Yesterday when I was on Oprah...

I used to pretend that I was on Oprah a lot. I still do, just not as much. Yesterday I was on Oprah again.

I pretend I'm on Oprah whenever I'm doing something I don't like to do. It helps me get through it if I think about the task that I am doing being filmed by Oprah's crew to be shown to the studio audience while I am there on stage with Oprah getting high fives and tons of praise for "getting through it." Or, if I am feeling like my life is lack luster or that I haven't accomplished all of the things I want to- perhaps life isn't as glamorous or exotic as I thought it would be, I think about being on Oprah and her applauding me and my life-my real life-and saying, "All this AND she speaks French!" And I, after a little prodding from the audience say, "Oui, C'est vrai. J'ai etudie Francaise pendant quatre ans." And the audience goes wild (the truth is that is about the only French phrase I can remember and I don't know if I spelled anything right)!

So, yesterday the film crew was at my house because I was nursing my 3 month old in the driveway while the three year old played, trimming back our shrubs, and cleaning the back porch. I hate this kind of work. I wish I liked it. I wish I had beautiful flowers that lived through 2 seasons and landscaping and grass that neighbors envied...but I don't. I have beautiful flowers when my mom comes and plants some for me every year and I have grass that looks pretty good right after Tyler mows it- before the weeds start popping out again. I walk around the neighborhood looking at the yards I envy and there is one common thread that makes them all alike...the people that own the houses with the beautiful yards are retired. So, someday. Anyway, back to Oprah...My Oprah moment was when Tyler brought Tucker over to the front of the house where I was working so he could go and clean the cushions on the back porch. He was in his bouncy seat and pretty content for a minute and then he started to cry. It was really hard to continue to chop away at the box shrubs that were taller than me (that I was chopping down to be shoulder height) while he cried but I did. I got through it. I put him to bed and then came BACK OUT and did the clean up as well. Normally I do all the chopping and hacking to my liking and then T Thomas cleans up my mess but with 2 kids Tyler was busy so I had to clean up too. That stunk. But Oprah was filming so I was all hard work and determination instead of cursing and crying, stomping my foot, and calling my Dad to hire me a lawn boy.

I also daydreamed that the neighbors were watching out of their windows, impressed with my hard work and wondering if we were Amish. Just when I got to the tall shrubs Tyler came over and I was pouting, telling him that this was too hard and that I wanted all of our landscape ripped out he said, "Well, you're supposed to use an electric trimmer for that!" I am using those big clippers- I don't even know what they are called- big scissors- and I feel even more determined and like that gives Oprah and my neighbors one more thing to be impressed with, ya know? That's the Amish thing- no electric clippers.

Other highlights yesterday included washing the 90lb. dog and flicking slugs off my cleaned off porch and Madeline's cleaned off playhouse. I got a lot done and felt exhausted and proud when I finished.

So, here's to us. All us moms that do thankless boring work every day and don't get on Oprah for it. We all should be. It is amazing what moms are capable of getting done and getting through when we have to. I'm impressed. Oprah and your neighbors are too.