Success!

Well. After yesterday's panicked rant about dirty dishes and socks and Butter Loaf Cake I figured I'd better post about today.

Today. Was. Much. Better.

Thank God.

Another day of total failure and I would have really been ready for the loony bin.

Today's success began (as EVERY days success does) with what I did LAST NIGHT.

See, I have this analogy (that my children have heard at least 1,000 times. Really. Ask them.) that compares each day to a picture.

Life, to me, is just one big sketch pad, and each day is a page in the pad.

Now, I don't know how anyone else feels about it, but when I want to draw a picture I always like to start with a clean, smooth sheet of paper. I don't want a piece someone else has scribbled on. I don't want a piece that someone has erased their drawing from.

I want a new, clean sheet of paper.

(I know you know where I'm going with this. But it's ok. This is my space to say it a hundred times if I want.)

So, if I want to draw a beautiful picture on today's sheet of paper then IT MUST BE A NICE, NEW, CLEAN sheet of paper.

Meaning...I don't want to get up and "erase" yesterday's marks off today's paper.

In a long, round-about way I just explained why TODAY'S SUCCESS started LAST NIGHT.

After I got finished with my I-am-a-total-failure-just-shoot-me-now post I did exactly what I said I was going to do.

I changed Julia's diaper. (Almost had to declare a state of emergency over that one.)

I had a nice long conversation with Jesus. Nothing like that to make you feel better. Really.

I finished supper. Served it. Cleaned it up. WASHED THOSE PESKY DISHES.

I gave Julia a shower. Got her into her cozy flannel jammies with the pink elephants all over them.

Packed her backpack. Made her lunch. Laid out her clothes.

Made up my bed with clean sheets. Folded the socks and put them in the drawer.

Then I set up the coffee pot. Set out chicken to thaw in the fridge and decided on breakfast. (My first hot breakfast in 8 days, remember.)

I kissed Julia and tucked her in...Olivia stayed another night at Nick and Victoria's...and prayed for my children. The 2 at home and the others in their respective homes around the city.

I made sure the house was at ground zero...tidy, swept, clean...no clutter or disordered belongings lying about...and turned out the lights.

Then I went to bed with a clear conscience and a sense of inner peace.

When the alarm sounded at 6:30 this morning it was hard to get up.

It was hard to get dressed in the cold dark. (We heat solely with our woodstove and David had not re-kindled the fire yet.)

I dressed quickly and padded to the kitchen in a pair of David's clean socks.

I will tell you this.

If the house had been messy I would have gone back to my warm bed and snuggly down comforter. I would have.

If there had been dishes piled in the sink I would have turned around and walked away.

Cowardly, I know.

But...I'm being honest here.

Instead I made David eggs and ham and toasted bagels. I pushed the little button on the coffee pot and it magically sprang to life and began gurgling forth the icky black brew my husband adores.

I made his sandwiches and poured his coffee and slowly...so slowly...began to come alive.

By the time it was time to wake Julia and get her to the bus I was awake and ready to take on the world.

Ready...as goes my analogy...to draw a beautiful picture on the paper dated January 25, 2012.

And so far, though it is no Rembrandt, it is a picture I am not ashamed of.

Tomorrow's success depends on what I do today.

Or, as Aristotle so eloquently put it:

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an ACT but a HABIT.

Here's to a sketch pad full of beautiful days.