in Our spring in Ontario has been a little above the normal for April and May, right? With our first long weekend approaching in a few short hours, you would think its time to relax and take in the warm weather. For me, its a day like all the rest full of busy soap making or formulating, taking note of stock and figuring out what needs to be put at the top of my to do list and lets not forget the house and family stuff. Perhaps its just my type 'A' personality, relax is not a word I can easily identify with. Even as I sit here on my lap top trying to put my thoughts into words that can be understood I am overwhelmed with the list floating around in my head which doesn't include sitting on the couch:)
A day in the life of Fosters Fields, my family and I. After getting my kid onto the bus I started my day with a big walk, Parker's idea! Followed by yoga and meditation(a truly important start to my day). Since my 2 youngest children aren't great at doing their chores, I also had to sneak in some house cleaning. By 9:30 I was ready to get started on sanitizing my work space downstairs in order to make soaps, body creams and pedi sticks....the few things on my make now list! After walking into my workspace I remembered that we had some sort of leak in our basement so there is a pile of boxes and crap all over my counter tops that need attention before I can sanitize anything. Wander back upstairs into my office to start book work instead only to realize that I made a colossal mess getting things ready for the new location and my kids think its funny to do crafts at my desk and not clean up! Cancel book work plan and clean my office. Its now 10:35 am and NOTHING has gotten done beyond cleaning. After a long pause, a shower and an early lunch I realized I had to run around town picking up a few things....now at 2:37 pm I find myself frustrated and tired from all the cleaning and running but I still have to get my soap, body cream and pedi sticks done before my kids get home from school.
As easily as my brain goes into fast speed, it stopped for just a moment. As I returned from my errands and passed by my front flower garden I realized that my flowers were really coming up. This made my STOP, take a closer look and some pictures. In my world of crazy, in those few short minutes I realized that I could in fact take a moment to smell the flowers and nothing would happen...the soap isn't getting made today nor the pedi sticks and this was going to have to be ok. Coming to this realization took me many years and in all honestly the stops are rarely planned but absolutely necessary.
I have to remind myself often and I will tell you, its ok to stop and take a breath! Listen to your kids stories, smell the roses(or other flowers in your garden), hug longer and make the time for yourself. And lastly, the hardest reminder for me...its ok that the soap and stuff didn't get made today....tomorrow is another day or perhaps next week so I can enjoy the long weekend with my family!