Babies, Brownies and Blessings

Many years ago I said goodbye to my grandparents. All but one left this earth before I was a parent, the last just shortly after. How I wish my children could have known them. There is always a sadness when our loved ones are taken too soon...I, however, was blessed with a new wonderful grandpa, one my children got to know. I married into a family that boasted more longevity than my own. And I said hello to Grandpa Ralph. One of the great things about G'pa Ralph that eased that ache in my soul was that his manner was familiar. He reminded me of my grandpas. Few words but big, back-pounding hugs. His "oh yep, uh huh, sure" was a sufficient response to most questions. Quiet faith. He had a belly laugh that was music to the ears and a commanding presence. And in the end, his stoic demeanor spoke of the quiet inner strength in the midst of the unknown. I had the privilege of helping care for him in the last few weeks, stopping in here and there to change a d...

It's the middle of the night and my man's wacky schedule (and his need to share his sleeplessness with me) has me a wake, hopefully not for long. My brain is full with thought of all the changes this time of year brings. BigBoy #1 finished his last day of Kindergarten! It is truly surprising how quickly the year has gone and overall how well he did. The day was bittersweet for him and he said when he got home that he doesn't like weekends when there's no school after them. :) Nevermind that just yesterday he was fussing about wanting to stay home and play! But it's good for him to be left wanting more and looking forward to 1st grade. And a guinea pig. Yep, for real, he is pining after a guinea pig in the worst way. Being our single-track minded child he has a hard time thinking about anything else when he has something on his mind and right now that's a furry rat-pig. We're talking about it but teaching him to wait for things AND save his money so...

On the heels of my last post about feeling overwhelmed and behind I started thinking of ways to get un-behind ahead at home. About the same time came a good-natured prompting from my husband to do as I challenged all of us to do in Facebook Inferior  and give up FB for a week or two. I wonder if the combination of less time on FB and a more focused plan will result in a cleaner, happier, more-organized Dickman household??? I'm sure going to give it a shot. There are so many cleaning plans and experts out there and I'm NOT pretending to be one. A few years ago I read the FlyLady's book Sink Reflections and got some great tips on how to keep out clutter and cut cleaning into bite-sized chunks. I followed the plan religiously for a while and did enjoy the benefits. It encourages you to get rid of the things you don't need (either toss or donate) and to clean up "hotspots" for junk like the junk drawer (or room, if you're like some of us), coffee tabl...

This is how I'm feeling these days. Can you relate? If I were to take the time to look back over my blogs I would guess there are more than a couple on this same topic. It's a frequent plight of mine...of yours...right? Instead of papers piling up, or rather along with papers piling up, add mountains of laundry, dirty dishes, messy floors, toys askew, closets stuffed, store-rooms jammed, vehicles full of this and that. Not to mention that little one (or 3 or 4) pulling on you, interrupting you just when you got into the groove. Need I go on? You get my drift, you have a list of your own. The issue isn't always time. The fact remains that we all have the same amount of time. We get to make choices each day, each hour. My biggest struggles? Lack of motivation and difficulty with time management. Time to get back to writing a to-do list because there's nothing better than checking them off, one by one! I also need to get my butt in gear and start worki...

This holiday weekend we are staying in town. No big plans, a few get-togethers and a 12 hour shift at work stuck in there. Today is a day full of nothing and I'm finding it...challenging. Wouldn't you agree it's easier to keep busy sometimes? The day started all too soon, before the 6am hour and I have already perused the internet and picked the brains of my friends to see if they have any ideas of what we should go do. I've contemplated a hotel away, the science museum, indoor playground (did I mention it's been raining all morning?). As I was looking into plans my husband wisely commented that we need a day like this. A day full of nothing. Let the kids get bored and see what they decide to do. Turns out, he was right as usual...a day of games and legos, wrestling and biking. (now if only I can find a way to fit in a nap, the perfect culmination to a nothing kind of day)

Wow, thank you to all who read, commented and shared Facebook Inferior. I love to hear your thoughts and methods, why you post what you do and how you feel about social media in general. As one commenter said, it turns out we are not alone AND more importantly we are all more similar than any of us realize. Both in marriage and other relationships I'm finding out that if I'm feeling something, chances are the other person is, too. My kids are naughty, my husband isn't perfect (but pretty darn close, right, Honey??), my job stresses me out, JUST LIKE YOUR'S! Isn't that comforting? It means that we really are in this together. We are not in competition, we are meant to complement one another. When we keep things like FB in their correct place in our lives they can be so enjoyable. I love seeing my friends' kids grow up, hear what's happening in their lives and know when they need extra prayers. I'm trying to learn to celebrate the differences and...

Never before has it been easier to compare our inadequacies with the accomplishments of others. With the click of a mouse suddenly we are inundated with glowing snipets of achievements, family vacations, daily outings, darling sayings or pictures of a "friend's" child. So and so is a model, whomever just got the job offer of a lifetime, that person just had their seventh child and somehow their other six children are perfect angels. Over and over in the last few weeks I've heard from friends and family how hard it is to feel content when they constantly feel they aren't measuring up...at least compared with the "lives" of their friends on Facebook (FB). Before I go further, I am NOT saying FB is bad, wrong, or any other thing. It simply allows us to be privy to information we used to only get at class reunions or at an annual outing, or never! Many of us are friends with people on FB who are more aquaintances than anything (or sometimes perfect st...