Couch Potatoes, Silverware Drawers, and Haircuts

http://signopress.com/signo-publishes-youre-way-too-busy-to-read-this/

I'm not a jealous person, I'm truly not. I like my life the way it is, I like myself the way I am and what I don't like I know that it is within me to change. I know better than to envy other people because everyone is fighting their own inner-battles. With that said I admit that there is apparently an exception to my school of thought because I'm suddenly super envious of successful bloggers! How do you keep up? I mean, really?? I LOVE writing! Putting thoughts into words is my forte, I would rather write than talk, so WHY is it so hard for me to actually sit down and write on a regular basis?!? For example I have been going on and on about my poor sewing area and how pathetic it looked. A month (or so) ago I was on a MISSION to get it into shape to the point where I couldn't even start my home-ec class  until I had that space organized!  I was (and am) so excited to redeem myself with a picture of my upgraded digs and well excitement or not I have had my craft area of the basement finished for a good two weeks now...and I STILL haven't blogged about it! I think this is a great example of the dilemma that brings me back to my first post about why blogging, and really this on-slot of  never-ending interests, will eventually be the death of me. And by death I mostly just mean becoming a tired, uninterested, couch-potato.

http://justanothercouchpotato.blogspot.com/

Understanding how to thrive in a time crunched, busy world has been such a dilemma to me lately that there has been several questions swimming through my mind as I try to figure it all out. These are probably mostly rhetorical but I truly welcome any answers or insight there is out there!

#1. How does one hone in on an interest?

I truly have so many interests, I promise I'm not making this up! In no particular order I have a rough draft list of interest to be a dog groomer; to work at an online shipping place where I receive an order to be shipped out to the buyer and I have to get all the items from the warehouse, package them and send them off (yes it's THAT specific!); I want to sew all my own clothes; I want to be good at everything I try; I want to hang out with my friends;...and I also just want to take a nap! If I hone in on just ONE of these things, does that mean that I have to give up the rest?? I mean this list goes on and on and on, and changes daily. My mind is always coming up with new things I want to try, it doesn't stop! Just the other day I was thinking to myself, why stop at a master's degree maybe I should go back to school for a doctorate. WHAT? Go BACK to school?? Am I crazy??  Maybe, but mostly I think  my brain's "standby" switch is broken!

#2. How does one balance working, raising child/ren, blogging, crafting, (insert other interests here) AND keeping a clean house??

Oh my how my life has changed after having a child! First of all I now have to add to the list a plethora of interests that involves kids! Like the fact that I can't wait until my son is old enough to put together those cool Lego kits! Those are so fun! Ok, wait see what I'm dealing with here? Just now-new interest, add it to the list!  I enjoy watching him play with other kids, I pretty much enjoy any interaction with him (even the tantrums), and also I add to my list any (healthy)  interest in the things he is interested in (currently this mostly includes Toy Story2 and trucks). He's my world. If I never get ANYTHING done in life but I raise a healthy, happy, confident child I will have conquered EVERYTHING, this interest/goal trumps them all! :) 

With that said, I also enjoy working (most days). I have spent A LOT of time in college in order to be able to get the jobs that I want to get. I have a lot of interests within my career field and it takes a standy-by switch that has been repaired-with-bubble-gum and heavy-duty duct tape not to go after them all! The word BALANCE has become my mantra, but I'm still so obviously a novice. 

On top of that as I reach 30 I seem to slowly be getting in touch with my traditional house-wifey type roles, the ones that even two years ago I would have laughed in the face of! These "roles"  are the exact ones that would make a feminist cringe at that last sentence...those are the things I'm actually starting to enjoy! Except cooking, I could redeem myself  to that same feminist by promising that I will ALWAYS let that be my husband's deal. It's not a bad thing to like it, it's just definitely not my thing. The measuring, the temptations to munch all day long, the waiting and waiting, the MESS....no thanks! Moving on, currently I just like to clean and organize my things, and make stuff.   I like things all neat, tidy, and in their place. Definitely not "in their place" to a museum level where it's impossible to comfortably LIVE in the house; but to a peaceful level where I can pursue my interests (i.e. reading, sewing, cleaning, building lego kits) in a non-chaotic environment and without having to pretend I'm not home if someone unexpected rings the doorbell. This mostly includes keeping the laundry in the laundry basket, the silverware in the silverware drawer, and the toys in the toy box. My almost-two year old seems to disagree with each one of these. He likes the laundry on the floor so he can sit in the empty basket, the toys anywhere but the toy box, and well, luckily we have a child-lock on our silverware drawer so at least that stays tidy! Well, for now...

http://peachorchardproject.blogspot.com

I will say though, my two year old is WONDERFUL at finding little pieces of paper that are on the floor and showing them to me and then taking them to the trash and saying "all gone". I'm not sure what that is all about, but I'm hoping it means he'll be vacuuming and mopping the floors soon!
So I guess I understand "balance" to mean juggling all these things with grace. But does "grace" have to mean that what you see on the outside is what I'm experiencing on the inside?? My favorite quote in the whole word (and I have no idea who originally said it) is "Success is like a duck swimming. Calm and cool with unruffled feathers-on the outside; but on the inside-legs paddling like crazy!" This, unfortunately is how I operate more often than I would like to admit. This is not what I would consider balance though. I would consider balance to be calm and cool, unruffled feathers on the inside and leisurely paddling legs on the inside. But if a duck swam like that....wouldn't he sink??

3. My final, most baffling question of all...WHY when I typed the word "busy" into google images did this picture pop up???

http://blog.madcityads.com/tag/tma-peritus/

However, this answer came to me like a divine intervention  when I went to the website that posted this image! The post is titled:"Blogging while waiting for a haircut, The Rule of Three and three articles that make a lot of sense…" And suddenly I feel the need to end this post so that I can check out all the resources on this page about  how to be faster at writing posts...because, yes, this site has suddenly been added to my list of INTERESTS. :)

So the exciting factor of all these interests is you just may never know where my blog posts will go!! :) Happy reading!!