December 26th - Many Lives

I love this quote.

Sarah starts today by talking about The Natural. 

I remember reading the book in school, but it was a long time ago.

Basically this guy's life that he had planned goes to crap, 

and his friend says to him

"I believe we have two lives. 

The life we learn with and the life we live after that." 

I totally agree, and yet I think two is limiting.

Have I ever told you about my what my plans for life were?

I was never going to get married because I didn't think anyone would ever love me, so I was going to be a fabulously wealthy physical therapist who had cats and all the neighborhood children would love and adore and come over for cookies.

Well, that plan went to heck when I met Robbie and got married. 

Plan A, not going to happen.

Next I decided that I was going to go to CSUSF to get my DR because I wanted to make something of myself, and Robbie could get a business job in SF easy. Well as I was applying for grad schools, I just kept getting this awful feeling in my gut that I wasn't supposed to apply. Not just to certain schools, I wasn't supposed to apply at all. So I prayed and asked God what He wanted me to do, and he told me. I was supposed to graduate and start making babies. It took me awhile to come around to this new plan, because Plan A hadn't worked, and now Plan B was out the window too. 

Plan C, barefoot and pregnant for literally 2 years, stay home and raise my kids until they're all in school, and then go back and get my doctorate for physical therapy part time. Hopefully by the time they're in high school I can graduate and start working part time. When the kids are all out of the house, on missions, married, going to college, whatever it is, maybe I'll work full time...

Or maybe there will be a new plan.

I learned very early on something that I think everyone needs to learn.

The best plans can be ruined by real life in a single second.

You have to learn to roll with the punches, love and live with what life throws at you because it is going to throw a lot of crap your way, and know that your plans are going to change over and over again. 

That is real life. 

We have many lives to live, and we get to choose which ones to live because we get to choose our attitude about them.  

Please don't despair over plans and lives you can't or haven't lived.

Love the ones you have lived, and the life you're living. 

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Gratitude Journal

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1) Time off from the kids! I love them but oh my goodness I need some uninterrupted sleep and no crying or whining for a day or two.

2)  Projects! Merry Christmas to me! First project up: the laundry room. So much space, so much underused potential, about to be fixed. At least the top half. The bottom half will have to come later. Not enough time, not enough money.

 The cupboards we took out. See the laundry in places it shouldn't be?

 Where the cupboards were, and where we're going to put baskets and a shelf. Eventually, this counter will be a sink with washboard and small counter, with better shelving underneath and a curtain to cover it up.

 

And on this side we're going to have the mother of all shelves, a drying rack on the wall, more shelves, and a better lighting fixture.

 And this is why we're maximizing the space in the laundry room, because this is ridiculous. Laundry has overtaken my house!

 And this is one of the reasons we wanted to do this project when the kids weren't home.

3) Taco night.

4) Little things that I try not to take for granted, like hot water and showers, a washer and dryer so I can do laundry at all hours and with little effort. And take a shower whenever the heck I want. And having a wonderful mother and father. And a very very smart, handy, and loving husband.

5) Christmas cards from my best friend.