What a Mess!

• Who can find a virtuous woman? her price is far above rubies
• She..worketh willingly with her hands...
• She riseth also while it is yet night...
• She is like the merchants ships, she bringeth her food from afar...
• She looketh well to the ways of her household...

What a mess!

I'm a mess.

I'm a mess in the middle of a mess. In the middle of multiple messes.

Have you ever had one of those day when everything you touch turns to--well, not gold, that's for sure. I've had a stretch of those. I remember a funny card I saw that stated, "Mother said there'd be days like this...but she failed to tell me that they could go on for weeks at a time." On a card, it was pretty funny--in my life, not so pretty or so funny!

To start with, my coupon binder is in a horrible state. I have stacks of unclipped and unfiled coupons, not to mention the expired ones sitting prettily in their little slots. I haven't taken it with me to store in weeks. I look at the sale papers, but my coupons are in such a mess I haven't done any bargain shopping--we've been back in Georgia for weeks and I still haven't darkened the door of any my old drugstore haunts. And I've spent an extraordinary amount on groceries. Yuck.

I keep starting to make dinner and then finding that I've missing some vital ingredient--even with the extra spending I've been doing. Then I find things in the fridge that I've forgotten about--until it's too late to identify, much less use. Yuck.

Yesterday I got up fairly early for a Saturday. I hauled out my big old crockpot, threw in some baby carrots, peeled some potatoes, cut up some round steak and put on top, seasoned everything, and turned the knob to "high" to get it started off for the first hour...No, I didn't forget to turn it down--I just forgot to plug it in! By the time I realized that I should have long-since been smelling that yummy dinner I put together, it was late--as in, too-late-to-get-that-sucker-done-for-dinner late. I tried, I really did, I left it on high for really really long time. (After I plugged it in, of course.) I got out some green beans and cooked them and tried to get everything else ready. But the carrots were still--shall we say, al-dente'? So my husband ran to the store for a can of chili and we had chili dogs and chips for dinner.

Again.


We've had chili dogs and hot dogs for dinner several times lately. I really don't want to look at another chili dog for a while.


I promised my son that I'd make him a bean pie this weekend. I got up bright and early this morning and got everything ready. I made the substitutions to make it sugar-free, poured it into the pie crust, put it in the oven--and 30 minutes later remembered that I'd left out the butter. He says it tastes fine, as does my husband, but it's not nearly as good as it should be.


Then this afternoon I took some time to do a little primping. I washed my hair and actually blow dried it and curled it a little instead up pulling it pack in my usual hot-weather ponytail. I shaved my legs--really shaved, with a razor, not just skimming over it quickly with the electric, and I didn't even pass out from standing on my head in the shower trying to see what I was doing without my glasses on.


And then I attempted a pedicure.


Remember last year, when I talked about how I love having a pedicure? It's my one personal grooming indulgence. I've been wearing nothing but open-toes shoes, so I need pretty toes. Besides which it's the only really girly thing I do for myself, I just haven't been able to bring myself to spend the money or take the time to go get one. So I managed to get the old polish off, even though I couldn't find any cotton pads. (Did you know that waded up tissues or even paper towels work somewhat, but not as well as cotton pads.) Then I tried to polish my toenails myself. I started right, with a base coat. And I even had some of those in-between-the-toes spongy things they use at the nail salon. But my deep red polish didn't look so hot--kind of streaky. And it kept getting on my skin around my toes. Then when I tried to fix that with a manicure correcting thingy, the tip broke off of it. And q-tips dipped in nail polish remover also make spots on the nail if it touches it, so that they need touch-up again with that streaky dark red polish. I finally decided that they looked too bad to even go out in public, so I used up the rest of a box of tissues trying to take the new stuff off. And now my toenails look like they're bleeding around the edges. And my hands still smell like polish remover, even after they've been washed. A few times. And never mind how they taste when I tried to pop something into my mouth while I was heating up dinner. Yuck.

We live in a nice, fairly large apartment when we're in Georgia. It's nice because most of our "stuff" is at home with Louisiana--and yet, looking around, it's starting to get that cluttered look, here, as well. Nothing major, just a pile of books here, a coupon binder and little stack of newspaper inserts there--little things that I keep laying down instead of putting away. Things I just haven't gotten around to getting organized like it should be.


Remember when I wrote earlier this year about living with intent? I've also blogged about making a fresh start, and having an epiphany. I'm going back to read all of those posts, as well as everything I've labeled reflection. And new every morning.

Tomorrow, I'm going to rise while it's yet night; work willingly with my hands; bring my food from afar; and look well the ways of my household.

Meanwhile, I'm going to ask the Lord for fresh new epiphany--with intent.

Until next time...