A few years ago, I got into the world of Facebook groups, a few in particular about minimalism. I was drawn to the idea because it makes sense. Our lives are less cluttered and less stressful when we have less to keep up with, clean, and organize. For the first several months, I gawked at photos of beautiful homes that others posted and thought, “I love this! I hope to have a home like that one day!” More recently, I realized that many of those pictures were just people looking for accolades about their home decor choices. It is an oxymoron to have 4 couch pillows in a minimalist home, unless those pillows are repurposed in bedrooms. 4 pillows on a couch? 1 is too many for my family most days. I’m constantly finding it tossed across the room and it’s rarely used as a pillow. So why have it?

Anyway, I wrote a post talking about how I think many confuse home decorating with minimalism and was eaten alive. How dare I call someone out about their choice to have a bowl of six decorated balls on their living room table. How dare I call out that anything in a home is not a necessity as everyone is on their own personal journey. But I guess it only bothers me (my problem) because it’s a contradiction. I have never had an area rug in my rooms, never had artwork on the walls, never had a coffee table (since I’ve been married) and do not have a chic home. Matter fact, my home could use some flow to it and some “pretty” stuff, but I don’t actually want the stuff. I want stuff and useless things gone. I don’t want to trip over them, clean them, and most things are not aesthetically pleasing to me to stare at every day. Besides maybe photos of my family, which are also yet to be on the walls due to having five young kids who like to throw things.

Maybe one day.

Waiting on the World to Change

Super exciting day! My younger sister is having a baby, probably right now!! This is her second biological son, and she is in the midst of adopting her oldest, one of her former students. So she will have 3 boys, and 2 under 2.

My sister in law is due in July, so two more babies to be added to our big family. My sister has said that she will text my parents a picture (or call?) Any info and Dad is to pass it along to all of us siblings. I’m trying to stay occupied, but the c section was scheduled for 1:00EST and he has probably been born by now. I cannot wait to hear details!!

Opening a Can of Worms

I have some bad habits. One is responding too quickly to someone, whether in person or online.

Case in point: A mother posts on a local mom’s page asking if anyone has seen anyone receive push back from the BSA (or just Scouts now?) For being an Athiest.

I click on the woman’s profile and immediately see a picture of her and her daughter, and she’s wearing a “Proud to be a Girl Scout leader” shirt. Anyone who follows the news knows that there is a lawsuit filed by the GSU alleging that the BSA is sabotaging their program allowing girls to join and giving (ignorant) people the impression that the GSU and BSA have somehow merged.

I’m right down the middle on the whole allowing girls that the BSA decided to pull. As a mom of both girls and boys, 3of which have participated in Scouts, I have several observations about the two organizations:

  1. Cub Scouts is very family oriented. Parents are encouraged (required Tiger year) to attend den and Pack meetings. Siblings are welcome at both. The majority of Scouting events include the family.
  2. GSU has the opposite view and approach. I witnessed the first wave of drama 2 years ago when a friend was told she could not walk alongside her 6 year old in the local Memorial day parade. It caused one mom to pull her daughter and be done with Scouts all together. It caused one of the troop leaders (more on her in a bit) to post a dramatic martyrdom style commentary alleging one of the mothers in our troop verbally assaulted the unit coordinator.
  3. I strongly considered pulling my daughter at that point, but she liked the girls in her troop and enjoyed the Daddy/daughter dance. Sorry, “Me and My Guy.”
  4. About this time, my Cub Scout son had enjoyed his first full week of Summer day camp. It was local, from 8-4ish (after colors it was more like 4:30) and only $175.
  5. Fall came and he had popcorn booths to do. I have stopped soliciting family for $12-$20 popcorn, but have no issue with my kids standing at a booth and soliciting strangers. If they don’t want it, my only request is that you politely say no thank you or ignore the booth. 75% of the sales of the popcorn go directly to the pack to fund events and activities.
  6. Meanwhile, cookie season now begins in early December and goes through March. My daughter’s troop leader (not the one I already commented about) takes an aggressive approach to booths and always seems to book the day after Christmas in the mall. I appreciate her willingness to help the troop raise money, they just had two great adventures with some of the money earned. But why do the Girl Scouts only earn .90/box? Where does the money go?
  7. Girl Scout camps start around $300 for the same type of day camp I posted about above. Why so expensive?
  8. Meanwhile, the second leader apparently got too comfortable with the troop’s money last year and while the investigation from council has started, she dipped out as a leader. Money has yet to be recovered and her daughter loses out from her mom’s poor judgment.
  9. Family is not invited to Girl Scout events, only leaders who are CORI checked and pay $25. I don’t mind the CORI check if they are leaders, but adding a fee and excluding non registered parents is ridiculous.

