Puzzled

My girls take after their father :)  Caitlyn can put together a puzzle really quickly.  She is being unusually patient here, waiting for Jaden to finish so she can have her turn with this one.

More Than Cookies

Recently I was in my kitchen making a batch of homemade peanut butter cookies.  Dipping my fork into the sugar to make those little criss-cross impressions, I smiled to remember doing this often with my mother when I was a young girl.

I really miss my mother.  I don't see her much anymore, for a lot of reasons.  But I wish I did, I wish that we could get past some of those roadblocks.  I think she could really use having me back in her life too.

Those memories of when I was a little girl baking in the kitchen with my mother are some of the nicest I have of my childhood.  I guess I treasure them because really they are about something so much more than cookies.  Something I wish I could still have.

People Are Awesome

This weekend Kharli organized a car wash/bake sale for her boyfriend's family.   He and his sister are taking care of their mom in hospice, and their dad passed away last week.  They're grieving and struggling financially to get by.

When Kharli asked her friends and family for help...they really came through!  I was impressed by how many people showed up today to labor for the benefit this family, and by how many others donated their time or money, or both. 

It just did my heart a lot of good to see that today...

And to quote Kharli, "People are just awesome!"

Sacrifice

I love my job.  Really, really love my job.  I don't even think of it as a "job", but more as a lifestyle.  I get up every day and go do my thing.  And it makes me happy.

But still, for all that, working is necessary.  We can't afford for me not to earn a paycheck.  It's not even something to consider.

I hear and read about a lot of other women who claim that they sacrifice so much so that they can stay home with their kids. 

I think it's women like ME who are sacrificing.  I'm not willing to not have a family just because I must earn a living,  so I reluctantly send my little girls to daycare. 

Daycare sucks. 

Daycare gets the best of my girls.  While I'm away teaching other people's kids, I don't get to nurture, teach, or care for my own.   That's a sacrifice.  I'm putting all my hopes into the idea that I can make up for that in the evenings and on weekends, but it's the biggest gamble.  You don't get do-overs if you screw up the first 5 years. 

I think being a mom is THE most important thing a person can be.  Moms who stay home by choice, whose lifestyles can make that happen,  are so lucky.   So they give up nicer cell-phones or highlights or whatever.  So what.

I give up something I can't even put into words, and it breaks my heart.

Another Year Gone By

I hope your year was as full of love and family as ours.