only a friday thing.

 Congratulations! Today is your day. 

You're off to Great Places! 

You're off and away!

-Oh the Places You'll Go! by Dr. Seuss

As I finally sit on my amazing blue sofa couch with my honey whiskey and three ice cubes, I can hear my kids laughing in their bedroom. Making silly voices talking about butt cheeks and ...clapping? They sound adorable in there, I'd love to go play, and lay with them... but I'm exhausted and they are slap happy and it will only prolong the bedtime experience and it is already after 9pm. Honestly, I've done my part as a mom today... and this momma needs some rest, or her head may explode.

Today was the day! I woke up with no alarm clock 6:30 on the dot! (a whole hour after I would have set my alarm for... but hey my body needed sleep... nonetheless, time to get moving! No time for me this morning, everyone needed to wake up, so as my sleepy little ones make it to the kitchen I am just finishing their lunches for school. I love when they rub their eyes and give me a little squeeze while the sun's rays sneak between the blinds. I love having my window above my kitchen sink. I love morning coffee brewing. So normally I try to read my bible or our bible stories before the TV turns on, but no time for that today, so I hear the sound of netflix beaming on the tube. whatever, fine. Breakfast, little bit of playtime, change clothes, and finish homework. Our dog has been sleeping with us and our sheets smelled so gross, so, why not let's also throw in a load of laundry! Then Boy #1 comes in to read his AR (advance reading... although I'd love to say I'm bragging, I'm not, every 1st grader reads AR books) Finished the book. (He's getting to be such a great reader, and it's weird because just 3 months ago, I thought he'd never read on his own.. then WaLA it all just happened like "they" said it would!) Anyway,  after checking Boy #2's math, and several reminders, "get your shoes on".. "where are my shoes??" "wherever you left them!" "get your backpacks, where are your shoes?!" we head out the door for school, 8:16am.

From there, I switched over the laundry, got my coffee and remaining scraps of oatmeal and headed off to Mom's in Prayer group, which is an amazing group of women that get together once a week to intentionally pray for their kids and their schools all over the U.S.  When entering this home full of mommas its as if time stops, we enter in prayer and meditation of praise and gratitude for all that we have, it reminds me that we are equipped with all we need, all the rest are just distractions. ( if you're interested in doing this for your school, you only need to download the paper work and grab some mom's and start praying.) Of course I know I do not have time for this extra thing to do today, but to be intentional to pray for your kids and to connect with God without distractions... sometimes you have to just make time. 10:25am.

As I jump in the car and realize I only have four more hours to drive 25 minutes to get to my friend's home I clean for, and do all her cleaning and then head back home to pick up my place before the kids get home from school. During moments like these,  Jonny Diaz song, Breath, always comes to mind. http://life1019.com/songs/breathe-3/, it's kind of a stressful song, but the title it self helps me to relax a little while I try to go the speed limit, "Breath, just breath". 11:10am.

Cleaning is where and when I do most of my thinking. And sometimes these are positive, humorous, and inspiring thoughts like, "My blessings will always outway what brings me down"; or "Be confident because you are a child of God, and be humble because everyone else is too (Glennon Doyle Melton)"; or even, "Everyone deserves a smile and a hug...but not everyone wants one". But sometimes they get me in deep rage, like: "I get why it's important for women and men to have the right to choose to have an abortion, but what about the child's choice?? What if that child was going to be a voice for all people that have that certain deformity??  Does it make me a hypocrite to have this argument with anyone because I gave Husband the choice to get a vasectomy?" "Or why are all these women mad at President Trump for all the things he said to put down women even though growing up the majority of those women, myself included danced and sang songs of several men demoralizing women and grabbing all sorts of body parts in their music videos??? And are we to believe in the theory of Evolution, like we were taught in our public school biology class or should we only consider the Bible as the true source of how life came to be? Is faith more about politics or is it truly about the action of loving one another as much as you love yourself??? So in the midsts of laundry, vacuuming, toilet bowl scrubbing, there is a lot of thoughts going; on so much so, it makes my head spin, and that of anyone who calls me during this time... WHERE IS THE TRUTH? WILL SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME ALL THE ANSWERS TO LIFE!! AND AT WHAT AGE WILL I FINALLY FIGURE ALL THIS OUT?!! 1:30pm.

NPR is with me every car ride... well NPR and Dave Ramsey (Dave Ramsey on IHEARTRADIO too) This is the magical place where I get my news, facts, and new music to listen too, check out Lady Lamb, she's an amazing singer songwriter! Thank you Tom Ashbrook with "On Point" http://www.npr.org/podcasts/510053/on-point-with-tom-ashbrook, traffic... turning... morning turning.. home. 2:45pm.

Run into the house dog looks at me with her sad eyes... "mommy why did to you leave me all day?!! 😭 Leash on, poo bag ready, let's go for a walk.

3:30pm. I sit on my front porch and wait for the boys to get home.

{Side note: I have recently decided not to wait with the other parents.  Is this rude of me? It's not that I don't enjoy the company of the other parents, I just enjoy living to so close the the school, so I try to take advantage of staying in my own space in a little bit of quiet before the boys jump all over me with excitement of their day.} Inside now, they show me all the papers they did, open up plastic Hearts of Candy from their teachers... even though we are not allowed to bring cupcakes in for special occasions, they still get so much candy from their teachers... hmmm, I really don't understand this logic, but whatever. 4pm

I'll spare you the details except for the fact that it was a beautiful afternoon! So warm outside, the boys were able to play in the backyard run around with the dog. And the best part is, that despite the fact that the yard is FULL of do poo... neither of them got any on their shoes. 😎 (happy happy momma!) Dinner made, husband home, we all ate, (carrot/celery turkey burgers, with homemade potato chips) husband went to volunteer at a hockey game, boys and I play pokemon, did 15min of yoga with Betty Rocker, and made Vday cards for their classes, 8:30pm. 

{DIY with Justine: Valentines Cards made from old puzzle pieces! All you need is construction paper, scissors, glue or scrapbooking tape, stickers, and a pencil. Trace the puzzle pieces on to the paper cut, glue, write, and personalize them with stickers! Super fun, at no cost to me, win win!} 

And now here we are... one regretting the whisky, I always seem to forget that ever since I turned 30 my body has slowly been rejecting alcohol... this frustrates me. Either way it's a good thing, because drinking always seems fun at the time until it ruins all your plans for the next day, so better to just stay away from it. 

Enough of the "after school special". I know this was long, and I'm sure only my mom, grandma and mother-in-law and husband will read through its entirety.. but, I just wrote this for me to remind myself that being so busy is not worth the headache and I am happy to tell you that this is only a friday thing, but it used to be an everyday thing for me! Since coming back from Christmas break I decided that it's not worth it, it makes me crazy. I have thoroughly enjoyed slowing down, it makes my "crazy busy days" actually feel crazy and not "normal". 

Thanks for hanging out with me tonight, I've got to go, husbands home, and it is time to get cozy in our nice clean sheets 😏

11:30pm, good night.

Special Pray requests: 

*Momma Sue, She has to get a complete shoulder reconstruction, pray for a peace of mind, she has to wait two weeks until her surgery date.

*My little brother is headed for CO, and I ask for prayers of safe travels for him and his friends. 

*Pray healing over Husbands back. His sciatic nerve keeps getting pinched and it causes a LOT of pain. 

*Boy #2 performance anxiety. He can do most things very well, he just need the confidence to do it, you got this baby!  

 *City of Detroit lost a great man today, RIP. Mike Ilitch