I must’ve spent a good twenty minutes last week searching for my missing bra. Ever have one of those days? (OK, all of my male readers, don’t stop reading…just replace bra with sunglasses. After all, you know we’ve all done this at some point in our life). At first I just assumed I put it in a different place than the normal “thrown down” area in my room. This casual search quickly turned into a frantic tearing apart of my closet only to discover that I had been wearing it the whole time. Wasn’t sure if I should sigh in relief or sit down and cry. Yep, you guessed it…I did the second choice.
It was just one of those weeks, no wait correction, one of those months. When my head is in so many places at one time it inevitably brings with it some really silly and avoidable mishaps. In addition to losing my bra, Halloween night is a perfect example. We were headed in after the big night of fun. I was carrying a large metal tub filled to the brim with candy. I reached into my van to lock the door and then pushed the door closed. In the process of the door swinging closed, it hit the big metal bucket that I was holding and knocked it to the ground. My focus was moving my toes quickly to avoid the metal bucket landing on them. Shew, crisis averted and I took a sigh of relief that is until I tried to lean down and pick up my scattered mess only to discover that I couldn’t get all the way to the ground. I pulled a few times and instead of being able to move, I felt a sharp pain in my hand. I turned to see what the hang up was only to discover my thumb closed in my van door. Closed? Yep, closed! I quickly told myself to take a deep breath and just open the door. As I tried the handle, panic set in quickly. Do you remember why my hand went in the door in the first place? Oh yes, that’s right, to lock it. So there I stood in my drive way, no keys, candy scattered around my feet and my thumb completely locked in my door. Blane was quick to scramble and get the keys in order to unlock the door; however, the first attempt was not as successful as we had hoped seeing that he tried to unlock the door with his car keys rather than mine. Hmmm. Again, trying to remain calm as the visual of seeing your own hand locked in a door as well as your children looking on with panic in their eyes is not a good one and the pain was getting worse by the minute. My hand was eventually unlocked and the good news is that my thumb, although still stiff and sore, had no long term damage or broken bones.
As I sat there that night with my ice pack I couldn’t help but think that this was just another one of my “life is crazy” antics that I have become known for in my family. Instead of having my own recognition to stop and slow down, it normally takes something silly like a locked thumb to get my attention. I suppose I should be careful what I wish for, after all I am the one that’s always saying that I am thick headed and sometimes I would just like a burning bush or a brick wall to get my attention.
When October started, I left our family wall calendar blank for the first 2 weeks. I kept telling myself I was too busy to fill it out (again, some serious irony when you are too busy to even fill out your calendar) but really I believe I was in denial of how the calendar fills up so quickly this time of year.
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| BEFORE |
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| AFTER - and yes, I am a little particular and like a color coded calendar! |
This was the second year in a row that I had to walk through the Christmas section in order to find and purchase my children’s Halloween costumes. I was thinking 2 ½ weeks prior to Halloween was still being ahead of the game but apparently I had it all wrong. It seems like Christmas is squeezing closer and closer to Halloween each year. I found this picture online as well as on a friend’s facebook post that truly sums it up for me.
Love it! I feel the need to stand in the middle of the mall (well, ok maybe that’s a little too classy for me but it makes for a better visual) or maybe I should say Wal-Mart and yell as loud as I can….”STOP!”. One of my favorite children’s books is written by Jamie Lee Curtis, Is There Really a Human Race?. Here’s a small exert and one of my favorites parts:
“Is there really a human race? Is it going on now all over the place? When did it start? Who said ready, set, go?....Do some of us win? Do some of us loose? Is winning or loosing something I choose? Why am I racing? What am I winning? Does all my running keep the world spinning?”
Who declared this race? I never heard the gun go off and yet somehow I find myself feverishly in it without even realizing it. Believe me, I love running races. In fact, I am currently training for my first half marathon in December; however, this holiday race and the need to start early, keep up, and out do is not one that I want to participate in this year. I find the need to consciously dictate my calendar and my family’s life as opposed to the calendar dictating our lives for us. Rather than checking another activity off the calendar, I want to create the daily moments with my family. I read a great quote online that I want to put on my kitchen door to ensure that we see it every morning as we run out the door.
“Enjoy THIS moment, for THIS moment IS your life!”
Take a moment out of your busyness today to listen to the song, Slow Me Down by Emmy Rossum (click here). I find myself playing this one often during this time of year.
My prayer for myself, my family and all of you, is that we may slow down and enjoy the moments that seem so fleeting and if all else fails, keep your bra close!
xoxoxoxo
Kelly