Confessions of a Ninja Mom Week 1

This week, I am challenging myself to really look at my day and find one thing to be thankful for.  But I can't go for the obvious answers.  I have to really dig deep and find something I might not normally see.  I already feel so blessed.  I look at my life and while I do not have everything I could ever want, I truly have everything I will ever need.  My hope is to find the hidden things in life that I might overlook. 

Monday:  Today I am thankful for spiders.  Ok, well not really thankful for them, but thankful for their ability to turn a boring drive into a Ninja inspired death match.  Picture if you will, my happy self cruising down the street singing along to the radio when out of nowhere, this monster of a spider, he was at least 3 feet long, attacks me.  I did not provoke said monster spider, I didn't even know he existed!  But out of nowhere he jumped on me threatening my very life!  Good thing I have the reflexes of a cat and Ninja chopped him off my arm and onto the floor.  Now, by quick reflexes, I mean screaming at the top of my lungs and flailing around like monkey til he falls off my arm.  I am pretty sure he flew under my seat hysterically laughing at my response.  But my life was hanging in the balance and acting like a crazy person was clearly my only hope for survival.  Like I said, not as much thankful for spiders as much as the adventure they bring.

Tuesday:  Today I am thankful for text messaging.  Dear hubby got some really good news, and delivered it to me via text message because I was in a meeting.  Good thing the guy I was in a meeting with understood me well enough to not question my immediate fist pumping and tears.  Seriously, think of life before text messaging.  We used to actually "talk" to people.  So weird.  Wonder if cave people actually wrote on the walls to avoid "talking" to each other?  I wonder what, "You my date, we eat food, I club you" looks like written in caveman on walls?  Wonder if they ever wrote: #YOLO?  Hhhmmm maybe text messaging isn't the best thing to be thankful for, but today it was super awesome.

Wednesday:  Today I am thankful for zippers.  Not really sure why, but this morning when I put on my pants I thought, "hmmpf, zippers are pretty cool".

Thursday:  Well today was Thanksgiving.  Of course I am thankful for my husband and my kids.  My family and friends.  And of course for my job and a roof over my head.  But today Jason and I spent Thanksgiving at our Pastor's parents house.  What an amazing family they have.  His parents have been married for nearly 50 years and each of their 3 sons are still married to their first wives and have a bunch of kids.  The kids all played outside, no TV and no video games.  The adults sat around talking, laughing and just truly enjoying each others company.  I am thankful to be in a place where the simple life truly warms my heart.  No need for pomp and circumstance, just good old fashioned family values.  I was truly honored to be invited to be a part of it.  Bonus thankful item: LaLaLoopsy Dolls.  They are just fun to say.  Say it 5 times and tell me you aren't smiling!

Friday:  Today I am thankful for fuzzy socks.  My sock drawer looks like a rainbow exploded in it.  Today while in Walmart, the line was super long even though I went in the afternoon.  Turns out there are quite a few people like me who chose not to act like a crazy person and shop at 2 AM.  While in line, dealing with grumps all around me, I lifted up my pant leg and peeked at my socks.  I giggle every single time.  I can't help it.  And today, I chose to wear two different fuzzy socks which made me giggle just a little more.  The person behind me took a step back.  I think my awkward sock giggle made him nervous.  Whatever super boring, grumpy man.  Take your stupid white socks and step away from the cool club.  We didn't want you in our club anyways.  And of course by "we" I mean "me", which makes it super exclusive.

So what did I learn in this little challenge?  First, I learned that once I realized how thankful I am for zippers, every time I put pants on, I giggled.  Seriously, zippers now make me giggle.  Next time you zip up your pants, try not to giggle.  But in all honesty I learned that I have a ton to be thankful for.  From coffee to cream cheese to gas in my car, I am a pretty lucky lady.  I may not have a ton of money or the fancy new car but my life rocks.  I got a roof over my head, a hubby that loves me, kids that make me laugh and zippers on my pants.  What more can a girl ask for?  Oh and I also learned that I giggle far more than the average person.  But that's ok, life is too short to take everything so seriously! 

I challenge anyone to try and take a week to really look at the things you are thankful for each and everyday.  Go beyond the obvious answers and really think about it.  It is amazing what it does for your spirit.  I might try this technique on the days where I am not so happy.  I bet it will help snap me out of it.  There is truth that your eyes are the gate to your mind.  What you see through your "eye gates" can truly affect your mind.  This week I chose to see the blessings and I hope you will take some time to see yours too!   

Next Week's Challenge: Do one silly thing with my kids before bed.

After all, being silly is the best medicine!

Confessions of a Ninja Mom...or at least her attempts to be one....

It's been too long.  Life seems to get in the way of my writing, which is also my therapy.  This could explain the increase of craziness in my head.  Writing gets the crazy out to, of course, add more crazy.  So why the new direction?  Chiari is a part of my life.  I have said this many times even though I don't always accept it.  But I don't want it to define me.  I don't want to just be the girl with the big brain, although I guess worse could be said about a person...lol.  Lately, my heart has been heavy with thoughts of a hobby.  Not sure what that means, maybe my heart was just telling me I needed a release.  I pondered many things, photography, sewing, scrap booking, restoring old furniture, but none of those by themselves stuck out.  So I decided to analyze my passions.  Three things came to mind.  My relationship with God, my relationship with my husband and all our kids and my love of writing.  Then it hit me.  What if I challenge every week with something new and write a collection of essays?  What if I take those essays and make a book out of it?  I have secretly wanted to write a book for as long as I can remember and I think many would agree that I have a unique view on life.  I am after all a self proclaimed Ninja and Ninja's love to write books! 

Many insecurities come to mind.  First, will anyone read it?  Honestly, I don't know.  But really this challenge is for me and my family.  This challenge is about making me a better wife, mother, friend and person.  Next, what if I don't stick with it and I lose interest?  I am the big idea person.  My motto has always been "Go Big or Go HOME!".  Well, if I GO BIG, and it flops, at least I tried.  And finally, what if after all of this I do not become a better me at all?  Which that statement doesn't really mesh if I think about it.  If I am aspiring to become a better person all around, aren't I already growing? 

I can't promise it will be all fun and games.  Although if I am involved, the chances are pretty high that there will be quite a few fun and games and most likely a whole lot of humor.  But I can promise that I will be honest.  I am going into this with an open heart and an open mind.  If I am truly going to push myself to becoming the person I aspire to be, then I am going to have some growing pains along the way.  So I will be brutally honest with myself and this challenge.  Life gets busy, so while I may not write every single week, I will focus on a new challenge each week.  And let's be honest, some may just be so downright boring that I won't have anything interesting to write about. 

So here I go.  This week, given the holiday week, my challenge will be to find one thing each day that I am thankful for.  But not the everyday answers like, "I am thankful for my family" stuff.  Something completely overlooked on my average day.  Something that makes me have to really search to find.  Something that will give me a little more appreciation for all that I have.  Something like a stapler!  Seriously, where would civilization be without staplers?  Mutant robot paper clips may have taken over the world.  We would be at the mercy of paper clips everywhere.  Oh the horror!  See, like I said in the beginning, out with the crazy....