I’ve been beating myself up for not doing more. Lately I’ve been replying I’m so busy, but don’t feel like I have a lot to show for my activity. Our time has been spent with friends a lot- beach days, park days, picnics, sleepovers and family football games. But just the routine maintenance of our life has been so much and I haven’t been able to devote focused attention to my projects, like this space. Today we have no plans so I decided to notice everything as a way of appreciating all that I do on a “slow” day. I’m only documenting the morning here because halfway through the day I’ve realized my day is jam packed. If I document it all, we’ll be here a long time. 🙂
I let the dog out and noticed so.many.snails cruising the grass. Rescuing the garden, I tossed dozens over the fence. I wonder how long it will take them to make their way back.
Striving for some uninterrupted time for quiet and quickly catching up on my online commitments, I make a cup of chai tea, wash some blueberries and head outside with the iPad. Checking in with some fellow bloggers, I get distracted by the dog barking in the front of the house. I jump up to check on her so she doesn’t wake the girls and find the littlest one in the doorway, a red fleece bundle of sleepiness. My chance for getting more done is over already. Here we go!
I hugged the girl and together we went to see what the barking fuss was all about before she woke the one still resting. Apparently it was a false alarm; the watch dog was cool again. Lots of petting ensued.
A request for a TV show was made so I headed toward the family room, pausing to smell the peonies on my desk, my happy place. I’ve made this central area very organized, uncluttered and beautiful so that every time I pass it, I feel centered. No matter the chaos elsewhere, I re-group many times as I wander through this space all day. So deep breath in!
I snuggled with the kiddo for a while, teasing her about the sand her feet probably left in my bed when she found her way there in the middle of the night. She had played so late last night that she was too tired for a bath before she hit the hay. We agreed she’s take one today before running off to meet her neighborhood friends. I delivered the granola she requested and discovered another someone had woken. This means another round of breakfast and more snuggling and I become obsessed with the visual play of her stripes. It’s rough morning, I know.
She had slept soundly and was now ready for some breakfast crepes she announced. Get busy in the kitchen!
A call was sent down the stairs for snow pants. Dress-up is a favorite around these parts and this girl never fails to entertain.
But she also wanted to go play with her friends so up we went for a shower. On the way, the cat demanded some attention. She’s very vocal about her needs, you know.
After the washing of the curls, I was so tempted to start a new project in the studio. This weekend I purged some of the supplies and am feeling so inspired by the clean palette. But I decided it was more prudent to upload these photos and publish this post before time got away from me. Hmmm…so tempting, though.
But then I looked to the left and saw my binder and worksheet I need to crack open. It’s really important to me to work on the ideas outlined there so that became my next priority for today. Yes, I will sit at my desk after I hit publish here.
I was starting to feel overwhelmed remembering I also wanted to get to the library for new materials and recreation center to sign up for a class that begins tomorrow. And hungry bellies would be calling again soon, too. The dog needs to be walked, the guinea pigs fed and their cage cleaned. The cookies I had promised we’d make. So many details in one little day. Then my eyes focused laser-like on one of those details in the room: the poseable art model was bowing, as if in humility. My thought shifted right away: so many opportunities! I am grateful for them all. We’re only about two hours into the day here and already so full.
Time to upload and finish this. I’ve been distracted several times with preparing food, helping with computer issues, incoming messages and questions to answer, making plans for birthday parties and Father’s Day. It’s now 3:30. I’m happy that I didn’t have to spend any time processing these photos because I’ve learned how to control my manual settings to get just what I want in-camera.
The girls are giggling next to me as they play a game online. They’re chatting and making plans. Suddenly they remind me that their yoga class in an hour and we have a conversation about how I thought we’d take a little break from that. I need more days like today with “nothing” to do.
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