What I didn't do today.....

My pile of laundry that needs ironed....

This morning I ran across a blog that I am sure will become a favorite. http://smalltownsimplicity.blogspot.com/2010/10/authenticity-what-i-didnt-do-today.html
Lydia posted that as bloggers it is easy for us to write about the positive moments in our lives. The ones where things are going wonderful. The perfect meals that we make or the accomplishments of our kids. She challenged us to write today about AUTHENTICITY: What I didn't do today.....I Love the idea!! Not because I don't already do that. In fact if you have been around me at all you will notice that I am the first to put my faults out there. The one to tell you about how I frequently get lost or can not, no matter how hard I try, remember my children's times of birth or birth weight....LOL...

I think it is very healthy to laugh at the silly parts of our lives. But this article made me think about a short conversation that I had with my Great Niece while she was here this summer. She has always been "funny". She loves to make people laugh. But at one point I told her that it is fine to tell things about yourself that make people laugh. But I cautioned her to never put herself in a position to make herself seem "dumb". We all make mistakes and do silly things. And it is wonderful if you can use that stuff in a story that will make others relate and laugh. But it is a totally different thing to use those things in a way that degrade yourself and make yourself seem "lower" than the person you are talking to.

Part of me thinks that I would love to live a perfect life. Where there wasn't a mountain of laundry in my laundry room. Where I balanced my checkbook more than once a year. Where there wasn't spots of dog urine covering my whole living room carpet....But in reality I Love my life!! I am not lying when I say that there are many times where I literally laugh out loud about parts of my life...okay maybe not the dog urine, but most things I really do laugh about.

So I thought I would share a few of them with you from just the past few days to give you a taste of my day to day life...enjoy....

• I slept through my alarm clock yesterday morning. That meant that I didn't make sure my 15 year old was out of bed and ready for school. I was awoken by the slamming of the door as he ran outside to get into the Jeep  and take it down the hill only to see the bus driving away. So he followed the bus to the next stop which was about a mile and a half and left the Jeep in a friend's driveway...Then called me to tell me what had happened and we decided it was best for both of us not to inform Dad about this whole scenario....(yes, my 15 year old was driving down the road unaccompanied with no license.....do you see why he would call me and not his dad....LOL!! - I'll blog more on the significance of  that when my kids are a little older...LOL!!)
• I didn't blog yesterday. After shutting my tv off for 6 months I finally turned it back on so I was like a little kid. There were so many things that I had forgotten about (like how to turn it on - so I had to call Dish and have them talk me through it ...I really miss my teenagers being around). 
• I didn't stick to my eating plan....at all!!!..When I was in Texas my sister Debbie and I  bought blue jeans that were to small for us. Our goal is to be able to fit into them by Christmas. In my head I have great plans and really want to get fit again. I was doing so good before my surgery but since then I have just lost all momentum. So yesterday I finished off a bag of chocolates that my friend Shari had gotten me, a piece of pumpkin pie and a multitude of other "non healthy" foods.
• I didn't clean the woodstove even though it was on my list of things to do. Someone had misplaced the handle to our woodstove. I have looked for it for months. Finally yesterday I called to order a new one. After explaining the whole thing to the gentleman that works there...(who just happens to be my cousin that I thought was a customer there and got on the phone to mess with me. It seems that somehow along the way I didn't realize that he had worked there since the beginning of the summer....aaarrghhh...oh my silly head....) He told me he would look up the info and call me back. As soon as I hung up the phone I walked into the Family Room and moved the recliner to find it lying there on the floor. I quickly called him back and explained my joy and apologized for the inconvenience! I then walked over to the woodstove to carefully open it up. You see my daughter had been telling us for weeks that she had been hearing something living inside there. As I opened it I see a bat lying in the ashes - luckily not moving...EEKKKK! Quickly closed the door and left that job for the hubby.

Honestly I could go on and on and on and on......LOL... But I want to encourage you to live in your Authenticity.... Absolutely be proud when you cross things off your list.... Sing praises about your spouse and your children and your accomplishments....Take a dozen pictures of that 4 layer chocolate caramel cake...(and then send me a piece...lol..) Thank God for the blessings He gives. But be honest about your iimperfections. There has to be a balance in your life. If you can laugh at your mistakes then others will be able to find you relatable. If you are only one way or the other people will shy away. As much as it is difficult to be around people that believe they are perfect it is just as hard to be around people that you feel like you have to "take care of". That their life is one crisis after another....Balance....

So today my friend I dream for you a chance to laugh at yourself. As you sit in you pj's and it's 2 in the afternoon remember that no one is perfect. Or if it means you mess up and have to order a candy bokay to say your sorry for something that you did it is really okay. Life goes on....Look around at the blessings you have and remember that He has not left His throne....Have a Wonderful day!!