What a flippin, flappin DAY!!!!

For two days now, I have had "one of those days"... nothing major... no one needed brain surgery; no eye muscle reattachment; car didn't blow up; axe murderer didn't find me unaware... just tons and tons and TONS of little stuff:

*messy accidents of the elderly
*not one but THREE attempts before a viable urine sample could be obtained (from same senior citizen), confirming my suspicions that a UTI was causing some of our problems (I'm not a doctor. I just play one on TV.)
*no work.. I mean NO work to be had... until the morning of the day that I had to take my aunt to the doctor... SERIOUSLY???
*5 year old who learned to light a match (THANK YOU JESUS she only burned her finger and not the whole house down)
*4 trips to Walmart in 4 days.. If I'm lying, I'm dying!  FOUR TRIPS!!!!!
   Monday - because Hannah was promised a bike if she bravely endured surgery, all post-op appointments AND the evil eye drops;
   Tuesday - because in the middle of a cake pop project I needed to get candy melts;
   Wednesday - because our regularly scheduled programming calls for an every Wednesday trip and I had been putting of the normal stuff till the regular trip
   Thursday - needed burn cream and gauze

Along the way, it was like the devil was throwing snowballs at my frostbitten spots!  ERGH!

***navigating Walmart with four kids and a 90-year old lady on the DAY BEFORE school starts is NOT fun!
***while normally very helpful, the people at Aurora Hartford were NOT my favorite people today
***old people canNOT seem to "go" when needed but ALWAYS seem to need to "go" when NOT needed
***golly 4 kiddos are irritating at Walmart (wait did I already say that one?)
***I have A LOT on my plate at any one given moment (that's not really a brand-new revelation... I'm just saying)

So anyways, I was LITERALLY and TRULY in tears by about 4 p.m. It was FREAKING hot out there today! the kids had pushed me to my limit! previously mentioned Aurora peops were trying to make my life difficult I think. previously mentioned old person wasn't helping either.....

I realized a few things today:

Sometimes it IS the little things... a TON of little things is still a TON. It was that last one little STRAW that broke the camel's back and sometimes the load of all those straws can be as heavy as one BIG thing!

No matter what... When my day is NOT good, my God still is. The day can fall apart. One TERRIBLE revelation or TONS of tiny little irritations, but REGARDLESS, my God is still on the throne!

Also, while the muscle spasms in my back and shoulders don't really prove this point: I am starting to see that there is only so much I can do in any one given day. When things go perfectly, I may be able to write my 5 articles, do any reference checking that is needed, homeschool 4 kids, care for one old lady, and not lose my mind... But when someone gets burned, gets a UTI, has three bathroom accidents... on those days... I'm not going to get much "work" done. I have to learn to just accept that and walk away. I have to see that the productivity of my day isn't only measured in articles written, blogs posted and reference checks completed... owies soothed, messes made right, battles mediated, and cake pops placed in the hand of a smiling child ALL COUNT TOWARD MY PRODUCTIVITY!!!!

Finally a couple of quick less lofty lessons:
*Auntie Marge does NOT go to Walmart... EVER... AGAIN!
*Do NOT run out of burn cream, bandaids, or benadryl. Not in THIS house.
*Hannah should be glued to my side... Maybe another trip to Walmart to buy a bunch of those sticky mouse traps???
*Walmart may not be much fun, but I would NOT make it without one.
*Cake pops are YUMMY!
*Kids cooking for you is heavenly.

Sooooooo here's to hoping for a better day tomorrow. I realized tonight, even if tomorrow bites too, it is still FRIDAY!!!!! Homeschooler bonfire, LifeChurch, Christian Life Fellowship and a WHOLE lotta laying around on Labor Day are ALL on the docket for my weekend and I can't WAIT!

Have a GREAT Friday everyone!