It's All About ME!!

It's not very often that I just get really selfish and decide everything is going to be about me. It's not really that easy to do when you have four kids anyway. Even when I do want to be selfish, my two year old is more! But today, it was ALL ABOUT ME!

For the last several MONTHS now, we have been going non-stop, run-run-run, go-go-go, and I have barely been able to catch my breath. Everything we have done has been LOADS of fun, and most of it has been with and for the kids and is in some way homeschool related. Also, I have been alternating between homeschooling and church duties at a rate of speed that would make your head swirl!

When I woke up this morning, I was immediately tired just thinking about the non-stop pace of the week ahead of me. Because we do children's church on Sunday mornings, and yesterday was Little Sister's birthday, we barely slowed down long enough to grab a bite to eat. So I never got my day of rest for the week. Which meant, this morning only brought about a tired mama who was dreading the days to come.

I made an executive decision (since I AM the chief executive officer of my homeschool!), and told the kids that we were skipping out on the last 4H meeting of the year. No one was really devastated, which really kind of shocked me. Britches was feeling a bit poorly due to all the lovely pollen we have this time of year in the Deep South, and she really didn't want to go. And Little Man said he didn't really care one way or the other. FABULOUS! So for at least today, the plan was to stay home and REST!

Well, it didn't turn out to be exactly a "rest" day, but it did turn out to be a "relaxing" day. We spent most of the morning outside enjoying the overcast day and the gusty breezes coming through the yard. I sat in my swing with my cup of hot tea in hand, which turned into a second cup of hot tea, and I watched the kids playing on their new hand-me-down trampoline. The weather was so nice.

That started my itch to get out into my garden. So I grabbed the nearest shovel, and I went to work. We stopped for lunch, and it was just in the nick of time, too. The bottom fell right out of the sky, and we had a great downpour. But I already had it in my mind that I was going to get my okra seeds in the ground! Who cares about a little thunderstorm anyway, right? I headed right back out the door as soon as I had finished lunch, prayed that God would hold back the rain for just five minutes, and started putting my seeds in the ground. God must have been looking down at me laughing, because He sent the rains even harder than before! But by golly, my okra is PLANTED!

After lunch, and after the rain had slowed down a bit, Little Sister decided she would like to go outside to try out her new umbrella that she got for her birthday yesterday. She found her pink and black water boots, grabbed her umbrella, and headed out. I figured, I was already wet, so I went out with her to keep working in my garden. All together today, I got all of my tomato seedlings planted, okra seeds and popcorn seeds in the ground, and my basil out of the greenhouse and transplanted into the garden. Also, as I was turning under some of my raised beds with my shovel, I noticed about twenty or so tomato seedlings that had sprouted on their own. I just LOVE it when God shows me up with gardening. He IS, after all, the Master Gardener! So I carefully dug them up and moved them to my tomato bed.

When I was too tired to do any more outside, I brought Little Sister in for a bath, and I headed to clean up as well. After a bit of housework (a VERY LITTLE bit!), I got antsy to go back out to my greenhouse and start some more seeds. A bug destroyed about half of my seedlings a few weeks ago, and I had needed to get out there and replant. So I had some quiet time in my greenhouse doing one of my favorite things - starting seeds.

And then, after supper, all the kids were watching PBS Kids and playing in the school room, so I decided to take advantage of the few moments to myself and jump on my treadmill. I walked and jogged only a mile, but that mile felt GREAT!

All of these things are things I have wanted to do for myself lately. I have longed to be out in my garden, to sneak away to my greenhouse, to sit back with several cups of hot tea, and to start walking on my treadmill again. But because of our terribly hectic schedule these days, I have just put my wants on the back-burner. But not today. Today was ALL ABOUT ME! I did some things that I enjoy doing, but haven't had time to do lately. I did some things that are relaxing to me! I just enjoyed my quiet day at home with my kids. Sometimes, you just really need to recharge, and today did that for me. It was bliss!