In Honor of the MANY Amazing Women I Have the Privilege of Knowing

A friend sent me this email the other day -- I've received it several times, but each time I read it I have to laugh. I also reflect on the truth that lies beneath the humor.

A man was sick and tired of going to work every day while his wife stayed home. He wanted her to see what he went through so he prayed: 'Dear Lord: I go to work every day and put in 8 hours while my wife merely stays at home. I want her to know what I go through. So, please allow her body to switch with mine for a day. '

God, in his infinite wisdom, granted the man's wish. The next morning, sure enough, the man awoke as a woman. He arose, cooked breakfast for his mate, awakened the kids, set out their school clothes, fed them breakfast, packed their lunches, drove them to school, came home and picked up the dry cleaning, took it to the cleaners and stopped at the bank to make a deposit,
went grocery shopping, then drove home to put away the groceries. He then paid the bills and balanced the check book. He cleaned the cat's litter box and bathed the dog. Then, it was already 1 P.M. and he hurried to make the beds, do the laundry, vacuum, dust, sweep and mop the kitchen floor. He ran to the school to pick up the kids and got into an argument with them on the way home. He set out milk and cookies and got the kids organized to do their homework, then, set up the ironing board and watched TV while he did the ironing.

At 4:30 he began peeling potatoes and washing vegetables for salad, breaded the pork chops and snapped fresh beans for supper. After supper, he cleaned the kitchen, ran the dishwasher, folded laundry, bathed the kids, and put them to bed.

At 9 P.M. he was exhausted and, though his daily chores weren't finished, he went to bed where he was expected to make love, which he managed to get through without complaint.

The next morning, he awoke and immediately knelt by the bed and said: 'Lord, I don't know what I was thinking. I was so wrong to envy my wife's being able to stay home all day. Please, oh please let us trade back.. Amen!'

The Lord, in his infinite wisdom, replied the following: 'My son, I feel you have learned your lesson and I will be happy to change things to the way they were. But, you will have to wait nine months, since you got pregnant last night.'

Women rock -- plain and simple. And I am thankful for the many women in my life whether they be relatives, friends or simply acquaintances, who have inspired me by their courage, strength, tenacity, creativity, faith, humor, thoughtfulness -- so many things. Men would be a mess without the women in their lives.

This journey of life can be so stressful and downright difficult at times. What a blessing it is as a woman to have other females -- mothers, sisters, cousins, co-workers, girlfriends, etc. -- to support us along our bumpy path! Thank you to each of you for being my friend and my inspiration and for reminding me I'm not alone in the overwhelming responsibility of being a wife and mother. You are amazing!

Enjoy your weekend!

Aspirations

Since it has been so long since I've actually blogged, I am unsure if I've already shared this story. If I'm repeating myself, forgive me.

A couple of months ago, I was driving my daughter somewhere and she was quietly observing things as we passed them. We came to a stop light and were sitting there a few minutes when all of a sudden she pipes up, "Mommy, I think I want to be a blower when I grow up."

Huh?...I think to myself...a blower?? Did I hear her correctly?

So I ask..."A blower? What do you mean?"

"Like that guy, " was her reply.

I looked out the window to see a man using a leaf blower to clean dirt off of the parking lot of a repair shop. That was her latest aspiration. A blower operator.

"You want that job when you grow up? I thought you wanted to be an artist or a vet?"

"Well, I like those too, but a blower makes the world clean."

If she only knew that it would take a lot more than a leaf blower to make this world "clean". But it's a nice thought nonetheless and I had to give her credit for wanting to clean up the place.

My oldest son has also added a new profession to his list of possibilities as of late. He told my brother-in-law as they were talking on the phone the other day that he wanted to be a lion tamer.

A lion tamer? Really? How cute is that? Unfortunately, my brother-in-law kind of laughed at him and I think it hurt his feelings. He's 10 -- if he thinks he wants to be a lion tamer, then I say let him. That is the great thing about being a kid. You can hope and wish for these things before the responsibility of adulthood and the working world becomes a reality. If my child thinks he wants to tame lions, so be it. At least he has an aspiration to do something. He can add it to the list of other aspirations I've heard him mention -- marine biologist, paleontologist, wildlife photographer.

Oftentimes I am very saddened by how quickly our kids are pressured to grow up. Let them be kids for goodness sake. Why do they need the pressure of being a grown up thrust on them at a young age?? Why do people insist on exposing them to things that children do not need to see or know about? Let them be innocent -- let them be young -- let them have imagination and hope for things that may be a little silly or unrealistic. It makes me sad that peer pressure makes children feel bad about themselves if they do like things that are considered "uncool". Who decides what's cool anyway??

When my kids are older and doing whatever it is they end up doing with their lives (which is going to happen in the blink of an eye), I am quite sure they will get a kick out of knowing that they aspired to lion taming and making the world sparkling clean.

For now, I plan to encourage their childhood dreams and aspirations and to continually let them know that I believe that they CAN do whatever it is they hope to do.

Are you there blog? It's me, Rita...

Wow -- five months since my last post. Where does the time go?

As most of you know, in a few short weeks, I will be turning the big "four-oh" -- that's right, 40. I don't mind too much other than the fact it sounds weird when it comes out of my mouth..."I'm 40." Forty? Really?? Wasn't I just 25 yesterday?? Apparently not.

For the past year or more I have really struggled. This was supposed to be my year of "getting it done" -- that's what I called it right here on my blog nine months ago. However it has turned out to be my year of getting stuck in a rut without a road map out. I haven't accomplished nearly enough. Do we ever feel like we've accomplished enough?

I often feel like I've lost my sense of joy -- instead of living my life, I go through the motions -- one day to the next -- here's what has to happen today, let's get it done. I have let many things I enjoy completely go -- blogging, scrapbooking, etc. I'm starting to think I'm having a mid-life crisis of sorts. Do females even have mid-life crises??

Thank goodness for the virtue of hope -- because without it, I likely would have given up long ago. I still have hope. Hope that I will find peace again. Hope that God will give me the grace to be a better mother, a better wife, a more productive human being.

That part about being more productive needs to start right now, so I am keeping this post short -- my house in in desperate need of a good cleaning.

Enjoy the weekend -- and since today is September 11th (even though my post may come up with a different date -- I started it several days ago) -- let's all remember to count our blessings and to carry on -- filled with HOPE and gratitude.