Our lives are in need of complete overhaul. Really.

Most days it seems that my life exists in little piles, spread all over the house, spread all over the city. I try to keep some sense of order to the chaos but in this phase of life with three children under seven, 30 college students in and out all week long, a long-term house guest and all the many other carting and shopping and maintaining we do, it’s just not realistic that my life will be anything other than piles of mess. Bills to pay, paperwork to turn in, paperwork to file, toys to put away, laundry to wash, clothes to fold, clothes to put away, things borrowed to be returned…and when any of those piles gets taken care of my children are there to quickly return it to its former glory.

I’ve spent the last two days trying to make some sense out of the disarray of my son’s room. Now if it wasn’t such hard work to teach a five year old to put things back where they go. Or to teach him where they go in the first place.

It sure would make life easier.

Here’s a novel idea: Use my writing time to actually WRITE, rather than click. Anyone ever heard of that? How does that work exactly? Do you think it’s something I should try? 🙂

Okay, I might make it after all. For those of you who tuned in a few days ago, you’ll remember that I was moaning about my marathon training and worried whether or not I had it in me to finish this time. It was hard. And it *is* hot here. I was unsure.

Today was a good day… 13 miles, baby! In the heat. With quick stops only for water. I’m still veeeeery slow but I am okay with that. Slow is good. Slow means I won’t burn out, hit the wall, have a coronary. Slow means I will finish the marathon. 11 weeks to go and several more long (and longer and longer) runs but my legs held me up today and I’m feeling good.

Next up. Writing on my mg novel. Whooo-hooo!

If I must grow older
with each passing year,
as youth and display disappear,
as outward beauty dissipates,
and faster time anticipates
I’m privileged
to walk with you,
to share this dream of days with you,
to hope
and play
and bless anew
another year I hold with you.

Ariel

Which DISNEY character are you most like?
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Urg. Training for this marathon has become incredibly difficult with the 90 degree F days we’ve been having. It’s just incredibly difficult to keep moving forward for a 2 hour long run in this kind of heat. I feel like I’m getting behind but I’m not willing to worry yet. I’m still hanging on by a thread with my training and enough time to finish several more long, long runs before the marathon in January.

And writing….? Urg. 🙂 Same deal. I’m just not producing much right now. I want to say it’s a season of filling my wells, just like this marathon training is, but I’m in one of those places where I am unsure I’ve got it in me. I’ve got plently of stories in me but can I get them out?

No, I’m not worried about either one of those things. But I am unsure.

I’ll just keep plodding foward unsure-edly.

 

From   and those before her:

 

Here are the rules:
1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions.
5. Don’t search around and look for the coolest book you can find. Do what’s actually next to you.

Hmm. Well this should be interesting. The nearest book was the dictionary, so I went and got the most recent one I had been reading. I know. Not exactly by the rules. (But I couldn’t bring myself to admit that when I went to my bookshelf to blindly choose a book, the one in my hands was Nicholas Sparks’ A Walk to Remember…)

From Soul Survivor: How Thirteen Unlikely Mentors Helped My Faith Survive the Chuch by Philip Yancey…Page 123, Chapter 6, Leo Tolstoy and Feodor Dostoevsky

     “As I look back now on the cloister of Southern fundamentalism in which I grew up, I wonder if perhaps I suffered from a narcissistic disorder.”

Interesting. Aren’t we all narcissists?

Fascinating book, by the way. Don’t let the quote above throw you off. The man is an incredibly intelligent, honest human being with thought-provoking insights into his soul.

 

On one of the writer’s boards I frequent, someone started a thread about what happens if you google your own name plus the word “needs” which in my case would be “Kristy needs”. Here are my results along with my comments about the trueness or falsity of the statements.

1. Kristy needs the help of the Babysitters Club. (True. I mean, what woman with 3 children couldn’t use a whole CLUB devoted to babysitting.)

2. Kristy needs Scott for something. (False. Kristy already has her husband, D., for all the many things she needs.)

3. Kristy needs to get used to the idea. (Hmm, difficult to determine. Depends on what “the idea” is. If the idea is a weekend away with my husband, then it won’t take much getting used to.)

4. Kristy needs 15 hours in the dental chair. (False.   can attest to my dental health. She was awestruck, I tell ya.)

5. Kristy needs to know what is a good time. (False. Trust me. Kristy knows. She already knows.)

6. Kristy needs a nap right now. (True. Did I mention that I have 3 children?)

7. Kristy needs to write more.(Does writing in LJ count?)

8. Kristy needs all the help she can get. (True. I’m willing to admit I’m not an island.)

9. Kristy needs to learn a few new tricks. (Definitely not. I’ve already got them all up my sleeve and waiting.)

10. Kristy needs to earn some money. (Well, whether it’s true or not, it sure would be nice.)

11. Kristy needs tickets for Rascal Flatts. (Hmm, I do sort of get emotional over that “Broken Road” song.)

12. Kristy still needs special care. Expensive care. ( Hee hee. Well, I agree with that one!.)

Let’s call it all the things it’s not up front and center. It’s not
productive, constructive, practical or fast. I’ll even go so far as to say it’s not particularly wise. It’s not the shortest path between two points.

It is the stop and smell a rose or two philosophy. A seize the day (or rather, seize the moment and then that moment and then the next moment that whistles for attention) mentality. A fractured mind, a disjointed absorption. It is throwing yourself into whatever is in front of you with complete abandon and then, seeing something else that brings you joy and deciding you should dabble in that for a while.

I will not post my unfinished WIP list. It would depress you. But for me, it means excitement. Always something to work on. Always something that whistles for my attention. Maybe it just means I will end up with many finished projects at about the same time. Ah, the meandering mind wishes…

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