Odds:
Odds are that this political contest will be completely decided before I even get a chance to vote in the primaries. I think it's odd that I can be so discouraged about the political process (and outcome) 9 months out from the election. I love living in a democracy, but it's hard to love it this week...when it seems like most of the decision is made before I even get to raise my own little voice.
I think it's odd how much time I spend thinking about SPT each week. (I saw one of Lelly's old SPT's where she challenged everyone to come up with their own words for the SPT acronym...mine would have to be "She Ponders Tediously.") This week was no different. I finally concluded that I had already wasted more than my 25th hour deciding what to SPT about and that I would actually have extra time in my day if I wasn't blogging at all. This was a horrible thought and so I gave it up altogether this week. Sorry Lelly. It is odd that I make things harder than they need to be, but that seems to be my signature move. Just ask my husband.
Today I reluctantly went and registered my baby up for "early learners" (a program our school district has for kids with Sept-Dec birthdays). And it seems just that...EARLY. Early to register, early to have him leaving my house, early to have the house to myself for a few hours every day. He cried the whole way there. It was not until I told him he would be able to wear a backpack that he consented to get out of the car. I honestly wouldn't send him at all except that I think of all my kids, he is the least prepared for kindergarten and the most attached to home. Later, when we were running errands, he quietly asked, "Who's going to stay with you?" It took me a minute to figure out that he was referring to when he went to school. Odd that I would go misty over that thought.
Odd that instead of fighting bacteria I am currently encouraging the growth of several bacterial colonies, all in the name of science. Caleb has started his science fair project in earnest and we are feeding and incubating all kinds of disgusting life forms. The other day Caleb asked me if he should not wash his hands at all throughout the day in order to get a better sample. I thought it was very odd that I hesitated before answering. But then I remembered Marie Curie. There is only so much I think my 4th grader should risk for science.
And Ends:
I can hardly believe that it's almost the end of January, and I've made very little (okay, zero) progress on my ambition to do a bit of writing this year. This makes me think it is very likely that this year will end much the way the last one did, with regret. The real trouble is that my work as a wife and mother, not to mention my church responsibilities, are never at an end and so...the real problem is that firefighting is not really conducive to writing.
On Monday night we closed our Family Home Evening by singing "We Thank Thee, O God, For a Prophet." It was hard to sing past the lump in my throat. My heart was just thumping away feeling the testimony of those words, revelling in my darlings singing their little hearts out, and knowing that President Hinckley had left us. The end of an era, as it were, and it was quite a reverent, thick moment in our house.