Frustration

As you may, or may not, have noticed, this week, I missed a few days of blogging, only to follow up that absence with a comparatively lame post about an apple peeler.  Not to belittle the help it may have been to those interested, but it wasn't exactly the profound, beginning of the new year thoughts I'd hoped to share.  --But 4 days into 2012, I had to post something!


I've been struggling with a few things.  

• I've been trying to formulate my goals and tasks for the coming year.  I feel there are more swirling around in the back of my head and heart than are spilling out on my note pad, but I can't seem to grasp them clearly.  

• My brain isn't helping --either a bit of hormonal imbalance, or, most likely, remaining fatigue from nights up with sick kids over the holidays. But my mind won't let go of words I need, thoughts are a jumble, and I have to specifically think through routine, usually mindless tasks to make sure I'm doing them in the proper order... Like brake, shift into Park, and then turn off the car.  

• I've been kitchen cleaning.  Mostly alone.  When everyone was sick around Christmas, I decided to do more than my usual so that my chore-doers could relax.  While doing so, I thought I'd demonstrate a new standard of cleanliness in hopes that others would fall into maintaining it.  Mostly, I hoped for reactions something like, "Wow, this looks great so clean.  When I make something to eat, I'll take care of the dishes and food right away so it stays this way."  The family seems to have surmised, instead, "If no one steps up, Mom - or whatever mythical creature did this - will do it all."    

• All of my cleaning hasn't even been wholly successful... Over the holidays, the cream puff filling and a pot of cocoa splashed over the edges of their pans and made pools in the hot pans under the burners on the rangetop.  Tuesday, I dismantled the whole thing, and scrubbed away at the remaining spots.  After quite a time, and not much progress, I turned to fume-free oven cleaner.  It sounded like the last-resort option, and I was no longer willing to try something that 'might' work.  I generously sprayed the underpans from the stove, and left it to sit overnight, the amazing foam, supposedly eating away all of the cooked on problems.  In the morning, I scrubbed some more, and added more oven cleaner, and did the same again in the afternoon.  I'd say that for most of the areas, this did a better job than other solutions.  But we still have ample evidence of the holiday spills on our most often used burner pans. 

The cleaner ones

The clean, but not clean ones

• Too many bills await me...  

• And my back hurts.

School starts back in today, so maybe a more regular routine will help.  I'm sorry if this comes off as whining.  I truly think that it is a bit of spiritual warfare... Which I've come to believe means I'm probably on the right track with something in my faith journey.  So I'll take it as a good sign and keep forging ahead. 

And things aren't all bad... I had apple pie for breakfast (and lunch!), the foundation walls for the garage addition were poured this week, and because I haven't been in a hurry to move on, 

I'm still enjoying what I think is the most beautiful Christmas tree we've ever had.  --I believe I think that every year!  :-)