Everyday we are faced with decisions that have to be made. What to wear, what to make the kids for lunch, what am I going to do today. Most are fairly easy and don't require much of a thought process. Then there are the bigger decisions like What's for Dinner. For some, this is not much of a thought process. They just throw together whatever is in the pantry or freezer. For others it requires a shopping trip, a recipe search, kids opinions, etc. I fall somewhere in between the two. I try to plan a few days ahead my dinner for each night. I might make a Roast beef one night and then use the leftovers for stir-fry and beef and barley soup. I make my own pasta sauce so one night can be spaghetti and another chicken parmigian. Sometimes I don't plan and we end up with waffles and bacon for dinner. Sometimes it's hard to plan when the day gets away from you and what you were going to make goes out the window because suddenly there is not enough time and you have to get to dance, tennis, baseball, whatever. Eventually, everyone gets fed, no one goes to bed hungry and the cycle begins all over the next day.

There are other decisions bigger than dinner. Right now I have two of them. I do not want to make the choice because I have a 50/50 chance of making the wrong one. Here are my two problems. The first is Aunt Muriel's furniture. My husband's Aunt died a few months ago. He and his sister just finished cleaning out the house. I told him I really didn't want anything from the house - but he decided to take the dining room set and paint-by-number Jesus anyway. The dining room set is in bad shape. I have had two people come look at it. The cost to refinish it is close to $5,000. That is a lot of money for something you don't love. On the other hand, hubby has lots of memories of sitting at that dining table when he was a child and can tell you who sat where and what holidays they celebrated around that table. Might I love the furniture once it looks brand new? Possibly. It fits with the house. It is early 1920's and it is the "green" way to go by recycling. It also means I will never get my "dream" dining room set - but dreams can change - I guess I can see which way I am leaning...I will keep you posted.

The other decisions involves ballerina. I just found out this morning, that the spring production of Don Quixote, that she is to audition for this Sunday, is on the same day as her sister's communion. Can we do both in one day? Do I move the communion? This is very hard for me as of course, her sister's communion comes first and that is her day. It shouldn't be spoiled by her sister having to run off to the theater. On the other hand, dance is Mae's life and the next three months, all the other girls in the company would be getting ready for the show and she would be sitting on the sidelines. The simplest thing would be to move the communion. I don't know how simple that actually is and would have to speak to the church. This is going to keep me up over the next few nights! Would love to hear everyone's thoughts and opinions, please!

Cara's two cents: Well... I have yet to lay eyes on Aunt Muriels dining room...when I do then I can give my two cents. The fact that I am in furniture re-painting re-doing mode may sway my opinion though.

As far as the communion.... do you know she will definitely be in it? You said audition. Do you know the time frame? I can't see how you can do both without taking away from Lu's day. You probably can change the communion day without too much of a problem. We have talked about the whole family sacrificing all the time for one. I have a real hard time with that. I spend half my life making sure I am split three even ways....so if the recital is a definite then I would either a) change the communion or b) let Mae go off and do her thing and not go to this recital (which is hard too...). But at some point (though I am not sure at 11) Mae will have to realize it is her dream, you support it but everyone else's life is important too, and still will go on while she pursues her dream. And she may have to sacrifice missing out on some family things along the way.

This was more like five cents. (lol)