Sometimes I Think I’ve Lost my Marbles… December 13, 2008

…but then I end up finding a good portion of them so all is well. I found these at Hopscotch, a cool toy store in McMinnville.

Despite the fact that I’ve not been very good at updating this blog, there has been progress that I am very pleased with. Let’s get on with me tooting my own horn, shall we?

First of all, I finally got up the gumption to deal with all the boxes of books and piles of books and piles of papers and pockets of miscellany tucked here and there. Now when my guests walk into my home there are not boxes and piles, their eyes can rest easy. I didn’t think I had enough shelves for all the books, but with a little decluttering and compromising everything fits just fine. I do have 2 boxes left that are past/future homeschool materials.

[I need to get on the ball and plan homeschool for January! Augh! Breath...deep breath...okay, and again]

I have been doing a pretty good job keeping up on the daily household cleaning. Although, at the moment I do have sinkful of dishes and over flowing laundry baskets. I plan on today being a housecleaning day. Not fun, but much needed.

I have a goal to be in bed by 11 pm on Sunday-Thursday and to get up by 5:30 am on Monday-Friday. Today I will be working on formulating a routine for myself. I have an assignment to figure out exactly what it is I want to work on right now to move toward becoming the woman I want to be. I chose my weight to be the first thing, but in order for me to lose weight I’ll have to be disciplined. After spending some time writing in my journal about this subject it came down to the point that it ALL hinges on my relationship with Jesus. So much change is needed and desired in my life. In order to move toward this change I need a plan. Yes, the Lord changes people, but I don’t think lying in bed all day is very conducive to this change. (Yes, I still find myself lying in bed when I get scared and overwhelmed.) My conclusion comes down to routine, just as it does every time. Getting out of bed the same day every morning, getting in tight with Jesus, armoring up in my battle gear, and face the day. I think I may need to make sure my armor is on all the time. I think it will make opening my eyes and rolling out of bed much easier.

I will try to post my routine schedule by Monday.

Focus Focus Focus October 28, 2008

That’s what I need: Focus…and a plan…and some determination. The problem is that I feel SO incredibly overwhelmed. I hope I don’t appear that way, though. I really want to look like I have it together. Fortunately none of my kids have taken a picture of me with my head in my hands pretending that the the world is not spinning.

Anyway, I am very much a list girl. I like writing lists. I like marking them off. I like looking at them. They look so nice. I don’t always finish what is on my list, but it give me a place to start. A while back I put together this beautiful household notebook that had all my routines and schedules in it. Each page was in a page protector so I could still mark things off, but later could clean up the page. Naturally, with any good system, it takes consistency and the ability to be flexible. The thing that I loved about my notebook is that when I was having a bad day and didn’t know where to begin I could just look at my book. Of course, there were some things that had to be done that aren’t part of a routine. I would put them on a post-it note on the day it needed to be done. I’m thinking that I need to get back into this notebook. I’m not sure why I didn’t keep on with it. My life is very different than what it was almost 2 years ago so the many things will be changed, but at least I have a starting place.

I won’t be home until Wednesday, but when I get there I’m going to drag it out and start working on it. The first thing I need to work on is finishing up the decluttering of books and school stuff. I’m going to be ruthless. I’ll have to do it while the kids are either napping or down for the night so they won’t whine about keeping some random piece of paper that they can’t even decide what it is or who it belongs to. I’ll post pictures of the progress with my binder and the cleaning up.

Not a whole lot is happening that is blog worthy. Well, it may be blog worthy, but not 35×35 worthy.

What up! October 3, 2008

Here’s a clue: if I’m not posting that means I’m not doing well or at least I don’t perceive that I’m doing well. That’s when I need your encouragement.

As to date, I’ve only asked 2 women to hold me accountable. It is so hard to ask people for help. I think they’re all too busy.

Well, I don’t feel like I’ve accomplished much, but perhaps I’m not looking in the right place. So, I’ll list what I have accomplished as opposed to what I haven’t.

Volunteering: I contacted Meredith and will be attending a meeting to talk about volunteering 2 shifts a month to supervising at the Tina Miller Teen Club. There are so many levels to this. First of all, there is no “convenient” time for me, but I’ll have to sacrifice something. Still, I want to do this. Second of all, and more importantly, I haven’t stepped foot into that place since I was 10. I grew up directly across the street from it. We called it “The Old Gym”. At one point it was a one-room schoolhouse that my dad attended in the 20’s and 30’s. Perhaps, I’ll write more about it in my other blog. I can’t get into here for fear of becoming a blubbering puddle of tears.

Photography: I’ve finally finished up a wedding and family photo session. I need to get the family photos onto CD and into the mail. I’ve been working on another family photo session and senior photos. I’ve ordered business cards from Vista Print. I’ve started my photography blog, I think. I can’t remember if I’ve posted anything on it. I also started a storefront at DotPhoto, but have had trouble uploading my photos. I did design the header, though. Oh, I just remembered that I need to take pictures a newly built house so they can get it in the papers for the weekend.

Decluttering: I’ve made some progress. My house is still a mess. I’m trying to organize all our homeschool books and papers.

Reading: Well, not Les Mis. I’ve been working on photos so much. I have been reading more of my Bible and digging for jewels. I’m currently in Exodus, reading 4 chapters a day. This is the schedule for the Mandate Students so I’m doing it also. I’m in a little group where we commit to reading the same scripture, confess sins, pray for one another, and for the lost.

Being joyful isn’t currently happening, but I almost felt joy one night.  Also haven’t made soap, but will probably make laundry detergent today since we’re almost out. It equals out to cost about $.02 per load and it’s an easy process. I’ll post pictures and directions on my other blog.

That’s all. Now I need to write another blog post, shower, and get ready to run into town to do errands.

Progress? July 26, 2008

Well, my 34th birthday is only 3 months away and I can’t say I’ve completed any of my goals! I’m going to list them here for all to see. They aren’t in any particular order.

1. Do something creative every day!
2. Ride all the rides at Disneyland.
3. Finish painting my hours.
4. Have a peacefully decluttered home.
5. Learn how to build a web page.
6. Have a lovely garden that I harvest and preserve in the autumn.
7. Write and send one snail mail per month.
8. Learn how to really sew.
9. Teach the kids to sew.
10. Knit/crochet cool stuff.
11. Find a hair style I love.
12. Learn all the lyrics to 5 Christmas songs.
13. Go ice skating with my kids.
14. Have a money-making blog.
15. Have 4 book loving readers.
16. Go down the water tubes in a park.
17. Take a ballet class.
18. Volunteer with my kids.
19. Try no shampoo for 30 days.
20. Be a personal trainer.
21. Be joyful.
22. Weight 125 lbs.
23. Run a marathon.
24. Call into Dave Ramsey and scream, “I’m debt free!”
25. Get passports for all of us.
26. Make soap.
27. Make candles.
28. Donate blood.
29. Play ultimate frisbee.
30. Do a scrapbook for Dusty, Sage, and Ireland.
31. Finish my weight loss scrapbook.
32. Read Les Miserables.
33. Go rock climbing.
34. Go snowboarding.
35. Have a successful photography business.

There always seems to be some reason to not work on these. I always have an excuse. No more excuses. I think my next step will to write out a plan for accomplishing some of these things. It’s pretty easy to do some of them.

Here’s to a new me!