State of Things

Medical condition first:

I feel...okay. Not bad, but not normal. Just uncomfortable enough to keep me from being totally relaxed. Pretty sure that I am creating a fair amount of my own problems by overcompensating with other muscles, and now that those muscles are starting to get sore, everything feels out of kilter. Anyway, back to work tomorrow and we'll see if having other things to think about helps the situation.

The good news is: Had a very productive weekend. Got all the laundry in the whole house done. Did not eat a single meal out. Finished 9 videos and was able to page through my iPod for future possible music selections (this is a serious concern - I am starting to run out of useful music for these videos). Steph caught up on grading. Straightened up the downstairs several times to keep it in decent shape. Steph even cleaned up the bedroom a little bit, too.

State of the family?

Things are tough. It's a good thing we've got a solid foundation of love all around, because this pace is a killer. I've been telling people, it's not chaos, it's not running like mad from place to place, but it IS constant motion. There's never enough time for everything, and something or someone always gets shortchanged. I think we're coming to the realization that we just need to try to rotate around as much as possible so that the same things and/or people are not always the ones getting the short end of the stick. Fact is, sometimes you have to be a bad employee so you can be a good parent, and sometimes you just have to get work done and let the kids watch more tv than you really want to. AND sometimes you just have to let the whole thing go for a few minutes or a few hours so that you can remind yourself that you're still human.

So we're plugging along, doing our best to keep our heads above water. As I said, things are tough, but we're doing fine. And I know we're okay, because I still regularly have those moments when I look at one of the kids and am overwhelmed by what a blessing they are. Faith trying to read words now, Mari doing the Apple Tree poem, Robby's freakishly cute smile, Hannah blowing raspberries...it is still mind-blowing how lucky we are and how amazing our kids are.

Busy week ahead, preparing for our first weekend out in the travel trailer. Should be a lot of fun, and should have some great pics when it's all said and done.

Thanks for sticking with us - hope everyone enjoys the new vids.

Matt