For those of you who read yesterday's post, I apologize if I came off as a big fat complainer. I don't mean to be a downer, I really don't! So I will attempt to redeem myself with this post. (I am also deleting the previous post from the blog. Only those who have already read it will be able to see that Kat has to work really hard at being optomistic and happy-go-lucky. It doesn't come naturally!)
I still have a hard time just laughing with life instead of letting it laugh at me. All too often, I take like too seriously. Ever since I made the decision to go back to school, I've felt busier than I have been in a long time. I've been working all day, studying at night as well as cooking, and watching Mark work like a dog all the way until it's time for bed. Just thinking about what it would be like to have children on top of all that...going to school with kids...working with kids...I've come to realize that I will forever have really long days with no time to myself. If I can keep this up for the whole year, either I will be so sleep-deprived and worn out that I will just have to give up, OR I will be so good at it by the time kids come around because of all the practice I've had. Personally, I'd like to concentrate on the latter. I'm hoping that this is all just a blessing in disguise and that I will truly love being a supermom. (This is still years down the road, people! No, there's no announcement being made. This is purely speculation!)
So, what am I going to do in order to allow this uber-busy period become a blessing in disguise? I have to figure out how to take off the disguise and count the blessings as I see them. (This is more for me than it is for you, so feel free to stop reading at any point and just go on with your daily lives. If you want to read on,so be it!)
Let's see if I can count the things in my life along with which I need to laugh.
1) Mark's little brother Cory is getting married in May. This is a very exciting thing, but with trying to figure out how long we can stay, using vacation days, noting that Mark will need to start his internship, it has been a harder trip to plan than usual. I'd like to be able to stay for the whole week because I never had the chance to meet the girl (Sarah) yet. We've been living in Boston the whole time they were dating. Mark would love to be able to be there for a while longer in case he can set up a few interviews for a clerkship in the area. Once life settles down (hopefully within a week or so), Mark and I will really need to decide exactly how much time we will be able to spend and just do it!! I'm excited for the chance to go to Utah, even if it ends up being only for a weekend.
2) Ever since Mark and I instigated a new budget plan, I've been able to not spend most of my alotment. Then we decided to try to save even more by adding other things into that budget without increasing the amount- such as household items, clothing, and toiletries into that "discretionary" fund alotment. Well, it just so happens that January was not a good month for me to add those other things into my discretionary budget. I needed winter boots- $40. I needed some clothing items from Target- $20. I lost one of my leather gloves (which I've had since before we got married), so I needed to buy another pair- $13. I ran out of my discretionary funds so fast, and I even had to dip into February's budget to buy the curtains. Now, I've somehow lost one of those new gloves I just bought!! I've been putting off buying some items that we'd like until next week when it becomes February. At least we can still afford to put bread on the table and a roof over our heads.
3) Oh, speaking of our apartment- On Monday morning at 3:30 AM, there was a loud CRACK at our bedroom window that startled both of us out of our sleep. Our window just cracked from the cold. It sounded like someone threw an icy snowball at it, but I could tell that it just broke all on its own accord. I called management later that morning and someone came by to cover it and tape it up. So far we don't have a replacement window, but it's been measured and should be replaced next week sometime. At least I don't have to pay for that repair! That would be pretty costly, and I don't like the idea. We lived here last winter too and nothing like that ever happened. I thought it was pretty strange, but maybe it's just because it's such an old building and the window was just too tired from all the expanding and contracting it's been performing over the years. I think I'd crack too!
Ok, I really don't want to make this post much longer, but I just wanted to state that I do recognize that I have been blessed tremendously in my life. When I look at other people's lives, I can only imagine what they must be going through. My trials seem so insignificant. My life is really great! I know that the Lord doesn't give us trials beyond what we can handle. Maybe I'm still just like a little child who can't really handle very much. Either that or I've become so mature that these things don't even seem like trials at all. *yeah right!* Either way, I can see that I have much to be grateful for in my life- my family, my in-law family, my loving husband, my education, my desire to pursue more education, the fact that Mark and I have always been able to live comfortably with our finances, the gospel, the scriptures and modern revelation, my calling as a Sunday School teacher where I get to know the youth in our area, my amazing friends near and far, the fact that I am good friends with both my mother and my mother-in-law, and the fact that I am never at a loss when it comes to a need for a service project. Yes, life is grand...now if only I can see it as such everyday from here on out!
1 comment:
I see you have discovered the secret that your abilities to accomplish things grow as your tasks increase. Also your ability to set prioritites, to delegate, and to work more efficiently also grow with the amount you have to do.
I remember when I was a new mother (David was about 5 months old) and a ward member with 4 children (3 in school) went on a business trip with her husband to Washington DC (where our temple was at the time) and hired me and Mike to housesit with their four children for 5 days. I was not required to clean or do laundry, just fix and serve the meals and tend the children. I was not able to handle it. It was just too much. I told Mike, "I can't handle five kids."
But later, as they came one at a time I was able to handle five, then six, then seven, then 8. So my capacity increased as the workload increased.
You'll be fine!
Love Ya
Mom
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