All or Nothing

From our front porch looking into the office

     What in the world am I going to blog about today?  I mean I usually have some kind of clue, something sparks my thought and I just go for it.  I guess I will figure it out when I get downstairs was my thought at six-thirty this morning.  It didn't take me very long and actually it was a simple thing that inspired me today.  But you can look and see for yourself.  See the window on the right?  See how the window is only partially open?  That is it.  That is today's inspiration.  Well, part of it anyway. 
     The past couple of mornings in Kansas have been cold.  Now I'm not talking about the everyone else is fine and Lisa is cold kind of cold, I mean COLD.  As in temperature in the forties kind of cold!  Unfortunately that makes it too cold for me to open the windows all the way up until later in the afternoon (current high of 71 degrees).  If you know me well, you know I love lots of light and my windows open.  The blog inspiration part came this morning as I closed the window most of the way and realized that I prefer to have my windows wide open or closed.  Nothing in between, I'm am all or nothing kind of girl.  Then it hit me.  I'm all or nothing in a LOT of ways.  If I love you, I love you all the way, unconditionally and will give you everything that I have.  If I agree to help with something, then I'm there and working.  There it was, my topic for today and the timing is perfect. 
     All or nothing really does describe our family.  It we are involved with something, you get 100 percent of us.  We tend not to do anything half-way.  Well, with the exception of dusting the house (I don't believe in dusting).  Other than dusting there is no half-measure.  All or nothing is what you get.  It is a great way to be except when you are involved in too many things at the same time.  A concern we are just now starting to flirt with in Kansas.  If you have been following the saga, you will remember that we have traveled, arrived, unpacked, visited and a variety of other things during this journey to transplant our lives to Kansas.  Now, we are ready to start living. 
     We have indeed settled into a routine of sorts.  Church on Sunday (more on that later), school/work, cooking, cleaning, chores, children arguing over where something is a sphere or not, organizing, blogging, and laundry have all once again become part of our daily lives. We signed up our children for youth sports, scouts, attended meetings and basically become normal people again.  Well as normal as our family gets.  In the middle of it, I have a nagging concern/fear that we are doing it again. 
     We are already filling our calendar to overflowing and we haven't really even started yet.  The thing about being an all or nothing family is that you don't just join/do something in name only.  You spend time, energy, and give real effort to the activity.  There is no lukewarm, half-hearted effort ... ever.  So, are we trying to do too much again?  I mean, those closest to me understand that I DO have a tendency to see a task that should be insurmountable, as completely doable.  240 cookies for a bake sale tomorrow morning?  Of course.  Three hours of sleep from Friday morning until Sunday afternoon with the rest of the time spent in non-stop cleaning, cooking, serving, and cleaning to raise money for charity?  I've done that almost monthly for the past few years.  Yet, that is not part of the simpler life that we want to create for ourselves here.  We are wanting to pare down the overcommitments and keep it simple.   This has been accomplished so far, but now?  As I look at the calendar, are we staying true to what we want to do and be here?  Are we sticking to a simpler life, yet remaining all or nothing kind of people?  The answer comes in a single word, yes. 
     We are succeeding in our quest.  We ARE keeping it simple and much more relaxed.  Most of the events on our calendar are fun, family events for us to attend like a neighborhood block party, fall festival, salsa competition, Apple Day Festival, etc.  Saturday mornings no longer require an alarm clock awakening us at three in the morning to drive teenagers across the state of Georgia.  We have entire weekends with nothing to do except attend church and relax.  In fact, the only one guilty of being overcommitted right now is my husband. However that is because Uncle Sam thinks he can work 24 hours a day, seven days a week nonstop -- typical Uncle Sam.  So, while I banish the concerns, I will keep them in mind for the future.  Those of us who give all or nothing must remain ever vigilant.  Breathe easy, our simpler life is safe ... for now.