That hiccup turned into a hang-up when I started to try to take pictures of things from my life. What's ordinary for me is probably nothing like ordinary for most people. For example: I have 5 kids. (If you count our baby that died almost 2 years ago, I've had 6.) On purpose...All from the same Dad...Who I've been married to the whole time. That's so far beyond normal....and most of my pictures have my 5 kids in them. And one of my quests in life has been not to be ordinary or "normal", so i'm not. I don't swear. I prefer more creative expressions like "For the love of Pete" or "Oh MYLANTA" or we decided it would be funny if I started saying "Peaches and Cream", because my kids think my other two sayings are weird--so I am trying to implement that one regularly. Another example: I make up songs a lot. A LOT. Sometimes when my kids can't remember things such as 5280 feet are in a mile (incidentally WHY are American's so hung up on using the standard system? Couldn't we switch to metric and be like the rest of the world, on the EASIER system to remember?), I make up a song to help them remember it. ("5280 feet are in a mile" is to the tune of La Bamba.) And I sometimes sing with an opera type voice when I'm tired of trying to get their attention. And my every day life has been BLASTED full of serious moments at random times. One of my children died, and that has shaken up what is ordinary for me, and I don't think it would be ordinary for anyone else. When all my kids are playing nicely, I sometimes cry, because I wish he were here to be a part of it. I count my kids when we go places like the library or the store or grandma's house, and I feel like someone is missing. All. The. Time. And I have 5--if I was ordinary I'd be like "HOLY COW, WHY DID I HAVE ALL THESE KIDS?" not thinking "1-2-3-4-5...is that all? It feels like someone is missing," and then my heart throbs because someone IS missing.
So....I have tried to think about what IS ordinary about me. I do have a problem with the dishes. I don't like doing them. My kids don't like doing them. I don't like hounding my kids to do them, and so some days, my sink looks like this. Exhibit A:
The thing is, though, that even dishes are a part of my every day life (and I detest them, I truly do, and that's probably normal), I still have things in my dishes area that make the dishes less than ordinary. Such as my orchid, which was given to me in the hospital when I had Gideon. Yes, almost 2 years ago. Yes, it's blooming again. Somehow I have not killed it, and not only that, but it starts blooming around Christmas and my birthday and mother's day and it reminds me that Gideon is still part of my family on those special holidays. And look at that rose, which my husband brought to me the other day (we are approaching our anniversary). And my Easter cactus is a monster--I got that in the hospital when I had my first baby, and it keeps growing just like my family. And I did NOT move them here for the picture, I just stepped back and took it at a larger angle. This is supposed to be REAL LIFE, and it is my real life, but I think that it's far from ordinary.
Also, you may notice that there are bread pans in the sink. That's because I made banana bread. Ooooooh so good. Exhibit B:
That's after 3 loaves got eaten already today. And every day is not a banana bread making day, so is it really ordinary? And my positive attitude? (Dishes are crappy, but it means that I made banana bread.) That's not an ordinary thing either. What is ordinary anyway? Apparently not me.
So, I'm sorry I can't complete the 7 day ordinary life challenge. I'm too extra-ordinary. And I'm OK with that.
No comments:
Post a Comment