Another thing in my life that is getting little attention...

Do you ever find a hobby that you love only to find it has become more work all of the sudden?

I have.

I feel I am fairly creative. I love to make things, and create things. Its ingrained in my DNA. But everyonce in a while, like a favorite song that is played too often on the radio, or a favite meal savored too frequently, sometimes my hobbies become stale.

And I lose gumption.

And then I start to miss it enough to want to start up again, only to get to the drawing board and not have any lead in my proverbial pencil.

That is the slump I have found myself in most recently.

I love making cards. I love scrapbooking. I love making jewelry. And I love blogging and chatting with online friends.

But lately, even the latter has been hard for me.

Maybe I am too tired. Maybe burn out finally hit me. My IRL friends tell me I havent learned the word "no" yet, and they are sure I will crash soon. I think they were right. And I think it is happening.

I live in a very small town (4800 people). I am very active in the community. I am the Director at our Chamber of Commerce; the Chair of our counties Relay For Life; a Founder/LLC Owner and Board Member of the Club we opened in November; the Chair of a sub committee for a poverty reduction project in our community; the co-chair of a Community Reusable Shopping Bag committee; the co-creator of new educational opportunities in our Business District along side our EDA. Every Tuesday of the month is scheduled with Board Meetings for several of said committees. And now our Annual Community Golf Invitational planning has started again...

And I am finding myself so overwhelmed I can hardly breath.

I thrive on this kind of stuff. I think I was made to be a community player. But now all of the sudden I find myself skipping meetings. I am blowing off responsibilities until the last minute. I am making promises I am finding I am regretting. And while the projects and committee's don't suffer much - as I am still getting the work done - they aren't necessarily getting the kind of attention I would like to be giving them.

But I can't say no. And I can't seem to let go.

So while I debate getting started on one of my many projects, nothing gets done. And when I decide I am ready to get it done, its all piled on at once. And my friends and family lose me for a while again. And when there is a problem with a friend or a family member I have a hard time giving the issue the time it deserves.

I used to be a type A personality. I could plan and organize circles around most people. I had anal down to a tee, and nothing phased me. So what changed? Why is my life so discombobulated? And did I spell that right? hehehehehehehe And now I am sounding whiney. I should appreciate the opportunities I have been offered. Why oh why am I resenting them more than appreciating them?

I need a spa vacation.

Maybe that will help.

Wanna join me?

Im not a packrat!

Baskets, Hampers, Drawers and Closets... Or as Jim puts them "Lori's personal filing sysems".

To start off, I am not a pack rat, I am just a slow toss-er-away-er. Eventually "it" gets purged, but I have to do it slowly and methodically. I need everything that enters my home to feel welcome and loved, and most of all wanted. So I have to slowly introduce the secretly unwanted to the door.

Baskets

Sometimes I will first place it in a basket. It can still see out, it knows when I am there for it, and it feels warm and nurtured. Often it gets shuffled with other friends, and many times it ends up at the bottom only to be restored to its happy place (the top) after a purposeful dig. Sometimes it even comes out of the basket to play for a while. Whether a kid saw it as a potential play thing, art project or just plain ol'something to move, or whether I was looking for something else, found it and decided to give it some personal attention. Frequently it doesn't make it back to the basket it came from. Sometimes it finds its way into another basket to mingle and network with new secretly unwanted friends.

There are four siblings that are housed on the shelves of our entertainment center. They were placed there as catch alls so I didn't have to keep cleaning stuff off of the coffee table, aka diningroom (I have two diningroom tables, but we use the coffee table most nights). There was one basket for each human member of my household. The "plan" was once their basket was filled, they had to find a new home for everything in it, or I got to purge the basket.

Basket #1... instantly became Ruvy's favorite place to sleep. We fill it, she empties it if she wants to take a nap.

Basket #2... became the catch all for DVD's. But oh no, we didn't stop there! It has miscellaneous toys, and pieces of paper, and other very much loved secretly unwanted.

Basket #3... this one is known as the "half way house". B#3 is where all of the much loved secretly unwanted items go before they are transitioned. Now when I say "transitioned" I mean exactly that. Its not show them the door time yet. See Baskets 1-4 have cousins that the much loved secretly unwanted get shipped off too when B1-4 are full or cleaned out.

