My current motivator

I read a blog on an almost daily basis called Stuff Christians Like. It's written by Jon Acuff, and it's truly a wonderful blog, you can check it out here. Some days are filled with witty musings on silly things Christians do, some days its filled with amazing testimony that helps me see that I am not a failing Christian, but instead a human with flaws. I love this blog, Jon's humor, and his willingness to honestly share with the world his life.
Lately I have felt that life has been pulling me in a million different directions. Between multiple extra curricular's for my 7 year old, my husband coaching football for two teams (JFL and high school), being a full time wife, mom, student and daycare provider, I've just been exhausted. I've not made the time I should for myself, my relationship with God, or my relationships with others. I've been emotionally drained, felt used, grumpy, tired, impatient and its all accumulated to produce one stressed out, not fun, Maegan. I kept telling myself that once football was over life would slow down, and it did. But my attitude didn't improve. It got worse. I started taking things personally, I was becoming more agitated with little things, and the more control I tried to take, the less in control I felt.
Which brings me back to the Stuff Christians Like blog. The other night, after the kids went to bed, I was reading up on the blog I've neglected lately. I came across this video by Blaine Hogan. As I watched the video I began to realize that all of my stresses, all of my grumpiness was simply a matter of me not letting go of things I have no control of, relying on my ever loving God who is ALWAYS with me, and fostering the relationships (including with the Lord) that mean the most to me. I've allowed myself to become consumed with things I cannot change, I've worried about what I need to do next to the point that I haven't been able to enjoy the present. My worry turned to grumpiness, which prevented me from being content. This video was a great reminder to be still, be here, and just be content. God is ultimately in control, and the more I give to Him, the more content I am with the present. I watched it again today as I felt myself getting worked up, and it really put me back into perspective.  My patience has returned, I'm enjoying the kids, my job and finding new things to do to occupy my time. 
Life's too short to stress over things you have no control over. Take time every day to thank God for what you have, pray for those who need it, take time for yourself. Take time to be still and be here. Thank you, Jon and Blaine, for the reminder!

Happy Birthday!

My daughter's both have birthdays coming up, the youngest, G, turns 3 on August 25 and my oldest, P, turns 7 on September 27. When birthday season comes in our house, its always mid football season, and since my husband coaches, planning an ultimate party can be tricky. Saturdays are out because of the football/soccer/cheerleading schedule, so Sunday afternoons and evenings end up being our party days. This year I decided I didn't want to party at my house, because I didn't want to clean the aftermath, so our August party is at McDonald's and our September party is at Chuck E Cheese. This is fine, I'm cool with it, we will have fun, have our cake AND eat it too.

Which brings me to the point of this blog. Its a time honored tradition that when you have a birthday, you take treats to school. As a kid I always looked forward to taking the cool treat to school for my birthday. It was in March, so I had most of a school year to plan what I would treat my friends with. Now that my kids are older, I enjoy letting them pick a treat for their friends. For two years of pre-k and one year of kindergarten, P has taken popcorn balls.We use a delicious recipe involving kettle corn, corn syrup and jello. It makes a tasty treat, for sure, and P and I have a ton of fun making them. This year, however, the school has something else in mind.

I quote from a note sent home on the first day of school "Due to health concerns and scheduling, treats and snacks for any occasion must be arranged in advance with the classroom teacher. All treats and snacks must be store bought, in the original packaging in individual servings. No homemade treats or snacks are allowed at school. Treats and snacks may not require refrigeration and must have a clearly printed list of ingredients on the original packaging. We strongly encourage you to select a treat or snack with nutritional value, such as fresh fruits and vegetables."

Let me break this down for you:

"Due to health concerns and scheduling, treats and snacks for any occasion must be arranged in advance with the classroom teacher." Are there really parents who DON'T do this? No offense, but what parent would pack their child's bag with 27 cupcakes, without asking the teacher in advance. Just let little Joey show up all like "Surprise, my birthday is this weekend, and now you have 27 kids hyped up on cupcakes during the math lesson." The fact that the school has to advise people of this just shows the dumbing down of America, folks. I retract my previous "no offense" statement.

