Too Much of a Good Thing

Being the mother of three energetic children and trying to be a good wife and homemaker is a pretty busy job. Caring, bathing, playing, teaching, referee-ing, hugging, cleaning, cooking, organizing, tickling... it all takes time, energy and discipline.

Now that I'm here in the hospital on bed rest, I have time to relax to my hearts's content...and beyond, much beyond, ha, ha!

These are some of the things I have been doing with all my spare time:

I've been able to do lots of reading. I read Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman.  It's pretty funny and entertaining despite some heartbreaking situations.
Last Sunday I read Small and Simple Things by Marjorie Hinckley.  It has great advice, recipes and spiritual messages.  The photographs of flowers and scenery are absolutely gorgeous!

 I'm now about 225 pages into Heaven is Here by Stephanie Nielson.  You're probably familiar with her inspirational story.  She was a mother of four young children when she and her husband were in a small airplane crash and horribly burned.  This book is a memoir of her life before and after the accident, which happened four years ago.  It is very well written. She amazes me with her honesty about the difficult times and her strength in overcoming them.

Today I read One Bright Shining Hope: Messages for Women by Gordon B. Hinckley.  It is filled with inspiring quotes that praise and inspire women.  Two of my favoritr are: "No other work reaches so close to divinity as does the nurturing of the sons and daughters of God." and "Of all the creations of the Almighty, there is none more beautiful, none more inspiring than a lovely daughter of God who walks in virtue, with an understanding of why she should do so, who honors and respects her body as a thing sacred and divine, who cultivates her mind and constantly enlarges the horizon of her understanding, who nurtures her spirit with everlasting truth."

 I still have a stack of books that I may get through if Baby Girl holds on another few weeks.

A few years ago we had a Relief Society activity where we learned how to make a Swedish Weave. I was excited about it at the activity, but somehow I never got around to working on it. (Yes, I'm kind of lame.)  Now that I definitely have the time, I've beenw working on it again. I've really been enjoying it!

I'm lucky that the Olympics are going on while I'm here, because it gives me something interesting to watch. I've had a chance to watch some of the less popular sports...and the popular ones as well. Some of my favorites have been gymnastics(artistic, rhythmic and trampoline), swimming (traditional, open water and synchronized), track and fieldraces, BMX racing, diving and volleyball (beach and court). I've watched portions of all kinda of things, like handball, wrestling and Judo. I hadn't even known all of these events existed. It's great to have the time to watch, but I would prefer not having the time:)

Brad told me that he and his co-worker were joking about how they'd go crazy staying in the hospital for weeks. Their wives would have to buy them a Play Station or X-Box to help them pass the time. I hadn't thought of it before, since I never play video games, but my brother is lending me his Nintendo 64, so I'll probably start playing some Mario tomorrow.

I have this internal pressure inside me most of the time to be productive. That's what drives me to work hard cleaning, cooking and caring for the children. When I do have a few spare minutes I try to read good books, catch up on the blog (my journal), enjoy time with Brad or do some other "productive" activity. I very rarely watch shows or anything.

This hospital stay has been quite an adjustment for me, ha, ha! I now watch hours of tv, mostly Olympic coverage, movies when good ones are on (or on Netflix) and HGTV shows, like Property Brothers and Love It or List it. I still try to spend a lot of my time well listening to Mormon Channel, doing Indexing for FamilySearch and reading good books. I post occasional updates here on the blog and on Facebook and read what others have been doing as well. A little time on social media can be productive, but it's easy to waste time that way too. Of course my favorite way to pass the time is visiting with people in person or by phone.

I look forward to returning to busy life, now as a mother of four. I'm trying my best to appreciate all the down time, because once our sweet baby comes, I'm not getting any for a long time.