Wow. Halfway through January already. Where has the time gone?
I didn't realize until today how much I have been missing my Clean Slate Sunday routine of sitting down in peace and quiet, taking stock of the past week and planning for the days ahead. So here I am. And hopefully it will become routine for me again 'cause it's a great way to gather my thoughts and sort of ... ground myself.
This past week was pretty rough. I spent a lot of time focused on caring for my grandma and not a lot of time doing much of anything for myself. Or my children. I didn't do laundry, didn't tidy up around the house, barely took time to help the kids with their homework, and never got all the household shopping done. I didn't eat well and when I slept I had bizarre dreams.
I've tried to catch up on a few things around the house this weekend, and it was nice that Steve was home last night so we had some time to relax together. We skipped church this morning in favor of sleeping in and focusing on family time. He's gone back to work now and I'm trying to plan for my week so things run as smoothly as possible.
One thing will help immensely, and that is that I have reinforcements on the way. By Friday last week it appeared grandma's health was going downhill fast and she doesn't have much fight left in her, so I called my folks and suggested now would be a good time to come home. Mom and dad, aunt and uncle are on the road as I write. It was not a phone call I wanted to make, but after talking with grandma's Hospice nurse and with her caretakers at the AFC home I really feel like it was the right thing to do. Grandma is already taking some pretty heavy duty narcotics to ease her pain, so I have a feeling it won't be long before meaningful conversation with her will be impossible.
Here at home I want to continue working on my to-do list this week. It's not so much a "dust and vacuum and do the dishes" sort of list, but rather longer-term things I've been meaning to get to. Like gathering paperwork to refinance our house. Updating my phone/address book (does anybody use those anymore?). Organizing a household notebook with schedules and important phone numbers and emergency information. If I could knock out ONE of those things this week along with all the usual household madness I'll be happy, and maybe I would set my goals a little higher next week.
I can at least say that in the midst of the recent craziness there have been many blessings. One of them is that my children have taken it all in stride. I have enjoyed spending time with them more than usual in recent days, and I have been reminded of how close they are to being young adults themselves. With maturity comes acceptance and understanding and I've seen those qualities in both of them lately.
Tomorrow is a new day, the start of a fresh week. I feel good having a plan. Another clean slate. I will do my best to make it a good one. I hope you have a good week, too.
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