Heroes of the Day! Yes, I Can Have More than One

I wrote this post back on Friday. Here it is Monday. Tells you about life right now, doesn't it? I do name names in this post--something I don't do very often, so if you're looking to be offended by something I do, please don't read this post. The kindness of these women was just too great not to mention them personally, and I did ask each of their permission to do this.

image: http://truthworks.org

Things are non-stop around here. As I shared in the previous post, "Life moves pretty fast....." I'm learning that I really do need to stop and look around every so often. Part of that "looking around" translates into more than just observing; it needs to become observing with a grateful heart.

A week ago, I was just plain overwhelmed. I've written about that quite a bit lately, and I also shared that part of that feeling is brought on by people in my family not being able to find things. This is a huge source of frustration to me.

image: 123rf.com

With little ones constantly in the house, there is really very little time to get to the areas that I need to for as long as I'd like to to get things into a condition that I feel is functional. I'll work for a little while, get called away, and not be able to get back before someone else has helped take that area back to its original state--to one degree or another. This has been the hamster wheel of my life lately.

image: flickr.com

Everything in my house really does have a home. It's just that with so many homes and so many more things being added to those homes so frequently, and so many not remembering or not caring that things have homes, it's all rather chaotic. It is difficult to stay on top of it. It's just one more thing that makes it nearly impossible to stop and look around in this fast-paced life.

About a week ago, I was sitting pondering on this problem and trying to come up with an answer. I don't believe in whining for whining's sake. Whining is only a symptom of an upcoming solution.

image: businessweek.com

Since school started, I've had very little time to myself. I get up super early in the morning in order to have that time, but I arranged with a friend to trade off Fridays. I had her son last week; she had mine this week. In preparation for his absence, of course, my list of what-should-I-do-while-I-have-no-children started to grow. Right up there on the top of the list was "muck out the house."

I know, from working with my children, that many hands make light work, but I couldn't keep them all home for the day--what would that teach them? If your house is a mess, stay home from work? No, I had to find someone else who was "like family," who I could trust enough to venture out to my garage, who would help me clean it up, and who would still be my friend after all was said and done.

I put out an invitation to a few people. To be completely honest, I was VERY nervous. Was this a ridiculous thing I was asking of people?

I was shocked when people started to respond in a positive manner.

Well, yesterday was the day. Shaila and Darilyn showed up first. As I opened the door, they were introducing themselves to each other. I love it when my friends get to know each other. I really know some amazingly fantastic people.

image: organizationquest.com

They attacked the book shelves and the linen closet while I worked on organizing the laundry room shelves. When they were finished, there was an empty shelf in each place. I LOVE empty shelves. It makes me feel so in control. We had such a fun conversation together while we cleaned.

image: en.wikipedia.org

Shortly after they left, Deanna showed up at the door. It gave me just enough time to figure out what my highest priority was--the garage. I took her out to the garage. You know, it's not just anybody that you can show the messiest area in your house and still feel loved and valued--Thank you, Deanna, for being that kind of person! We worked for a little while and Lisa showed up through the garage door. I was so happy to see her!

One thing I put on the invitation was that I needed someone who would pick up #7 from school and keep her for just a little while. I had a couple friends offer this as they would have their own little ones at home during that time. Around noon, Caitlin brought #7 home--happy and fed. Wonderful! It was so great not to have to worry about her during all of this.

I asked #7 if she wanted some soup. She said she did, so we all walked in and had some soup and ate apples and just sat around and chatted. It was so great, and so needed.

image: overstock.com

As we ate, Tonya and Toni came--Toni walked in carrying a paper shredder. I had expressed my concern over my paper pile, and Toni had answered my cry for help. Thank you! We continued our gab session for a little while. Honestly, heavenly!

When we finished eating, I set Toni to the task of the desk and filing system. This is how much I trust this woman--she has been much more like a sister to me over the years. Paper is my hardest thing, but she knew just what she was doing. She started stapling, filing and organizing my biggest phobia....Next to my fear of the dentist is my fear of paper. It's true. Funny thing is...her husband's in dental school.

I had asked #7 after the soup if she was going to come out and help us. She said she would, but as we proceeded downstairs to the family room to head to the garage, she curled herself up on the couch and there she stayed. She was asleep in a matter of minutes and stayed that way until everyone was gone and the kids started arriving home from school.

image: zackhample.mlblogs.com

Tonya, Lisa, Deanna, and I went to the garage and started tackling it. I have random boxes of stuff that make me crazy. Thank you, Tonya, for helping me with my crazy boxes. There are four boxes left. We filled the back of my car full of items to recycle immediately as we knew they were going to be tossers. My garage is now absolutely lovely and the items are all recycled!

Deanna and Lisa set to work on a bunch of clothes. They took crates and marked them with sizes and folded everything worth keeping. It looks so nice!

When my elementary schoolers got home, I asked them to find their soccer gear for their Saturday morning games. We have to do this the night before because there's ALWAYS at least one item that goes missing, and we're all stressed out by the time we get to the first game.

#6 told me that he still hadn't been able to find the shin guard he'd misplaced last week. He was basically setting me up for some stress. I told him to go look in the "soccer box" in the garage. He went to the garage door, opened it, and exclaimed, "Wow!" I was sitting at my desk with my back to him. 

Without even going to find his shin guard, he came running back, jumped on my lap, threw his arms around my neck and said, "It's gorgeous out there! You did a great job!"

YAY! Great happiness! The shin guard was in the soccer box. It had been found in a box in the garage. Another YAY!

Well, I guess you can blame this long post on the fact that I'm taking time to "stop and look around." I want to thank my heroes of the day--Darilyn, Shaila, Caitlin, Deanna, Lisa, Tonya, and Toni. Ladies, I really can't thank you all enough! You've eased a very large burden from my shoulders. Thank you!