I'm sitting here, having had a 21 hour day for work yesterday and worked until 6:30 tonight, thinking, "I'm trapped. I'm a creative wanna be stay-at-homer (no I don't have any kids, so what?) trapped in a corporate world."
I like my job - I do. The industry is great, I get to work for home, what more could I ask? But when I turn my head ever so slightly to the left while sitting at my desk, I see that amazing craft closet I have created.... ok, ok, hubs helped me a bit with the putting together of the shelves and whatnot (details, details)... I just want to go pull out all those beautiful colored and patterned papers and put down all the memories we've ever had in a perfectly detailed book, make birthday cards months in advance for friends, create adorable little tags for Christmas presents, crochet the cutest little bonnets you've ever seen in your life for every little girl I know (and don't know yet) aaaand finally actually figure out how in the world to do more than just the basic stitch in knitting.
Yes, that's what I want to do. Why don't I? I'm exhausted. Yeah, yeah, I hear you... "but you're too young to be tired", "just wait until you have kids - then you'll know tired", etc. etc. etc. yada yada yada. No, I don't know that stuff yet, but you know what, I'm still tired! And looking at the "project plan" for the rest of the year for work... lawd, that makes me even more tired just thinking about it. Not to mention the mess that is my apartment that I should probably be cleaning as we speak rather than sitting here drinking this glass of wine and blogging. But I digress...
So, folks, I guess all I'm really trying to say is that I feel trapped. I have this creative, homey, side of me that is just bursting to come out and say hello to the world alot more often... yet, instead, it is stuck sitting at the computer, having to do corporatey professional things that just suck the life out of any creativity. I mean, it's not all bad, I suppose... it pays the bills, right?
And I do like my job...
...just wish it involved more colors, glitter, and yarn...
Showing posts with label Thinkin'. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Thinkin'. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Friday, August 29, 2008
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Forward Reason
So, my dad sent this forward to me this morning and I thought I would share it with you. With Matt and I both working what feels like all the time, I am constantly having to remind myself to just stop and enjoy the moment. I can say that last night Matt and I were finally able to do that... Matt did not have a game, and as much work as I had piled up to do, the computer was turned off at 5pm and we were off to eat Mexican and have Margaritas! And no worries, mon...
Anyway... I know it's long (Matt has a rule if it's more than two paragraphs he won't read it), but I promise it won't hurt you to read! :-)
Enjoy!
Hope
A lecturer, when explaining stress management to an audience, raised a glass of water and asked, "How heavy is this glass of water? "
Answers called out ranged from 8oz. to 20oz.
The lecturer replied, "The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long you try to hold it."
"If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance."
"In each case it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes."
He continued, "And that's the way it is with stress management. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won't be able to carry on."
"As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again. When we're refreshed, we can carry on with the burden. "
"So, before you return home tonight, put the burden of work/life down. Don't carry it home. You can pick it up tomorrow."
"Whatever burdens you're carrying now, let them down for a moment if you can. Relax; pick them up later after you've rested. Life is short. Enjoy!"
And then he shared some ways of dealing with the burdens of life:
1* Accept that some days you're the pigeon, and some days you're the statue.
2* Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them.
3* Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.
4* Drive carefully. It's not only cars that can be recalled by their Maker.
5* If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague.
6* If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.
7* It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others.
8* Never buy a car you can't push.
9* Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time, because then you won't have a leg to stand on.
10* Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance.
11* Since it's the early worm that gets eaten by the bird, sleep late.
12* The second mouse gets the cheese.
13* When everything's coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.
14* Birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live.
15* You may be only one person in the world, but you may also be the world to one person.
16* Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once.
17* We could learn a lot from crayons. Some are sharp, some are pretty and some are dull. Some have weird names and all are different colors, but they all have to live in the same box.
18* A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.
Have an awesome day!!
Anyway... I know it's long (Matt has a rule if it's more than two paragraphs he won't read it), but I promise it won't hurt you to read! :-)
Enjoy!
Hope
A lecturer, when explaining stress management to an audience, raised a glass of water and asked, "How heavy is this glass of water? "
Answers called out ranged from 8oz. to 20oz.
The lecturer replied, "The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long you try to hold it."
"If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance."
"In each case it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes."
He continued, "And that's the way it is with stress management. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won't be able to carry on."
"As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again. When we're refreshed, we can carry on with the burden. "
"So, before you return home tonight, put the burden of work/life down. Don't carry it home. You can pick it up tomorrow."
"Whatever burdens you're carrying now, let them down for a moment if you can. Relax; pick them up later after you've rested. Life is short. Enjoy!"
And then he shared some ways of dealing with the burdens of life:
1* Accept that some days you're the pigeon, and some days you're the statue.
2* Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them.
3* Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.
4* Drive carefully. It's not only cars that can be recalled by their Maker.
5* If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague.
6* If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.
7* It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others.
8* Never buy a car you can't push.
9* Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time, because then you won't have a leg to stand on.
10* Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance.
11* Since it's the early worm that gets eaten by the bird, sleep late.
12* The second mouse gets the cheese.
13* When everything's coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.
14* Birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live.
15* You may be only one person in the world, but you may also be the world to one person.
16* Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once.
17* We could learn a lot from crayons. Some are sharp, some are pretty and some are dull. Some have weird names and all are different colors, but they all have to live in the same box.
18* A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.
Have an awesome day!!
Monday, August 4, 2008
This little corner...
Growing up is weird when you think about it.... I mean really. What happen to those days when you talked about what you want to be "when I grow up"? They just kinda slip right on past you and you don't even realize that you've past that "when" phase and you're already there! And then BAM it hits you that not only are you already even past that phase, but even your little sister is past that phase. What? She's not old enough to have a job where she has to dress up every day!
You may be wondering where all of this came from... well, you know I'm gonna tell ya.
I grew up in an amazing little church - "this little corner we call Pinedale" - and they had their 60th Anniversary Homecoming this past weekend. Funny how I didn't realize how amazing it really was at the time. We don't go to church there anymore, but it's almost like you'd never know. It's home. I can't tell you how many necks were hugged on Sunday and how many "do you remember when..." stories were told.
At one point, I just stopped and looked around me.... I saw the other "kids" my age that I grew up with having kids of their own. People who had fallen away from everything they used to believe finally coming back "home". People who would do anything and everything they could just to help you through the tough times and celebrate with you in the good times. Women who were your mama, even though they weren't your mama. People who used to go to all the high school football games just so they could yell "Heeey Hope!" as I conducted the band. Men who were my baseball buddies even when other people thought I was crazy. It's amazing those small things that can lead to big things... I think, if they hadn't encouraged my knowledge of baseball, I might not have grown to love it so much, I might not have changed my major so I could have a job in baseball, I might not have ever met the man of my dreams. These are the people who helped make me who I am today... and they make me smile...
You may be wondering where all of this came from... well, you know I'm gonna tell ya.
I grew up in an amazing little church - "this little corner we call Pinedale" - and they had their 60th Anniversary Homecoming this past weekend. Funny how I didn't realize how amazing it really was at the time. We don't go to church there anymore, but it's almost like you'd never know. It's home. I can't tell you how many necks were hugged on Sunday and how many "do you remember when..." stories were told.
At one point, I just stopped and looked around me.... I saw the other "kids" my age that I grew up with having kids of their own. People who had fallen away from everything they used to believe finally coming back "home". People who would do anything and everything they could just to help you through the tough times and celebrate with you in the good times. Women who were your mama, even though they weren't your mama. People who used to go to all the high school football games just so they could yell "Heeey Hope!" as I conducted the band. Men who were my baseball buddies even when other people thought I was crazy. It's amazing those small things that can lead to big things... I think, if they hadn't encouraged my knowledge of baseball, I might not have grown to love it so much, I might not have changed my major so I could have a job in baseball, I might not have ever met the man of my dreams. These are the people who helped make me who I am today... and they make me smile...
Monday, July 21, 2008
Dust and Dog Hair
You know, I've never been a big fan of cleaning. Mother, stop laughing... There just always seemed to be not even better things to do, but more important things to do. When it comes down to it, there's just got to be more important things in life than vacuuming! But I have recently (meaning tonight) have a new found respect for the act of cleaning.
I've been pretty stressed lately. I love my husband, I love the industry he is in - it's what brought us together! I love my job. They've been amazing to me, allowing me to keep my job and work from home all the way up here in Louisville. But things have been just a little hectic lately. It seems like I'm never done with my work day until at least 6:30 - and that's normally a good day. My hours, my travels, and Matt's 17 hour work days at the stadium just haven't really been jiving lately. (Is jiving a word?) I will admit however, it's just bringing us closer and allowing us to truly, truly appreciate and take advantage of every minute we do have together. Anyway - totally sidetracked there... point is... I'm stressed!!
Yesterday was Sunday. I worked all day to hopefully get caught up and prepared for a big trip I have this week. And today, well, it's a good thing I worked on Sunday, because I ended up giving myself a goal of being done with work by 8pm. And I did... 7:56! I know, what a goal... there's not much joy in completing that one. Especially since I still have to pack and oh my gosh, the dog walker is coming tomorrow and if my Mama ever drilled anything into my head it was that the house must look good, no matter who's coming. (I used to try to pull the ol - but their house isn't clean, why should ours be spotless?! But it never did any good.) So of course, the last thing I wanted to do after a stressful day of work was clean a house that I was about to LEAVE for three days!
