All Done, Mom!

Random thoughts today after two days of missing writing:

• Yesterday was filled with one more thing. I finished two wedding dresses--five hours later than intended. With both dresses, I kept finding one more thing to finish: yet another bit of lace to tack down, something loose, something missing, something that needed to be redone, this little bit to reset... It went on for what seemed like forever. Then there was pressing and steaming and bagging and making a drawing for the bustles. Some days are just like that.

• Kara needed Mommy last night. I had been impatient with her earlier in the evening, and I felt badly about it. So later when she wanted to spend time with me before she fell asleep, I couldn't help but do it. I love times like this with my children.

• It's sad to come to the end of a container of Lofthouse cookies. They're so yummy and delicious. Poor last cookie! Best to join your buddies in my tummy.

"All done, Mom!" Mom stares in disbelief at the disaster.

• I'm amazed at some of the messes we create here. In the effort to fold and put away laundry, our clean laundry ending up scattered, sort of folded, all over the living room floor. Not the ideal place, but that's where it was. This picture is after the children said they were all done. I'm also the only one who sees sofa pillows and blankets out of place. Off to the side, and out of the picture, are shin guards and stinky soccer socks dangerously close to the clean laundry. I'm trying; I really am. It's all clean now, thanks to Kris cracking the whip with the kids and helping as they scurried around putting things away.

• We had a chilly weekend where hot cocoa was starting to taste good. We're back to some daytime heat now, but that's waning as September comes to a close. We have 4 actual seasons in Indiana. Some places (looking at you, South Carolina!) have Spring, Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuummer, and Fall. There's no winter.

• Speaking of a close, we're in the middle of closing down my business. As many loose ends as the threads we're always snipping off. The more days we mark off, the more I find to do. I think I have a home for all the big furniture, though.

• The setting sun yesterday was a big ball of red in the sky. Every sunset is different and lovely.

• Walking through poo always stinks, but sometimes that's the only way across the field. Better just get it over with.

• Do it scared. That's a catch-phrase in the business world, but it applies in everyday life. Life is full of choices, some are neutral, others are a choice between right and wrong. Still other choices are between standing up for justice or sitting down, shutting up, and letting whatever will be just happen. Fear is real in those cases, but fears don't have to dictate life.

• How do I ____? Fill in the blank with whatever new, unknown territory you're entering. You just start. Find a starting point, and it may not be the right point, but it helps you see where you need to be next.