Prophetic Paper Towels

Yesterday was such a busy day...let me just expain. I overslept in the morning and had to get myself ready for work...Ty ready for school...Madison ready for preschool...and my work organized to bring to the office. Dustin was out of town in Chicago with his band and was going to be returning later that day. I was running around the house getting everything ready and somehow we managed to get into the car on time and off to school. (I forgot to tell you I also had to get the "letter bucket" ready for Madison. What's that? Good question. Each child takes a turn filling a huge bucket with the objects that begin with the letter(s) of the week. Guess what we got? X Y and Z...yup, you heard me. :-) I dropped Ty off, headed to Madi's school and dropped her off along with her letter bucket and snacks for 20 children (I also had snack-duty this week for her class). I kissed her goodbye and headed to work. We had a tech guy in the office that day to make sure that all of our computers were secure and protected. Which is a normally a lovely thing...but not today. I needed my computer to print off the addresses of my almost 65 letters that I needed to mail out that afternoon and the tech man could not tell me how long it would take to look at my computer. I asked him politely if he could check my computer last and he said that would be fine. I got my letters addresses and stamped just in time to go pick up Madi from preschool. I packed everything up...then realized that Mr. tech man needed my computer. I left it on the confernce table and told him I would be back after I picked up my little girl. I got Madi from her class and picked up her friend Amanda (one of my best friends little girls). We all got in the car and headed to the place where I was meeting her mom. As I am driving...I pass an intersection and see my husband (who had just got off his bus from chicago and is now headed to his recording studio) I pull into the gas station to drop off Amanda and Dustin pulls in behind me. I get to hug him and welcome him home.....and I get to run errands for him. :-) He asks me if I can go to two different banks...I say, "sure...no problem" (I was being a good wife) I leave the gas station and head back to work with Madi (Are you beginning to understand my day?) Mr. tech man is not done with my computer. So I have Madi sit and practice writing her name while I go over the mailings with my boss. Mr. tech man finishes and I pack everything up (again) and head out the door. I go to both banks and I start to drive home...until I remember that my friend from college is coming over that evening. I totally need to get a dessert to make and I need a few cleaning supplies...so off to the grocery I go. I grab what I need and head for home (again). We get home and it is WAY past lunch time...so I make Madi a sandwich and put a Lean Cuisine meal in the microwave for me. I start doing dishes and cleaning the house. Then, my wonderful husband comes home. We sit and talk about his trip and plan our schedules for the rest of the week. While we are planning...Ty comes home from school. Dustin gets ready to go back to the studio for another session and Ty and I start on his homework. We finish and I start cleaning again...although I am cleaning what I have already cleaned because things have been dropped around the house now. I will not name the dirty culprit......but I do love him so much. :-) Ty's little friend comes to the door and asks if Ty can play...perfect...one less child to clean up after! He heads out the door and I come inside to see my baby girl very sad. "Who am I going to play with?" she asks. I look at her sweet face and tell her to go get the bubbles I just bought, and we head out to the front porch to blow bubbles. As I am blowing bubbles, she is "catching" them, and I am thinking ...I can still make the cupcakes and homemade frosting if I mix the batter quickly and do the dishes at the same time...once the dishes are done I can mop the kitchen floor...the kids rooms are done...but they need to be vacuumed...I can vacuum the upstairs and the downstairs in between frosting...I can do this...and I can do this before my friend comes over that has never seen my house...which is why I want it to look its best. Madi then interrupts my thoughts and says, "mom...you are not a very good blower today." So, back to blowing bubbles...and blowing them well! Then a neighbor girl and her mom ask if Madi can play in their back yard for 30 min. "Yes, yes, yes" I say. She skips away and I think to myself..."I have 30 minutes to get everything done before the kiddos come back and need dinner...GO!" I rush into the house to start mixing batter. I pour everything into a bowl and get out my hand mixer. Much to my dismay the bowl was too tiny and when I started to mix the batter...it splattered. Now...this was not any batter...it was red velvet cake batter...which is red...and splatters red...on my tan and white floors and counter...Aaauuuggghhh!!! I went to get a paper towel to start wiping up the mess...when IT happened...the "prophetic paper towel". I usually do not read my paper towels before I buy them...I actually normally only get plain white...but these paper towels were on sale and they did not seem like too much of an obnoxious design...just blue and white with butterflies. However...in my moment of business....I looked at these paper towels and read what they said, "Share the simple joys". I had been "running" all day...my light blue shirt was now splattered red...I had more cleaning and dishes to do...I still had dinner to make...and what if my house was not perfect for my friend from college? I then laughed out loud. I was a mess and so was my kitchen but I had missed the "simple joys" in my day. It was a beautful warm day. My kitchen curtains were blowing in the wind because my windows were open to let the beautiful fresh air in. I could hear my kids laughing as they played with their friends. My husband was home and safe from his trip. I got to sit on the couch with him in the middle of the afternoon and talk about our days. It had been a busy day...but it had also been a good day. I started to clean up my red velvet mess as I heard the front door open...the kiddos were home and they wanted to blow bubbles with me on the front porch. I looked at the almost clean kitchen...looked at the clock...and said, "Well...let me put the first batch of cupcakes in the oven...then we will blow bubbles." We all went out to the front porch and blew bubbles. They laughed and ran after them. I laughed and blew bubbles for them to run after. We were only out there for 16 minutes (I brought the cupcake timer out with me) but it was a wonderful 16 minutes...and I enjoyed those minutes with my babies. The simple joys are the ones that I remember and I want to take more moments to make them. The kitchen got cleaned and the floors got vacuumed. The kids had dinner, baths, and got in their pajamas. The cupcakes were made...and even half of them got frosted. I was even able to change my red splattered shirt and put on some lip gloss before my friend got there. All-in-all it was a wonderful day (my friend and I had a wonderful time talking and catching up too!) So as I started my day today I reminded myself to realize the simple joys...and I encourage you to do the same.
So what's the moral of the story? You should buy your paper towels at Wal-Mart...they might have a message for you!