Recharging the Battery

I'm a WAHM...for those you not down on the lingo, that means Work At Home Mom. Working from home, although nice, doesn't allow for much "out of the house" time. I feel guilty sometimes for working so much that when I get off work, I feel bad for wanting to leave the house...actually, leave my family. And I love my house. It's not that I want to get out of here; but sometimes I N E E D to.

Jim rides his dirt bike and I like to scrap and junk.

And, I'm a "date-breaker". I commit to doing something and then I don't. I tell someone I will meet them for coffee, or lunch, or go to a party and then I tend to find a reason not to go. The reason usually being something to do with the Doodle or childcare or childcare for the Doodle. So, I end up not going.

My cousin invited me to come to a weekend scrapbooking retreat at a local church this weekend. They only put it on twice a year and I said YES. I will go. I put my stake in the ground and commited. Again.

But I never actually registered. I didn't pay the $40 to go. I wanted to be sure. And you never know.

Turns out, I have to work on Sunday for my boss and now I was beginning to have "those" thoughts again. The pangs of guilt to be away from the family and the house Friday, Saturday and Sunday. 3 whole days. In a row.

How will they manage?

Once I stopped the self-important thinking which didn't happen until Friday morning (and the scrapbooking fun fest begins at 2:00 pm on FRIDAY) I was able to go online and register. Yay me.

But, now they're full. Now I can't sit with my cousin. Now I have paid $40 and will be giving up my weekend away from my family to go sit with a stranger. In crept my Doubter. Maybe I should just cancel.

But I didn't. Cancel.

I went last night. I was able to sit with my cousin and scrapbook. Even though I went a little late, I loaded my car with my scrapbooking stuff and scrapbooked until Midnight.

It's a fundraiser and it's held in a church and there's about 50 women who go. Everyone gets a big 8' table they have snacks and serve dinner and they offer little workshops throughout the day and show you new layouts and techniques. They have raffle prizes and a real store set up so you can buy more scrapping CRAP. Some people even wear their pajamas. Why didn't I think of that? And they have chocolate chip cookies-that right there...worth the price of admission.

It was great. And fun. And creative. And productive. And good for my soul. And sure, I could scrapbook all I want to at home, by myself with my needy kids and constant interuption but this is like a mini-recharging for me where I can just sit and focus and connect with grown ups with the same interests as me.

Today's scrapping is from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm. I'm already 46 minutes late and to be honest, I probably won't stay until 9:00 pm but it will be recharging my battery all the same.

Jimmy came there with me last night (for just a few minutes), and we walked up to the big cross in the front of the room and we each said a prayer for the Doodle. We each prayed for his health and Jimmy prayed for him to not be autistic anymore. I think this counts as going to church.

I'll post some pictures later tonight.