KEEPING IT TOGETHER

I recieved this cute little book as a gift a while back and right now i have really been using it. Sometimes i just feel like life is falling apart, and this book really had some nice pointers. Lately I feel like i'm going nuts! I was informed by what they call a specialist these days that i need some extensive surgery done on my nose to clear my nasal passages, fix a crooked septum, and dig out polyps, nice i know. before he actually commented on my nose, he asked me how i got the "horrible" scar on my lip. he then said" it's too bad it's so noticeable, lips are fragile" i didn't take that as a comment to the plastic surgeon who fixed it! Talk about a self confidence check! I opted not to schedule the surgery, but was told my sinus infections would never clear up and polyps can be cancerous, nice again. well, i have not scheduled the surgery, try to get by as long as i can and WHAM! I've got a fabulous sinus infection which has also managed to take my voice, going on a week now, still can't breath, still holding out though. Then, the other day i insisted Conner put on pink cowboy boots for school, and was very frustrated that he was arguing with me, we were going to be late! then i realized NO ONE should make their seven year old son wear PINK cowboy boots; we then retreived the brown ones. then last night i went down stairs and called after presley to follow me, it wasn't after she fell down the first step( thank heaven it was a small one) that i realized she was ten months not 4! i erupted into tears, and after i made sure she was o.k. i thought maybe a fun bath would make it better, but after 15 minutes in the tub i noticed i put her in with her socks on! today i woke up to ankle deep water in my basement and I gave my daughter a cookie for breakfast, i'm not sure this was a good battle not to fight though, cause now she wants one for lunch too!, yeah my bad. I was in the dr. office this week and they had to call my name four times before i realized my last name was heslop, good thing they knew us otherwise they would have counted us as a no show! and no way was I going home after what I had to go through just to get there! so anyway, this book was talking about how NOT to do EVERYTHING, just concentrate on some things, and how not to feel guilty about it. it talks about knowing your limits. there are some things you just can't say no to( even though it would really cut down the stress if you could say no to laundry!) but each of us can probably find ways to trim our busy schedules. most of us have likely said yes to something we knew we didn't have time for, or sufficient energy or other resources equal to the task. the book then gives examples to creative excuses to help you say no when you need to. i thought these were great!

- I'm doing my annual dust ball inventory
- I'm counting and measuring all my gray hairs; this is going to take a while
- I'm training for an acronym marathon, lol
- I'm memorizing all the zip codes west of the mississippi
- I can't say yes to anything until I lose thirty pounds
- I'm organizing my paper clips
- I'm pasting S&H green stamps in my little books; it's something i've been meaning to do for such a long time
- I have to floss my dogs teeth
- I'm still savoring my jet lag
- The ragweed is too high this time of year
- I have to name my flowers
- I'm thinking about having grandchildren (I'm looking for a book with the title Grandchildren for Dummies)
- The man on TV told me to stay tuned
- I'm trying to see how long I can go without saying yes- thanks for helping
- I'm attending the grand opening of my neighbors garage door
- I'm sculpting a frog out of cottage cheese

The book states how some of this are really rediculous, ya think? but it says we need to try one or two just to get the feel of how effective they can be. it also gives a quote by Anne Morrow Lindberg, " My life cannot impliment in action the demands of all the people to whom my heart responds" It talks about taking time for you, which some of us still have not mastered to do much, even if it's just a few quiet moments. As i was reading this part and reflecting on my week, looks like i need more than a few moments, i've lost my head! It asks if youve had moments when you've hardly recognized yourslef, was that me? did i really do that? it talks a lot about stress and how to overcome it. it seems as though we have these lists of things to do, only they were suppose to be done yesterday, today, and tomorrow. the book refers to it as the List Collection ( doesn't it sound like a line of beautilful towels or something?) Mary Ellen Edmunds is the author, i like her, she's down to earth it seems. So back to cleanup in the basement, man I hate the smell of wet stuff! better tomorrows right?