moment by moment....

Life is just one big series of little moments.

One thing I am finding with this New Lifestyle I have adopted (yes, the word DIET is being obliterated from our language, it is almost a bad word. Sort of like saying "Indian" when one means Native American)..anyway, I have found that I have these thoughts hovering in the back of my mind that there will be times when I cannot resist something or other, times when I won't be able to exercise, a point when this whole thing will be too much. Then I say to those thoughts, STOP. I have been fine today, I was fine yesterday, why in the heck should I be worried about tomorrow?

And even if I do have a bad day, there is always tomorrow.

I went to the pool after dinner last evening ALL BY MYSELF. Believe me, I felt selfish!!! But it was oh-so-relaxing! I came home, and the house was still standing. Dinner was mostly cleaned up, the kids were all happy to see me. I think they are getting used to me going. I usually take someone with me, but last night I was in a time crunch after Mali's trackmeet, which I did not go to because it was so chilly and rainy, and of course I felt guilty. She didn't seem to mind because she did well, she came in second in the long jump....

Lest anyone think I am amazing for sticking to my DIET so well, and getting my walks and swims in, let me tell you about my house.

1. There is a pile of clean whites on the couch.

2. There are four comforters and two sleeping bags in in a pile on the living room floor....the kids were jumping off the couch into them...and yes, it actually WAS my idea.

3. There is a towel in the nice red chair.

4. Things are accumulating on the top of the dog cage, which is next to my comfy chair.

5. The pans from last night are not washed yet.

6. The yard...oh the yard...looks like the Old Woman Who Lived In The Shoe...bikes, ride-ons, a broken trampoline.....

7. The freezer: there is stuff in the bottom that is stuck in ice.

8. The cupboards...due to my inability to maintain, things are put back in random places and it is difficult to find things in my cupboards. I have had to discipline myself to put the peanut butter in the same place...for years, I would put it in all different cupboards. I am not kidding. Same with pasta...things are starting to have their own particular cupboard, but I still spend more time looking for things than I do actually cooking them.

9. My house will never be spotless. I will work very hard on one thing and neglect everything else, then work on something else...I will never get it all done at the same time.

10. But, I still hate "sticky". Hands have to be washed, small children must eat at the table. I hate walking in crumbs, too, so the floors are swept multiple times a day.

It is a well-known fact that I won't get any drop-in visitors when I have been working hard to clean up the house. It is also a well-known fact that my mother-in-law only comes over when the house is at it's worst.

This brings me to a story....this is a true story. Shall I really tell it? What the heck...

A few years back, maybe five or six, our health insurance changed, and the doctor who had delivered several of our babies was only covered 50% under our plan. I looked into getting government insurance for back-up. When I went in to apply, the nice worker lady told me we would also qualify for food stamps...which I immedietly declined. She told me that these days it was different, you get a little card that you swipe at the register, no one will even know. Hmm. It would be helpful. And as much as I hate to take from the government, we had paid our share of taxes through the years..hmm. So I applied. It was lots of fun, really, to go to the grocery store and get so much stuff for FREE. It came to a screeching halt one rainy day.....

It was a miserable day. The house was messy, I was due to have a baby soon, my around-the-house dress was missing a button right on the belly part...I had just been shopping the day before, so groceries were not put away. There were two beer bottles on the counter, not mine of course.....then there was a knock on the door. She was very business-like, not a hair out of place. She needed to talk to me about government assistance. I should not have let her in. The toddler decided it was a good time to poop, which gave the whole setting the proper aroma. I still thought he looked lovable in his yellow footy jammies, but his nose was running, and She looked at him with contempt. Anyway...She had run our name through motor vehicles, and found out we had a camper. It never occured to me we weren't allowed to have a camper. Our camper was bought back in '92, but apparently it was worth more than $2000, which is like having that much cash on hand, and that is just too much to qualify. Why She had to visit our house to tell me this is beyond me, but I have NEVER felt so humiliated in my life.

That was then end of our one year food stamp spree.

I do not know what my point is, but it IS a funny story.

I was actually relieved to be out of that program. Lots of people assume that just because you have lots of kids, you are a drain on the government. That is NOT true. We pay our taxes, our children grow up and work hard to get good careers to also pay taxes. And, we keep the economy humming with all the shopping I do!!!

Speaking of shopping, off I go again...I have to buy cases and cases of water and drinks for the soccer tournament.....and of course some food for here, again, with our own hard-earned cash....