I've gotta say...

I am not having a great day. Depressing episodes have transpired last night and this morning and there is a nagging relationship problem that I would love to see the end of but which I don't have the will, especially this morning, rectify myself.

God is whispering to me but I am lapsing into the self-pitying zombie mode of a woman tired and overwhelmed, in which the knowledge that what I'm dealing with is not so hard is all the more crushing.

So I write this post in part because I have something to say and in part to expose myself to the reality of my situation and to kick myself out of inactivity in the hopes that I will be lead to even better, more helpful action and communication.

Thank you for being my spur.

Today I have a to-do list that is topped with: 1. Begin and complete 424 term paper. 2. Laundry. Knowing me, which I do, I will probably reverse these. 3. Probably write some Thank Yous; and 4. Clean the house - always a struggle at this point in the term.

And you can see things are piling up on me.

To ease my overall stress a little Tom and I have decided to buy a couple more of these US-made Container Store bins which we now use to hold our laundry and which we will use to hold our recycling. They come in a smaller size that will hopefully be perfect for the kitchen.

Having the right tools to do a job, especially one you do so frequently, makes such a difference and our current recycling bin has been the source of a surprising amount of minor tension.

On an even happier note, I got my birthday gift last night. The frame and print Tom had ordered for my birthday arrived together, to the delight of both of us. Tom definitely likes them as much as I do and we made sure to have a great view of it from our bed.

It's up a little high but it's easy enough to see what's going on despite that, and we've hung, or have planned to hang, so many things at this point that there was nowhere to go but up. Thank goodness for our nice, tall ceiling!

It's pretty gray here today, as you can see. But fortunately, for my friend Jessica and her birthday hike, it isn't raining anymore.

Hopefully this gray, that I love, will be inspirational to me in more ways than one, and my day will take a turn for the best.

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Congratulations to my friend, Charity, who gave birth to a baby girl yesterday. I am so wildly happy for her. What a blessing.