Basket #4... this one became my little buddy. It started out as the lonely basket. No one wanted to play with it. No one wanted to nap in it. No one was partial to digging throught it, using it as an art project, or wearing it as a hat on their head. So I took #4 under my wing, and he became my prized bead supply buddy. All of my bead and jewelry supplies are nestled sweetly in his borders. There is nothing secretly unwanted in his space. He, as well as all of his inhabitants are there to stay. :)

Hampers

Now comes cleaning day, better known as moving day, which is better defined as the basket hath reached its limit, its time to move some things around. So out come the baskets, and piles are made. But these piles are special. Most of them are not ready to meet their fate with the flaming inferno, or the circular file. It's time to go visit the cousins.

God, aka "Signature HomeStyles" created hampers just for me! These hampers aka the cousins, are my life savers! They hold (eh hem - hide) most anything. And they are the next pit stop on the adventures of the much loved secretly unwanted. The cousins hold alot. And they are almost always full of the secretly unwanted. And when the day comes to clean them out, I usually only get one done because it is emotionally wearing on me.

See, I am a people pleaser. That means if something I say or do hurts the feelings of someone or something, I am an emotional wreck. So when it comes to the secretly unwanted, well, I feel guilty. Not the typical Catholic guilt I feel about everything else in life, but rather the, I am disappointing the secretly unwanted because I have given them a home, and now like a basket of cute furry kittens, I am sending them on their merry little way.

Closets

So often, when the day comes to clean the cousins, I end up sending them off to the closet. One last opportunity to win me over. The nice thing about the closets is they are much more spacious (of course the s.u.'s think they are "moving up in life", but we all know better).

Let me start off this segment of my es'plaining how I am not a pack rat by sharing that I have a.l.o.t. of closets in my house. My bedroom alone has three full sized 12' long closets, and a built in unit (5 sections) with doors and shelves. My hall has a closet the size of a small bathroom, and at the bottom of the stairs there is another closet as well as a 12' pantry. And that is just the upper two levels. My 3rd level has one lonely closet for coats (or mlsu's until Jim finds the mlsu's and makes me move them to another closet, basket or hamper).

Here is where I should explain that my husband hates my compassion towards the things that are much love secretly unwanted. He thinks if I don't want them I should get rid of them. So the fact that they end up occupying space in "his closets" drives him insane. We talk frequently about my need to clean the closets. He actually blocked off the two in the basement and told me that should he find anything that didn't look like his, he was going to ship it off without my knowledge. Yes, ladies, it makes my skin crawl. How does he know if that love note from my boyfriend in 1986 isn't still near and dear to my heart? Or the left over party favors from our wedding. I mean someday we may want them for something else! C'mon man, you are killing me here!

So when closet cleaning time comes it pains me. This was the last pit stop for the lmsu's. If I want to make room for more, I have to get rid of some. And it pains me. Clothes that I have had for 20 years that I havent worn in at least 15 are hard to say good bye to. And how do you get rid of shoe's and handbags that have defined your very being? Sometimes I have to close my eyes, reach in and toss it into a black garbage bag so I wont know what is missing until 5 years from now when I am missing it! When this torturous event takes place I usually have 3 black bags. One for clothes that will get donated. One for shoes and handbags that will be given away. One that is sent off to the great circular file in Heaven. There is usually a box or paper bag that I toss burnables in.

There is always a point when the "plan" takes a downward spiral into the unfinished oblivion because well, its emotionally draining. So this process can take a while. Sometimes I will clean one closet, and then move the mlsu's from another closet into its now open spaces. But never, have all of my closets been cleaned at the same time. Never have all of my mlsu's been shown the door in one day.

But I am not a packrat!!!

Two kids and a dog part deux

Or shall I say, two kids and FOUR DOGS!!!


Cricket (my cousin/little sister) is too poor to have a blog. Ok, she's not poor. And a blog doesn't cost anything, she just doesn't have one...


So you know that old saying: "When you think you have it hard, remember someone else is suffering more"? Well this doesn't quite fit that statement, but it sort of does.


I was whining about how hard it was to get two kids and dog to sit still for a picture, and then I get this email from Cricket:


Your pics on your blog were so cute! I just thought i would share with you a couple of pics with 4 dogs, 2 kids and a semi-crabby hubby....



And here it is, proof that I didn't have it that bad the other day!!!









This last one is my favorite - because it fits their personalities so well! Rolle in the center with her nose in the air like she is queen! Ok, well she is... Squeak facing away from the camera, C squishing his face T looking like he is ready to walk away, and Cricket smiling all along. Meanwhile Hershy, Rocko and Lola are in their own little worlds! (and in case I messed up the dog names, they may get changed on here later! :) )


Nope, I had it easy!!! Aren't they a gorgeous family? I just love em to death!

Love ya hon!

