Sunk into a Funk but Coming Out

I am home. It is Wednesday night. I arrived Monday morning. I can hardly believe three days have come and gone for me here. I arrived on a high and have sunk into a low... jet-lag sucks. I was really optimistic coming home that I would be untouched by the lag and be able to swing back into life as normal. Maybe that's the issue. Life as normal. "Back to Life, back to Reality"

My full-time job has resumed. House-wife. Mother of two. I will have to pull out my journal from the amazing time away & reflect & remember the moments that spurred desire to return. I was so happy to be coming home to my treasures in life: husband and children. I guess I am missing my hubby since he's working late each night this week and I still have two more full days before the weekend arrives. Ah well... I can handle a week. I can DO it (I mean, it's already more than half over!).

Especially since we have a Christmas tree in the house. Lights manifested themselves last night and the girls decorated as much of the tree as they could reach. It's a bit bottom-heavy. But it's lovely. I do love Christmas trees. Yes. I do. My five year old says to me, "Mama, you're the one who loves trees the most in the whole family, right? Why do you love them so much? Is it cuz they are so beautiful?" How can that NOT cause happiness and smiley goo to just ooze out of me?

And my husband. He is a treasure. I just love him. He is a special treat in my life.

Why am in a funk? Ah - sometimes just to write a reminder to self: life is good.

SCORE!

I fly to Asia in a week. I am somewhat busied in trying finish life here before I go as well as trying to gather all items needed: luggage, warm clothes for Beijing (it's snowing there right now), beach towels for Malaysia (gonna be nice and warm there!), extra memory card for my camera and requested items for my siblings & mother who all live there now.

I was shopping in Target this morning trying to collect as many said requested items as possible before Friday. I told them I probably wouldn't be able to bring everything. Stuff weighs a lot, ya know! Well, I'd like to bring as much as possible. I would love to just shower them with comfy gifts from their former homes. I didn't fare too well in collecting their requests. HOWEVER, I totally scored on something for me and my husband and the kids! I've been searching high and low for some stainless steel water bottles that have a design/color that I actually like and would sport as WELL as a price that I can deal with. SCORE!

I saw them from a distance and thought I would check them out - cuz that's what I do when I see stainless steel water bottles. I check them out. And I 'bout shouted! They are cute. They are each different. And the price... I got these at one fourth of the cost of most all the bottles I've been looking at! Four for the price of one!!! Ah, the little things. I mean come on. I'm writing in my blog about stainless steel water bottles right now. That should show you how serious I am about it. I am THAT excited. Yahoo!!! So I grabbed them and bought them and brought them home. I washed them and filled them with water. And now... Now I drink. ~ Sigh ~

Score.

What's New With You?

Do you ever have so much on your mind that when someone asks "what's up?" or "what's new with you?" that you have no idea where to even start? That happened to me last night. And before I even knew what was going on I was sharing all kinds of tid-bits about my life right now with a stranger... oh brother. It was certainly TMI from my stand point. Ah well... I hope I learned a lesson there. Oh so much to do! And yet I write. Somehow it's a release for me. I wish I had some great story to share right now, some great little tid bit of an experience that wisdom could be gleaned from. Hmmm... I must go create more Christmas cards and tend to the first born child who persists with, "Mommy. Mommy! Momma. Momma. Mommy. Mommy!!!"

Away.

the time goes...

There have been so many things in my mind these days as well as so many things scheduled on my calendar. I leave for China and South East Asia in just over two weeks. Why is there always so much to do when traveling over seas?
I have felt the need to write...

This has been an interesting season for me/for our family. I have one child in preschool two days a week and I'm homeschooling the other one. It has been fun and challenging for reasons that people don't ever guess when I'm answering the questions that come at me. The challenges don't have as much to do with homeschooling itself as they have to do with my own schedule. I am not only teacher (which does mean that I have to make lesson plans and "grade papers" as well as actually do some teaching - heh heh) but I am also a student. And while I AM a student through out this homeschooling journey, I'm not referring to that. I'm actually a student right now! I'm attending the Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry. I love all of it. I love the learning curve. I love the challenge of being student again and having to schedule time to do HOMEWORK my own self. Reading, reading, reading... I also lead one of the student groups within the school. That is a wonderful honor and privilege. And then of course, I'm wife and Momma. And I won't even go into all of that right now. I'm also leading the women's band/worship team at our church. I have weekly meetings as well as weekly rehearsals in addition to our monthly meetings. I'm also part of a very small women's group that meets twice a month. I LOVE this little group - they are such a great sounding board for me and support system. I also decided recently that I should volunteer to create sixty Christmas cards to raise money for the Outreach Center. And then of course I am wife and I am Momma. Nothing that needs to be elaborated upon there. And then I'm planning this trip to Asia for me and my Dad. I'm super excited about that and have had a LOT on my plate with the planning of that trip as well as tying up loose ends for my three family members who live there. Anyway... there are the other things but I don't need to go into any of that either. There have been moments of being completely overwhelmed. Interestingly enough I haven't had many break downs. yahoo! I have just had to spend more time praying, meditating and resting in the presence of the Creator of the Universe.

I don't know all that 2010 will bring. I KNOW there is more to come and I'm looking forward to it, but I'm not going to go into any of that right now. (surprise, surprise) It's time to get back to homework. More reading to do!

Juicy!

I grew up amongst some of the most creative people you could ever meet. Not only are the members of my immediate family extravagantly creative and inventive, so also are the members of my extended family most of whom I have been very close to most of my lifetime. My mother was always creating. And whilst she was creating, she was surrounded by other women who were also always creating and inventing and decorating and reinventing. My father also is incredibly creative and inventive and by trade also was with creative and inventive people. I pretty much grew up under that shadow of brilliant creativity. I knew I was always creative. How could I NOT be? I mean simply by power of association I should have been a creating machine! But somehow I couldn't seem to get my own juices flowing.

Over the last few years it has really started to bother me. Once upon a time I thought perhaps I would love to create greeting cards. That didn't really go anywhere except into my boxes full of card stock, snip-its, scribbles, buttons and sequins and magazine clippings... you get the idea, no?

Last month I received an invitation to decorate Christmas cards in order to raise money for the Outreach Pantry at the church we attend. I volunteered under the guise that my kids would be decorating the cards. I sat down and created 20 cards in a weekend. I didn't allow my kids to touch them. It all came right after Jeff Crabtree came to JCC to speak to us about creativity and pray for us "creatives" to get unstuck and to get our juices flowing. So to speak. Eventually I pulled out additional card stock for my kids and we all went at it with glue and glitter and stickers and, and, and... it was a lot of fun and I have since asked if I could make even more cards to sell for the Pantry. I think I might have got unstuck... at the very least, inspired! YAY!!!