Author Archives: So Here's Us.... life on the raggedy edge.

About So Here's Us.... life on the raggedy edge.

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I'm a bookworm, nature lover, kick-boxer, candy fiend, sci fi geek, home body, progressive Christian and part-time student. I love my crazy life and the messy, fun, stubborn, silly, brilliant people who populate it.
August 4, 2011

The “Honey Do” List

By So Here's Us.... life on the raggedy edge.

I like lists. Scratch that, I LOVE lists! When the world is spinning out of control and I’m feeling overwhelmed, a list makes everything better. Seriously, it’s better than Prozac.

I can’t think of a situation that can’t be improved with a list. I dare you – try to stump me!

Work piling up and you don’t know where to start? Make a list. Kids acting like orangutans? Make a list of goals and how to get there (even better when they are in on the discussion, something I like to facilitate with liberal amounts of ice cream). Worries keeping you up at all hours? Make a list of things to think about tomorrow.

If you are wondering what brought about this list making infomercial, it is this:

The "Honey Do" List

That’s my summer chore list… with not one single thing marked off. It’s a new low for me. Now I could give you plenty of valid excuses… ahem… REASONS why this is the case, but the truth is they don’t make me feel any less discouraged and depressed about it.

So, I’ve decided to resurrect an old habit. It’s something my sweetheart has enjoyed mocking me for over the years. I’m going to go back to that list and add things I’ve already done – then cross them off with great relish.

  • Spend time with my kids – CHECK!
  • Cuddle my new nephew and niece/god-daughter – CHECK!
  • Figure out how to Skype my sister – CHECK!
  • Go to Bard on the Beach – CHECK!
  • Buy a cowboy hat the Calgary Stampede – CHECK!
  • Sit on the beach with my feet in the sand and my nose in a book (and one eye on the kids) – CHECK!

It seems to me that there’s a whole lot about celebrating in the bible – whole chapters commanding festivals and holidays and dozens of poems with lists (YES, that’s right lists) of God’s blessings. Maybe I’ll add that to my list:

  • Worshiping God by enjoying the life I’ve been given!

So here’s me – celebrating the life I live, instead of obsessing about everything still left to do.

3 Comments   |  tags: , , | posted in home-making, parenting

July 31, 2011

So Here’s Me

By So Here's Us.... life on the raggedy edge.

Just what the world needs – another blog. I’m not sure anyone wants to read my innermost thoughts and feelings, much less hear my opinions on parenting, God and whatever happened to Steve from Blue’s Clues. But I need to write it anyway. I have all these words rattling around in my head, just waiting to be heard.

We have 3 daughters – each one is completely different from the other. There’s the dancer – practiced, disciplined, always training, and each time she performs it is an epiphany. Who IS this kid? Our often klutzy preteen working in unison with her dance company with such poise and grace.

Then there is our crazy inventor – she shines not through careful choreography, but in wild flights of fancy. Where does she come up with this stuff? She keeps us laughing, and constantly entertained.

Finally, our baby, who is definitely one of a kind. She can charm the socks off of you, if she sets her mind to it. She brings more joy and affection to our life than we ever could have imagined.

She does have one less than charming habit, however. Several times a day she begins the mantra “Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom…”. When I answer and ask what she needs, she looks me straight in the eye and begins again. “Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom…” I wish I could say that I am filled with patience and moved by her obvious attachment to me, but mostly I feel my teeth clench and an inaudible growl of irritation in my throat (okay, mostly inaudible… most days).

If this blogging thing can do anyone any good, it is to reaffirm to myself what I know is true. She is not trying to bug me, she simply needs, not wants – NEEDS, my attention. In her case, a significant speech delay and a highly social personality exacerbate it, but don’t we all need the same thing? We are all hoping to be noticed. God has hard-wired us for self expression. This is why the world is full of art, music, architecture, gourmet food and yes, even reality t.v. We all need to be heard.

So here’s me – making room in my life for creativity, both in myself and those around me.

3 Comments   |  tags: , | posted in parenting