Simplify?

When did CRAZY become the everyday routine in our lives? I keep waiting for those free moments of down time when I can blog, take my online digi scrapbooking classes, deep clean my house, relax. Just a few short months ago I remember thinking, "Wow, things are pretty smooth going around here. The house is staying clean, I'm not overbooked, life is good." Now I feel like I am running around with so much to do that nothing is getting done.

I know lots of people feel this way. I have seen several blogs about simplifying our lives. I know about simplifying and finding moderation in the things we do. But every once and a while the few "simple" things all seem to pile up on the same few weeks.

On January 20th Branson started throwing up. And then he started having severe diarrhea The vomiting continued off and on again until a trip to the ER and a dose of medicine on March 3rd. And yes there were three trips to the doctor before the hospital visit, trying to diagnose his symptoms. I'll spare the boring details...we are still working it out and the diarrhea continues, but after seeing an allergy doctor (and finding that he has no allergies just really bad eczema) we are making some progress. I guess he has a ton of unusual bacteria in his nasal cavity and sinuses that can drain into the stomach and cause his problems.

So all this would be fine for a stay at home mom. I can handle sudden bouts of vomiting and diarrhea but like I mentioned earlier, if you add that to the other things in your life it can get a bit crazy.

After years of "living" at my kids elementary school as PTO president I simplified my life and I do one thing a year for the school. I put on the week long trash-to-treasure book fair and it really does require that I am there all week long during school hours. Branson's cranky "I don't feel good" attitude and frequent trips to the restroom for a diaper change didn't mesh well with quiet library time. I am forever indebted to my mom and cousin Rachel who took him for days on end and for everyone else who helped me out that week. (It was so insane that it's all a blur and I know I am forgetting to mention someone else who helped me out big time, forgive me)

So the wee hours of the morning on Tuesday was spent in the ER. I got 1 hour and 45 minutes sleep, worked in the book fair all day and was hosting BUNCO that night. Here again is another fine example of how something that only happens once or maybe twice a year landed smack dab on a lousy place on my calendar. Another big thank you to Rachel who offered to have BUNCO at her house. A good thing too...the way things were going my house was not in any state to entertain.

So the book fair is over but my life just hasn't slowed down. Cub Scout Day camp is now consuming many hours of my day. I had another big meeting last night, Cayden has basketball, Sydney piano, Anderson tennis. My kids all have their one thing but you all know that everyone else's one thing gets tacked on to Mom's list of THINGS.

So today I tackle the house, the laundry, the taxes...

Why am I spending time posting on my blog? Dang it, I wanted to! And it has been very therapeutic. I am ready to go get Branson out of Sydney's Moon Sand and tackle the world...well at least my world.

Oh yea, and my hair is falling out. Do you think it's from stress?