New every morning

I was miserable yesterday, one of those days when chronic illness collided head on with weather conditions and the return of summer heat. It was a day I had to take a nap by noon! So, I wasn't too happy when I was wide awake this morning more than an hour before my alarm was set to ring.

However, once I looked out the window over my sink I was quite content to be awake (perhaps not alert, though). There was such a beautiful sunrise that it was hard to pull myself away but the lure of coffee was stronger than the beauty of the moment. I pushed the button on the coffeemaker and wished an immediate response but it still took a few minutes until I could take the Pooh mug filled with hot liquid, Splenda, and just a little milk into the family room.

The forecast for today is for heat and humidity but this early in the morning, it was perfect outside. I opened the french door to the deck and shut the screen so Sasha couldn't get frisky in her old age and run after a squirrel. I also opened the window over the kitchen sink. Both allowed fresh air into the house. I tuned into "Wednesdays With Beth (Moore)" and enjoyed the moment with a real breath of fresh air, morning coffee, and Beth. It doesn't get much better than that. His mercies truly are new every morning. :)

I went in 15 minute mode yesterday, doing one small thing at a time since I didn't feel well. I only finished one load of laundry but that one was a priority with much needed "dark" items for today. My husband says you can tell how fast time goes by because he had just looked in his sock drawer and it was quite full one day and it seemed the very next that he was telling me I had to do laundry because it was empty. Since he only wears one pair of socks per day (unlike what a teenage boy can go through), then the days have gone by quickly.

I often get a smile when I'm loading dark clothes into the washing machine. I only have one or two loads each week now but when Stephanie was still at home, we had multiple dark loads as well as one "red" load each week. Her father never could understand why we wore so much black, navy, and red even though we would remind him we each had black hair and light complexions... typical Winters. (Well, I did have naturally black hair at one time.)

I straightened some magazines (there is a reason I have a magazine rack in almost every room of the house) and moved a few books and papers off the family room coffee table. Thankfully, dinner was going to be leftovers and I had decided that morning not to do any baking so there was minimal dinner duties and kitchen clean up.

By late afternoon, I decided I could do something while watching Fox Business News (perhaps that is not the best place to view right now when one is on a fixed income and hears their view of the economy). I pulled out that "box of papers" I've been working on for awhile and this time made my way all through them. There is a stack here in the office ready to be filed but otherwise, that box is behind me.

One of the articles I found was about homemaking when one has a chronic illness. I took the time to read through it and the suggestions were mostly what I already do, especially keeping a list of the "to do's" and working through them a little at a time throughout the day. It truly does bring amazing results over time... just like when I organized the garage in fifteen minute increments. It took a couple of months until I came to that point I could see it almost complete and finished it in one day.

It doesn't have to be a chronic illness one is going through for there are all kinds of disruptions in this world to our energy level. Just a little bit done here and there... now and then... accomplishes a lot over time. Much better than sitting in the Lazy Boy complaining about how bad I feel and watching the house fall apart.

There are still pantry ponderings to be typed, an award to receive, e-mails to answer... blog stuff to accomplish. However, I need another cup of coffee. One does have priorities.