"...All treats and snacks must be store bought, in the original packaging in individual servings. No homemade treats or snacks are allowed at school. Treats and snacks may not require refrigeration and must have a clearly printed list of ingredients on the original packaging." Whoa, whoa, whoa. So now I cannot make my popcorn balls (which really is ok, because its very time consuming and my fingers turn pink from the jello), but I cannot order 3 dozen cookies from a bakery either. This birthday, its turning kinda lame. Like the kid who always brought everyone a pencil and stickers for their treat. I do understand wanting the ingredients because children are allergic to stuff. My brother in law just found out he is allergic to peanuts. Highly allergic. How did he make it through his 32 years not knowing this or dying during treat day at school? And an unfortunate truth is that there are a lot of creepers in the world who could spike those homemade treats with Windex. But now they have to be packed in individual servings? Each family has to provide a bottle of hand sanitizer as a school supply, so clearly this cannot be due to germs. Can it? Really?

"...We strongly encourage you to select a treat or snack with nutritional value, such as fresh fruits and vegetables." So we have just officially made every child lamer than the pencil kid. Pencils are becoming the new cool. I'm sorry, call me old fashioned, or call me irresponsible, but isn't the key word in birthday treat treat? I can see a class of first graders now:

Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Joey, happy birthday to you! Now blow out the fake candles on your individually packaged carrots and celery! That's wilted and warm, because treats can't require refrigeration. Yaaaa...

I understand that there is a problem with obesity in America. I'm a fan of Jamie Oliver, I abhor school lunches because they're poorly executed and lack the nutritional value they encourage families to support with their new "treat" rule, but in moderation, a cookie isn't going to hurt anyone. Whether it's been touched by another kid or not. Personally, I think P will be the pencil kid this year. At least she stands a chance, a Smurf pencil with some matching stickers will be a hit. And maybe, we will throw in some individually wrapped Snickers bars. Sorry, we have our cake, and eat it too. Happy Birthday, girls!

It's Been a While

Hey there! It's been a while since I've blogged (almost 2 whole months, to be exact). As always, summertime got busy, kids got crazy, life took over and I slacked. Then, the other day, I was watching my first grader (tear) at cheer practice and her wonderful coach made my day. She said, and I loosely quote "You need to update your blog. I'm tired of looking at the red Firebird every morning." I HAVE A READER WHO CHECKS MY BLOG EVERY DAY!!! This was encouraging, and got me thinking on my next blog.

Originally, I was looking for something EPIC to write about, but nothing was coming to mind. I was taking a Professional Writing class, and one of my classmates shared a story of a co-worker who uses the word EPIC all the time, and how in an interview feedback she was told three words never to use in an interview because they are borderline unprofessional were EPIC, Awesome and Freaking. Now, I can't get enough of the work EPIC, and really think the professional world should get in touch with their EPIC selves.

In any event, I have a great blog coming, so stay tuned. I'm hoping for another nap time today, since yesterday's was destroyed by my dog running away. Who has a dog that's microchipped but NOT registered? This girl. EPIC. (we did find him, by the way)

Have you seen me? I escape fenced in yards!

The Sweet, Red Firebird

The sweet, red Firebird my husband used to drive. It was one of the reasons I was attracted to him (totally shallow, I know). It was fast, I felt so cool driving it, the radio did a sweet bumping thing when you turned up the bass, he kept it clean, and it looked rediculously funny parked in front of our trailer. I believe I mentioned in a previous post how I accidentally drove the sweet Firebird on railroad tracks. It was an accident, but I can look back now and say I was probably trying to be as cool as I felt when I was driving that night. I zigged when I should have zagged, taking a jaunt that was NOT a jaunt, and before you knew it, that beautiful red machine was teetering back and forth on a set of tracks, a circus balancing act, if you will, just waiting for Amtrak to deliver its demise. Fortunately for me (and less fortunate for some of my friends), a nosy, yet helpful, lady stopped, saw we needed help, and called the local sheriff's department. The sweet, red Firebird lived to see another day thanks to that nosy lady, even if all of our pocketbooks were lighter.

