Step off the Merry-Go-Round

This month,

Okay, I admit, this year... 

Has been cra-cra!! 

In case you don't know what that means, I've provided,

for your learning pleasure,

a great list of synonyms-->

    disorder, disarray, disorganization, confusion, mayhem, bedlam, pandemonium, havoc, turmoil,

    tumult, commotion, upheaval, muddle, mess, hullabaloo, hoopla, train wreck... 

This list is NOT exhaustive by the way,

but I think you might get the point-

The reason for this cra-cra year you ask?? 

Well, honestly,

I don't know! Really, it's just LIFE

Life Happened!! & I'm sure it has happened to you at one time or another as well- 

It is so easy for life to get a lot out of hand- 

And it is soooooo hard, to find a way to rein it in and feel a little less, 

well, CRA-CRA!! 

I LOVE this TED talk about Family-Life-Work Balance-

The line that speaks to me- and probably at some level speaks to you- is

"If you don't design your life someone else WILL design it for you, and you may just not like their idea of balance" 

Mr. Marsh goes on to advise, "never put the quality of your lives in the hands of" _________!

I left the spot blank, because honestly, we could all fill that blank in with any number of words-

work, bosses, neighbors, church... 

I don't think we mean to do it, 

but for some reason we give out a lot of our freedom to choose

how we want to live, how we want to feel, how we want to ENJOY! 

Somehow, our way of thinking has convinced very rational & bright adults

that they have to buy a Timeshare Property in a place where residents

work harder & stay longer and where task lists motivate them to do more- 

But all this harder, longer, more is not to get ahead like the brochure package says-

It's a harder, longer, more just to barely keep their residents' heads above water! 

And rather than buying a timeshare that only gets visited once in awhile, 

a majority of these adults are conned into buying permanent property in 'Too Busy-ville'! 

What no one realized,

is that the kids in Too Busyville don't like it and they want OUT. 

Their parents don't smile, 

they don't have fun; as a matter of fact,

NO ONE here really even talks to each other-

so what do the kids in Too Busyville do? 

Well, they rebel and move next door to 'Pretty Idol-ville'.

Parents get worried and want to entice their kids back home, 

so they enroll the run-aways in sports, teams, clubs, lessons, and private instruction--> 

Until everyone here is just so busy that hours blend into days, 

days into weeks and weeks into months... 

It's really all a very crazy cycle- and one that a lot of people just want off- 

I've always affectionately referred to this busy-ness 

as an out of control Merry-Go-Round- and I've begged to get off!

Photo retrieved from Pinterest

**An interesting side note here-

there are NO Merry-Go-Rounds (the old fashioned kind) 

anywhere in our town anymore! 

Why? Because they are TOO DANGEROUS! 

Now that's Karma 

Each day, we ALL do a little work and a little learning-

And EACH DAY, we ALL do a little play. 

I am loving this new arrangement- 

we are getting some long overdue chores completed

AND we have plenty of time- 

Time for family, friends, exercise and QUIET time!! 

So today, as bright and early as I could convince my kiddos to wake up, 

Beautiful Children enjoying a Beautiful Morning

we went to Dallas for the Dallas Farmer's Market. 

This is truly one of my favorite if all time farmers markets, 

second only to Santa Monica- 

and in all honesty Santa Monica wins only because of the beach! 

(oh, and the live Andy Grammar concert on 3rd Street Promenade)

This is what we all needed- 

we laughed and smelled the flowers,

we held hands and tasted EVERYTHING, 

This kind man came with the sign

 we simply enjoyed life and each other! 

I absolutely LOVE the hand written signs

As we turned and left the market,


the city of Dallas was straight ahead,
Just a hop, skip, & a jump away-

It is a beautiful place to be,

and it has it's purpose-

But this little sign,

My clue to go back the way I came and get a brownie :)

 represented how I felt about the busy world around me- 

a simple caution warning that what lies ahead is very different

than where we were- 

I know that sometimes you need to enter 'Too Busy-ville"-

I've spent many a day there myself-

but don't stay too long-

and definitely don't buy property-

It's okay to enjoy a little extra time in 

Balanced-ropolis! 

 

Spring Serendipity

Before I get started,
Just let me say that I loved the book
Spiritual Serendipity by Richard Eyre
It literally changed the way I look at life!

So onto my story:
Last week was Spring Break in good ole'
Frisco, Texas!!
Actually, I am certain it was Spring Break
in all of TEXAS and maybe even all of
the Southern States because there
were NO beach hotels to be had
ANYWHERE!!!
and I mean
ANYWHERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So what did a Momma Bear
who desperately needed to get AWAY do?

