Superwoman

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The tagline on my blog reads something like "finding the other side of yourself after you've already tried to be Superwoman." This refers back to my younger days, when I foolishly thought I could and should do it all--teach full-time, be an amazing mother and wife, be THE Church Lady (not the "isn't that special" SNL Church Lady, but the one who taught Sunday School, directed VBS, and coordinated a whole slew of other things I'm just not even going to embarrass myself with now), scrapbook my children's lives in living Technicolor, reign as amateur journalist supreme, be faculty advisor for an award-winning literary magazine...I can't quite remember every pie I had a finger in, but I'm pretty sure there was one for every finger and probably a few toes, as well.

I'm pretty much over that now. Yeah, common sense has asserted itself and I have discovered worth and peace in doing...nothing. Or at least, doing only a few things. I quit the full-time job in order to mommy and wifey full-time instead, and discovered that they tend to fill my time in amazing ways. Who knew. I still write the occasional article for the business journal, but it's not a pressing concern. It's more of a..."can I handle this right now and is it fun? And can you give me six weeks to get 'er done? Okay--sure." And I've whittled the church activities down to those I feel prayerfully called to do, not those I feel are a result of the tyranny of need and desperation of a small church. I still volunteer at my children's school, but it's important, I think, to show my kids that's it okay to give freely of yourself and your own resources--to help others when they need it.

Despite this hard-fought and incrementally won battle (hard-fought because it's not easy to change who you fundamentally have been for thirty-some odd years, and emerge somewhat victorious), I have recently backslidden. Some of you may have noticed that I have been a SLACKER on my blog for the last...ummm. Month? Something along those lines. This is because I have suffered from temporary insanity and forgot that I am not Superwoman, and have been engaged in all sorts of home improvement projects during the last month or so. Oh--and celebrated Autumn's birthday on top of it!

• We have painted. A lot. If I never see another paint brush I'll be happy. But wait. The dining room's not quite finished...
  
  
• We have packed up 75% of my house and moved it into the remaining 25%. Don't ask me how, mathematically, that works, because the answer is: it doesn't. It. Does. Not. Work. Surfaces, such as tables and counters, help. (I discovered during this time a fundamental difference between my husband and myself, btw. I am a "sort it out, clean it out, throw it out prior to packing it up" kind of person. Duane is a "dump it all in a box and take care of that later" kind of person. Just a little fyi: these two personality types need to be kept far, far away from each other during the pack process. Truly, they do.)
  
  
• We have had new carpet installed on a Sunday in that 75% of the house. Our cat, who may soon meet with an accident, marked his territory on Sunday afternoon.
  
  
• We have been meeting with counter people for estimates over the last couple of weeks...a decision on those will be made this morning and we will set in motion a two week carnival ride that will (hopefully) result in new countertops by Christmas.

I don't know what I could've been thinking. Painting a house, laying carpets, and installing countertops all in the two months prior to Christmast? Psh. No problem. I was freaking Superwoman in another life.