Snapshot Thursday

Here is a snapshot of what is going on in my life:

What's at the top of my to-do list?
I really need to straighten up the house. My mother in law is coming over tomorrow to watch Ben and Mary while I go to my Mom's to wrap presents. I know...I'm lucky. She just offered to watch the kids while I Christmas shop, but I'm mostly done with that. So I get help while I wrap presents. Now I have to find where I put the wrapping paper I bought last year.

The next thing on my list is grocery shopping. I'm planning on having chicken enchiladas, ham steak and Tyson chicken (I love that precooked bird! I just put it in the microwave and thense-bonee it and it is delicious and easy!!). Left overs will fill in the rest.

What have I accomplished?
--I sold my breast pump on Ebay!!! See "What's been making me happy" for how much I got for it! (I'm such a tease).
--With the sales money from my pump I bought my crop table!!!!
--I did my first meal plan from allrecipes.com and printed out the grocery list. Such a cool feature!!!

What's bugging me?
--I stayed up really late the last three nights in a row and I'm really tired, but I have too much I need to do before bed.
--We bought a can of chocolate covered peanuts from Abby's Brownie troop and I pretty much single handedly ate them all. I'm so glad I could support the troop *smirk*.
--I have a really cute plate with ornaments on it on the table that I can't keep on the table because Ben keeps playing with the ornaments. I'm afraid he'll break them so I have them shoved in a corner on the counter top.
--I let Sam and Abby decorate our tree (really...I didn't help at all) and it's not pretty. In fact, it's really bad. I'm telling myself that it's ok...it doesn't have to be perfect and that it would be worse to be my Aunt who I have observed in action during the tree decorating. She wouldn't let her son or husband touch the antique ornaments and had to place them all herself. The kids will remember the tree they decorated more than any tree I perfectly display.
--Clutter, clutter and more clutter!

What's my latest obsession?
--Now that I've finished my Ebay run...I should have some more time on my hands. I've been watching my auction and watching people bid on my breast pump. I've decided I need to actually write down the meals I have planned on the actual day I intend to make them. I was just relying on memory and then I would think I needed to grocery shop when there were planned meals we hadn't eaten yet. My neighbor puts hers on a separate computer print out calendar. I'm thinkin' I could do the same. Duh. I know.
--Digital scrapbooking...looking into this. I love paper scrapping. I could never part with it. But I think I'm building the Great Wall of China! I now have 15 albums. I keep saying that when they go to school and get older, I'll have less opportunities to take pictures. For some reason, this hasn't happened. Is there a way I can do some digital albums along with my "tactile" albums? I don't know....
--I currently have a Franklin Planner...or now they call it Franklin Covey but anyway...this is leftover from my working days and I just don't use it like I used to. I use the address/phone number section and that's it. So I'm trying to figure out what new method I will use. Ted said Outlook has a great calendar on it. He uses it for his work appointments and reminders. Gee, if it's good enough for his work stuff, it's good enough for me. I think it would be cool to have a calendar as a screen saver. I need things staring me in the face, if you know what I mean. I need it be somewhere where I will see it daily. I'm on the computer daily...all day. We'll see how it works.
--I need a notebook or something for my "Control Journal" for Flylady. In it contains: Morning routine, afternoon routine and evening routine. I need something not too small and not too big. I don't know if I want a binder. I need something I won't mind staring at so I can keep it out as a reminder to keep looking at it. Maybe that's on the computer too? Hmmmm... still pondering this one.
--I bought an ostrich feather duster from Target! It's the Micheal Graves line and was only $7.99. I love it already. It's so light and easily gets into the grooves. I don't have to pick things up to dust, I just go right over it. It's so light and fluffy it doesn't knock anything over.

