Tiny Victories

It occurred to me that I spend too much time on this blog complaining. I tend to use it as a outlet for my frustration and exhaustion because I know many of you out there in blog land are nodding your heads and saying, "Amen, sister! I know exactly how you feel!" Yes, there are a lot of obstacles juggling a family, a full-time job and a (nearly) full-time class load. Yes, it can be overwhelming. Yes, it sometimes feels like full-time failure because so many things get left undone. It's easy for me to feel defeated at the end of the day because it never seems like my "to do" list gets any smaller. But despite what I sometimes feel, I still manage to accomplish some things.

For example, today I:

*mowed the lawn while my hubby was away on business
*had a "heart-to-heart" with The Eldest and dealt out some parental discipline (I feel like she's learned a lesson and it won't happen again)
*helped a teacher find some educational research to help validate a very important program at our school
*washed one load of laundry (hey, it's something)
*helped The Youngest get her pig-sty room cleaned up
*unloaded the dishwasher and started a new load
*cooked dinner (though sadly, it was lacking in any veggies...but it still counts!)
*read "The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks" for 15 minutes (my "pleasure reading" for the day)
*read my daily Bible Study
*exercised for 20 minutes (not including mowing the lawn)
*helped the kids with their homework
*read a bedtime story to The Youngest

Victory!!! Tiny victories, but victories nonetheless. From now on, I'm going to try to keep it all in perspective.

Three Day Weekends: We Should Have More of Them!

Labor Day always used to feel like a wasted holiday. It always falls a week or two after school starts (or only a few days after school starts, for some), and it made me wish we could save it for February or some other bleak month when there are no holidays. However, this year I must say I am very grateful for the 3-day weekend, and it couldn't have come at a better time. My coursework has been very heavy lately (hence no blogging, if you've noticed). Last Thursday night, I devoted the evening to finishing up some school projects so that I could enjoy my weekend without cracking a book.

The weird thing is, I have this compulsion to check the discussion boards for my classes constantly now that we are entirely online. It's as if I'm afraid I'm going to miss something. That being said, I wasn't sure that I'd be able to stay away from my laptop...but I did! I made it all the way to Sunday morning (when I just popped in to make sure my group member had posted our project on the discussion board). Progress! I got back on this evening, but only because I felt that I had done sufficient relaxing. I visited my sister and my best friend in Texas, went shopping, took the kids to the water park, played tennis with the hubby, read a book (for pleasure!), and [insert dramatic pause here]...I slept in this morning. Heaven!

I'm trying not to think about the upcoming weeks which look to be VERY busy both at work and at school. Why ruin a moment?

I just know one thing: three day weekends are wonderful, and we should have more of them!