it's been [busy] too long

It has been sleepless around here for sure. I think i dropped off writing when Mia started eating solid foods and teething, which is just about when she quit sleeping through the night: so there is so much to catch up on! My little girl will be six months this week! Where has the time gone? I have been a mom (on the outside, anyway) for half a year now and it has all gone by so quickly. She's rolling and laughing and eating with the best of babies.

Where have I been? Since my last post I have been busy, busy, and more busy. it is safe to say that my plate is  more than full, in fact it's the back-away-from-the-buffet-line and #noroomforseconds kind of full. I started selling Mary Kay (who would have thought?) and I took a train trip with Mia to Ohio to visit my sister's family for a few days. We also had Mia's dedication service and a lunch to follow for our family, friends, and sitters.

I'm not one to say no, or to take no for an answer. My husband is always telling me to slow down! I have a hard time turning people down, and usually that's because I sincerely want to do whatever they are asking if only I had the time and energy! This is the way I have always been, but this is the peakest of the peak for me! What I'm learning is that I'm no longer a single twenty-something who can pack life into every single hour of the day. Quality living for me is now getting a full night of sleep because now I have a responsibility to my family: my husband and my baby. They need me as much as I need to be busy! If I keep trying to do it all, someone somewhere suffers and I'm no longer at my best. If I socialize too much, my house suffers. If I clean too much, my attitude suffers. Balance is everything.

I thought my life was like cheesecake. I know, weird, but I love dessert so this analogy works best. It was rich, creamy, and it could have a variety of toppings like caramel, strawberries, or peanut butter, or chocolate ganache, or lemon whipped topping. I could go on! Cheesecake is good, but if you add too many toppings, you aren't going to get one clear idea of flavors and texture. Instead, you'll get a bellyache for sure.So it's time for me to pack up some slices and freeze them for later.

What I really want to do (really, really!) is take some college courses again. Just one or two online for awhile until I learn how to juggle again and until Mia is more independent. This means I have to seriously cut back and prayerfully 'freeze' a few other flavors for awhile. So I'm moving zumba over (but I love it so much!) and downsizing date night (just to a cheaper, more laidback version) and stepping back from sound board at church. I'm wincing every time I think about cutting back because I enjoy all of those things. Someday God will give those slices back to me, and it will be as sweet and creamy as peaches and cream cheesecake all over again: one flavor at a time

There is a time for everything,
    and a season for every activity under the heavens:

    a time to be born and a time to die,
    a time to plant and a time to uproot,
    a time to kill and a time to heal,
    a time to tear down and a time to build,
    a time to weep and a time to laugh,
    a time to mourn and a time to dance,
    a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
    a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
    a time to search and a time to give up,
    a time to keep and a time to throw away,
    a time to tear and a time to mend,
    a time to be silent and a time to speak,
    a time to love and a time to hate,
    a time for war and a time for peace.

What do workers gain from their toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet^[a] no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God. Ecclesiates 3:1-13