Woman, thy name is ambition!

There are few things I enjoy more than getting up before the crack of dawn—in today’s case, 4:00 a.m.—and brewing a nice strong cup of coffee while I plan the day and the week ahead.

4:00 is early, I know, but when you go to bed at 9:00 it’s not so bad. Plus one of the smoke detectors has a low battery and is going “eep!” every five minutes. Who can sleep through that? (My husband can. My children can. I can’t.)

Consequently “Replace the battery in the girls’ room smoke detector” is at the top of my to-do list.

There are other, far more interesting items, though. In fact, I have so much I’d like to do today that I have to smile at my ambition.

1. I want to cook a Thanksgiving dinner because a. while I very much appreciated our time at Grandma’s, I’m just anal enough to want to do one myself; and b. when you do one yourself, you get the leftovers! To this end I need to go to the grocery store and buy provisions. Obviously.

2. I want to give my file folder system a little kick in its manila folder butt and—imagine this—actually use it! To this end I have just spent a half an hour over at Dawn’s blog reading her notes and making my own. (Didn’t know that we’d had coffee together this morning, did you, Dawn?)

3. I want to read the instruction manual for the high-tech treat that my husband brought home for his Pookie yesterday. (That’d be me, hee.) Yes, for once in my life I’m being mysterious. This purchase merits a post of its own and I’ll get to it when I can. Be patient.

4. I want to make paper crowns for the kids to decorate. We never got to this yesterday though we did talk about the significance of Sunday’s feast at supper. Each of my four older children chose an aspect of Christ’s kingship and will decorate his/her crown accordingly. (We found a couple of different crown templates here and here.)

We are using this description of Our Lord’s kingdom found at CatholicCulture.Org:

[Sunday’s] Mass describes the qualities of Christ’s kingdom. This kingdom is: 1) supreme, extending not only to all people but also to their princes and kings; 2) universal, extending to all nations and to all places; 3) eternal, for “The Lord shall sit a King forever”; and 4) spiritual, because Christ’s “kingdom is not of this world”. — Rt. Rev. Msgr. Rudolph G. Gandas

So am I a great big goofball for thinking I do all of this and still stay sane? Yes, I am, which is why I am adding one last item to the above manifesto:

5. Grow in holiness.

If I get nothing else done on my list than that last fifth item, I’ll still be
good to go.

If you know what I mean. 😉

I’d like to close with one last quote, which is from a book that I’m still loving:

One reason we do so much is simply that we can. We may be so caught up in a cycle of bills and acquisitions, activities and exhaustion, accomplishment and recognition, that we don’t even realize we have become the unwitting victims of our own ambitions and desires. But even this, at bottom, represents a choice. And it is not too late to change our minds.

What a great reminder that I am finite in my capabilities! And what a challenge to this hyperdrive wife and mother to be content with who I am & what I accomplish…

… however much or little that might be.

With love & prayers that you have an industrious (maybe) and
happy (always) day,