I have had very few words or pictures coming my way...most of the time my head is so overflowing with words, ideas, and plans that I sometimes feel like I am drowning in my own head. Things just can't come out fast enough before there space is filled with something else.
       Lately though, things have been different...


my mind is blank. There are no pictures to paint...there are no words to type...it is simply blank. Call it what you will...but I call it being in a funk.
      I think it all started when the first Christmas letter came. Do you know what I am talking about?...those well-meaning letters where the joyous occasions of families are rehashed in about four paragraphs. Maybe you even write one yourself. I don't.
      The one that came first was from friends (and yes I do mean friends...Dork and I truly think they are great people) but it was their letter that started it all. You see in a space of year they had accomplished so much...it all served to remind me just how little we had. The second letter came (once again friends...dear friends...close friends...and perhaps one of the best friends I ever had). I read all the great things they were teaching their children...generosity and giving back to the community. The volunteering they had done as a family. It made me proud, embarrassed, and sad all at the same time. I was so proud of my friend and her family. She is and always has been a great mother. It made me embarrassed of how little I give back to my own community...and it made me sad to realize that my own days and nights have been so involved with homeschooling and trying to get through the day to day little things that make Quirky....well Quirky that I neglected something so very important. Teaching her that their is something bigger than our own little microcosm....that their is a whole world out there and sometimes that world needs our help.
      One would have thought that at this point I would have decided to move forward and make a plan to get involved. Nope...I took another route.  I decided to have myself a big fat PITY PARTY. We can't do this because......Quirky wouldn't be able to do.....BLAH BLAH BLAH....whine whine whine. The thing is this pity party has gone on long enough...and well its time to send the unwanted guests home and try thinking on the positive side again. This is what I am thinking....

1. GET QUIRKY INVOLVED IN HER COMMUNITY!!! How? I have no ideas yet...any suggestions?
2. Have enough activities to fill our own christmas letter...and not stuff like Quirky ate her dinner without us having to use the vacuum to clean up! (although that would be quite an accomplishment)

Can I do this? I really have no idea...we'll just have to wait and see.