When you just see what happens and take the opportunities that come your way, you never know what is going to happen. For example, about two years ago I was teaching Spanish when a student asked, "Mrs. Dunbar, are you going to take us to Spain?" And I replied, "Yeah, sure. We can go to Spain." In my mind, however, I was thinking that their wanting to go to Spain was a passing fancy and that they'd never get organized enough to get a trip planned. I was wrong. We went to Spain and it was awesome.
When you let things just happen, you end up adding a trip to Europe on top of the trip you were already planning with your family to go visit friends in Germany. I got back from Spain last Friday. We fly to Germany next Sunday. Oh boy.
And your calendar fills up with things you want to do and shows you want to play and life turns frenetic and disjointed. Then you have to step back and realize that saying yes is awesome, but saying yes means routine and daily life are thrown into a tizzy. That's where I'm at right now.
Since coming home I've played Boggle, biked to the gas station for ice cream with the boys, walked to the grocery store with my backpack to fill, jumped into a cold cold pool and ripped out basement carpet among other things. I like being home. I like three meals a day together around the kitchen table. I like silly little boys in their swimsuits.
I also like gigs and trips and craziness. How do I get both? How do I balance all the different parts of me? That's the question we're all dealing with, right? In a day I am doing dishes, playing guitar, making lunch, recording little things I don't want to forget, playing boggle, writing emails for gigs, picking up the guitar and editing that thing that's not done yet, going over to the pool to get the boys for dinner. I'm both all the time. But something's gotta give. Some moments when I really want to work on that song, I have to wait until the parenting is done first. Some days when I'd like to just stay home and hang out, I've got to pack it up and sing the songs. It can get crazy.
When you go with it, things are crazy.