What's been making me happy?
--I have finally started my period again. I'm happy my body is in working order. I didn't miss my period. I should have started a LONG time ago when Mary was around 7 months (now she's almost 13 months). That's when it usually comes back for me. When they eat more solids and nurse less. I think it didn't return because of the Zoloft. As soon as I started weaning from the Zoloft, it came back. There is no medical proof the Zoloft delayed it...just my own theory.
--I've been on a sort of high lately. I'm not sure why. My life seems cheery, joyful. I'm taking delight in the simple things. Ben is getting absolutely adorable. Things always get easier at 2 1/2. Mary is in that cute one year old stage before they get to the ugly 2's...which for my kids, starts at 1 1/2 and ends at 2 1/2. My boys seem to get it worse than the girls. For Abby, it hit at 3. We'll see what Mary does.
--But back to the joy, I'm doing things like setting routines for our family: Shower nights, Game nights, etc. One new routine is that every night before bed, we pray a decade from the rosary. I've never been a rosary prayer. But Sam was doing it a school and started doing it on his own every day (a decade). I always thought of the rosary as the whole thing...not just doing parts. So I think that's one of the reasons I avoided it (that...and I'm better with spontaneous prayer). But amazing things happened when we started praying it together. I just feel this love when we are praying all the words out love together. I feel a oneness with my kids. It's magical. It's simple. It's not worshipping Mary. I focus on the mysteries. It always bugged me that the Hail Mary's outnumbered the Our Father's. Shouldn't the Big Guy get more?? It doesn't matter what we say, we are joined together in prayer and God is present. And He fills the room with love. My kids enjoy it. I think they feel "it" to.
--I'm looking forward to Christmas. I can't wait for the kids to open their gifts. I think they will really like them!
--It may sound funny, but I'm just happy to be happy! When your sad, you feel sad that you are sad and it just digs you deeper. So the opposite is true to. And being free from Zoloft, I know it is a true happy.
--I've got an all day crop Sunday at my friend's house and a Girl's Night Out with my gradeschool friends tonight. I love these get togethers! I love getting a break from my home to be able to focus on having fun and socializing! At home I'm always "stealing" breaks not knowing how long I'll be able to get away with it. When I'm out, it's a gift. It's my time to spend however I want. No stealing. The crop is a result from our weekend crop and commitmentment to get together more for all day crops. Yaahhh!!

Was that a "snapshot" or a 3 part miniseries made for TV???? I'm not good at brevity.

Going Digital...More Than I Already Have!

Does anyone every use that movie function on their digital cameras? I'm starting to dig it now! I used to think, "Why do a short video on my camera when I can have a higher resolution with a my video camera?". Yes, they take up a lot of space on the camera, and the flow is choppier and the resolution is lower, but you know what? I've found some uses for it!

The video from your camera is much easier to store on your computer because it's in smaller pieces than the ones on your video camera. Because of this, there are more uses. For one, I can e-mail someone a short clip. Sam discovered a short video of himself doing a golf swing. It was cute because he was only about 7 and he totally missed and almost fell down. He e-mailed it out to people and had a good laugh over it. Yesterday, I did a short video of the kids playing different parts in a "band" (drums, guitar, vocals, etc). I put this in their journals in my journaling software called "Footprints" (footprints.com). Footprints lets you insert audio clips, video clips and digital pictures into your computer journal. It's so cool! Now I have an applicable place to put these short videos!! Another use: If I couldn't be with someone on their birthday and they live far away, it would be fun to send a short happy birthday message using the video option and e-mailing it. Wouldn't that be cool to receive? I'm going to be using this feature more often!

I'm lucky, mine has sound and allows zooming during the video. There are different versions of this feature. Many don't allow you to zoom during the recording, but will allow you to zoom closer before recording. Even with some of these options missing (although I think sound is pretty important), I think it's highly entertaining.

It just makes me wonder...What other new technology is out there that I have already written off as useless? These are the ones I'm thinking about: Digital Scrapbooking, flash drives, mp3's. I especially want to learn more about digital scrapbooking. I am an avid "tactile" scrapbooker. How does this digital scrapbooking work? Do you print out the finished product? Or keep it online? Is it cheaper than buying all the supplies for a physical album? Hmmmm....something to research...

How Do You Raise Them Right?

I just read an article in People magazine about a 14 year old girl, Kara Beth Borden, whose parents were murdered by her 18 year old boyfriend, David Ludwig. Apparently, the parents were angry with their daughter after she was gone all night with her boyfriend. The parents called the boy to come over immediately. They argued for about 45 minutes, telling the boy he could no longer see their daughter. As they showed him to the door, he shot them both in the head.

