Why I don't usually bother to clean.

It's funny how I must have somehow needed permission to cry... I had held it all together for several days, and was just being funny when I wrote my last post-- but when I read the first comment telling me I could cry a river, that's all it took!  (;  Thanks for the sweet, encouraging words.  Did I mention that the spilled milk happened soon after I found out that Lexi has strep too?  (:


I have a very large suitcase in my room that has been waiting for a week and a half to be unpacked.  It held all of my stuff, along with Jesi's, Sophi's, and Lexi's, for our trip to Idaho for Mariah's baptism.  I was struggling today with everything that needed to be done, and finally just said to myself, "Just do ONE thing.  Unpack the suitcase.  That's all you have to do."  So I did.  (:  It got me going, and I ended up cleaning most of my room before getting sidetracked with other things.

I put the empty suitcase at the top of the stairs to bring down and put away later.   A couple of hours afterward, Jesi came rolling the suitcase back into my room.  "Mom, I have a present for you!  Just open the suitcase!"  I unzipped the suitcase to find Sophi, buckled up inside.  Ha!  She had been completely quiet, so I was very surprised to find her!   My reaction must have been fun, because this was repeated with various kids inside the suitcase.  Later, I was in the kitchen when the suitcase was again wheeled over to me.  This time Jesi, Sophi, and Lexi were ALL so excited to show me what was inside.  "We have a big present for you, Mom!" 

I opened the suitcase to find it absolutely crammed full (and it is a VERY large suitcase) of various items from throughout my closet and room.  Dirty clothes, clean clothes, shoes, belts, and a wide array of other items filled the suitcase.  What do you do?  I mean, I can't ask them to put it all away because they couldn't do it correctly, and after all-- it was a GIFT.   (;

So much for an empty suitcase...

It wasn't many minutes later when I found myself completely overwhelmed with everything that needed to be done.  It seemed every child needed something, and just thinking about dinner and Family Home Evening was making me crazy.  So I did the responsible thing and put on my running shoes and just walked out the door.


There were a few problems with this:

a.  I haven't been running in a VERY long time.
b.  I'd eaten way too much today (I tend to drown my sorrows with food.)
c.  Running wasn't on my already exhausting list of things to do.
d.  At least two kids were crying when I left.

Luckily, I have some great older kids who I knew would take control of things.  Parker followed me out the door and decided to go with me, even though he had just returned from playing two hours of basketball at the rec center.    Being with him helped me to stick with it-- how could I quit after a quarter of a mile when he was running like it was nothing?  We ran (jogged) 2.6 miles, which I know is nothing compared to what some of you run, but it was quite the feat for me. The end of our run was up a big hill.  I was feeling pretty good about myself when Parker had stopped to walk up the hill and I was still jogging.  Good that is, until he went SPRINTING past me five seconds later.

Why do youth get all the energy?

Well, as it turns out, despite my sore hips that run was just what I needed to get me through the rest of the evening.  Breathing that crisp October air lifted my spirits.  I LOVE Fall.  The kids are all tucked in and I am still madly in love with them all-- so I guess that marks a successful night.  (:  Jeremy is with Xander at the hospital, and things are looking good for a tomorrow discharge-- WOO HOO!!!!!

Goodnight, all!