My (New & Improved) "To Do" List

"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately,

to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, 

and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived."

~ Henry David Thoreau ~

As I sat in a small group counseling session last night, I was reminded, once again, of how fragile life is -- how quickly any one of us can be gone.  So, today I am giving a lot of thought to the briefness of my time here and how important it is for me to make the best of what I have, rather than focus on what I don't have.
This has been brought to my attention several times recently, and I wonder if there isn't some reason I need to take the time to reflect on it......

Last April, I learned of the sudden death of a woman I had briefly known.  She was a mother of two children (11 & 14).  For a short period of time, she was my hairdresser.  From what I have learned, she was awakened one morning by a heart attack.  Her husband was already gone for work.  Her children did what they could (I can only imagine their terror).  She did not survive.  She was 47 years old -- alive one day, gone the next with no warning.  Now every time I drive by  her house I am reminded.

Where Does the Time Go?

I cannot believe three months have passed since I've sat down and written anything here!  Where does the time go?  I'm honestly wondering if I can even remember how to use all the features of this blog site.  I first set this up in the spring and spent so many hours trying to figure it all out.  Now so much time has passed, I hope I can remember what I'm doing on here.

The summer is basically over at this point.  We had a wonderful time in Canada and, as with last summer, beautiful weather almost the entire three weeks.  I will post something about our trip soon.  Right now, though, my mind is on adjusting to our new fall schedule and routines.  For the first time since I've opened my home daycare, I have a full time child here in addition to my own two children.  Up until now I have only accepted before/after school children and the occasional younger child for a few hours here and there.  This is a huge change for me.  So far, things have been going okay.  The little boy is nice and, overall, well-behaved.  I think, however, the honeymoon period is beginning to wear off.  Little things are starting to annoy me, and day after day of not having "me" time is beginning to wear me down.

My weekday evenings are also slowly filling up with other activities and obligations that I hope don't become too overwhelming.  At the same time that I am looking forward to it, I am dreading the day my tutoring assignment begins, as it will fill up two of my evenings each week.  It is wonderful to get out of the house and be teaching, but sometimes (especially in the middle of winter) it is difficult to make myself get up and get out.  Knowing I am bringing in some much-needed extra income does help, though.

The newest change this fall is that our first born is starting preschool!  Here he was on his very first day:

I am very excited for him to be entering into this phase of his life, but it's also another small sign that he is slowly growing up and becoming more independent.  So far, he has adjusted well and loves going to his new school!

Soon it will be his sister's turn to begin as well (this time next year, actually).  But, well, I'll just not think about that right now....

My Lifelong Love of Dance

This weekend I danced in my first recital in 10 years, and it felt great!  I started a tap class last fall at a new dancing school after having been on a dancing hiatus for over four years.  I was a little nervous at first, not knowing whether or not I was still going to be able to keep up in an advanced tap class, but the ladies in my class were very welcoming.  I definitely felt a little "rusty" at first.  However, over the first few weeks, things slowly started to come back.  I realized that I still have difficulty sometimes remembering the names of certain steps, but not the steps themselves.

We did this tap dance to a song called "Work Me Down" with an 80's workout theme.  I'm sure you can tell by my brightly colored costume there!  There were times throughout the fall and winter when I was unsure whether or not I really wanted to go through with the stage performance.  I mean, dancing in class is one thing -- dancing on stage in front of an audience is another.  Now, after this weekend, and how great I felt after the three performances, I can't believe I even doubted for a minute whether or not to be in the show!  I am so glad I decided to go ahead and do it!

I first began dancing when I was four years old -- a full year before I even began regular school.  My mother enrolled my sister and me in what she believed was the best dance studio within driving distance.  Still, the studio was 30 minute drive from our home which is further than I think most parents would be willing to drive on a regular basis.  It was also located in the same city as where my grandparents and great-grandmother lived.at the time, which made it a little more convenient, I suppose.

A Trip Down Memory Lane

So, the other day my 3 year old son discovered my old dollhouse in the basement: 

Well, that's actually not completely true.  My husband had taken in down from a high shelf in the basement a while back and put it on the floor one day for our son to play with while he was working out.  The house didn't have any of its accessories with it.  Those were packed away separately.  Until a few days ago, our son was just using some of his Fisher Price Little People to play with it whenever he happened to be down there with one of us.  Our basement isn't really finished, but we do have a carpet on the floor and our exercise equipment.  He is typically only down there when one of us wants to exercise and keep an eye on him at the same time.  Our 2 year old daughter is rarely down there, as she isn't quite old enough to keep herself out of trouble yet.

Feeling Good

Feeling quite good today due to all the various tasks I've been able to complete.  Though my "To Do" list is never quite done, I've managed to do a few things on the list; and that always makes me feel pretty good.  We are having the best of what spring has to offer, as far as the weather goes.  I know this has a lot to do with my overall state-of-mind.

Here are some things I did today:

• I washed our sheets and comforter (which I'm embarrassed to say how long it's been since I've washed THAT) and hung them out on the clothesline to dry.  
• I also was able to vacuum out my car today, which included removing and cleaning two car seats and all the "gunk" in, under, and surrounding them.  I'm always amazed at the amount of food items I discover when cleaning out the car -- lots of stale "goldfish" crackers, raisins, fruit snacks, and even some gum!
• I managed to fit in about 30 minutes of exercise -- about 10 minutes of weight lifting and about 20 minutes of cardio.  While exercising, I also finished watching "Dirty Dancing" which I haven't watched in years -- in fact, my copy is a VHS tape!
• I completed a bunch of tutoring-related paperwork too.  Last night I completed all my tutoring hours and said good-bye to the family I have been working with since November.  They've been a good family to work with, and I hope I'll have a chance to work with them again next year.  I know some other tutors who haven't been so lucky.
• I did some work on my hexagon quilt.  I'm currently making more muslin hexagons.  I'm getting near the end of that particular task.  I currently have 734 made out of a total 864 that I need -- coming down the home stretch!
• In addition to all that, I took care of my 3 and 2 year old children, another 2 year old for 3 1/2 hours, and a K, 3rd and 5th grader after school for a few more hours.

All in all, I'd say it's been a pretty productive day!  I'm missing my husband though.  He worked all day and is now at a track meet that will keep him away from home until probably 10:00pm.  Once the last daycare child is picked up, I will be taking the kids and heading over to my in-laws for some take-out dinner.  I'm looking forward to some "adult" company this evening!

Beautiful Moments

It finally feels like spring is really here.  There's just this change that seems to take place once the outside temperature reaches above 68.  Add a little sunshine, and, for me, it is transformative!  The grass is green, the leaves on the trees are ready to burst, the daffodils are in bloom, and the birds are singing.

Yesterday morning my husband and I took our children for a walk at a nature preserve that we visit frequently.  It's a beautiful place -- with all different types of environments for the kids to be surrounded by and observe.  It is even more magical at this time of year, when we can see the world coming alive again before our very eyes.  And there, for the first time, our children held hands while walking along the path.  Our daughter called out to her big brother "hold hands!" and put her hand in his.  He readily obliged.  How I wished I had my camera to capture that moment forever!

Here are a few pictures of a time when I DID have my camera along with us.  This was back last June (2010).  My, how they've grown since then!