I took on an unexpectedly monumental task: cleaning out my purse (or really, two purses and a diaper bag that I had rotated between over the past few months).

I was frustrated with my bag because it was too full. There were too many things crammed in that it made it difficult to find what I wanted inside.

When I emptied the contents of all three bags on the bed, I was horrified. It looked something like this after I got rid of all the garbage.



What I had amassed:

my large daily wallet
a small wallet with just the basics that I used for a weekend away
sunglasses and case (not coexisting)
diaper, wipes, changing pad, and trash bags
travel-sized tissue pack
a roll of toilet paper (from when my son had the sniffles and the travel tissues weren't enough)
napkins from a fast food restaurant
4 toy trucks
various receipts and old shopping lists
3 small notebooks and a stack of notecards
6 pens and 1 highlighter
camera
charger and extra battery for camera
phone headset
coupon book
medicine stash from our wee…

As in flecks of reflection from the week: what I'm learning and celebrating.
Things I learned this week:

To move gently through pain.
To be patient with myself.
To be patient with my family.
That having a meal plan in place for the week takes the stress out of cooking. Instead of daily decisions, there was one day of deciding and the rest of simply consulting my plan. (Even better that my husband chose one meal for the week and my stepson chose another, leaving me with even fewer decisions to make at the beginning of the week.)
To pull over on the side of the road and capture beautiful scenery in a photograph rather than driving by thinking, "That would be a pretty picture." (The horse photo is in one of this week's pauses.)

Things I'm celebrating this week:

An invitation.
A lot of time with friends.
Writing.
Pausing mid-scurry to appreciate the moment rather than rushing my toddler along.
Progress.

Things that are resonating with me this week:
I'm currently reading The De…

I've had a bit of a revelation in the last few days. My frustration comes not just from back pain and the flu as I mentioned earlier this week. Certainly, that's part of it.

The bigger issue is that since Christmas break, I haven't been able to maintain my routines. I haven't gotten as much done as I normally do. I haven't taken time to write (which always leaves me cranky- you'd think I'd learn that by now). I haven't read my favorite bloggers. I haven't taken much time for introspection, journaling, self-discovery, or play.

The flu definitely wreaked havoc on my routine, but so did snow. The snow not only inhibited my ability to run errands, but also to get things done around the house. School cancellations kept the kids home, delayed openings made for late starts all around. Yet there were still a lot of appointments and meetings and get togethers. Even the weekends have been full of activity.

Life has been full, which can be good, but can become ov…

I'm feeling debilitated. It's been a tough few weeks for health here. Nothing major or serious, so I feel bad even talking about it because I know there are far worse struggles out there. Even still, we're allowed to be frustrated with setbacks and small things and that's where I am.

It started three weeks ago with the flu. For a full week I spent much of my time on the couch (not all because, let's face it, I'm still a mom even when I'm sick). My husband got it the day after me and also spent much of that time on the couch.

For me it started on a Sunday and I was thinking, "surely by mid-week I'll feel a little better." Wednesday rolled around and it turned into, "certainly by the weekend I'll be on my way back to healthy." Then Sunday rolled around again and I was back on the couch.

Finally I started to round the corner. I was getting my energy back and just about felt like myself again when I started having lower back pain.

Back p…

So there's this woman. An encourager of self-care and self-love. She is an author and a speaker whose blog, e-newsletter, and videos I have followed for years.

One day last month I sent a message requesting a wonderstruck interview with her. I didn't know what would come of it, but I'm trying to embrace the ol' "it doesn't hurt to try" adage.

And you know what? She said yes. YES!

She asked if a video interview might be possible. I have only ever made a few videos and I have never conducted a video interview, but she took a chance on me, so I took one right back... I said yes.

Then I spent the next two weeks practicing on Skype with friends, downloading recording software, and testing it. And I made it happen.

It's not perfect. For some reason that day my video was a little blurry and the sound hiccupped a few times. But I did it. WE did it- she and I.

So without further ado, please enjoy this video interview with Jennifer Louden.

http://www.youtube.com/watch…