Forgotten

Isn't it crazy how one moment can be so sweet and blissful and the next a hurried craziness. Well, that is what happened to me this morning. Ian had come and climbed in my bed for some of my favorite "snuggle" time that doesn't happen very often now the "he's a whole hand." (He's five.) Anyway, I was laying there snuggling with my baby and he begins his normal morning routine: Ian - "Do we have anywhere we have to go today." Mom - "Well, let's think about what today is, yesterday was Wednesday, tomorrow is Friday, so today is..." Ian- "Thursday, oh I love Thursdays, we don't have to go anywhere." Mom- "Nope, Thursday is our we get to stay home an catch up on all our work from being gone earlier in the week day." Now, keep in mind that Owen had strep throat earlier in the week, everyone has been plagued with an allergy or cold of some kind and I felt very far behind. Everyone was finally feeling better and I was looking forward to all I could accomplish today. We continued to snuggle as I began to thank God for all my blessings. As we were contently lying there - my eyes flung open and looked at the clock : 8:15. Oh my, today is Thursday, I have to test on Thursday! Now for those of you who don't know, I have administered one of the state approved achievement test to home schooled students for almost 7 years (really 6 1/2 if you don't count those first few guinea pigs that first year), and for some reason last night, this morning, whenever the break down occurred, I FORGOT that I had a test coming this morning. Now, I don't do crazy cleaning before a test but I do try to make sure the toys are picked up, the shoes are moved from the doorway, etc. However, last night it never crossed my mind. So, this morning I am in a panic thinking "What does downstairs even look like." "Are the dishes done, can you even see my testing table (my testing table often looks a lot like my desk when I was teaching), etc, etc, etc.) Ian is giving me this "what has happened, have you gone mad" look. I get up start ranting and raving about my forgetfulness. I run to get the other kids (really mainly Emily) to help me straighten up. She is calmly, quietly sitting on the couch in the TV room reading a school book. Alexa is sitting quietly beside her on the couch. I come in a panic, you've got to help me. I need this and this and this and I have to get in shower. She sweetly smiles and the girls head downstairs. By this time it is 8:25 and I am in the shower having an anxiety attack about whether my testing student will show up early. I am a 9:00 kind of tester, not 8:45, not 8:55 - 9:00! I have had some students come as much as 30 minutes early. I quickly get out of the shower, get dressed and run downstairs. It's 8:45 the downstairs is straight, the shoes are gone, there are no dishes (Thanks to Ryan, my wonderful, faithful, diligent husband, who so sweetly does the dishes each and every night - even when I don't cook.), the counter is still covered with clutter but oh well, Emily says "I didn't have to do anything, it was already like this." Huge sigh of relief, the girls made sure the bathroom what ready for guests, had their breakfast and went back on upstairs. Owen slept through it all. Every lesson I have to learn in life always comes down to the fact of control. I like to control everything. I know I can't, I know it's not healthy, I know it is impossible, still I struggle for control. Even control over the things in which I have absolutely no control over - like losing my mind and forgetting things!

All my life

In all of my life I have never been an office worker. In high school, I worked at Taco Bell, Brendle's (anybody even remember that store), and a variety of restaurants. Ryan, on the other hand, other than a high school stint at Food Lion in the produce department, has always worked in an office. In college, he worked at the office of Alumni affairs, I worked at Mama Loo's Chinese Kitchen. During summer breaks he worked at Revlon in the accounting department. Me, I worked at Chico's Mexican Restaurant and Bar. After college - guess where Ryan went - to an accounting office in Hendersonville. Me, I went to a classroom full of energetic, needy, loving children who would appreciate my over-the-top mentality. My classroom was colorful, inviting, and messy. You couldn't even really see my desk and for the first several months I didn't even have a chair for it. It didn't matter when I actually got one because I was rarely in it. What I think funny about all of this is I had no idea of how God was preparing me for my future life. He knew I was going to need more time in a kitchen and less time in an office. He knew Ryan was going to have to be very good and efficient in an office in order to be our only income. However, some days I long for an "office." I refuse to check the "unemployed" box on questionnaires. Granted, I may not have much reportable income but I can assure you I definitely have a "job!" So, I decided to start a blog just to share some of the things I do (or don't do) in my "office." Who would have thought my office would turn out to be ten times the size of Ryan's!? :)