurous week for us all. Fred had wanted to get her hair done (for the first time ever) for her birthday gift so a sweet friend went along with us for a girly day of hair and beauty and then lunch. Fred's new hair cut looks fabulous with lots of layers and when she curls it she looks even more stunning that she does normally. We found a picture in the style books at the beauty place that we loved and so I got mine cut the very same way but I part mine different and being older now my hair is not nearly as thick as Fred's. We both love our new hair styles though and it's extra good that we were able to keep our long long hair and still get a style we are happy with.

While we were waiting for our turn at the beauty place our good friend was getting her hair cut (into an adorable style btw). Fred and I were talking to the lady who does the make-up stuff there (since Fred wanted to learn about that too)and in conversation that lady asked me if my friend was my other daughter!! I know that I look a little older than I actually am but I had no idea how bad I must have looked to have been mistaken for my less-than-a-decade younger friend's mother! At first the comment didn't bother me at all and I laughed about it. But as the day wore on and I got used to my new look it occurred to me that not looking at least well groomed and well ....er, um, ah.... 'maintained' could possibly harm my testimony, not to mention cause my poor sweet Hunk O Honey to wonder why in the world I just didn't try to make myself 'purty for him if nothing else. By that evening I was suffering true heartache in knowing that my husband truly did desire for me to continue to look as attractive as I can yet over the years I had allowed myself to fall into such disarray that I could be mistaken for my not-really-that-much-younger-than-me friend's mother. My poor Hunk O Honey!!!

Now, don't you go and take me wrong. I am NOT a big "it's all about appearances" kind of girl and anyone who knows me knows that. I do believe though that we should look as though we care enough to take care of ourselves. I had gotten into a terrible habit of running about with my hair in a pony tail and just swiping a wash cloth across my face in the morning regardless of what I was doing or where I was going, and I won't go into details about how I have been dressing until now other than to say SHABBY but not chic in any way shape or form. I'm sure that most people did not look at me and think anything good at all though. So under deep conviction that I simply had not been doing as I should I vowed to myself to daily do my hair in something other than a "scrunchy" and to take much better care of my appearance. I want people to look at me and see someone who appears to be well taken care of.... after all I am well taken care of by my Savior and I really really want that to show to others.

So anyway, just that whole 'I have got to take better care of me' plan gave me at least half a dozen more projects to put on the list of things that overwhelm me but I really believe that it's worth it. Just the way my Hunk O Honey's eyes shined at me the evening I had my hair done and wore a nice outfit and just enough make up to look not totally wrung out and at the end of my rope is worth it. I tore through my dresser this morning throwing out clothes that I "rat" around the house in and as I was doing that it occurred to me that I used to dress better to go to work in a dairy barn! How awful is that??!!! Next on the list is the closet. Fred and I are both on a mission to improve the way we take care of ourselves and praying that it will help us to take better care of all of the other things and people we love too.

Anyway, that's enough rambling from me for today. I have chicken and stock cooking for chicken and dumplings tonight and laundry going and a pile of ironing to do as tall as I am. Y'all have a wonderful day!