She came from a well-to-do family, was homeschooled in a strong Christian environment with 4 other siblings. Her boyfriend was also homeschooled. Usually, when people homeschool their kids, they are doing it to protect their kids. I look on it as total control of your child's education. It's often done by strong Christians with strong convictions. I would think you have a greater opportunity to teach your kids right from wrong and protect them from negative outside influences.

Kara and David weren't exactly your wholesome and innocent couple. They were sneaking sex late at night in her parents home. People magazine said, "They would exchange 'inappropriate images of one another' over their computers and cell phones." They found a video on David' s computer of him with a friend, armed with rifles, and discussing how to kill family members. Do you think this is what his parents were trying to protect him from when they homeschooled him? When he was younger, doing cute toddler things, did their parents ever dream their son would have sex with a 14 year old and eventually kill her parents? It's every parents worse nightmare!

Now, I don't believe these are your typical homeschooled kids...but I do believe it proves that no matter how you educate your kids, private school, homeschool, public school...there is so much more to raising them right. And EVEN when you do the best you can, you can still have problems. I look at my parents. We were raised in an expressive, Christian home. We went to Catholic grade schools and private high schools. I would say the three girls escaped without much damage but my brothers...ohhh my brothers...fires, stealing, lawn jobs, bad grades, drugs, etc. My parents barely made it. It was hell on our family. Now, they seem to be doing a little better, but they still have problems with pot, poor credit and none of them are married. They are between the ages of 41 and 31. It goes without saying, there is not one church-going bone in their bodies. Whereas the girls in my family all have very strong faith in God, attend church regularly, have strong marriages and all finished college (none of the boys set foot in a college classroom...in fact, two never graduated from highschool).

I hope this all doesn't sound so high and mighty. I don't think going to college is always a big measure of success. I know many religious people who are very judgmental and narrow minded. I'm mentioning those things because sometimes they go along with success, but in the long run I feel this is what truly matters: I feel successful people are happy, can keep a job, can manage a long term relationship, can help provide for a family, and believe in a power greater than themselves.

It's always been something that puzzles me. You can be raised by the same parents and each person gets something totally different out of it. Which shows that nature is just as strong as nature (if not stronger). Meaning, we are who we are. Our parents can influence us, but ultimately we are going to respond to our world in our own ways.

My goal in raising my kids is to help them get in touch with who they are. I want them to know themselves well, their strengths, weaknesses, interests, dislikes. I want them to learn how to live with their weaknesses and make up for them and accept them. I want them to enhance their strengths by using them. I want them to like themselves and enjoy life! I want them to find healthy relationships. I want them to have a strong faith in God. I want them to always realize they are blessed. That many people have it much worse than them. I want them to understand that if they are a "have", then your job on earth is to give to the "have nots".

So much of what I teach them HAS to be by example. But I like to talk about what we do so they know why we do what we do. Most things are explainable by action, but some need some words to go with it because it's not obviously seen...like money. They see us pull money out of a bank, like it's free. We explain that we put the money there to begin with...that Daddy works hard for that money. Also, kids learn they are important by their parents showing them they are. Am I constantly brushing my kids off like I don't have time for them but then say I love you at bedtime? What's going to speak louder? The words? or the actions of brushing them off? We can't be perfect all the time but I'm just trying for majority here. I like to have fun with the kids. I like showing them my laughter, joy and freedom. I want them to be able to express that side of themselves. I don't want them to feel too self conscious. I like acting goofy...but then also show seriousness when needed. One important thing I really try not to do is judge them. A parents judgment is so strong to a kid and I don't want them to start hiding things from me because they, are afraid of my judgment. I want them to always feel like they can talk to me about anything. I'm sure this will get harder later. I'll deal with those harder issues when I get to them. I want them to be able to see me angry, just not all the time. I want them to see me cry, so they know it's ok.