Anyway, back to the case in point. Said mother responds 6 hours after she made the post, telling everyone she is a stage IV cancer fighting single mom of a girl she wanted to sign up for the Scouting program (not GSU) and wants to make sure she is well rounded. Then says she is 60% through the application process and it asked her to make a declaration of faith.

I’m not familiar with said application, and obviously had a major foot in the mouth moment after I assumed the proud GSU leader was trying to stir up controversy about BSA rather than simply whine about how BSA apparently discriminates her for being an Athiest. 🙄

Nothing like a bunch of moms telling me how rude I am for guessing the intentions of a terminally ill mom. Which for the record, I had no idea about prior to the comment saying so.

I did reply and told her I don’t think that the organization is in line with her beliefs. Or lack there of.

I will work on controlling the speed at which I come to a conclusion and post, but I wish people would stop trying to change things because they do not follow their belief system entirely.

Fun Friday

Most mornings I do pretty well staying on task and getting the 3 big kids out the door for the bus. By on task, I mean they all got dressed, have shoes (and socks) on, have brushed their teeth, and are eating something that resembles breakfast food. Today was pancakes again. Not the gooey syrupy ones, but frozen pancakes heated in the microwave that have chocolate chips in them. I wouldn’t dare give them syrup to bounce off the wall for their teacher all day, although it’s more to do with potential messes kids can make using syrup. Just trust that my judgment on this one is correct for now. When the twins are 10, maybe I’ll reconsider.

In the midst of morning routine, I had a spontaneous clean out of the twins’ shirt drawer. They’re only 5 and I like the matching stuff, even if different colors. The rotation of shirts sometimes gets thrown off when there are spills or additional changes. When the two shirts separate, it’s like a life cycle to get them back together. With Spring around the corner, I pulled all of the shirts out of the drawer and put the folded matches together. I think only 2 have a missing partner, one may be in a school backpack in case of an accident, the other may be lost at my parents house after our visit last month.

On the horizon for the weekend: Scouts, baseball clinic, book report, practicum assignments, and a meeting later with some towns people. I didn’t intentionally skip running, but I don’t know if it will happen. It’s 20 degrees out and I was thankful for the close parking spot I got at school last night because it is a brutal kind of cold. Lent day 3: I’ve been writing on the blog. Not much else spiritually, but maybe I will find something to do that sticks. Have a great weekend!

What’s in a Thursday?

I had another busy day, which is typical so I probably don’t need to remind myself. I’m taking classes towards my Master’s degree in Elementary education. My undergrad is in Communications, and I’m currently not working in the field. However, with all of my kids, I have become immersed in the school community and decided that since I will be back to work sooner than later, it’s probably a good idea to pursue a career in which I am passionate about and will work with my kids’ school schedule. I am in my second class and need to take my licensing tests to take another class after this. I keep setting deadlines for myself but my nerves about the tests are causing me to procrastinate.

I had class tonight, and I talked to my Mom on the way. My Dad had aCT Scan yesterday after fighting stage III colon cancer since last Spring. She hung up with me as he pulled in, and then messaged me and my siblings to tell us that his scans are clear. I’m thankful for the great news and am hopeful his health stays well.

I came home to my 3 bigs still awake, including my 4th grader studying for his math test tomorrow. I found out about 9PM from the class Dojo app that the kids are supposed to dress as a Dr. Seuss character tomorrow. I considered letting him go to school and be surprised that he forgot, but I can’t remember if I had read it on a flyer sent home and have no idea if it’s for a graded assignment.

I let him consider being the Lorax with his bright orange baseball shirt, but cutouts with construction paper at 9:15 were sounding bleak. So, Thing 1 it is. I literally just got through telling my Mom last week that I think the “Thing” shirts are odd. Now I have a kid wearing one with a paper plate duct taped as the inner circle. I didn’t run today, but I did do another set of pushups.

    Just Another Day in Paradise

    Few things throw off a parent’s week greater than a snow day…. Except my kids have a half day today, just three days after the snow day. I appreciate reminders on these kinds of days, as a current stay at home mom whose schedule is pretty flexible. My only concern for an early release is that I’m out picking up groceries when the bus comes to drop off my kids.

