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.