Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Controlled (?) Chaos

I begin today with a word of gratitude that I live in this country. As we inaugurate a new President, I am reminded that much of the world has never understood how rivals can passionately vie for a chance to lead a nation, then stand together and move forward after the election is over. May our new leader experience wisdom, courage and grace as he dons the mantle.

Yesterday's post, while not evoking the highest number of comments I have received, certainly brought out the greatest collective depth in the comments section.
Scriptor, your transparent self-revelation left me with a sense of profound joy. The way you "chewed on" my thoughts, then formulated your response was -- to me -- a high honor.
Beautiful daughter Becki, I am -- as always -- touched by your passion for those things you care about. In this case, it's your deep desire to help kids who might otherwise be overlooked. Thank you for sacrificing to do it.
Dina, your personal insight that blogging is somewhat your "off season" was a sort of revelation. I, too, find that blogging sharpens my mind in a way I find both enjoyable and stimulating. It helps me focus on the most important things as I chase through life.
Rachel, your view that "I can't narrow myself down to which one thing would count as 'on'... it's all life... it's all connected" is a reflection that I have long related to. I love to think of the church as a living organism and not an organization. My personal life seems to fit in that same model.

Now, the meaning behind today's title. Cathy and I drove 3 hours to Phoenix yesterday to pick up our daughter C. Beth and grandchildren Chickie and Zoodle. The simple lunch with them and a life-long friend, along with the "3 hour" return trip, took about 6 hours.

Still another 3 hours have passed since we arrived back home. Whew! So far we have played dress up and horsey rides, along with toys and books. We have eaten, fed, cleaned, fed, cleaned, changed, cleaned (still toys all over the floor), and -- finally -- kissed good night.

I'm off to bed. I get about 7 1/2 hours of "off season" and I don't have an action plan for it.

I'm exhausted!

4 comments:

C. Beth said...

Ahh, free childcare for a week. Now THIS is my "off season" even though I'm doing a bit of real estate work while I'm here!

Rachel Cotterill said...

You never quite get a break once you have kids, as I understand it (not having any of my own yet), because even when you can't see them they're always in your thoughts.

I hope you all have a lovely time together :)

And one day I'm really expecting the story of how Chickie & Zoodle got those particular names - Beth??

C. Beth said...

Rachel--Several months ago my husband grew concerned about our family's real names being all over my blog, with pictures and everything. So I gave the three of them blog names. (I didn't change my name since it was already part of the blog title!) The Engineer and I sometimes call our daughter "Chickie Poo Poo"--we have a little song that we sing ("Chickie Poo Poo, Chickie Poo Poo Poo." It's a deep, philosophical song.) So I shortened that to Chickie. Sandra Boynton writes kids books & songs, and I often sing my son the Boynton song "Silly Lullaby." It starts, "Go to sleep my zoodle, my fibblety fitzy foo." So I thought Zoodle would be great, and I've ended up really liking that name for him. :)

Sandra said...

Sam -- I love your description of the organized chaos that is grandchildren! :)

Have a wonderful visit.