You all truly made that a very special day, and I cannot wait to see you all at my wedding!!!
So I'm off today. This is the first day of my 4 day weekend. Again, I'm most excited about getting my house clean (sick, I know).... I'm also going to get some wedding things done, some Easter Bunny things, and some Tracy things. Hopefully the "Tracy things" will include, not only blogging, but also running and reading. I have Harlan Coben on my Kindle, and ever since Danielle put a kindle app on my phone, I hardly ever play Words With Friends or Draw Something, so if I've left you hanging with games, blame my daughter....or Harlan Coben for being such a great writer.
We get to use Easter as an excuse to have family time this weekend, and I'm excited about that. It's a comforting feeling to go home to Mom and Dad's and be taken care of. In years past, I hosted the whole family for holidays, birthdays, etc. I had the biggest house, and really enjoyed having everyone. Now, I'm in a smaller place, so, while I still host things from time to time, we sort of spread it around, and take turns now, which is great. My sister has a pool, so I'm all for 4th of July at her place.
I only have one little one left, who believes in the Easter Bunny. I probably have one or two more Easter's to play the bunny and hide eggs and baskets. Of course, I will probably always do Easter baskets for all of the kids, but there's something so sweet about little ones who still believe in the magic of the Easter Bunny and Santa Clause. I just love it. So this Easter morning, I will have the joy of watching Eli excitedly hunt for eggs and tear into his basket, and for that, I'm thankful.
There are so many blessings in my life that I'm thankful for right now; I'm thankful for the people God has placed in my life. My caring friends, my loving almost husband, my amazing kids....and, I'm also very thankful for my job.
When I go to school every day, we say two pledges every morning. We, of course, say the Pledge of Allegiance, but we also say our school's pledge:
“Today is a new day. A day that I will:
Promise to respect myself, others, and my school,
Learn all I can, practice patience and peace, and make good choices.
A day that I will do my best.”
When you say this with a room full of 7 year olds every day, it begins to make you think. It makes you really strive to do all of these things. Respect myself, and others.... practice patience and peace.... do my best... and every morning I'm reminded, "Today is a new day." So, if I screwed it up yesterday, I get to try again today.
I have to say, that in most areas, I've done pretty well at all of this stuff. I'm a patient mom and teacher. I'm a respectful co-worker, sister, daughter. I make good choices daily.... although there is always room for improvement, but I'm giving myself a B+ on most of this stuff.
Admittedly, there are some people, who are unfortunately in the peripheral part of my life, who I haven't learned how to deal with. Actually, I'd rather not have to deal with them, but alas.....
So....today is a new day....a day that I will promise to respect myself and others.....learn all I can, practice patience and peace,and make good choices.....a day that I will do my best....
I have recently had cause to seriously ponder how I can put this pledge into practice daily, not only for those situations which make it easy, but also those difficult situations that tend to play out in my blog... I'm not going to promise anyone that if you're in my life, you won't make my blog, but I will try to be more respectful. I have taken my kids' concerns to heart, and I've tried very hard not to bring up sensitive matters involving them, in the blog. I've tried to let them have some privacy, and I'm making sure the links don't end up in their friends' facebook or twitter feeds...
By the same token, I can refrain from calling people offensive names. (I believe that may be what caused the backlash from "you know who" last week.... correct me if I'm wrong, JB)
I'm inherently a very sarcastic person, and people will just have to deal with that. It's a part of my personality that's not likely to change, at this point. I have been really working on myself for the last several years, I've become stronger, more patient, more understanding, more open minded, less judgmental, but I haven't seen any change in the level of sarcasm....in fact it may be worse.... I guess it's a coping mechanism.... yeah....I'm pretty sure it's just my personality.... so deal with it....
But the bottom line is, I love the peaceful life I've created for myself. I love our walks to the park, with Eli. I love our talks in the car, when I pick up the boys from school. I love stopping for slushies after school. I love fixing dinner while the boys are in the next room watching tv. I love chilling on the back patio with Shanon. I love my daily life. I love my family filled weekends. I love the feeling of being loved. It's so different from what I previously had in my life. I have no worries about what shoe may drop next.
There are people, who I love, that I do worry about, but I've learned to trust God, and believe that He is in control. I have learned to have a stronger faith. I have learned to believe that everything happens for a reason. I have learned to give my worries to God, and enjoy my life. All I want is peace. I can't control others, but I can control myself, and I can control my reactions. So, I will practice patience and peace. I will respect myself and others. I will do my best to keep the peace in my life that I've created, and I will not validate the drama that others thrive on.
I'm about to have an amazing four days with family and friends. Happy Easter, everyone.....enjoy......
Life's short. Buy the shoes ;)
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