It's all relative

Sometimes I hate this phrase. It's another way of saying, "What's crappy for one person/circumstance, is great for another." Is that better somehow? I don't know, maybe I'm just too tired to be talking. I'm gonna anyway.

I was driving home today and I saw a gas price that was $3.99/gal. My heart swelled up with joy! How could it be? Below four dollars? Wait, I remember when the gas price lingered around $1.00/gal (and I like to think I'm not all that old). So then my joy turned to annoyance. Like just about every one else I know, I'm annoyed at how much it costs just to drive to the grocery store. "It's all relative," I think to myself.

So then I started thinking...how many other things fall under the "it's all relative" category?

thinking.....

thinking.....

dang it! Everything!

Like when you have a day out with only ONE of your children and it feels like a breeze. But when you only HAD one child, taking that child out for the day was so much work!

It's all relative.

Or when I am thrilled to have a good 30 minutes on Skype with Tom. Oh, the joys of talking to my best friend. But when we both live under the same roof, it makes me nothing but cranky if I only get to talk to him for 30 minutes in a day.

It's all relative.

Or here is one that always amazes me. 90 degree weather. In August, it's a nice relief from the 100 degree weather you have been trying desperately to get used to. But your first 90 degree day in the spring, you're roasting, "where did spring go?", and "I need to get inside to the air conditioner!"

It's all relative.

Dieting. When you're eating whatever the heck you want, you may catch a glimpse of your child eating something....say, Cheez-its. Not all that appealing. You could take it or leave it, it doesn't really matter. But if you're dieting, it's a whole other matter. You would cut your right arm off, jump in a tub of spiders, even drive in Utah construction....if it meant you could eat a big handful of Cheez-its and not count the calories. Because as my mom always says, "EVERYTHING tastes better when you're dieting.

It's all relative.

And last but not least, cleaning. While in Provo, I felt like I had gotten on top of picking up after my little family. I had my little routines that I did every day, and cleaning up after four people wasn't too bad. But now I'm in a home that is more than twice the size. Twice as many toys, dishes, and vacuuming. Suddenly, me and my two kids feels like 10, and it's A LOT of cleaning.

As I said, it's all relative.