Well, I looked at the map (that's kind of funny
if you know me at all, cause I don't look at maps)
so I looked at GoogleMaps
and came up with Nashville, TN!

We could drive there in a day,
It could be a short trip (we only had 5 days)
and they had hotel vacancies!

It was our first NON Beach/Swimming Resort
family vacation in over 4 years-
(I love me a BEACH day-
not gonna lie)
and we had a GREAT time.

Because it was a very last minute planned trip
and because my heart just wasn't in it,
we didn't do a lot of PRE-planning!
Not like me at ALL.

We had to leave late on Friday night, so
we knew on the way there we would stop
half way. Our reason was that we didn't
want to have some time in Nashville on Saturday
but couldn't leave until after 5 on Friday.

When we woke up in Little Rock, Arkansas,
my husband looked at the map for the first time
(by the way He does look at maps)
and realized we would be driving right
through Memphis, TN.
A quick google search confirmed that
"Yes indeed, Graceland is in Memphis"
and did any of us want to go?

I totally burst out laughing,
just as two of my kids and my husband
said "Heck yes, we want to go!"

So we went to Memphis, TN,
a place I had no prior desire to go,
and went to Graceland

(also a place I had no prior desire to go)
to pay homage to the King of Rock n Roll!

My family LOVED it

my eclectic daughter Loved Elvis' family room

We decided to eat/play at Hard Rock Cafe,

because we have a cult following to them.

While there, we decided that since March is
the birthday month of child #3,

and this is the year she turns sweet 16,
we would celebrate at every restaurant we
ate at on our vacation-
Hard Rock did not disappoint as they got her up
on stage and had her perform a
Charming rendition of "I'm a Little Teapot"

Oh boy, Oh boy-
the actress in her came out!


Well Hard Rock Cafe in Memphis happens
to be on Beale Street-

which we didn't know anything about-
but it happens to be quite the famous little street

with a very lively atmosphere!

Our first day of Spring Break was
WONDERFUL,
full of memories, excitement and JOY-
and absolutely 100% last minute and unplanned!

You may know about my little sugar addiction!
Actually it is not little,
it is a full blown problem,
and cupcakes are a big part of the problem-

But upon arriving at the hotel in Nashville,
I asked the valet where the nearest
cupcake store was?
We all died laughing when he looked across
the street and pointed at a Gigi's Cupcake Store!

But for three days, we had HORRIBLE luck
getting cupcakes from them!
So this led us to look up all the cupcake stores in
Nashville! Did I say ADDICT????

Well there are several,
but we discovered two that we couldn't leave
without visiting.
The Painted Cupcake &
The Cupcake Collection

At The Cupcake Collection
we learned the story of a family of 7
who had arrived in Tennessee from
New Orleans with literally nothing but
a hope for a better life.
I loved meeting the mother of this family,
her children and the adorable girls
she calls her own only because they
she has adopted them into her crew.

If you can believe,
I love People's Stories,
even more than I love cupcakes,
so it is no surprise we went back
for another batch or cupcakes
so I could hear more of their story!

The day we happened upon
The Cupcake Collection,
the sun was out,
the skies were blue
and we didn't have any firm
commitments to our schedule.

So we took a walk.
We were in Germantown and could see
the State Capitol Building,
so we thought we would walk up to that.

On our walk, we stumbled upon a cute little
grassy area surrounded by towers with bells.

Our little stroll was just prior to 11 and as we
were trying to decide what we had found,
the bells started ringing!

We were delighted, to say the least.

It turns out we had happened upon
Centennial Park,
which is a long stretch of park that commemorates
Tennessee and the people who have called
Tennessee home.

My heart was touched by all that we saw and read,

and I found myself relating to this Park
and relating to it on a very personal level.

I have a vision of my family-
a family that is united in good times
and bad!
A family that plays together,
prays together
and works hard together for truth and right!
I want children who understand that service,
in all it's forms, is the most noble work that
a person can do
and that standing for who you are and
where you come from is what Family is all about.

Our trip was amazing in many ways,
but I loved these few moments of complete
Serendipity-
"the accident of finding something good or useful without looking for it"

I needed these little touches of beauty-
but there is NO way I could have planned them
into my life!
I am a planner,
an over planner actually,
but this vacation that was wrought with
"winging it" was just what I needed

to bring balance and JOY back into my life.

It is Spring-
the perfect time to find your own
Serendipitous Adventure