The Memory is in the Mess

Yes, I'm preaching to myself! I truly believe those words and embrace them when my children and I are in the kitchen or completing crafty type projects, but I have a harder time keeping that perspective as I walk through the rest of the house and seeing the clutter ~ unfortunately it is typically my clutter. I am trying to make myself believe those words as I walk through the piles of laundry in my bathroom {which doubles as a laundry room} and the stacks of boxes {some packed, some waiting} throughout the house.


Enough about that, I want to tell you about my Friday. I was feeling overwhelmed with all I needed to accomplish and was trying to figure out how I could at least get done the necessary items on the list. I couldn't run errands in the car because all three car seats were out of the car and still in need of cleaning. Once I got the covers out of the wash and into the sun, the boys and I took off in the stroller. {It's a good thing I wasn't planning on using the car because not only did Frank have both sets of keys, but my battery was dead!}


This is just one of the many reasons I love my neighborhood ~ I can accomplish a whole lot on foot. First we went to St. Luke's to take care of some board business. Neither boy attends school on Friday, but Stephen was thrilled to go visit and take Mrs. TaraKy a picture he had painstakingly colored. Next we went to the bank to make a deposit for Garden Club and to the boys' delight there were many emergency vehicles in the road. Apparently there was a memorial service for 9/11 going on in front of city hall. We ran in the CVS to pick up a prescription and then scampered across the street to inspect the vehicles all while trying to keep our squeals of delight at bay so as not to be rude to those participating in the service.


Our last stop ~ The Piggly Wiggly to catch up with a few "on sale" items and a few other necessities for the lake. As I filled the buggy I failed to remember I was in the stroller and not the car. The cashier and bag boy laughed at me when I made a comment about making it all fit in the stroller ~ we got it all in with no problems!


Okay here is my first realization of the day that the memory is in the mess. In the produce section, Stephen was taken with the bags of fresh roasted peanuts. I'm not one for impulse buys, but I thought roasted peanuts would make a good snack and be fun at the lake so I let Stephen grab a bag for the buggy. We made it home and decided we needed a snack. The boys enjoyed the peanuts. Stephen enjoyed the cracking and eating. Walker mainly enjoyed the cracking and his method was less than ideal ~ he took the peanut and stomped on it on the tile floor. It actually made me smile and then laugh as I realized the act was making a memory and the mess was nothing that the broom wouldn't quickly remedy.


We got that cleaned up, ate lunch, and put Walker to bed so Stephen and I could embark on what became our second mess of the day ~ making Tootsie's pound cake! Friday would have been Tootsie's 61st birthday and we were heading to the lake to spend the weekend with Pops and some friends. I have always thought Tootsie's pound cake recipe the best I've ever had so I thought it would be fitting to make one {or two} in honor of her.