I don't feel like I have all the answers. In fact, this blog feels like a total jumbled mess of thoughts. But most of us don't have the answers and like guidance from those who've "been there". I love talking to mothers. I talked to one last night who just married off her "difficult child". She said that they always butted heads with her younger son, but got along well with the older son. Later, her older son thanked her for all that she did for him. That he now realizes how difficult he was and how right she was all along. Isn't that what every parent wants to here? I would love to go out there and interview a bunch of experienced Moms, whose kids are grown and out of the house. What would they change about how they raised their kids? What did they do well? Are they happy with how their kids are now doing as grown adults? What tips do they have for us? I especially like talking to moms who have more than three kids. They have more examples of outcomes. At least one child will not turn out perfect, therefore they don't have a false "My kids turned out perfect because I knew what I was doing" mentality.

One thing I've heard and it really makes sense to me: You can't take credit for the things they do well and you can't take the blame for what they don't. I know it's more than me that makes my kids who they are. It's their DNA, their own experiences and exposures...it's God, walking them through places they have to walk through. I'm hear to help as best I can. An imperfect person trying to figure out my own life, while trying to help them figure out theirs. Hopefully, we'll survive with few scars!

A Nice Cup of Blog

The past couple of days have been so crazy, I decided to sit down for a nice cup of blog. I'm not a coffee drinker, but I picture myself with that cozy, relaxed feel as I sit here and type. I've never seen anyone enjoy her coffee more than my friend, Ann. She wraps her fingers around her coffee with both hands and holds it close to her, like she's relishing in the warmth it brings. I'm relishing in just sitting here.

The past couple of days I've been an eBay bidding fool. I'd been bragging about my purchases of digital cameras for the kids when my Dad asked if I could find a camera for them. Of course this excited me to have another reason to shop on eBay! And with someone else's money! I've researched, I've bid, I've won, then discovered it was misrepresented, so I e-mailed, was refunded, bid some more, researched some more, lost some more....then....I WON! When I used that last phrase with my sister, Becky, she was like, "You won what??". Which, technically, she's right. You're not WINNING anything. You are BUYING it. Competitive buying.

Anyway, all of this stuff takes time, absorption and focus. So I've been neglectful of my children. The peak of my neglect was yesterday after picking up the kids from school. We pulled in the garage and Ben refused to get out. I could have forced him, but my mind was moving onto other things. I let him play in the car, planning on checking on him occasionally. Well...I forgot to check on him. I even forgot where he was! I woke out of my glazed "eBay state of mind" and said, "He's still in the car!!". He was no longer happily playing, but crying hard. Please don't call DFS on me. I love my children and I want to keep them! I felt so bad. Bad Mom. How could you forget your child?? You are spending too much time on this eBay stuff! Shame on you! You've learned YOUR lesson!", I admonished myself. "What would other people think if they knew you did this??". *SIGH*.

I did accomplish that final camera purchase and thought I was all done...when Ted said last night in bed, "Now what can we sell?". Oh No! Yes. I have something listed. I'm selling my Medela "Pump In Style" Dual Electric Breastpump. I originally paid $180 for that thing and THAT was a good price because the it went up right after my purchase. I'm hoping to get $100 for it. It's in really good condition and I'm selling lots of accessories with it. Luckily, selling doesn't require quite the amount of time that bidding does. Thank goodness. With the extra money, I hope to get my crop desk!

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall...

I just love my new mirror message!! I keep a message on my mirror and I read the message/prayer every morning. I change the message when I realize that I'm no longer looking at the message, therefore defeating the point of the message. This new message thing really works for me and my short attention/need to mix things up personality. Anyway, I want to share my new mirror note:

"Gracious God, Thank you for the gift of today. May my living reveal your goodness. Refresh me, invite me, to discover your presence in each person that I meet and each event encountered. Teach me when to speak and when to listen, when to ponder, when to share. In moments of challenge and decision, attune my heart to the whispering of your wisdom. As I undertake ordinary and unnoticed tasks, give me with simple joy."

Man, I love that. Maybe you can make it your mirror message too? I'm a very distracted person, but on things I do as a habit, I'm pretty consistent. Since I shower and brush my teeth every morning, the bathroom mirror is my perfect prayer place. I have found since I've committed to this, God has given me a new message whenever I'm in need of one. This one came from my table leader on my ACTS retreat. I'm sorry...I don't know who the author is.

A long time ago I had a message from Mother Theresa on my mirror:
"Spread love everywhere you go:
first of all in your own house.
Give love to your children, to your wife or husband, to a next door neighbor . . .
Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier.
Be the living expression of God's kindness;
kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes,
kindness in your smile, kindness in your warm greeting."

