Whirlwind

The soap manufacturing plant has been idle for a couple weeks.  We seem to do this soap thing in spurts of action and inactivity.  Well, inactivity isn't exactly a fair description, since its the rest of our busy lives that often use more than their fair share of time.

Making soap is normally an enjoyable way to spend an hour or two.  I say 'normally' because sometimes its incredibly stressful.  Like when we're tired, or when we forget a step in the process and we end up with soap that's ready to pour, but it has no color in it, or the molds aren't ready.  Sometimes one or the other of us changes the planned recipe for that evening without letting the other know.  An honest mistake that usually turns into a less than pleasurable experience. 

Then there's the part about finding an hour or two to spend on making, cutting and wrapping soap.  Most of our waking hours, as well as some of our sleeping hours, are filled with kids and family, chickens, work, church, community, and trying to clean up what the kids and the chickens and old man winter have done to our back yard.  Never a dull moment around here.

A few years ago, some friends of the family stopped by with their five children.  Tell me, hypothetically speaking of course, how would you feel after a tornado slammed your front door on its way out, after ripping your roof off, knocking down all the walls, and then churning through the debris for a few minutes?  They didn't actually break anything, but when they left, I was spent! 

At the time, with just one lovely child of our own, we were rookies, still in control of our lives. 

Now we're the ones with five kids.