Skipping Cucumber

I did it.  I skipped a day.  It was an intentional decision, brought about by my hope to have a less encumbered year.  While I have loved blogging everyday, and I am actually proud that I developed this habit, the perceived "need" to blog daily has sometimes often interfered with quality family time over the last few months.  Since I want to spend the year living towards an unencumbered perspective, I decided that extra focus on my family is much more important in the long run than my ramblings being sent into cyberspace each day.  So I made a conscious decision to snuggle with my oldest son when he needed it the most and to sit next to, and actually watch a show with, the hubby instead of tapping away on my laptop, absorbed in whatever I had chosen to type up that day.  It wasn't easy.  There were quite a few times that I would begin to compose in my head.  Fragmented paragraphs have been written and lost somewhere between random synapses.  Cyberspace may never see them.

It's also funny because I had to intentionally decide NOT to sign up for NaBloPoMo.  I was really torn.  Part of me felt so certain that I could handle another challenge.  Part of me knew that I was choosing the wrong challenge.  This month my challenge is to focus on unencumbering myself.  Looking at things in a way that is best, not only for myself, but for my family.  My kids might not ever care about this blog.  They might even be embarassed about it.  But Connor will remember that I took extra time out just to hold him and hug him when he was feeling overwhelmed about his own big brother responsibilities.  Jason was very appreciative that I focused on him and the show, instead of my blog. 

However, I also had to fight every fiber of my being on the 5th from 11:00 to midnight.  I had done my posts for five days in a row.  And I could not stop thinking about how perfect the badge was.  It took a lot of willpower not to get out of bed and race to my computer really quick to add myself to the blog rolls.  A LOT of willpower.  Jason was snoring.  He wouldn't have needed to know... it would have been so easy...  But instead, I created paragraphs in my mind about what I would write on my blog about deciding not to blog everyday. 

Then I started to think more about unencumbered and why I liked that word so much.

Here are the other reasons not included in my post from the other day:

*Note: They are entirely unrelated and less meaningful than the real reason I chose the word, but applicable nonetheless.

1)  Unencumbered makes me think of cucumber.  There are many reasons that I love cucumbers.  They are great to eat.  They make pickles, which are also great to eat.  Cucumber melon lotion from Bath and Body Works is the bomb.  And Veggietales wouldn't be half as good if they didn't have Larry.
2)  Unencumbered has not one, but two prefixes.  How cool is that?  That makes it three words in one.  More bang for the buck in my book.
3)  Unencumbered also makes me think of "Cumbersome" by Seven Mary Three.  I bought American Standard in highschool and totally loved it.  In fact, I still have it.  I just don't want to be it (cumbersome).

But I love me some cucumbers.  And some quality time.