Belle and Roscoe Do Laundry

After returning from my trip to the far corners of the world in Dallas, Tx (yes it all depends on where you are coming from, doesn’t it?), I have been playing Catch-Up.

Do you ever feel like you spend more time trying to catch up than you do in actually getting things done when they are supposed to be?

And isn’t it hard to catch-up and keep moving forward at the same time–actually, I am not sure if it is physically possible. Really, picture it…it must look a lot like running suicides in Gym class.

What does this say about our lives when we spend so much time trying to catch up, and what exactly are we trying to catch?  Some elusive, wild, untamed animal called “It’s-All-Done”?  Do they allow wild animals on the playing field?

Oh, I feel a Serious Digression coming on.

Seriously, how is it that we never feel like we can get “IT” all done?  When was the last time you kicked back in your favorite place and sighed, “Ahhh…everything is done and I have nothing I need to do.  Hmmm….wonder what I will do with all of this extra time?”  I can’t recall any time after about age 25 that I have said that.

How is it that kids have the luxury of, “I’m bored…there’s NOTHING to do….?”  We all know the answers to that, but as we head into one of the busiest times of the year, I think it is worth thinking about.  Are there things we are chasing after in our lives that aren’t really all that necessary?

Are there time-eaters, brain-power consumers, or image-makers that we have allowed to creep into the margins of our lives and crowd out the important things?

Or maybe they have busted out of the margins and are taking over the living room.  Just askin’.

So this is life over the last fifteen days:

• Return from a great trip
• Deal with jet lag that was starting to whoop my backend. (2-3 hours of sleep a night is brutal–must stop waking up at 2 am!)
• Help the house recover a week of Mom gone–you can imagine.
• Do laundry that piled up and was added to as two of my kids returned from week-long trips to Far East Competitions.
• While I was gone, my son was in Guam for a Jazz band all-region event and my daughter was in Korea for a volleyball tournament.  My sweet husband re-arranged a business trip to the Phillipines so that he could keep the revolving door moving.  I imagine this is the only time we will have our family spread out over the globe like this.  Exciting craziness that creates some need to play the catch-up game for everyone.  Yes this is a game the whole family can play if you work it right!!
• Oversee two high school students playing Catch-Up at school
• Get ready for Thanksgiving
• Celebrate our 20th Anniversary–wow I am blessed with a great husband!
• Do Thanksgiving
• Go camping overnight
• Keep up with the current–I am starting to laugh
• Get ready to do a Facilitator training seminar
• Learn how to work this Bloggy-thing 🙂
• Decorate for Christmas–doesn’t involve  much, we have 2 boxes and some lights
• Try to find white christmas lights this time of year on Okinawa–if you live here, you know what I am talking about.
• Make sure all Christmas gifts are ordered in time to receive for Christmas
• Write more brilliant blogs…
• Try to remember all of the things that I have forgotten to do.  I am not quite sure how these forgotten tasks play into the rules of the game of Catch-up, but I am sure they will show up sometime.

Let me make a very important point–I am not complaining!  I am just saying that this is the way it is at the moment, and I truly wouldn’t change a thing!  I am counting my blessings and taking  joy in the daily and the extraordinary that have collided in my corner of the world lately.  November was truly a month with so many things to be thankful for.

If you have played the Catch-Up game, you may have noticed that it can involve a certain level of stress, craziness, and irritability.  Well I am trying my best, with a Holy Spirit dose of perspective to run this game in peace and joy, safe in the assurance that somehow what needs to get done will get done.

And even if it doesn’t, that’s not the end of the world.  Late happens sometimes and life goes on.  Who says playing Catch-Up has to be miserable?  We can have fun at this, particularly if we invite others to join us in our craziness.  (Thanks Kim for coming over and joining me in cooking for Thanksgiving–you made it extra fun.)

My kiddos have had several sweet invitations to join me as I dole out strategic plays in the Catch-Up Game Hand-Book—deligate to anything that moves!  I have discovered that my dogs can help with the Laundry (yes, with a capital L–we’ve been over that one before).

Belle Takes the Clothes Out of the Dryer

Roscoe Wants to Help Fold

And now, I am off to the gym to work on my sprints, cause if I am going to play this game of catch-up…I want to win–or at least finish with style!

Well, if you find yourself playing this same game, take comfort in the fact that you have lots of people on the same team! Believe it or not, the game of Catch-Up is not really a competitive sport and anyone can make this team.