Little Victories

In light of the HUGE victory achieved by the Ducks, it's hard to feel personally successful in my lack of motivation here at home. I'm officially "giving myself a break" this week by ebbing back into reality at my pace, not based on any huge deadline. What freedom this is - though the other side of me that sees so many loose ends needing to be tied up is struggling with the level of chaos around here.

So, here's to little victories - and this week, those would include:

• Getting the "wrong" video game returned to Target this week, originally purchased on Black Friday. (However, I earned minus points by picking up clearance slippers for Brayden for next year, that are actually smaller than the ones he's currently wearing.....oops!)
• Sending back the two "return" orders to Overstock.com and Altrec.com that required a trip to the post office. Filling out the forms, finding the addresses and determining how to send it all is a bit overwhelming to me. But, I conquered....and in the nick of time as the line was into double digits by the time I left this morning.
• Having groceries in the house - with lunches prepared for kids and dinner prepared for the family....
• Getting the bonus room tree down, with all of the ornaments carefully stored and tree hoisted outside.
• Getting into the gym today. First Group Power workout of the year - and in the last several weeks. Boy oh boy am I going to be sore tomorrow. But, yes, that 8 pound weight gain needs to be addressed somehow....(don't gasp too much, I'm still quite a bit lower from where I was at in September which just goes to show how much damage ALL SUMMER did to me compared to a few weeks in December!)
• Our bedroom is (well, was this morning) clean - with all of our laundry done and put away...the kids' rooms - that's another story
• A leisurely trip to the mall to cash in some gift certificates Mikayla had for Justice and Claires (thanks Riley girls and Annabel!) - including the fine company of Kaela
• Reading my devotional each day

So- there you go. There's a good chance that the house will still be decorated for Christmas when the Thursday Night Ladies show up tomorrow night. There's a good chance the tree will still be lit and the kids' bedrooms not cleaned. But, if it means I'm still holding on to my sanity and not completely overwhelmed...then so be it. Because, that is the gift this time of year brings....time....quite a bit of it, at least in comparison to the wonderful craziness June through December is to our family. SO, I'm going to take that gift and treasure it.....