Feelin' Giddy!

I encountered a bit of giddiness this afternoon and thought I might allow a bit of it to spill over to you all (And yes, I do realize it may be necessary to use the term “all” loosely... As in all 3 of you! :-P ). Driving home from a busy day, I was chatting with my husband on the phone and learned that he had finished painting a shelf that could now be re-hung at the front of the house. His words transformed me into a giggling school girl. You would have thought he said something like, “I didn’t think it was possible, but you and your fresh skin are more radiant to my awe-struck eyes than the day I met you.” No, he was merely updating me on the status of a honey-do. I know it’s a bit pathetic, but I couldn’t help it. I simply could not contain the thrill of no more nude brackets shooting out into our front walk-way shouting from the top of their metal lungs, “Look at us! We live with the Verners where projects are clearly started but never, ever finished!”

I don’t know if you have any idea what I am talking about, but as a working mom, it can feel like I’m running up the down escalator. I’m all too familiar with one step forward, three steps back. We mess up a house faster than we can clean it, eat food faster than we can buy it, and dirty laundry faster than we can wash it. It is from within this defeating rhythm that we still insist on adding those special projects, the most recent of which is our ½-painted house (Fortunately, we strategized well and as long as we don’t invite anyone into the backyard, it’s a bit of a secret that we aren't done!). In spite of the seeming impossibility of completing extra projects, I can’t live without them. It’s the extra projects that give me the sensation that I am engaged. I’m not simply sprinting on a treadmill, but I’m actually moving forward. I’m dreaming and daring to try new things. They are the positive thoughts of progress amidst the trials of day-to-day life.

And so I leave you with the following challenge. Can you delay the laundry or ignore the mess just long enough to do something you’d really enjoy? Plant a flower, clean out a closet, write a real letter on cute stationery to a friend. Inspired by news of a soon-to-be finished shelf, that’s what I did. I let the kids occupy themselves with the candy drawer so that I could take a moment to share with you. And let me say, it’s feeling pretty good!