I really love that one too. A lot of times all I had to ask myself was: Did I leave that person better and happier? You don't have to affect the whole world...just the people around you. It's such a simple message. "...kindness in your face....kindness in your warm greeting...". I mean, you can do that with pretty much ANYONE. I still try to live by this even though it's no longer on my bathroom mirror.

Streams of Consciousness...and Urine

Todays Adventures:
I was upstairs cleaning up legos with Ben. He had just had a bath and had no diaper on. All of a sudden a stream of urine sprays out while he was squatting. He was deathly afraid of this foriegn body of liquid projecting from him. I was deathly afraid of how this was drenching my carpeting and the Legos. How do you clean Legos?? I thought of the dishwasher, but they are too small for even my little cases that hold small stuff. So then I thought about a good, old fashioned tub of soapy water. I'm thankful that this carpeting isn't new. I think it's been around a while. This is exactly why I don't want to buy new carpeting for a while, even though we have spots everywhere. Of course, all of this would have been prevented if I just put a diaper on the boy. But he likes freeballin' sometimes after a bath. And I THOUGHT it would be good potty training. Hahahhaha. It just tells me he's not really ready yet. I've learned that, AND... he pees like a racehorse!! There was NO stopping this stuff once it started flowing.

Odd Thought of the Day: I've decided that if you can talk a full conversation without someone on the other end, you would be good at writing a blog. For example, I'm known for being long winded on answering machines. I can talk forever without anyone responding! This must be some sad state of too much to say and no one to say it to! I have full conversations in my head. I have to admit, the upside is that I'm NEVER bored with myself. I find myself quite interesting to be around. Does that sound pompous?

I Like it When...My mom calls and says, "Do you want to go out today? Dad can watch the kids..." Yes...she did this today...is there anything more joyous than that? A combined invitation with pre-set up, FREE babysitting is the SAHM dream come true! AND I don't have to pick up the kids from school today. It's my neighbor's turn. WoooHooo! Paaarrrrtttyyy!

I Like....."....'s". Because then I don't have to worry about sentence structure problems like run-on sentences. I just throw in a couple of dots and it all flows like a conversation. Because that's how I write. My friend Theresa always told me I write like I talk.

I wish I could blab more...but I have to clean up my house! My parents are coming over soon!

Snapshot Thursday

What's at the top of my to-do list?
---I need to make up a menu before I go shopping. This is my new thing. I'm trying to go prepared with a menu. I'm thinking Lasagna one day, maybe a Ham Steak another day and I need to come up with the rest. I've just joined allrecipes.com (someday I'll learn how to do link words in HTML).
From the allrecipe.com website....

Top Reasons to become a Member
1. Join the Fun
Rate and Review Recipes
Create and Share Recipes, Photos, Meal Ideas, and much more
Publish a Cook's Profile
2. Get Organized
Save and Organize favorite recipes to your online recipe box
Plan meals and print detailed shopping lists
3. It's FREE!

Doesn't that sound GREAT??? Wow. I can see a lot of obsessive time forthcoming! Like I have soooo much time to kill!

--Ted and I are going to create a loose budget. His paychecks vary so much because of his salary depending heavily on commission, that we don't have a good guideline on spending. The need to do this stemmed from the other day when I was at a shop looking at a table to be my crop table. I called him and he didn't feel great about me spending the money. HUH? I got all the way here and NOW you tell me? So, I came home...deflated...and we discussed. Of course, all of this is following 3 fall birthdays, big dinner parties for each, Christmas shopping, and a $2500 car repair *ouch*. We use Quicken and on-line bill paying so it's easy to run report and get a great snapshot of our spending...but do we do it? Not often enough. I think it's a good wake up call to see where we are spending. Even if you feel like jumping into a lake afterwards...

--I just bought 2 digital cameras for my kids on Ebay! They were 41 and 50 dollars. Pretty good, huh? But it took me forever to research, figure out what a good deal was, and what cameras were good quality because I can't just buy any stinkin' toy camera. I gotta have one that's gonna last and be worth it! (I think I'mborderlineg Type A...is there an A-?)

