Why small success? Because that’s the only kind I know! Even the big ones come in small steps. Here’s my paltry offering for the week:

1. Visited the township recycling center – Before you roll your eyes at this minuscule task, let me explain why this is an accomplishment of any sort. First, after weeks of tripping over the overflowing box of plastic caps and bag of used batteries along the basement stairs, I have to get said recyclable stuff – along with the old UV bulb encased in bubble wrap – to the car. Without spillage by little hands. Here’s the big challenge: Our township recycling center keeps arcane operating hours, changeable at any moment. It’s open something like the third Wednesday following the full moon and the hours between twilight and dusk on Fridays equidistant from the nearest solstices. After one unsuccessful trip, I swung by on a whim while on a futile drive-my-preschoolers-to-sleep jaunt and, despite the posted hours, lo and behold, OPEN! Junk delivered to its destination. And the UV bulb? The guy there said to throw it in the trash.
   

   Mounds of mulch. Steam absent.

2. The mudroom – I shouldn’t really claim this one because it’s woefully incomplete. I took a “before” picture and then . . . nothing. But I’ve begun, and I’ll post the “after” shot in the next Small Success. Sadly, the room is absent my other planned success for the day: my son’s leather loafers. He wears his loafers when serving Mass, and on Good Friday they used wax candles instead of the oil ones they normally carry. He spilled some wax on his shoes. I’ve been studying them quizzically, trying to figure out how to remove the wax. Scrape and then what? I planned to remove the wax the way I would from the carpet, by ironing it onto a brown bag. Will that work for leather? Any suggestions?
   

   Before

3. Birthday baking – My son’s entry into the teen years was heralded by a somewhat crazy Monday. The little ones each had story times at the library, which I don’t mind skipping on occasion, but since they’d both missed three of the last five due to their illness or that of a sibling, I wanted to take them. Dishes were still piled in the kitchen because my husband had occupied the sink with brewing over the weekend. Chocolate chip cookies and homemade birthday cake lay head, to be completed sometime between the library and ballet class. I signed in relief as the decorated cake was placed on the table and the birthday boy headed to Boy Scouts with a container of cookies for his friends. Why did I think enough cookies would come home to share with his classmates the next day? Cray cray. I baked a second batch before school on Tuesday and the birthday baking was complete!
   

   Aerial view of the Jakku birthday cake.

4. Thank you notes – I supervised my second grader getting all of the thank you notes from her First Holy Communion completed. This one was mostly on her, but I have to be on hand to make sure she’s matched the right gift to the right person, spelled names correctly, and then address the envelopes. Done, done, done. On to supervising the birthday gift thank you cards . . .
5. Christmas decorations – Oh, the humiliation. There may have been a small pile of Advent and Christmas decorations lingering in a pile in the room by which we access the attic. For almost six months. I finally took the two minutes necessary to put them away. Sigh. Procrastination + sloth=a Christmas stocking gathering dust.

That’s all I’ve got. Celebrate more small successes over at CatholicMom.com.

Have you had any small successes this week?

THANKS FOR STOPPING BY! STAY A WHILE AND LOOK AROUND. LEAVE A COMMENT. SHARE WITH A FRIEND. IF YOU LIKE WHAT YOU SEE, PLEASE SIGN UP FROM MY AUTHOR NEWSLETTER TO KEEP UP-TO-DATE ON NEW RELEASES, EXTRAS, AND HOT DEALS!