Gotta slow down...

Just a cold Monday here in the tundra. I sat down and realized that my problems are pretty small in the grand scheme of things. Let's just take a look at my morning and the slap on the side of my head that woke me up.
I got up on the wrong side of the bed and late. J. had already showered and was drinking coffee and shw had started getting Goobs ready to go. I grabbed the Bun, who was not in the mood to change diapers or clothes. She was in the middle of dancing to Christmas carols that were on. I picked her up and took her into her room to change. She had a small box of raisins she didn't want to let go. I changed my daughter as the raisins were flying all over. I finally her in a decent outfit for daycare and picked up a few if the raisins festooning the floor. The Bun, now free of her opressor, ran off to mommy. I then jumped in the shower and tried to get moving. I looked at myself once in the mirror, grunted, and said screw shaving.

J and I got the kids in their coats, mittens, and boots and strapped them in their car seats. J gave me a peck on the cheek and told me she'd see me tonight. They took off for the day and I had about ten minutes to eat and finish getting my stuff together for the day. I ate...I will say that. I stuffed my work in my "man bag" and got in the car, except that I had forgotten both my keys and my cell phone. I ran around the house like the proverbial chicken with his head cut off. First I found my keys, then I couldn't find the phone. I had to call my cell phone and locate the sound of it. Of course, it was in yesterday's pants. Why I didn't think of that, I'll never know. I ran down with my stuff, jumped in the freezing automobile in the garage, started it, backed out, closed the garage door, and drove to the park and ride. I will say that I did make my bus and I had a seat to myself this morning, so that was a bonus. I plugged in my ipod and pretty much zoned out on my way to work. I was getting off of the bus, when I realized that the awesome lasagna leftovers that I thought were in my bag, were in fact, sitting on the counter next to the fridge...arrgghghhhhhhhh....

I walked in with a scowl rather than a smile. I sat down and said "Hi" to one of my coworkers. I asked her how her weekend was. She simply said "shitty." She went on to tell me about her weekend. Her niece is suffering from a rare form of cancer and is surgically losing one eye in the near future. They had just found out that her conditioned worsened over the weekend. There is a possibility she will be completely sightless. Suddenly, I felt like a bit of a self obsessed fool. I offered my support, but felt powerless to change how my officemate was feeling. My silly little grousing about the day really appeared STUPID in relation to this.

Okay...time for me to be a bigger person than I am. Time for me to be grateful for what I have every day...Time for me to look outside of myself to be assistance to others, rather than growl about how crappy my day is... Time for me to give a hand rather than expect one given to me... Time for me to listen, rather than need to be heard... Time for me...just to relax and just forget about me for a little bit.

You know... if I do that...life will be pretty good. I think that's the way I need to spread a little Christmas cheer.