Me, Myself and Mommy

Today I am grateful for productive mornings. I haven’t been particularly productive this morning, but somehow even though I wanted to sleep until tomorrow morning I managed to peel my stiff self out of bed and start my day. I have managed to make Mo breakfast, unpack two boxes, start laundry, sort through some papers, straighten up and now I am sitting here watching a movie with Mo and talking to you.

Now, I haven’t cleaned the house top-to-bottom or finished unpacking every single box, so you morning folks are dancing circles around me. Morning folks, you amaze me, how do you do it?

When I am able to get up early(ish) and accomplish things in the morning, my entire day is filled with productivity. It’s perpetual. I am thankful when I have productive mornings because it’s really hard to be grumpy and have a  bad when it’s not even 9:00AM and you can cross several things off of your day’s to-do list. Productive mornings make me feel like I am in control of making great things happen in my life and for that I am truly grateful.

Today I am grateful for surprises. It is not often that I am surprised; not much gets past me. I am a sharp cookie, so when someone manages to surprise me, I am both grateful and impressed.

Today started off as what appeared a normal day for me. Little did I know that my entire day was nothing but smoke and mirrors. I was buzzing around work trying to wrap up as much as possible before my last day, having no idea that everyone around me was sneaking around right in front of my face planning a surprise going away party. I suspected nothing.

When I walked into what I thought was a client meeting, I was shocked to see my entire staff, a few close clients and my daughter waiting on me. What on earth? How did they pull this off? How did all of this food make it out of the kitchen without me noticing it? How did they know to use purple? I was totally surprised! I suspected nothing. It wasn’t until after the shock and tears wore off that I started to piece together everything that was going on right in front of my face. It was like the surprise ending at the end of the movie, and after the movie you go, “ohhhh that makes sense now.”

I am very thankful for the time and energy that everyone put into pulling off such a wonderful surprise to make me feel special during my last week of work. Had I known it was coming, I would have been an emotional wreck all day. I am deeply grateful that I did not arrive at my going away party with a puffy face, and I am even more grateful that someone was finally able to truly surprise me, especially with how many people were involved.

Today I am grateful for the energy and positivity of young children. This video says it all…

P.S. This post is in honor of Steve (who I am also grateful for today) on Father’s Day. He ran across this video online one day, and fell in love with it. When he gave Moanna her baby blessing, one of the things he emphasized was how important her positive energy would be. He told her that her positive energy would influence others and bring sunshine into their lives.

Happy Father’s Day!

Today I am grateful for three day weekends. Most weeks I am lucky to get two days off a week; it’s a real treat when those two days off are in a row. When three day weekends roll around, I am ecstatic.

I personally believe that three day weekends should be mandatory. Two days, let alone one day, is not enough time to rest and relax, get chores and errands done and have fun. Some people manage to pull off all three in a day or two, but I do not have that kind of stamina. I need one day to rest, one day to do chores and errands and one day to have fun. When the rare three day pops up, I am giddy because that is how much time I need to have a “real” weekend.

Because I had to work on Saturday, my Memorial Day Weekend began on Sunday and will continue through tomorrow. And, even though I have been quite sick I have been able to rest, relax and have a little fun. Tomorrow I hope to accomplish a few things on my chore and errand list to make it a complete weekend.

Three day weekends allow me to visit family and friends. They give me a fighting chance at catching up on my responsibilities outside of work. Most of all, they give me the opportunity to recenter myself and refocus and that is why I am deeply grateful for three day weekends.

Today I am grateful for my church calling as the Relief Society Secretary of my ward. I was called as the secretary back in the beginning of December, and it has taken me until just now to be truly grateful for the job. If it were not for my calling, I can promise you I would not be attending church every Sunday.

Just a few weeks after receiving my calling, I had barely gotten my feet wet, Steve began traveling for work. After Moanna and I went to church without Steve for the first time, I wasn’t sure if I could do it again. In addition to the normal Sunday routine of getting dressed, getting to church semi-on-time, bribing Moanna to be good, taking her potty, taking her to nursery, picking her up from nursery, I also had a list of RS responsibilties that I had to take care of. I had to be at church early to make copies of handouts and talks, while Moanna was tearing up the church library. I had to make sure the roster was handed out and updated. I had to collect information at the end of church while Moanna ran down the halls.

At first, I was really frustrated with the situation. I had just been given a huge responsibility on top of everything else I have to accomplish in a week, and My husband, who by the way agreed to help and support me in this calling, was traveling for work everyweekend, leaving me to handle it all on my own. I already work 60+ hours a week, why did my one day off turn into another day of work?

I spent week after week on the verge of tears setting in the church peu because I felt like I was failing at everything. I couldn’t keep my child in line during church, I wasn’t doing my calling justice, and I was so exhausted that it was hard for me to feel the Spirit. After several months of the circus act that had become my Sunday, I finally realized why God called me to be the RS secretary. If my calling didn’t require me to attend church every Sunday (a once a month teaching calling wouldn’t have been enough), I probably wouldn’t have gone to church.

The Lord knew that it would be really hard on me for Steve to be out of town, especially on Sundays. On Sundays, it would be so much easier for me to stay home and rest, catch up on house work, forgo the fight to get Mo in a dress, to get dressed myself. If I didn’t “have” to go to church, if people were not depending on me to be there every Sunday, I would be skipping church on a regular basis. I am extremely grateful for my church calling, and thankful that it has kept Moanna and I in the routine of going to church while Steve is on the road.