What have I accomplished?
--All the nooks and crannies in my house have been vacuumed. See "latest obsession" to find out why.
--I've updated my lovely Excel spreadsheet on Christmas purchases and know where I stand. I don't have too much more shopping to do. (I told you, I'm an A-!)
--I'm fully weaned off of Zoloft.

What's bugging me?
--Mary's lack of naps and clinginess. Those molars are coming in and they aren't fun!
--The fact that the kids are asking me all kinds of questions right now....while it's MY free time and they should be in BED (or at least settling in their rooms)!
(Actual dialog>>) Sam: Mom, what's this? (looking at paper's on the counters) Me: Dad's.
Sam: Abby, did you make this? A: Yah! S: What did you try to draw...Pikachu? A: Yah.
Sam is eating snacks because he's "huuunngry!" while Abby is digging through her crafts.
Me: Abby, what are you doing? A: Just like...getting some stuff...

What's my latest obsession?
I know, you were on the edge of your seat waiting for the answer. I'm hot and heavy into my brand new, 2005, see-through plastic DUSTBUSTER! OMG...why didn't someone EVER tell me how awesome these are??? I just bought one the other day and I'm constantly cleaning up little spills with my dustbuster. This is especially good for me, and you should know if you are a faithful reader of my blog (and I think maybe there are two people out there who are *blowkisstoAnnandTheresa*), that my little ones scream in terror whenever I turn on the vacuum cleaner and cling to my legs to be held. Needless to say, my carpets don't get vacuumed much....UNTIL NOW! I'm using this thing way beyond it's design I think. I vacuumed my whole staircase, so EASY! I got into all the nooks and crannies that were full of dust bunnies. Even when the cable guy came by and moved my entertainment center forward to get to the back, I drew out my dustbuster like a woman in the old west! The little ones love it! They get right next to me and watch me do it all! Abby and Sam both took it up into their rooms and did their floors! I don't have to watch something hit the floor and wonder when it will ever come up. It's the cordless feature that makes you want to whip it out at a moment's notice. And the fact that it's small makes you look at vacuuming in a whole new light. I don't feel like I'm dragging out a huge appliance. I'm surprised FlyLady doesn't sell her own version on her website! She sells ostrich feather dusters, after all. I'm going to fly much better now with this dustbuster.

(Actual dialog>>) A: Mom, how do you spell "remember?" (If there's one thing I do a lot for her...it's spell words)

What's been making me happy?
--Duh! My dustbuster!
--Keeping my house clean makes me happy. It's not always clean...but I'm happy when it is.
--Having a meal plan makes me happy. I want to collect good, solid recipes to put on a rotation for meals. I've heard people say they have enough for 6 weeks and then start over. I think that's a good goal. Theresa, Ann, do you have any good family recipes or crowd pleasers?

Ahhhh....Young Love

When I say "young" here, I don't mean age. I mean "young" as in "new" love. I'll get to that in a moment. I love the fact that I have a variety of friends--some old, some young, some single, some divorced, some married, some with children, some without. I need this variety in my life.

When I'm around the single people, I envy their freedom, times in solitude, and abilities to focus on their own desires. But then I don't envy their needs to find "handy men" when they have to get something done, going to bed alone at night, and the fact they are still waiting for Mr. Right to come along...almost like their life hasn't really begun until he does. And children! They are wondering if they'll ever get them.

When I'm around my divorced friend, (really their is just one I keep in touch with), I enjoy hearing about her dating adventures, but would never want to be a single mom raising three young children. She has to wait til it's her "free night" without the kids to do anything (unless she wants to spend the money on a babysitter). She dates a divorced man with children which makes it doubly impossible to see him. She has all the craziness of being a SAHM but no spousal help. YUCK!

My married friends with no children have it made because they don't have to time sex for late at night when you are exhausted. I remember the early married days when you could wake up, make love, take a shower and get ready for work. I have much more energy in the morning! (hope that's not too much info :-) Again, they have more freedom in the evenings, but are definitely tied down to a full time job because they have NO excuse to stay at home! They can spend oodles of time with their spouse, and have date nights on a whim. But they want children and worry about timing, money, and affording to stay at home at least part time with their kids.

