This week's inspiration

"Inspired Living"
The name was born out of the inspiration I was finding almost every day in books, magazines, songs, conversations, nature...wherever. I have been gathering little nuggets of inspiration for years and sometimes an old gem comes back to inspire me. Something old is new again!

"As comedian Phyllis Diller says, 'Cleaning the house while the kids are still growing is like shoveling the sidewalk before it stops snowing.' If your other family members don't like it, they'll learn to pick up your slack. Goddess knows you've picked up their slack from time to time."
~ excerpt from The Mother Trip by Ariel Gore

It's not the house cleaning part that has me thinking this week, it's the slack part. Slacker is just not a word I would normally use to describe myself. Frankly, it doesn't describe me right now either, if you ask me. We are being financially wise and are finishing the concrete floors in our basement by ourselves rather than paying someone to do the dirty work for us. Notice I said "we" and "us." My sweet husband has been saying "we" and "us" when he talks about this project (yes, honey, I have noticed)--sort of in the same way I say "we" and "us" when I talk about earning the paycheck that keeps a roof over our heads and food on our table.

My husband is finishing the concrete floor. I patched a couple nail holes, I cleared out some furniture that needed to be moved, but he's the one sucking in the fumes, using muscles he hasn't used in years, listening to his ipod as he scrubs and brushes and mops and rinses and dumps and mops again...

My husband showers, dresses, commutes, sells, negotiates, kisses ass, bitches out, and generally does the deed necessary to earn a salary. He loves it and he's really good at it (what a blessing).

But it's "us" and "we" that are sustaining this family. I walk down to that basement and my eyes glaze over. As far as this project goes, I'm the slack. But I'll put together the new basketball hoop and I'll paint the basement walls...once the floors are done. I'll pay the bills, manage the debt and the savings. I'll buy the groceries and the winter coats, I'll get everyone their flu shots, I'll kiss the boo-boos (while he's at work at least). He'll probably do the laundry, we'll both help with homework. I think it's safe to say that there are no slackers in this family. Sometimes he takes up my slack, sometimes I take up his. No questions asked. That's what love is about--that's what family is about.