    Half day means my preschool twins don’t have school at all, so I get the bonus time with them. It’s an easy day when tablets are charged and the “right” episode of Spongebob or Paw Patrol is on. Snacks must be available every 10-15 minutes and then lunch better be something delicious. Don’t dare try to serve Uncrustables with chips or something I would have been thrilled to have in my lunchbox. Nope. Better have that Sun Dried Tomato Turkey from the Deli. On the right kind of bread. Sometimes toasted. Never with cheese for them.

    I realized preparing lunch yesterday that I had few options. I had done a Walmart grocery order online and had a 1-2 window pick up. I can usually cut down on one snack if I serve lunch around 11, so we didn’t have much prior to the order. I had Turkey, though. I thought long and hard at making them a PB&J and saving the Turkey for me for today. 19 hours later, I wish I did that. I forgot to add Turkey in my order and one of the twins barely ate his lunch. It was Ash Wednesday so I considered how sacrificial it was to not eat it and let the other twin have it. Kept thinking, no more than two meals, and I shouldn’t cut the Hershey pie. Happy I reminded myself, maybe I will cut it today. Or after I post this. 🤷‍♀️

    I woke up thankful I didn’t commit last night to running at 5:30 this morning. Which makes me nervous should I actually do a run this weekend. I’m the kind of person who does best with a 5k followed by a day off. Not a “run at the crack of dawn to begin the day.” Although I don’t have experience with that, just know from how I feel and act following a 5k. I want to eat and sleep.

    My 9.5 year old is asking when the next 5k is, so maybe I should get my butt in gear.

    It’s Possible

    Today, my older sister sent me a text asking when my daughter’s 1st Communion will be. She told me she is considering running a half marathon this year to celebrate being 13 years cancer free (13 for 13), though technically a half marathon is 13.1 miles. But I digress.

    I responded with the date and it’s a conflict with one of the May races she is considering. So she said she can do the one on July 7th in Waitsfield, VT. I’m reading her texts and something came over me wondering if maybe I should join her. It is a big deal, as my sister was diagnosed with Choriocarcinoma back in 2005 and has been in remission since 2006. I have certainly not been the most supportive sister (literally and figuratively, thanks to our little sister 😉 ), but maybe I can be more supportive now.

    Today is still Ash Wednesday and I spent a good amount of the day thinking about what I can do for the next 40 days to get ready for Easter. Around the time I began contemplating the idea of running, my sister asked me if I wanted to join her. I told her I will gently consider it. The $80 registration fee is good for the next 50 days according to her text, and upon seeing the 50, I immediately considered the 40 days of Lent. Really, about 46 with Sundays. So my decision will need to be made about 4 days after Easter.

    I Googled half marathon training and surprisingly, we are both within the possibility to do this and actually complete a half marathon on July 7th. I haven’t run since last August (I think) and I’m fairly out of shape, but it’s possible.

    I reached out to a friend who runs and may hook up with their group this weekend. Tomorrow is hill day, at 5:30am. Sounds brutal. She will be volunteering for the Boston Marathon in April, she’s a rockstar and an inspiration!

    I didn’t make it for ashes, but contrary to popular belief, Ash Wednesday is not a Holy Day of obligation so I get a pass. I did find out about a local parish with a great open door policy today which I thought was awesome. Doors open all day for ashes, confessions, 3 Masses and conversation.

    40 days. Let’s do this.

    Let’s Goooooo!!!!

    Here I go again! I think this is my 2nd time officially starting a blog, unless the failed attempts to create a free blog on other sites count. I have lots to say, but writing doesn’t come to me as easily. I don’t know if it’s because my brain is just going a thousand miles a minute, or because I have some sort of anxiety that kicks in just when I actually need to get something done. Or want to get something done. I can have the greatest ideas ever, and as soon as it’s time to act on them, frozen like a deer in the headlights.

    We always have a lot going on. We’re a family of 7 and all of our kids are under age 10. To half the population, this is shocking. To the other half, (or less than half), this is almost normal. There is nothing about our lives that feels normal.

    Today is Ash Wednesday and begins Lent. I grew up Catholic and we raise our children Catholic. That doesn’t mean I’m good at being Catholic, but I do understand most of the teachings and try most of the time. Some of the time, really.

    I don’t know what this blog will be about entirely, or what may come of it. But I’m one step in and we’ll see what the future brings.