And then there is the double income with kids friends. They remind me of how fortunate I am to be at home, no matter how crazy it gets. That it's a gift many working moms long for. They may have more spending money, but they work on a much tighter window of free time than I do. They have to balance so much and squeeze in what they can for themselves...guilt free. Which is basically impossible.

My married friends with kids are great for sharing the joys and struggles with. They understand! They've been there. It's like family. You don't have to talk to them, explain, justify. They know. They know you love your children more than anything. That life would be empty with out them. They know you feel complete and full, but sometimes too complete and too full with room for nothing else.

And then their are my friends with older kids. Ahhhh what wisdom can be gleaned from them! They've been there and done that...and they warn of what's to come. They don't sweat the small stuff because they learned a long time ago that it's not worth it. Their kids are all in school so some of them are working themselves, while juggling the kids in school. They are struggling to keep all the balls in the air. They drive to and fro for every little activity. They worry about the directions their kids are about to take...will they make good decisions? They think about college and how they will afford it.

I didn't mean to go on and on about variety and how much it means to me. But there it is and that may be what needed to be said. However, I do need to talk about my friend who lives alone and watches romantic movies always wishing she could be the one to be whisked away. She's always lamented, "Why can't I have a guy like that??". She's never really dated because there seems to be a big paranoia among guys of having an overweight girlfriend. I've always known my friend would be a great catch, though. She's full of spunk and life. She can always make us laugh. She's consistent and loyal. A friend for life. Well, to get to the point, she's been friends with this guy she has pined for for three years! Yes friends. She's read into every gesture, statement and look, trying to figure out if he would ever be interested in more. We've all been there...you know how it is. It's agonizing but exciting at the same time. Well, she was happy to report to me yesterday that they are officially an item. They had their first real kiss. *sigh*. And it was magical. The kind of magic that you feel when you've waited, and dreamed, and wished for something and it FINALLY happens. And it's real. And it's comfortable. After this kiss, they decided they were starting something and they would take their time. They're not defining it. They're just doing it. Well, not doing IT. But you know what I mean. She's 37 and this is her first real relationship, and it started as a friendship. He's 30 and we think it's his first relationship too. Some people just move slower, but it's those people who mean what they do. They don't rush things, they don't do them with every Tom, Dick and Harry (or Tina, Jane and Mary). When they make a commitment, it's not taken lightly. I like those kind of people.

So I'm enjoying my friends, budding relationship, and remembering the excitement I had when I met Ted. While I would never want to go back and do it all over again, their is something to be learned by a new relationship. How truly a treasure it is to have someone to share your life with, who is looking after you, wants you to be happy and shares your dreams. It's not to be taken for granted!

Snapshot Thursday (A little early)

What’s at the top of my to-do list?
--Get ready for my crop weekend! I can't wait! Friday night I go to a friend's for the weekend to do nothing but crop. Focusing on one thing is a total treat I don't take for granted. Ted loves golf weekends....I love crop weekends. I guess I enjoy the process when their is company but what I really enjoy is the sense of accomplishment. So anyway, to get ready, I need to organize my pictures and maybe crop as many as I can before the weekend. It will enable me to get more pages done that way.

--Take Mary to get her one year pictures taken today.

What have I accomplished?
--Yesterday I uploaded all my digital pictures at Walmart.com. I need to pick them up today. I uploaded about 170 dating from June through October. That's about 38 pictures a month (Thank God I'm digital). When I was figuring how many pages I'll need this weekend, I figured that in my family album I need about 50 a year. In my kids albums, I need 12 a year. I'm a numbers gal, can't you tell? And because I don't do fancy pages, I can accomplish a full year of pictures put on pages (embellishing and journaling at another time). We'll see what I report next Thursday.

What’s bugging me?
--Ok...last week it was my tweezers (they're still lost) now it's my blush. Where is it?? Did Ben or Mary relocate them to a different spot in the house? I have no color in my face! I need my blush! My mom gave me an extra set of tweezers so I could erase away my new bush woman look.

What’s the buzz?
--Getting ready for Christmas! I need to start thinking about teachers and babysitters...those people who forget about until the last minute!

