Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Itchy, Itchy Rash


The Child is suffering from some odd "histimine reaction" which means that she is at home and on Benadryl. The doctor doesn't want to see her unless she breaks out in massive welts or has difficulty breathing. I have not changed our laundry soap or any other product that comes in contact with her tender skin so what is making her so itchy is a mystery. It might, I suppose, be some reaction to the transition between winter and spring. Owing to the miracle of better living through chemistry, she is fine as frog's hair at the moment and using the time to get ahead in her studies. What a concept.

Time is a precious commodity. If I've been learning anything this Lent it has to do with my use of time, or the misuse thereof. I am ridiculously good at wasting time. I did some confronting of that fact during the past week and hit the ground running yesterday. I cleaned and wrote, baked and read, gardened and prayed. I did all this despite the fact that my plans were altered when I had to retrieve an itchy Child from school. Part of my success owed to my timer and routines. Part of it owed to sheer determination. I like having something to show for my day, even if I'm the only one who notices. I don't need monumental accomplishments. A few lines written here, a loaf of bread there will suffice. I don't even necessarily need to be able to see a result, so long as I have the knowledge that I moved an inch closer to one.

Be clear: I think that frittering away time, vegging out, chilling - whatever you want to call it - is an important part of maintaining sanity. I do not understand people who are always on the go, never take a breath while they pile up accomplishment on top of accomplishment without taking time to savor what they've done. Or without pausing to make sure that what they are doing is worth doing. Fortunately, I'm not one of those people.

I'm the perfect Libra in this sense...I like balance. I strive for poise. Which is not to say that I'm poised, although I can pretend to be. But I adore the notion of balance, a poise between rest and accomplishment. I like finding quiet in the midst of noise and I like to keep the quiet honest with a little rattle and hum.

Of course, one has a better chance of balancing life in the aggregate. Day to day can be harder to manage. I could be "thrown off balance" by the presence of The Child or, if I wanted, by the fact that it's raining so my garden momentum is quashed. But I'm not going to be. I like myself better when I don't make excuses.

5 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous opined...

Tried yoga not long ago. The one legged pose reared its head(?). I kept falling over. No balance, you see.
charlei

March 28, 2006 1:35 PM  
Blogger Grish opined...

Hope she gets to feeling better. Grish

March 28, 2006 5:25 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous opined...

Lorraine, I've read your blog now a few times and am REALLY enjoying it!! You're a very funny person, and I'm envious of your hilarious writing.

I also could really relate to what you said about "balance." I'm a Gemini, so balance doesn't come easy for me, but I'm always working on it! (Which is maybe part of the problem--I shouldn't be "working" on it! *smiles*)

Anyway, I just wanted to say that I really enjoy your blog.

--Miss Healthypants (yes, THE Miss Healthypants *hee hee*)

March 29, 2006 5:49 PM  
Blogger Lorraine opined...

Miss Healthypants, Thanks for coming by...you're welcome anytime. And you think I'm funny, you should check out the links for some of my imaginary friends!

March 29, 2006 5:54 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous opined...

Regarding your daughters itching... is she consuming anything with splenda/sucralose. Please check out belicove.com and type in the search box: "splenda allergy." This product is in so many foods now that the list is growing to 6000 including childrens tylenol, bottled waters, breath mints, breads, even chewable vitamins etc, etc.... It is one part sugar and 3 parts chlorine and is having a terrible effect on thousands of people. Please do read up on it. Thanks

May 28, 2006 11:19 PM  

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