25 April 2013

Suck It Up, Buttercup!

My three-year-old picked that one up recently. Can't blame TV, or my husband. Nope, he got it from me.


And I need to hear it, although he only says it to his older siblings to annoy them. But he could say it to me and I'd deserve it.

I've felt really whiney lately. Maybe the complaints are mostly in my head, but I could list a gazillion of them. Here's a sample: they want to show the house YET AGAIN on Friday, my serger is on strike, we still don't have a place to live when we move in 5 weeks (unprecedented for us), my baby girl now likes to wake me up at 4 a.m. (seriously, exactly 4 a.m.) and nurse herself back to sleep while leaving me wide awake for the day (no wonder I go to bed at 8:30!), and on and on and on. See? Whiney.

Now I have two Facebook friends. One annoys me to no end because she is Super Whiney. All the time. On Facebook and in person. We're both in pretty similar situations. Husbands in law school (they started at the same time). Five kids. The similarities sort of end there. I'm homeschooling, she's not. But every day she manages to complain about something. She calls herself a single mom because her husband is in law school, which drives me crazy because I know single moms and they don't typically have someone show up in the evenings at dinnertime and help with jammies and hold family prayer and show up when there are sick babies and call when they miss you. Just saying. See? So I'm not that whiney.

Then there's my other friend. She's amazing. Four kids. Part-time job. And MS. Yep. She has an incurable disease that makes laundry, bathing her kids and opening cupboards and doors difficult. Her hands just won't work the way they should. And she NEVER complains! Ever. Ever. (Now I sound like a Taylor Swift song).

So after reading through her blog and hanging my head lower and lower in shame, I'm going to suck it up, buttercup. Life is pretty great for me. It's awful that I need a wake up call like that one, but I'll take it.

Boohoo, my serger is on strike. Which means I get to sew a quilt top instead. My friend couldn't even cut the fabric, or sew it together. Here's what I got done yesterday:


And showing the house just means that it gets cleaned up more often than I usually get from my family. We're going to just pack up a lot of stuff in advance of this next showing. Then they can't get it all out again to make another huge mess. Win!

As for our housing crisis, well, it will sort itself out. It's giving us a chance to flex our faith muscles. We've done all we can and now it's up to God, or what's supposed to happen for our family. All will be well. But my OCD mind is still reeling at the thought.

Not much I can do about 4 a.m. except enjoy the quiet (and I do!) and the snuggles with my last baby. I'll miss it someday. That's what they tell me. And she is the sweetest thing EVER! Warning: shameless baby photos coming up!




Did I mention she likes to climb on my chair while I'm sewing? Such a great helper, standing behind me. And if I leave the chair out, she climbs up and arranges squares on the table, just like me. Cutest thing ever, but could I catch it on camera? No.

So this is me sucking it up. Because life is great, even when it's not. Counting my blessings, because I have so many to be grateful for. Including wonderful blogging friends who put up with my whining and shameless baby photos occasionally. Promise I won't do it too often. But when I get a kitty, it's going to be a whole lot worse. Consider yourselves warned. But I promise to only post kitty+quilt shots, 'kay?

7 comments:

  1. Thanks for all of this! I was in a whiney mood too, for no real reason what so ever! :-) it is better now!!!
    Esther
    ipatchandquilt dot wordpress dot com

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  2. I appreciate this post as well. I think you can show off that cute little girl as much as u like Jennie;)

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  3. I don't think you're 'whiney', I think you're fabby :) and your baby girl is toooooooooo cute :)

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  4. I so appreciate you open honesty, it is refreshing. You ended up turning your post around to something positive, that is awesome! I was told that when I am down or feeling sorry for myself about something trivial to look around and I will find somebody that is in worse shape than me....and it is true. I do believe that you will find a place to move to and everything will work out great. I love your quilt top, happy and bright and your little girl, well, she is a doll.

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  5. Your little girl is adorable, so you don't need to apologize for showing some pictures of her. :)

    I hear you on choosing to be happy and trying to not whine. Sometimes whining about something is all I want to do, but it very rarely helps the situation. My husband, formerly a long-haul truck driver, now works in the oilfield and is gone three weeks at a time. The trade-off is that when he is home, he is home for two weeks and no one else has a claim on him. I figure I can choose to be grumpy and complain 'poor me' and mope, or I can be happy that he has a steady job and gets to spend quality time with us during his weeks home. The attitude with which you approach things makes an immense difference.

    beaniekins84(at)gmail(dot)com

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  6. Hi, I'd love to follow your blog, but from what I hear, google friends connect is being discontinued, so is there another way that you suggest to readers? Thanks so much!! H from Healdsburg

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  7. Thank you for this inspiring post. We all have struggles and blessings, and it's hard to keep our mind out of the "her grass is greener" mentality. Keep posting sweet baby pics for those of us who don't have little ones to love on! And kittie+quilt pics are always great, too! Best wishes for your move. :)

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"The more things you do, the more you can do."

Lucille Ball