What’s my latest obsession?
--Do you think it's changed yet? Flylady of course! (at Flylady.com). The zone this week is the kitchen. I've scrubbed my stove and it looks so much better. I was supposed to mop my floors but I haven't yet. Arrgghhh.

What’s been making me happy?
--I'm a week away from being done with Zoloft.
--I got to hold a new baby at Women's group Monday night. I loved it without wanting another for myself. I feel so good about where I am right now. Mary is one and I'm enjoying the extra freedom. Thank you God! I'm totally content about the size of my family.
--My Wednesdays with Ben at Mother's Day Out!!!! I'm loving this free day! Ok...I still have Mary but I actually get a break when she naps!

Poop Everywhere

When Mary woke up from her nap, I went up to get her. As soon as I opened her door a flood of poop stench came towards me. Whew! Must be a nasty one. As I approached her bed, the scene unfolded in pictures like the famous Psycho shower scene. (Play the sharp stabbing music in background while reading ahead)...Poop on Mary's fingers...poop on the crib railing...poop on the sheets...poop on the blankets...a trail of poop on the wall where it leads to a glob of poop on the floor...Mary's diaper, removed from bum, sitting on sheets perfectly clean. The only thing missing was the Psycho scream...but it played in my head. Mary was none to happy. She must have taken off her diaper before she napped...because this poop had been sitting there. YUCK. Anyway, you get the picture.

Ann, I know you read my blogs while eating your lunch. I hope I haven't ruined your appetite!
:-)

Snapshot Thursday

What's at the top of my to-do list?
--Get gifts for two birthday parties this weekend.
--Cook some meals and freeze
--Get ingredients for a salad I need to bring to a dinner party on Saturday

What have I accomplished?
--Mary's 1st Birthday party!!!!
--Taking "babysteps" with Flylady
--Shopped with a meal plan for a change.

What's bugging me?
--Who took my tweezers??? I'm looking like a bush woman!
--I just discovered Ben's been using my bathroom cup for scooping water out of the toilet and pouring it in his potty chair. Hmmmm...feces receptacle to another...lovely....
--People complaining about our school. Nobody's perfect...could any of us do a better job? If so, interview for it! I just don't like a lot of complaining. I think it's counterproductive and spreads ill will. I'm not saying I never complain. I just usually don't complain about organizations I'm a part of... church, school, sports. I'm so grateful for people who take leadership responsibility and I understand it's a hard job so I guess I just don't get to picky about how things are done.
--Need to get back to eating healthier. Too much chocolate is in the house!!!

What's the buzz?
--Still Flylady. It's mostly what's on my Christmas list. I want her calendar, her duster, and a couple of books...one written by her and the other written by her inspiration. Me and my peers are also talking about what to get our kids for Christmas, we're drawing names, giving each other ideas.

What's my latest obsession?
--Still organizing my house.
--Having a meal plan (inspired by Flylady)

What's been making me happy? (New one)
--(Glance around to see if anyone is looking) Ummm...my kids seem a little easier. I'm allowed more freedom around my house right now. We'll see how long it lasts.
--Ted took off work tomorrow (he surprised me! GASP) to celebrate our dating anniversary of 20 years. Yes, we still celebrate it because we dated for 6 ½ years before marrying! (We met young). His mother is coming over to watch Ben and Mary while Sam and Abby are at school and we are going to spend the afternoon however we please (lunch, movie, shopping). Wow. What a treat!
--I've got a weekend crop coming up!!! I'm so excited. I need to prepare for it though!
--I took Sam, Abby and our neighbor Katherine to church on All Saints Day for a holy day of obligation. This makes me happy for a couple of reasons. This was teamwork in practice. My neighbor Mary went to the 6:30am by herself and then she watched Ben and Mary while I took her daughter and my older two to the 9:00am. We were both tickled pink! Her daughter wouldn't have wanted to go to the 6:30am and I got to pay attention without the younger ones in tow! Another thing that makes me smile is that Sam brought his "Magnifikids" which is a kids version of the "Magnificat" and he got to follow the whole mass along with his book. It was very cute and I could tell he felt more involved with the mass.
--I played a full game of indoor soccer injury free!! It felt so good.
--I'm weaning off of Zoloft. It takes two weeks. I've basically just put it off. I've been doing well for a while. It was for mild postpartum depression.