If The Big Stuff is Too Big, May I Please Sweat The Small Stuff?

Okay, so during those periods in your life when you feel completely overwhelmed, (don’t anyone try to pretend you’ve never experienced something like that!) you know how sometimes you just can’t handle all the big stuff? Right now I’ve got a list that is literally pages long of things that I think we need to do to get the house ready to list. And I talked to our realtor yesterday and he is of the opinion that we should probably paint the house, too. (For those of you who may have forgotten, I live in Nebraska. And it’s January. Yeah.) There are curtain rods to hang, trim to paint, carpets to clean, a vanity to install, carpet to lay…I am literally starting to freak out just thinking about it!

There are also a few very insignificant things that I’m working on right now that are small. Small enough that I can possibly get them done. Maybe – dare I say it – check them off a list? Those are the things that I am choosing to obsess over right now. It’s driving Mr. Bug nuts. He doesn’t understand how I can focus so much on waiting for an email from someone in particular or trying to come up with the perfect snack idea for my daughter’s Star Day at preschool. Why not focus on some of the things that actually need my attention?

The answer is, simply, that I cannot focus on those big things because I am physically, mentally, and emotionally incapable of dealing with them right now. If I think about the closets that need cleaned, walls that need painted, tile that needs laid…oh, sorry. I think I blacked out for a second there.

So I will continue, at least for the time being, to focus on somewhat meaningless tasks and projects until my backup arrives. This will hopefully come in the form of my older sister who will drive me insane bossing me around for the few days she’s here but will inevitably leave my to-do list quite a bit shorter.  She’s a ‘gitter-doner’ as we’ve affectionately nick-named her. Other people may use terms like bossy or controlling, but we feel our term casts her in a much more positive light. : )

I can’t post any pictures of the projects I’m working on right now because the blogging site is being weird, but I’ll give you updates as I’m able. I’m considering putting a coat of paint on my front door during naptime today since that’s a manageable project and I probably won’t get another 46 degree day for a while. That will need done eventually anyway, right?

The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band

First of all, I have to say that I’m completely shocked that I’ve gotten a couple dozen hits overnight since I posted on FB about starting a blog! Thank you everyone! I’ll tell you right now that I’m not at all sure what I’ll be writing about on here except that it might not always be funny or terribly interesting, but it will be straight from my somewhat muddled brain. : )

As I sit here writing this, my girls are running around pretending to be the characters of Alice and Mr. Carder from the movie The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band from 1968. Why on earth have they seen a movie that was around 15 years before their mother was even born you ask? Well, the answer is simple. It’s just good. There’s singing, dancing, fun outfits—everything a little girl needs to truly enjoy a movie. And there are no scary parts, no swearing, no questionable moral situations that I can think of. Just good clean fun. Not to mention the fact that it stars a young Leslie Ann Warren, John Davidson, Goldie Hawn, and Kurt Russell. Buddy Ebsen and Walter Brennan just make it even better!

Miss Eden was trying to describe a part of the movie to me the other day and talking about “the soowee song.” I had absolutely no idea what she was talking about! (Isn’t it funny the connections that little minds make that we, as grown-ups, are incapable of following?) Well, it turns out that she was talking about the song ‘West Of The Wide Missouri,’ which is our favorite part of the movie. There’s great dancing and Goldie Hawn even shows up to take part in the dance-off. You can watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mz-Ub2Ci7v0

Here is the video of our other favorite song. The girls are constantly walking around singing “’bout time, ‘bout time…” We have fun with it. : ) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWVaQsuweyE&NR=1

If you feel so inclined, take a minute and leave a message with some of your favorite movies from childhood. I’m always looking for great old movies to share with the girls!

Living Each Day

Sometimes it’s hard to remember to simply enjoy each and every day. I’m the type of person that gets so focused on things that I need to do that I get overwhelmed and just shut down. It seems like I’ve got so much going on right now that I have to move at a frantic speed to keep up with things, when really I think that I could slow down a bit. I mean, if I spent less time spinning around wondering where to start and just got started, wouldn’t I make more progress?

I’m not entirely certain I’m making any sense (I’m pretty sure I only make sense about 70% of the time) but I’m trying hard to sort out my mind. I think God may have made my mind a special kind of weird so that it might never completely be sorted out! : )

Mr. Bug and I have decided to start getting our house ready to sell, hopefully in the spring. For anyone who’s ever tried or thought about trying or known someone who’s thought about trying to sell a house—it’s stressful! I, of course, want to talk about it all the time because I’m thinking about it all the time (one of the characteristics of my ‘special kind of weird’) but poor sweet hubby just can’t handle that. So I’m settling for trying to take baby steps to do what I can to get things ready.

My contributions have been small so far since I’m about 7 months pregnant—with a boy, by the way!—and Mr. Bug is having to do pretty much all of the things that need done around the house. There are some pretty big jobs, too! I’m excited though to get it all done and show it off. I think it’s funny that my house will look its’ best (hopefully) right before someone else takes it over! The house has a lot of potential, and I think I’m getting more and more confident in my personal taste and style so I’m having a lot of fun with it. : )

I leave you with a picture of my closet that I’m very proud of. I spent an entire morning cleaning out two plastic totes full of clothes and organizing what’s left in there. I was pretty happy with the finished product! I made a curtain to cover the closet a couple days later. I mean, just because the closet looks good doesn’t mean I want to see it all the time, right? : )