Business

Well, that title should actually say busy-ness, but I really don't think that is a word.  So let's move on shall we?  I have been busy, to say the least.  Whenever I would comment on how I wished Mark would be done with school so we could have some time, people would laugh and tell me that things only got busier.  I would nod and smile and then ignore them.  Things couldn't possibly get busier for my family, right?  Wrong!  I was wrong!  There, I said it, and I most likely won't ever say it again so it's a good thing it's in writing (this is defeating the purpose of me trying to convince my husband that he should listen to me because I am always right).  But, I digress, sorry.  Life got busier!  Mark graduated with his Master's degree last December with a crazy, pretty much insane wife, six small children, a full time job and serving as a bishop.  Finally with school done we would get some family time.  Time to mow the lawn and finish our projects and take the kids fishing and go on dates and go to the gym and ride bikes with the kids and read books that have been sitting on the shelf forever. NOPE!  It seems that the time Mark had previously spent studying got filled with church emergencies and activities or long work hours or sick kids.  I used to resist being busy, thinking it would just go away.  But by doing that, I just made things worse.  I didn't plan my days or my time and then I would forget stuff and being unprepared just takes twice as long.  So last year while Mark was in Portugal, I decided that I had to embrace my busy life and not fight against it.  At the time, I was doing everything all by myself and yet still got it done.  I bought this awesome calendar on amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/2011-Knapps-Family-Organizer-calendar/dp/1402242549/ref=pd_sim_b_2) that I really don't know how I lived without.  Now, I am not some organized freak--far from it actually.  But I can at least now keep track of appointments and achievement nights and soccer practices and what not.  But I digress yet again.  What I am trying to say is that life does not slow down--at all, and the more you try to make it slow down, the faster it slips throught your fingers.  We are extremely busy people.  I don't over-schedule my kids though.  In fact they do not have any activities going on at the moment at all, yet we still run around like crazy.  It's all about balance and priority.  We have especially learned that since Mark has been the bishop because he could honestly spend all of his waking hours doing nothing but that.  We have learned to live busy lives.  We have learned that the house isn't always going to be clean or the lawn perfectly manicured or that we can't always go do what we want to.  But we put those things first that need to be done first.  I am definitely not perfect at prioritizing, especially when it comes to my own needs, but I try.  So when someone tells you that life only gets busier, take it from one who used to scoff--they're right!