Ups and downs..I prefer the Ups!

Redefining my dash certainly did not include getting a black eye! This week to "celebrate" my daughter's one week anniversary in the MTC, I gave myself a black eye! Let me clarify...on my list of things.to.do.now.that.I.have.no.kids.at.home was to put our bed sheets in order. I have random sheets that no longer look very nice or the elastic on the corners have been stretched one too many times, in other words...I needed to purge some of the linens! My goal was to match them up, fold them neatly with sets ALL TOGETHER, and they would all, hopefully, fit into the cabinet I use for their storage. The easiest way for me to tackle this project was to literally pull every sheet out of the cabinet and look at each one and decide it's fate...trash, Goodwill, or keep. And the best place to do this was smack dab in the middle of the living room floor.
I had a pretty big pile of sheets that have seen better days and they were going to the trash. I did not remove them from the floor immediately as I should have. Two nights ago those sheets in the trash pile reached up and actually grabbed one of  my house-slippered feet and had the audacity to trip me while I was carrying an armload of library books to the kitchen! How rude! Books flew everywhere and my face came in immediate contact with our blue recliner, and not the soft, cushy part I might add!
I yelled for my better half  who was busy in the bathroom finishing his nightly ritual of teeth brushing, etc. Before I had him help me up, I screamed for "ICE!" I could feel the swelling in my cheek instantly! He grabbed a bag of frozen peas which was the better choice as it was much quicker than getting the ice out of the ice cube tray (ice cube trays could be the subject of another blog!). It looks way worse than it feels although it's quite tender to the touch. I was out and about today and got the leper stares...you know...those vacant looks from strangers imagining what could possibly have happened to me and better stay away? That was the down for the week.
The up was getting our first P-day (Preparation Day) email and snail mail letter from Sister Shrack. She loves the MTC so far and is already doing a lot with her new language, Tagolag! I am so very proud of her. She has such enthusiasm for the Lord and His teachings and is excited to go to the Philippines.Since I'm really a glass half full person, just ask my hubby, I'll leave you with this little thought!

There is a two-letter word that perhaps has more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that is "UP."

It's easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP?

At a meeting, why does a topic come UP? Why do we speak UP and why are the officers UP for election and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report? We call UP our friends And we use it to brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver, we warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen. We lock UP the house and some guys fix UP the old car.

At other times the little word has real special meaning. People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses.

To be dressed is one thing but to be dressed UP is special.   And this UP is confusing:

A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP.

We open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at night.  We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP!

To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP, look the word UP in the dictionary.  In a desk-sized dictionary, it takes UP almost 1/4th of the page and can add UP to about thirty definitions .

If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used.   It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don't give UP,  you may wind UP with a hundred or more.

When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP. When the sun comes out we say it is clearing UP.  When it rains, it wets UP the earth.


When it doesn't rain for awhile, things dry UP.

One could go on and on, but I'll wrap it UP, for now my time is UP, so.............

Time to shut UP! .....!

Re-defining my Dash

I've jumped into the blogging craze! Well, craze is not really the most positive word to use but it does somewhat describe it. I love to write but don't take the time to do it very often. Re-defining my Dash refers to the neatest poem I read many years ago. When I figure out how to link it on here, I'll post it. It basically talks about the dates of birth and death when someone passes away. Yet what is really important is the stuff that happened in between those dates...the dash! The dash represents our lives. All that we did or achieved. Anyway, I love it and especially at this point in my life, I feel like I really need to re-Define my Dash!
 
Isn't life funny sometimes. We often think of an event far into the future, a long ways away, can't possibly be here yet. But suddenly, it's here! Where did all the time go? How did we get here so quickly? Now what do I do? I am here. Where? At the point in my life when all of my children are out of the home. It's that dreaded "empty nest syndrome!" Really, what do I do now? I've been a mom for 28 years and suddenly, nobody needs to be mothered! 

My youngest son is serving a two year mission for our church. I miss him like crazy but happy for what he is doing. My only daughter left one week ago tomorrow for the Missionary Training Center for 6 weeks of mission and language training. I've sent 3 other children off on missions, I'm not really new at this.
Do you know how when you've done something a few times it gets much easier. Like exercising-the first 2 or 3 times it's really hard and can be quite painful. But, eventually you get used to it and you're fine. Or maybe like baking-after the first few tries, baking cookies for example, you discover that it's not hard to do at all. It's really quite easy. Most things we do in life become easier the more we do it.

Most things, EXCEPT for.....sending your child off to their next big adventure. Whether it's college, employment, or in my case, church missions. It's a glorious thing and it certainly is what you want them to do but the saying good-bye is so hard to do. Well, this is where I am.This is the fifth time I have done this. Like learning to bake cookies, you would think I would be really good at it. That would be a false assumption! I am not! As a matter of fact, I am pretty lousy at good-byes, especially when it comes to my children.

I need to redefine my life now with all of my children away. It just seems so strange to not have any children at home. When Matthew went off to college for a semester last fall, it was really good practice. But now it's the real deal...no practicing.  There is a saying that goes like this,  "It's not over till the fat lady sings!" Well, the fat lady has sung! Now the real empty nesting begins! Life is always changing and hopefully we move forward in a positive way. At least that is what I'm going to try as I re-define my dash.