Two kids and a dog

Have you ever tried to get a hyper 5 year old, a 4 month old puppy and a "bored with me" 10 year old to sit still for 30 seconds to get one decent shot? I have, it wasn't pretty. This was the best one. There were many missed shots of puppy kisses and kid squirms. But patience was lost by all, so we accepted the above pose. As an anal person, I am sure I will try again today. hehehehehe

Happy Valentines Day friends!!!

Meme!

Good Morning!

My new pal and fellow Minnesotan Heidi tagged me with a Meme today. Interestingly it fell in the heals of my "You can heal your life" post. Which is perfect.

So here goes:

The directions: Post two wish lists, 5 material wishes and 5 spiritual or more meaningful wishes. Then tag five people. Let them know that they have been tagged by posting a message to them on their blog.

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First I have to say, I have heard of them, but was never sure of what they were, so I decided to Google it and see if it was a "real thing" or a "blog thing". While I think its a "blog thing", here is what I found:

Of course the first item that pops up is the ever popular Wikipedia (which if you didn't know this, Wikipedia is information that is supplied often times by you the viewer, but most often is pretty darn accurate) babbled on about selfishness and culture, so I got bored and moved on...

In the lower right hand corner, there was a Wiktionary definition that was made some sense, so that is the one I will go with! :)

Noun
meme (plural memes)

Any unit of cultural information, such as a practice or idea, that is transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another. Examples include thoughts, ideas, theories, practices, habits, songs, dances and moods and terms such as race, culture, and ethnicity.
A self-propagating unit of cultural evolution having a resemblance to the gene (the unit of genetics).

The other definition could be even simpler... Meme = "Me! Me!"
I like that one!

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Here goes:
List 1: Material Wishes

1. I wish that Jims work becomes more consistent so we can quit worrying about money
2. I wish that our insurance company would start paying some of our medical bills so we can quit worrying about money
3. I wish my friends who are trying to have babies, unsuccessfully, would get pregnant and fulfill their dreams of parenthood
4. I wish I had an eliptical treadmill
5. I wish Jim would win the lottery so he could get a new camper (ok, motorhome if he wins the lottery) so I dont have to hear about it any more.
   

List 2: Meaningful or Spiritual

1. I wish for my family to get back into sync with the Church and a routine that included it more frequently
2. I wish that all children in the world would know only love and affection, not abuse and abandonment
3. I wish the world would unite in peace, in their own personal and religious beliefs, with a unified understanding and acceptance of the differences
4. I wish for strength for those who are feeling weak, love for those who are feeling lonely, hope for those who are feeling lost, and a clear path for those who still need to find their way.
5. I wish that when the day comes, everyone I know and love is ready to receive Him in his Glory so that we will be able to spend eternity together.

Now for the tags:
Scarlett. I know she is full of vim and vigor, but I also know that she has very deep values. I cant wait to hear about them! Esp since I know the winking hole had some wondering! (I loved it)

Cuz' Dani. She has some great insight, and well, she is my cousin, so I have to give her props! :)

Dayna. She deals with life in amazing ways, esp her life. And recently, with the loss of her friend Jerry, she found something for years she said she didn't think existed anymore. It has rounded her in ways she probably doesn't even realize. We have been friends for over 6 years, and although we don't get to talk much lately, she is always in my heart.

Hallie. I don't know her well, but any friend of my friend is a friend of mine! She is sweet, funny, caring, and has a grrrrreeeeaaattttt son who has committed his life to serving our country! And since her Shmoopy has a wish list, I think she should have one too!

Last but not least: My friend "different kind of girl". She is awesome! I wanna be her when I grow up (even though I am sure I am older than her) because she says it and lives it like it is!

Have a great day!

Jim is stuck in I-O-W-A

Jim is stuck in Iowa. Yes, he went into the pits of that foreign state and got stranded! A huge snow storm has closed down Dubuque which is where he was headed, so he is sitting with his feet up, eating pizza, watching cable, all on the company's dime.

I am home with two fighting kids that dont know what indoor voices are, a hyper dog and two cats who think they are king and queen.

So pay backs are in order... I dont remember why, but for some reason the boys were playing with one of my bra's recently. I swore they would never post them on the internet, but they never saw my crossed fingers! hehehehehe

Victoria's Secret, I have a few new marketing ideas for your "Body by Victoria" bra!

Is it a hat or a brainwave transmitter?

Ear muffs?

Or the ever popular (in the 80's maybe) shoulder pads?

Honey, we will be thinking of you tonight, and will miss you! Stay warm and drive careful tomorrow!!