i've been on the hunt to find....

some sort of balance....some way to get a handle on everything....

and you know what?  it just isn't possible..and that has gotta start being perfectly O.K.
i've gotta stop driving myself outta my mind trying to find & achieve something that just isn't gonna work for me....i've gotta stop chasing june cleaver's shadow

b/c when it boils right down to it....who the hell cares if i don't get all the housework done?  is it the end of the universe if i still have a shopping bag full of unopened mail sitting in my kitchen from this summer that i just didn't get to yet?  is it that big of a deal if we don't have a perfect dinner on the table every night of the week?  so what if i don't have a binder listing all of the kids' activities including all the pertinent phone numbers & directions (like one super organized mom i met)?

i've gotta a news bulletin for myself....i'm not perfect and no one expects me to be so

my kids don't play like the kids on the toy commercials....my house doesn't look like the catalog....i don't clean the bathroom w/ cute little animated soap bubbles who wink at me....and my "situations" don't get solved in 22 minutes like they do on "Friends"...

so in my search for BALANCE i've gotta scale back my expectations just a wee bit....
b/c my kinda balance is gonna include a bunch of craziness attached to it for now....and frankly the craziness can be quite a blast if i let it

and it breaks my heart to know that there will be one day that i will look back & remember these days so fondly and i'm gonna wish so much that i had all of this craziness back....i'm gonna miss all of this nuttiness...and squabbling...and fights over how many bites they have to take before they get that lollipop...and crayons all over the floor....and teeny tiny clothes that fill up the laundry basket....

so when this week's Word Up came around....it took me a bit of time to figure out what BALANCE meant to me...& this is what i came up with:

& this week the team was so fortunate to be sponsored by Technique Tuesday...LOVE their stuff....& i got to use the santa cruz alphas and the dog & pony show stamp sets on this layout & i'm gonna warn you that you'll be seeing LOTS of those sets in the future from me....i LOVE them...they are so freakin' cool...i also used their fabulous frames which are so awesome!!!!  they were so easy to just rub ink all over to color them up...but i'll admit my fave thing about those frames is that the ink dried like instantly on them...i'm so freakin' impatient it always bugs me to have to wait for paint to dry...LOL!

so....have some fun over at onelittleword....and remember to ENJOY....feel free to remind me to do that too :)

hope you all have a wonderful wednesday!!!!!

xoxoxoxoxxo

gi

Comments

[Judith]

Hi Gigi!! Love to read your post -sigh- I can totally relate to that!! I also want to do more than I can and that stresses me out! So enough inspiration for that new word, balance ;) i love the stamps you used and that LO is gorgeous! Love those cute pics and enjoy your kids :) lots of love from holland! Judith

[esther]

Hi, completely understand how you must feel.
Besides from that, I just love to read your blog and admire all your great stuff. Just love all of them. Friday I will start a really great RAK. Hope you will check it out. Love, es

[esther]

Hi, completely understand how you must feel.
Besides from that, I just love to read your blog and admire all your great stuff. Just love all of them. Friday I will start a really great RAK. Hope you will check it out. Love, es

[esther]

Hi, completely understand how you must feel.
Besides from that, I just love to read your blog and admire all your great stuff. Just love all of them. Friday I will start a really great RAK. Hope you will check it out. Love, es

[Lis]

Love it, your work is so inspiring. I too feel like that at times, your not alone :)

[Maria]

I can totally relate...and I cannot wait to work on this LO! Great word!

[Nicole]

TOTALLY relate to your thoughts gigi!! AND to your journaling on the LO, which by the way is awesome...but am really with you - have to embrace the craziness while it lasts :)

[crafterbeth]

I hear you girl!!! Work full-time, raise two teens, volunteer, scrap, train for 1/2 marathons, run a household, keep in touch with friends. Something's got to give sometimes. But do you notice that men don't expect themselves to be perfect! We need to take a lesson from them sometimes. I did a LO a while ago that spoke to this issue!

http://twopeasinabucket.kaboose.com/pg.asp?cmd=display&layout_id=1158817

Your LO is fantastic!

[Petrina McDonald]

I hear you G. It's funny though, in this house I am the one who is happy to let all those other things fall by the way side as long as we are all having fun - it is my husband who needs to be convinced! Maybe I should teach him how to scrap? Then he would appreciate how good life really IS.
Love, P.

[beth j]

gigi...this is so awesome. you did a wonderful job. hope to catch up with you sometime soon. :)

[Ngaire Bartlam]

i hear you too babe.
all us mums/wives/partners/ friends/business women/artists/ etc/etc/etc..

and if you go with it .. and breathe.. and let it flow around you.. a balance will be achieved...
maybe NOT the balance you EXPECT but the balance that was meant to be.

peace my darlin.
ngai
xxx
love the layout....

[anna]

you have made me feel human just reading your post!!!
hugs
xx

[cheryl]

I can't wait to scrap this word!!!
Your layout is SUPER!!!
And you are SO right about balance. When I look at my pile of unfolded clothes and dirty blinds I then look at all the stuff I'm doing with my kids and their smiles! Hey, it's all about prioritizing and some things are just more important than others!!!

[Lynn]

My thoughts exactly! Love this post and this word is a great reminder for all of us... great layout Gi!!!! Have a great THursday!

[Anilu Magloire]

OMG!!! I so needed to read this today. I am one of those "it all has to be perfect all the time" kinda gals, and it's exhausting!!!
You are so right about it. I am gonna learn to enjoy my now and stop stressing so much about stuff that really does NOT mater.
Thank you, G!

[NicCarro]

That layout is beautiful - and I love the message. It's so great to read this and then refocus my own priorites. Happy Friday!

[Patty S]

love the layout!!!! (those glasses are so silly!)
i promise i won't complain about your not-so-clean house if you don't complain about my not-so-clean house. deal?
patty ;-)

[kerry lynn]

you and me sweets!

don't even get me started on the piles of laundry. the teeny tiny toys that are spread all around and the ever growing and then shrinking and then growing again piles on my shhh.... don't let the nieghbors know i hate processing the mail counter.

love you! just the way you are!!
xoxo

[miss morgan]

enjoy the craziness!!! and thanks for contributing to such an amazing fabby time at the crop last saturday. totally one of my fave days in a while!

[beth j]

hey rock star...congrats on pencil lines. i finished my take on your layout tonight. it's on my blog.

talk with you soon!