So, I decided that I need to quit beating myself for not getting around to blogging.  Truthfully, I have bigger fish to fry and when I’m not frying those fish, I’m trying to get some much needed rest.  But, today, I have help!  It’s MLK Day which means that school kids have today off which means that I have a babysitter for a couple of hours.  This is SO nice!  I had forgotten how great it was to have someone else on board during the weekday to help me just have a break and get some stuff done.  I actually practiced for the first time in many many months for an upcoming recital I’m singing in, and now, I’m blogging! Yay!

I can still hear my kids…and occasionally, I have to go in the next room to correct one of them.  But, it’s still help.  I can sit here without guilt about ignoring my kids and write a little while.  I should be going through my tax returns and receipts and tending to my paperwork…that endless pile of paperwork.  But, I am rejuvenating.  I am regrouping instead.  I need this.

So, sorry I’m babbling.  I have a 3-year old who is telling his sitter that he needs a different bowl for his pretzels than for his nuts.  Whatevs.  Can’t concentrate.  Moving to another room a little further away.

My new goal is to blog once a week.  I think I can handle that.  Once a day is too much.  Once a month is not enough.  I think I can make a time once a week and blog.  It just can’t be another thing on my “to-do list” or I will abandon it like I abandon shaving my legs.  I know…TMI…but, it’s winter after all.  And really, who is looking at my legs that closely anyway?

So, how are you?  Blogs are so one-sided, you know?  What’s new with you and your life?

OK…if you must know, I’ll share some new happenings of my own. 

For starters, I just accepted a children’s choir director position at Central Presbyterian Church in downtown Austin.  I’m super excited about it (albeit a little anxious too).  It will be a great opportunity for me to get out of the house once a week and do something different besides being a Mommy and teaching privately here at home.  It will also mean a little bit (and I mean a very little bit) of extra income to help us pay off some things.

Aside from that, I am planning on renewing my membership at Brushy Creek Community Center so I can start working out again.  A sweet friend of mine gave me a massage for Christmas and came and watched the boys for me last Friday so I could go.  I was actually reluctant to do it — not because I didn’t think a massage sounded AMAZING, but because there are so many things I’d like to do if someone offered to take the kids for an hour.  I could read…I could give myself a pedicure…I could finally organize my closet or pantry in peace…I could go sit at Starbuck’s and blog or surf the web uninterrupted.  But, I went for the massage, and you know what?  It had a profound affect on me.  I realized how much I have been neglecting my body over the past year and a half.  She worked on muscles I had forgotten existed.  I kept thinking all the way through this heavenly massage, “OMG!  why haven’t I done this sooner??  I SO need this!!!!!”  It was a wake-up call to how I’m feeling mentally and physically these days.  I’m stiff.  I’m sore.  I’m grouchy.  I’m tired.  I’m overwhelmed.  But that’s all going to change.  To confirm what I was thinking, the massage therapist said, “Massage therapy is a gift to your body which awakens your senses to actually hear what your body is trying to tell you about what it needs.”  So true, Sister!  So, I’m heading back to the gym — this week!  I am only going to go twice a week at first.  I will drop the boys off in childcare and try to get on a treadmill or eliptical for 30-45 minutes and work up from there.  I’m so pumped.  I actually asked Thomas if he would want to get his membership renewed and we both took turns in the morning when we got up.  And he actually sounded like he was interested in doing that too.  This could be so huge for both of us.

What else?  Well, my Dad is doing much better and seems to be recovering from the surgery.  There are other things that are making me worried about my parents right now, but truthfully, due to some circumstances over the past couple of weeks, I am also letting that go and detaching.  I’ve realized that I’ve also been out of sync emotionally because I carry the weight of other people’s burdens too much.  Go figure!  Well, now I decidedly do not have the luxury of taking on other people’s problems — even if those other people happen to be related to me.  That is a HUGE step for me!  I hope I can retain this information and keep it secured in my hard head for future recall.  See?  Sometimes the psychologist we need is lying dormant deep within ourselves! lol

Aside from all that, as I said in my earlier post, we bought a minivan a month ago and sold my beloved Mazda 6 last week.  I am officially a soccer Mom.  I thought I’d never say this, but I love my minivan.  It is so roomy and makes going places so much easier.  I never have to worry again about whether or not I will have enough room to bring home groceries from Costco.  Life is good!

Anyway…it’s great to be back on here.  I’m realizing more and more that I need extra help and resources during my week, and taking this tiny little step today and hiring one of my teenage neighbors is a great first step in that direction.  I love being a Mommy (as I’ve said over and over again), but I cannot be a Mommy with no help.  I need some downtime.  I need some me-time.  On that note, here comes trouble.  Gotta lock and load.

Thank you for your kind words of encouragement during these difficult last couple of months.  I’ve needed them!

Take care and enjoy your week!