Holly is finding it hard to be patient on a long drive in the car.

A smile a day keeps frustration away.

I decided that if everyone else in the family was going to have a blog, I needed to join the club. Mom jumped at the chance and started setting it up for me. The only problem was that I couldn't think of a title for it. Since I am an aspiring writer I felt that it needed to be something creative. Now, if you've looked back at my title to see what I came up with, you may be thinking, "Uh, Michelle, I don't think you quite got there." Well, at some point in my desperate pursuit of a meaningful, memorable, and painfully alliterative title, I realized that I just needed to have one that meant something to me. At this point, I was sitting under my parent's pecan tree watching my two girls jumping on the trampoline while I did some hand stitching on a skirt I was finishing for Caroline. I looked up and both girls were treacherously circling the trampoline outside of the enclosure. Caroline is four and as nimble as a mountain goat. Holly however, though daring and determined to follow, at nearly two does not have such finely developed motor skills. I told them to get back in the enclosure, but of course they were determined to continue on their chosen course. Before I got up to wrestle them back to safety, I glanced toward the skies and muttered, "Give Me Patience!" And so was born my title.

You see, it wasn't by a long shot the first time I had so pled to heaven. Everyday, my patience is tested in numerous and challenging ways. If you build patience like you build muscle, by the constant exercising of it, I should be ready to jump in a bathing suit, slather myself with oil, and pose for a body building calendar. (Remember this is a metaphor only!) Instead I feel more like a flabby, overweight mother of two who is dreading the swiftly nearing start of swimsuit season. (Ok, the metaphor is too accurately mirroring reality so I'll move on now.) Not only do I need patience for parenting, but in marriage, gardening, self-improvement, and in waiting for that promised someday when whatever I can't have or do or be today will finally dawn and fulfill all my desires. And so everyday, throughout the day, I say, "Give me patience," summon a smile, and press on. And that smile, if I can find it, is my salvation.

I've started two new blogs

This is my blog. I will be posting about the things that interest me. We have a family blog now too.