Suffering, Thy Name is Mindi

I haven’t exercised in over a week. I am so tired I can’t see straight. I wonder if it’s my thyroid. Or maybe it’s the fact I haven’t gone to bed before midnight in I don’t even know how long! My pants seem to be getting tighter.

Sunday, I went to another ward to hear ElRey speak (high council Sunday). As I sat there wrestling my children, I thought why do we wear skirts to church and how do you be lady like in a wrestling match? I felt like there was a giant spot light on me since no one knew who I was so they were wondering if I was new and if they should bother saying ‘hi’ to me, and then they started wondering, why can’t she control her kids! I gave up after ElRey finished, traveling the whole church with 3 kids looking for the bathroom, coming back and having my children climbing under and over pews. I gathered up our stuff and told the girls we were leaving. Annie wasn’t moving as fast us the rest of us and as we walked down the aisle with that stupid spot light following us, she yelled (yes, I said yelled), “Guys, wait for me!!” When we got to the chapel door she then hollered, “Mom, you’re so rude!” Yes, the spot light was still on.

ElRey left me for a hoard of teenage girls. Yes, it’s girl’s camp this week and he happens to be the high councilman over young women’s so he is gone all week. Not only did he leave me alone and outnumbered, he left me with the little Honda from the 1980s, with no AC right when it turned into summer. Course, it’s better than when it was hurricane season since every time it rained the sunroof leaked. The car seats are so close together the girls cannot buckle themselves so I end up having a sweat fest getting everyone in and secure but can’t blast myself after with that blessed arctic chill we call air conditioning.

The other night I went to Wal-Mart real quick to pick up a baby gift and some milk. I got the baby gift, forgot the milk, but loaded up on Diet Coke. I believe in living on the barest of essentials. I stopped at the McDonald’s to get my kids a nutritious meal. The lady charged me for 4 happy Meals when I ordered 3. She seemed really put out by the fact I wanted my 3 bucks back. I realized after that trip, I won’t be going out much this week.

Luckily, I have the best sister-in-law and friends in the world! My SIL came over the other night (thanks, Noraleen!!) while I went to dinner with some of my BFFs and enjoyed a Word of Wisdom questionable meal at Famous Dave’s (meat with a side of meat and pecan pie ((thanks for the pie, Brooke’s Mom!!)){choir of angels singing}). Another day those BFFs dragged me out of my house for some fresh air, water, friends and food.

ElRey called me from camp to tell me how incredibly awesome I am and how lucky he is to have me. That was awesome! Totally worth it!

I also just found out that I was given 2 grants for school for both Fall and Spring semesters! It will cover it all and I won’t have to pay it back later! Free money totally rocks! I can’t wait!

So I guess things aren’t that bad. *sigh* I’d still be alright if you brought me brownies because you felt sorry for me, though…

It’s easy to sit here and think how hard it is to do this alone. But then I am reminded over and over again that I am most certainly not alone! So, thanks to everyone who keeps checking on me and getting me out, even if I have to drive a horse and buggy from the 80s.

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The comments from my last post were awesome! Thanks, guys! If you haven’t left your opinion on the matter, feel free here! I think everyone gave great ideas! I guess it basically comes down to your personal relationship with God and keeping him involved. If He is on board with what you are doing, who cares if Deseret Book kicks your work of the shelves or what not! You know where you stand with The Almighty and that’s all that matters! Hopefully we can all keep that in mind in everything we do! Amy brought up the 13th Article of Faith (We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul—We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.) which is always a great rule of thumb and Melanie said a good way to judge is would you want your kids to read/watch it some day, or parents for that matter!

Elizabeth Gilbert (author of Eat, Pray, Love) has a great  speech (discourse? seminar?) on Youtube about creativity, which if you have a creative bone in your body, this will make your palms sweat, seriously! You can check that out here. It’s 20 minutes but it is awesome! President Uchtdorf also gave a great talk on creativity recently. Read that here. Don’t be afraid of listening to your voices! :)