I saw a Firebird like this beloved car tonight and I started thinking about how proud my husband was of his car. He took care of his car, it was worth more than our home (at the time), and it was his. Was it the nicest car ever made? No, but it was a car he wanted, he worked hard for it, and he was proud of it. It was his baby. Until one day, when I told him I was pregnant.

Nothing was mentioned of the Firebird throughout the beginning of the pregnancy, but one day, it became apparent that the Firebird was not an optimal family sedan. The time came, and Wes sold his car. I never thought much of it (and maybe I'm thinking too much about it now), but it just made sense to me that a car seat didn't fit, and it had to go. Maybe its because up to that point I had never owned a car that I cared about. Maybe it was pregnancy hormones diluting my thinking (I blame everything on pregnancy hormones - and I haven't been pregnant in 3 years), maybe its because I was more selfish than him.

(May I mention as a side note, not only did he sell his car, he took on my 1992 Mercury Topaz. That I bought from my grandma for $500. Whose paint came off on your hand when you closed the doors. That had an inappropriate nick name that referenced poo. I'm 98% sure this photograph is of a nicer Topaz than what he got.)


For whatever reason, tonight, it hit me. He sold his car, and inherited a lemon. Not because he wanted to, not because he had to, but because he wanted to do what was best for his new family. We didn't have a lot of money, and selling the car helped us make it through maternity leave. Selling the car gave us the option of getting a practical, safe family vehicle. Taking on ownership of the Topaz gave the baby and me a safer mode of transportation, with air conditioning, and a liner on the roof.

Maybe selling his car is just a little thing, but sometimes the littlest gestures in life make the biggest impact, and we all too often overlook them. I think God sent this sweet red Firebird across my path to remind me that my husband is an amazing man who gives for his family before anything else when it means the most (and even most of the time when it doesn't). And I think God sent this because we are on the verge of football season and maybe every time I see a sweet red Firebird between now and November I will remember that he does love us, but he already gave up his car... : )

Don't laugh, that's how I roll..

So, every day for approximately 365 days (368, to be exact) I've said to myself "I really need to write a blog." And every day for the past approximately 365 days, I've failed that one task. It's been a WHOLE YEAR, my three faithful followers, since I've last hit the keys and written for your reading delight. "What happened?" you ask. Life. Summer grew busy, and I frequently had 13 (yes, 13) kids in my daycare. Waaayyyy too many, and never again. I started going back to school, football and cheerleading season, a 2 year olds birthday, a 6 year olds birthday, Tupperware business, Christmas, New Year, more daycare, more school, a 30th birthday, a hair cut, a few showers, Mother's day, homework, church engagements (speaking and teaching), a husband's 34th birthday, a 5th anniversary, Father's day, and now here I am, writing once again.

"Why?" you ask. For many reasons. I love writing, my good friend Lindsay sent me a link to a blog that inspired me; my friend Cynthia posted an inspiring status on Facebook; I found a blog from the previously mentioned blog that motivated me (I don't know if that's what it intended to do, but either way, success); I have time, and frankly, because I can. This is how I roll.

My friend Lindsay sent me this link: PickYourBattles! I highly suggest you read it. It's hilarious! It reminded me of me, it gave us an overwhelming urge to purchase a giant chicken, and it made me realize that while I've been searching for "the perfect topic" I just need to write about what I want to write about. So what if people don't like it? I like writing, and I should do more of it.

My friend Cynthia posted this as her status on Facebook: "if it is important to you, you will find a way. if not, you will find an excuse." Exactly. So I decided to stop making excuses for myself and my lack of blogging. If I want to do this, then I need to do it. 5 am, 2 pm, midnight. I need to make the time to fuel my passion.

The motivational blog is here: DearPhotograph. I'm not going to lie, I think this is AWESOME! In further telling the truth, I actually teared up at a few of the photo's with their captions. Life is short, and we need to do what we love while we can.

So there you have it, and here you have it. My first blog in over a year, inspired by those mentioned above. There's more where this came from, I'm just getting started!

And I leave you with the question, my three dear subscribers, as well as my new readers, what motivates you?