Today, somewhere between having to help my 80 year old mother, a parent-teacher conference, work, the grocery store, making dinner, school drop-off and pick-up, our third showing in 24 hours (anyone want to buy a house?), and all other situations faced by a sandwich-generation-special-needs-parent-homework-helping-homemaker-full-time-employee-mom-wife. I felt like life was slapping me in the face today.

I couldn’t bear to take on. One. More. Thing.

That’s when I found this among the sheets I pulled from the dryer.

And, I was so desperate to fill my soul with something sweet that I almost ate it. After it had been stuffed in the laundry chute with dirty clothes, washed in detergent and bleach, then dried with a dryer sheet. I mean, the wrapper hadn’t broken so it was still good, right?

Then there was a knock at the door and some guy standing there asking, “Are you Diana?” which I’m totally not, but I nodded anyway and he handed me these.

It turns out, that when you’re having a really dark day, washed and dried mini-Twix bars are not the answer; good friends who send you emergency flowers are. Thank you, Melisa.

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Today is 11/11. Whenever the clock says 11:11 I make a wish, so I’ve been making a lot of wishes today.

I still believe in wishes, even though I’m 43. Maybe it’s because I’m a dreamer and they offer a little respite from reality. I know there is truth in that whole power of positive thinking thing, too. Build it and they will come.

Of course, dreams don’t come true as often as we like, but sometimes you learn a lot just by thinking it. Knowing you want something bad enough to wish for it helps you set your priorities. This is why I blow out the candles on my birthday cake and wish for 364 more days of cake. As long as it’s chocolate.

Ordinarily, I try not to be greedy with my wishes. I only blow one dandelion at a time, I only wish upon one star a night, and I never, ever wish for more wishes. That’s the first rule in genie school.

Wishes are fun and frivolous and not to be used for more serious matters. I reserve those for prayer. Wishes are light and airy, not for healing, soul-searching, problem-solving, or something in which I place faith. They are a bonus. A bright spot in an otherwise boring day.

So, stop right now and make a wish. You never know, it might come true. And, if it does, I totally expect a cut.

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I woke early this morning; nearly two hours before any other human in the house. I have a very busy day today and needed to get a jump start, but before I could settle in and start to work, I had to declutter my surroundings.

Laundry was thrown into the washer, random papers were removed from the kitchen counter, toys were stored in their rightful place instead of strewn across the coffee table, coats were hung, and headphones were stored. Next, I cut some coupons, filed my son’s progress reports and watered the plants.

If I could run the sweeper without waking anyone, I’d do that too.

It’s not because I work from home, because I felt the same way when I had an office. And, even when I was an Operations Manager for a company that was bursting at the seams with business and whose staff had grown so quickly we didn’t have anywhere to put them; I had to make a desk out of a fax station that gave me just enough room to open a file folder. It looked like chaos, well…it was chaos, but I made it work because there was order.

Working from home makes it more difficult, because I have desk space and family space, but it’s nothing that can’t be solved with a little early rising. Now, and only now, can I start my work.

Right after I empty the bathroom trash cans.

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1. More than a few times a day, you will look at her and say, “You’re lucky you’re cute.”

2. When she is sleeping and dreams about drinking water, the cute is taken to another level.

3. The fur is EVERYWHERE.

4. Crumbs don’t stand a chance.

5. Puppy kisses smell a lot worse at 8 months than they did at 8 weeks old.

6. So does the poop.

7. Sometimes, she’ll even poop in her cage so you’ll wake up to the smell of coffee and feces.

8. There isn’t enough Lysol in the world.

9. She’s lucky she’s cute.

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