But I got to work - I folded the towels I washed about 4 days ago. I cleaned off our kitchen table (the table that had to be just the right one that Matt and I searched and searched for that's now our "whatever's in your hands when you walk in the door" dumping station), straightened up our coffee table (that serves as our kitchen table/magazine rack), put the dishes in the dishwasher, and even vacuumed (I swear there was more dog hair in the vacuum than currently on Dixie) for crying out loud. I was focused. I was on a roll! And the next thing I know, I'm enjoying myself! What? I'm not thinking about work, I'm thinking about taking care of what God's blessed us with... and all the sudden... the stress is gone. What happens this week with work happens. At the end of the week, I am coming home to my husband... and a clean, welcoming, relaxing home.
So, I have made a pact with myself (that I'm hoping lasts longer than just tonight) that the next time I feel like I can't take the stress anymore, that I'm just gonna get to cleaning.... And thank Jesus for the dust and dog hair that will always be here... in the home I share with my husband.
I've been pretty stressed lately. I love my husband, I love the industry he is in - it's what brought us together! I love my job. They've been amazing to me, allowing me to keep my job and work from home all the way up here in Louisville. But things have been just a little hectic lately. It seems like I'm never done with my work day until at least 6:30 - and that's normally a good day. My hours, my travels, and Matt's 17 hour work days at the stadium just haven't really been jiving lately. (Is jiving a word?) I will admit however, it's just bringing us closer and allowing us to truly, truly appreciate and take advantage of every minute we do have together. Anyway - totally sidetracked there... point is... I'm stressed!!
Yesterday was Sunday. I worked all day to hopefully get caught up and prepared for a big trip I have this week. And today, well, it's a good thing I worked on Sunday, because I ended up giving myself a goal of being done with work by 8pm. And I did... 7:56! I know, what a goal... there's not much joy in completing that one. Especially since I still have to pack and oh my gosh, the dog walker is coming tomorrow and if my Mama ever drilled anything into my head it was that the house must look good, no matter who's coming. (I used to try to pull the ol - but their house isn't clean, why should ours be spotless?! But it never did any good.) So of course, the last thing I wanted to do after a stressful day of work was clean a house that I was about to LEAVE for three days!
But I got to work - I folded the towels I washed about 4 days ago. I cleaned off our kitchen table (the table that had to be just the right one that Matt and I searched and searched for that's now our "whatever's in your hands when you walk in the door" dumping station), straightened up our coffee table (that serves as our kitchen table/magazine rack), put the dishes in the dishwasher, and even vacuumed (I swear there was more dog hair in the vacuum than currently on Dixie) for crying out loud. I was focused. I was on a roll! And the next thing I know, I'm enjoying myself! What? I'm not thinking about work, I'm thinking about taking care of what God's blessed us with... and all the sudden... the stress is gone. What happens this week with work happens. At the end of the week, I am coming home to my husband... and a clean, welcoming, relaxing home.
So, I have made a pact with myself (that I'm hoping lasts longer than just tonight) that the next time I feel like I can't take the stress anymore, that I'm just gonna get to cleaning.... And thank Jesus for the dust and dog hair that will always be here... in the home I share with my husband.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
I saw the future...
Sitting at the Bats game, I saw this little old lady behind me keeping score and realized... This is me in 50 years. I can't wait!
Sunday, May 25, 2008
BEST Husband Ever!
When every little girl is growing up, she always has the idea in her head of the perfect man. She reads books and watches movies that just seem to feed that fairytale notion of "true love." As she gets older, she begins to think that man does not exist... no love story is every like the movies. But I'm here to tell you, it can happen. Don't "settle" just because you think it's time to settle down. BELIEVE that God will bring YOUR perfect man to you. Someone who will love you with all of his heart. Someone who will do anything just to bring a smile to your face.
I did... and he does!
Today we were just following through with our promise to have a lazy, relaxing Memorial Day weekend. We were going to head downtown to go enjoy the Reggae Festival and eat some Caribbean food - hoping of course that it would take us away back to the fun times from our Honeymoon. And of course, duty called, and Matt had to stop at the stadium to help out one of the guys. Then, as we were leaving to head on to to Reggae fun, Matt wanted to stop and introduce me to the Head Grounds Keeper. As we're walking around, I turn to look at the field and I said... what? Is... that..... an H?
Yep - it says "M hearts H". Louisville Slugger Field currently has my husband's love for me written all over it... "Diamonds are Forever," he says. So I'm here to tell you, ladies, I may have the best one, but at least know that they exist!
I did... and he does!
Today we were just following through with our promise to have a lazy, relaxing Memorial Day weekend. We were going to head downtown to go enjoy the Reggae Festival and eat some Caribbean food - hoping of course that it would take us away back to the fun times from our Honeymoon. And of course, duty called, and Matt had to stop at the stadium to help out one of the guys. Then, as we were leaving to head on to to Reggae fun, Matt wanted to stop and introduce me to the Head Grounds Keeper. As we're walking around, I turn to look at the field and I said... what? Is... that..... an H?
Yep - it says "M hearts H". Louisville Slugger Field currently has my husband's love for me written all over it... "Diamonds are Forever," he says. So I'm here to tell you, ladies, I may have the best one, but at least know that they exist!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
