Heart Smart

Bet you thought from the title this entry was going to be about my fitness goals?

Nup. My week took a huge dippity-dive into the abyss and I feel very blessed to have emerged on the other side of it with just a few bruises. There were times when I truly thought that my world was ending. Partly hormonal, partly a huge volcano load of stress erupting from me and Yeti and blowing (as Wombat says instead of lava) 'blubber' everywhere... I won't go into painful details.

Suffice to say we worked through it, we survived, and we have a plan to go on with. Smart goals for a happy heart.

Last week, I gave the impression that getting baby ready was all about the house (and the habits that go with it.) Actually, there's another string to that bow, and concentrating on it is largely responsible for saving my sanity this week. It can also be summed up in a quote (I can't find a source for it, but I'm sure I read it on a blog somewhere and it always stuck with me):

"A mother's smile is the heart of the home."

We have been disconnecting with each other. Heading into the war of all against all. A constant battle where all are the losers. Not much to smile about there. But what is that rainbow through the tears? Of course! It's a SMILE!

A book arrived. One I had purchased from England and had been waiting for... Leonard Cohen's 'PLAYFUL PARENTING'. It gets my vote as the BEST parenting book ever.

A random internet link led me to a forum of mothers who were speaking the language I needed to hear: www.mothering.com.

Nothing is ever smooth sailing. The waves still come over the sides, but now I feel like I have a bigger bucket and a better bailing technique. Plus the sun just came out and I'm smiling at the rainbow.

"Peace begins with a smile." ~Mother Teresa

I couldn't find a calendar I liked this year, so I've been making my own using creative commons photos from Flickr, quotes from St Teresa of Avila (my confirmation saint) and a calendar template from WinCalendar.com.

Here is my inspiration for February.



Smile!