Rolling Along With Life

Life got a little too serious around here this past while. My head has been full of reflective thoughts and there are more where that came from. But I need to back off for a day and just write ...

My daycare week has been the best! There is no school for the kids this week, which meant I had a 5 year old boy and his 8 year old sister here during the school break. Add two 1-1/2 year old girls; one, 2-1/2 year old boy and you've got a winning combination. There is fun and laughter and activity. But best of all?? There is dancing! I knew something good was happening when this young girl started singing and dancing to some of the songs we really enjoy around here. She has really heightened our dance craze at daycare. It is fun to add music, singing and dancing to a day. Try it sometime. I think you'll like it!!

I found shoes!! Not only shoes that I can dance in ... but shoes that I can wear around the house and they are more comfortable than my bare feet! Yes! More comfortable!! Because I can't wear my orthotics when I don't have shoes on. They are jazz shoes. They are one size bigger than I normally buy; wide in size and they are made out of a pliable leather that is heavenly. And I will be able to dance in them!! Yee haw! Not only that, but if you have tender toes, you should go to store that specializes in all types dancing shoes. The girl that helped me out was full of ideas and suggestions for my bunion and corn, because they run into this all of the time with people who wear ballet 'pointe' shoes. I came home with some 'spacers' which will ease the tenderness where my corns were shaved off last week. My feet are jumping with joy - they feel so good!

Two evenings in a row, all of my daycare kids were picked up before 5:00!! This was a gift that was worth more than money. My glasses broke first thing yesterday morning. I called the place I purchased them to find out the hours, only to find out they closed at 5:30. So ... I was going to have to wait until Saturday to take my glasses in. But thanks to my early pick-ups, I made it there not only before they closed ... but just two days before my one year warranty on my glasses was up. One would hope that they would have waived the rules, if I had made it one day late ... but I will not have to wonder. Because I made it two days before the guarantee expired. My frames will be replaced at no cost and I am very, very pleased about that.

I cancelled the next few weeks of dance lessons, to give my feet a rest. Plus I thought that I would need to wait two to three weeks for my dance shoes to arrive. As it turns out, they had a different color in stock and (because my work day ended so early) I could have made it to class. But I had already cancelled it, so I simply enjoyed the night off. And it felt heavenly. The long weekend was a busy one. I was utterly exhausted on Monday. All I remember about Tuesday night is waking up at 6 p.m. to phone Mom because I knew the rest of the week was accounted for. Wednesday and Friday are committed to flyers. So I honestly feel like I'm playing hooky tonight. It is a 'forbidden' night off. And it feels fantastic.

I may be crazy-busy this upcoming weekend but I just don't want to know about it. Not yet. I told my friend that I could clean her house Saturday mornings. It is very likely that I will have to work at my bookkeeping job this weekend. Then there are those blasted flyers. Oh ... when I get rich and famous, the first thing that is going to go is those flyers. Then again, delivering those flyers is the only exercise I get so I should not be so hasty in wanting them to vanish from my life. Then again, if I was rich and famous, I could hire a personal trainer and it would all work out in the wash.

The best news of all is that I am 'back'. I am rolling with life. The good, the bad and the ugly (my new shoes are sort of ugly). I'm coping. Life felt 'dark'. Very, very dark ... a while ago. I shed some light on the darkness and it quietly went away. No fuss, no muss, no fanfare. Just the way the darkness rolled in ... it rolled out again.

The sun is shining longer every day. Spring is on the horizon. I am busy. I am challenged. I am working. I am not only surviving ... I am starting to thrive once again. It's coming. I can feel it in the air.

There is so much more, that is much deeper than today's inane drivel of words. The world is full of sadness, illness, despair and darkness. I am grateful that my own world is full of light, dancing, comfy shoes and glasses that are smart enough to break before the warranty expires.

Who knows how close we come to those cut-off dates in life? It is nice to 'win' one, every now and again. We are ever conscious of the losses ... but do we really have any idea how many times we have 'won' and not even been aware??