You're cordially invited to a pity party!

There is no good way for me to write this post. No matter what I do, I am going to sound like a whiner. For the last week, I have written and re-written this post in my head, trying to find a way to sound dignified and graceful instead of like the mess I've been. I have had no success. So I'm just going to do it....I'm going to indulge myself in a big old pity party and get it over with.

I know I have been fairly absent from my blog for sometime. I thought I had gotten back on track with my last post (over a week ago!), but alas, this was not to be. Why? Because life has been nuts around here. I wish I could say it was something traumatic like a serious illness or a car accident or something (on second thought, I don't wish I could say that....I just wish my reasons were less silly), but it's been nothing remotely serious. Only irritating. Compounded upon irritating. It all started with a small case of writer's block that was soon exacerbated by the week of Halloween. Halloween, which I'm still not even sure that I celebrate (that's a story for another post), but which created a wrench in my husband's work schedule that threw me for a loop. Since my husband is an accountant and Halloween week was "end-of-month", in order for him to be home to take my boys to the Harvest carnival at church on the 31st, he had to work late the other days of the week. The following weekend was full of errands, including putting together a mall scavenger hunt that a group of friends are going on this coming weekend.

Then there was the turning point. The moment that things went from hectic and busy to downright ugly. It occurred at 2 am on Sunday, November 4th. Daylight Savings Time. The week that followed was nothing short of exhausting. To add salt to the wound, my 14 month old began cutting ALL FOUR of his molars the same week that I was trying to force his little tummy to adjust to meal times an hour later and bedtimes an hour later. He was a G-R-U-M-P! There was very little sleep to be had for anyone in our house, and I don't know about you, but when I'm not getting enough sleep, it affects everything else I do.

This past weekend was spent grocery shopping, cleaning, baking, hosting a Discovery Toys party, hosting my brother's birthday party, going out Saturday night with some girlfriend's for girls' night out, and 0h, yeah...church. Every single one of those things was super fun (well, maybe not the cleaning), and I loved every minute of it, but when it was all over, I fell in a heap on my couch. I wish I could say this was an odd weekend, but the truth is...it's November. Things don't slow down until January (I know you all know what I'm talking about) and I wouldn't have it any other way.

So here I am. Whining about things that are so insignificant I feel guilty even typing them. When I think about things in this world that are happening that are truly important, I feel ashamed for even letting this stuff get to me. But I'm a mom of two toddlers. Life is crazy. Life is wonderful. Life is beyond my capability. The last two weeks have been a struggle to keep my head above water. Fortunately I have access to a Spirit that is able to buoy me up, as long as I let Him. He has carried me through these past two weeks without losing my mind (although I think I have a few more gray hairs....what's new), but I have not had time to blog.

So friends, I really think I'm back this time. My kids' schedules are back on track, my house is clean, and the molars have broken the surface. I even think my writer's block is gone. I have some stuff I'm just dying to share with you all (you don't think I would have two crazy weeks like that without some blog-fodder coming from it, do you?). So thanks for indulging me in the pity party. I promise that I know how good I really have it. I do. But just because it's good doesn't mean it's always easy.

PS....for those of you who have asked....YES! There was a winner of the cookbook. KimO, post #138, was our big winner! I don't want to bore you with details, but long story-short, when she emailed me, my account threw her email into my spam folder and I was waiting to hear from her before I announced the winner. By the time I realized what had happened, I was in the throws of all of the above and never made it to my blog to post the results. Forgive me. I promise I will do better next time!