Mommy Sabbatical

Still exhausted from the holidays - a mental & physical strain. I mentioned to a friend just now that I need a Leave of Absence - she heartily agreed & said yeah - a mommy sabbatical!!

Its been crazy but I have learned one valuable lesson. Be honest in all your dealings because you never know which one is a test - actually they all are & I am now convinced that hard times are to teach you a lesson & to build your character.

On the 26th of Dec I went to hallmark for their after christmas sales. The lady gave me 50% off on items that were not marked to be 50% off & in addition she gave me 3 stands & charged me for 2. I did notice but stayed quiet. Later as I was grappling with some health issues & in a lot of pain & tired and exhausted from the pain I decided to push my family to go out on a trip. We went to Williamsburg VA. It was too cold & snowy for my parents to really enjoy it. As we left the place to return I discovered that I left some lovely yarn (midway in the project) and a library book in a bag in the hotel room. Husband refused to turn back, hotel said they could not find it. Kept calling back the hotel kept saying they could reach "housekeeping" as they were on the floor. I lost my cool - made sure peace in my family was disrupted. Was completely baffled by my response to the situation and hurt everyone in my family in the process. I watched myself falling :-( Then I asked God why - why did this have to happen - why couldn't He just get me the bag - it was an easy thing for Him to influence. My conscience then prompted me on the Hallmark incidence. Note that 3 days of daily phone calls later the polite southerners from VA could still not locate housekeeping or my bag. I told myself fine - just do the right thing with Hallmark and count on God to be faithful. There was an inner peace - I did expect the bag to show up based on my affirmation of God's faithfulness but the peace made me feel regardless of the bag I needed to do the right thing. So I schlepped the extra stand to Hallmark. The ladies there were very happy with my honesty - took the extra stand back & told me to keep the extra discount I had mistakenly received! Hold on - one more persistent call to the Marriott & a long explanation later I was overjoyed to receive their call telling me that they found my bag!!!

Well its a small incident and I was able to redeem myself somewhat - just grateful for the chance of redemption which may not always be available!

Overall had a great time with my family - lots of bonding, laughter, a good party at our place on Christmas Day, another relaxing get together with 2 of my school friends and their families etc.

Made fruit cake, white chocolate cherry shortbread, sand tarts, sugar and orange butter cookies this year. I also made some yummy chicken biriyani this year.

Need to stay focused on health this coming year 2011!