Pages

Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Learning to Balance

I pondered for a while over the long weekend about what to post next. It just seemed like the weekend went by so fast, but was such a good and productive one! We had time to relax a little and get things done without being swamped with commitments. It was nice. Through all of the thinking and pondering I came to realize that a happy life is all about balance.

While there are parts of life that are not as balanced as they should be, my diet for example (that is a whole post itself- ha). There are parts that without a little balance I would not survive. A typical week for us is more than I want to think about, but I will give you some insight...

Monday morning the alarm starts sounding around 3:30. By 4 the hubs is out the door and on to the milk barn to get it started sanitizing the lines before he can milk. Then shortly after the cows are up and moved into the holding lot and ready for milking. By 4:30 at the latest I am up and functioning at some level. This really means throwing on layers of clothing so that I don't freeze while doing the morning chores. I DO NOT DO COLD WEATHER. It is not for me. I head off to the barn to make bottles for the babies and then head out to feed the babies and make sure everyone has water for the day. Right now that means busting ice and bringing in water for those whose is frozen solid. YUCK! Throw in the random "I have to run to the house and make sure that by some odd chance Cole isn't awake" and finishing up chores takes me roughly 30-40 minutes.


Layers...the only way to survive winter!
Sorry for the terrible picture ;)

At this point I am rushing in to the house to start getting myself ready to head to work. By 6:00 I have to be waking Cole up and getting him dressed, teeth brushed, and a stop on the potty. Hoping to make it out the door by 6:15 or 6:30 at the latest. Hubs usually finds his way in around 6:00 to get himself showered and off to work as well. I venture to the babysitters which is right off of the interstate at my exit and then am off to work where I spend my day loving and teaching 5th graders. Throw in tutoring after school two days a week and follow that up with heading back down the interstate to that little boy who sits just off the 107 at the most amazing babysitter EVER's house. Load him up and head back to the farm to start feeding and chores all over again! At this point I cross my fingers Josh will be home before me or around the same time so that we can effectively divide and conquer before milking all over again.

Where does dinner and laundry fit in?? Well if all goes well and J isn't work later than expected then I am in the house around 6:30 to get dinner rounded up and start on load #2 of laundry. (Typically load #1 is started before I head out to do chores) Did I mention we are in bed around 8:30 a large portion of the time??

So after that long (my apologies) explanation of my seemingly long, but really just average day, comes one important aspect, BALANCE. It is how I "survive" this busy life. I work very very hard at work with intentions of bringing nothing home with me. This assures me that my time with Cole is just that, time with Cole. We play together and have fun while doing the things that we love to do. He rides around with  me on the "Wheeler" as he would call it and he plays in the mud or with the dogs or the calves while we do our chores together. He has chores of his own like feeding the dogs. He thinks that he HAS to be the one to do this or it is the end of the world. He also HAS TO put these two parts that I won't dare to explain in the sink in the parlor room each night.

The little man helping us move babies this weekend.
Yes, that is Josh's hat from working in ND. Yes, he HAS to wear Daddy's hat.
Cuteness Overload

Get it? Balance. It is about coming home, throwing on chore worthy clothes and layers, and heading out to do chores so that the hubs isn't on his own and outside until bed time. It is about doing my part of the chores even when I have a bad attitude because I  know it will make my life easier. It is about biting the bullet and milking when J needs to go out and feed hay, even if it means dinner will consist of a baked potato or plain nachos. It is about learning to let go of the fact that some nights the laundry just can't get put away.

Balance is what allows me to enjoy this crazy life that we live. Don't get me wrong, it did not come easy and it still takes adjusting, but I have finally found that point in our new routine where I have learned to look for that balance. I even successfully left dirty dishes in the sink ONE NIGHT because Cole fell asleep in my lap and I didn't want to wake him.

Sometimes life really is messy and beautiful and hard. All at the same time. That is why my next goal is to try to GIVE IT TO GOD way more than I do.

Up this week... a reflection on the weekend, 10 things you might not know about me, and Food for Friday of course!


No comments:

Post a Comment