Balance.

Saturday night, around 1:45 am, I wrote nearly an entire blog post in my head while I rocked Matthew back to sleep. He had woken up crying and when I went to investigate, I found him covered in barf. And his bed covered in barf. And his floor covered in barf. It was gross. It was also the millionth day in a row that something had gone wrong. I was quickly losing my mind. So there, in a dark bedroom, covered by the lingering scent of barf, I wrote an entire blog post about how craptastic my life was going at the moment. It was long, whiny and ridiculous. The best part? I actually woke up later that morning and wrote the entire post and posted it. 

10 minutes later I took it down and deleted it. I realized that all that complaining was too much. Even for me. I am all about being open and honest and "real" but man, that post was rough. I need to refocus...find a better balance between the craptastic week and the beautiful mess.

But real quick.....can I just list all the stuff that has happened this week? Rapid fire style? 

• 3 days of those god-awful fans drying out my house 24 hours a day.
• Deep carpet cleaning with a hospital grade antimicrobial agent....leaving my whole house smelling like a weird, old school hospital ward.
• My boys literally ran wild at Becks Prime Friday night. LITERALLY. I chased them down the hall. And we were there with friends.
• Saturday morning, I realized my car was leaking something. Seeing as my car was in the shop exactly ONE week ago, I didn't think it would be anything....maybe just a little something leftover (shows what I freaking know) So, I schlep the boys to the car shop and wait.....45 minutes later, the guy asks how the flood was going (like I said, I was just there) and when I told him it was still an issue, he said, "well, I'm about to make things way worse." I swear to you, he actually said that. Turns out, I need a timing belt and water pump. $$$$$. And I was told not to drive it or it would blow up or something.
• Took the boys to get their pictures at JC Pennys. It was awful. After a serious cardio work out, we got like, zero good pictures.
• Saturday night, Matthew woke up barfing.
• Sunday was spent cleaning up barf and poop. LOTS of barf. Did ya'll know that when one barfs on tile, it splatters? Like, all over the house.
• Late Sunday night, we finally figured out where the musty smell was coming from in the linen closet....turns out we all neglected to pick up/wash the blankets that got wet in the flood. So I discovered 5 large, soaking wet blankets....that have been soaking wet for over a week. SO GROSS.
• Jonathan started saying he was sick. Develops the nasty nose crusties....that are then spread across his face in like .01 seconds.
• Zack forgot to put a pull up on Jonathan Sunday night....so he woke up Monday morning soaking wet. Along with his sheets, pillows, down comforter and all of his extra blankets and stuffed animals.
• Monday was spent changing 12 dirty diapers. 12 freaking poopy diapers.  Jonathan developed a low grade fever. We spent HOURS watching TV. Oh and we had to postpone a Halloween party we were hosting for our playgroup :(
• Have to miss work/school Tuesday.

Okay....thanks for letting me get all that off my chest. So, now my job is to find the silver lining in all of this. I have to find a balance. I can be all mad and cranky and whiny.....but I have to find something to balance it out. The longer I sit around and think about the bad luck we have had lately, the more bitter and cranky I get. So, allow me to look on the bright side....here is my silver lining.....

• Since we had to have parts of the carpet cleaned, they went ahead and cleaned the whole rooms. So now, two of my bedrooms have beautiful, clean carpet!
• The fans worked, my carpets and baseboards are dry! And, I saved $800 doing it myself!
• Since I couldn't drive my car on Saturday, and Zack was fishing in Galveston Bay all day, it meant that I was forced to stop moving and just be still at home. It was nice to spend a few hours just hanging out with my boys outside, with nowhere to go and nothing to do! They are getting so good at riding their bikes down the sidewalk!
• Obviously, it was sad that Matthew was sick, BUT....I usually let him fuss for a while when he wakes up in the middle of the night. For some reason, on that night, I went in his room after like 3 minutes. It was like my maternal instincts were in high gear. Mom of the year right here. Bam.
• Since we have been stuck at home the past few days with a broken car and sick babies, I have gotten SO much cleaning done in the house! Not to mention the endless loads of wet blankets (those wet from pee and those wet from flood water) that I actually managed to wash, dry and fold!
• And the biggest and most obvious...I have had lots of time with my boys. I'm telling you, these kids are hilarious, even when they are sick. Today, I kept trying to convince Jonathan to get off the couch and do something....finally, he looked at me and said, "MOM. I do NOT want to do anything. I have a headache. I want to watch TV all day." Amen, brother....don't we all just want to watch TV when we feel crummy? And Matthew has wanted lots of cuddles the past few days. You can't beat that. Ever.

THAT  is the list I need to focus on. Life is hard. Life is gross and messy. Kids get sick on the same day cars break down. Bathrooms flood. Carpets sour. It's just life. It's the way we handle those tremendously obnoxious situations that make us better people. So, now that I have gotten all those complaints off my chest, I am done. I won't complain about those things again.....instead, I will focus on my silver lining. And that my friends....is my balance. Praise the Lord, tomorrow is a new day!

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,

    for His compassions never fail.

23 

They are new every morning;

    great is your faithfulness

-Lamentations 3:22-23