Thursday, January 26, 2012

Cherish

One of the most awesome things is to watch your child learn to read. Tonight I got the pleasure of listening to my five year old read his first real story to me. He wanted to look at the pictures instead of the words but he was able to focus long enough to tell me the story of a little boy who pretended he was a lot of big trucks. I was thoroughly amazed that he did so well. Would I have gotten this chance if he was in school all day? Would he want to snuggle with mom and read to her? Only God knows these answers but I will cherish these moments.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Exciting Websites...(for me anyway.)

I am a nerd. It isn't meant to be a mean statement, it is just a fact. I love numbers, order, and all things scholarly. Reading is a fun and relaxing thing for me to do. The things I read are usually informational and not novel type books too. I say this to lead into why I am so excited about some new things that I have found.

In our new place, we have a hall that has the laundry machines and a tall cabinet and a very short counter. I think that the counter was there to fold laundry on but I am way too tall for the height of it. So I decided that with a chair and my netbook, I could make an "office" out of that area. My own corner if you will. And since it is a new job, new house, and new year, I have been looking for new things to help me get my finances and other household things in order. I have found a set of organizers by mead products called organizhers. Funny name for some neat planners. They sell all different types but what I found is that if you want, the website has all of the sheets that you can print. All you need is a binder and hole punch. Yeah! I have found sheets to help with menu planning and shopping lists and all kinds of planning things. My other favorite sites of right now are Crown Financial and Dave Ramsey. Both have worksheets to plan a budget and allocate money to all the things that come up in life. Crown has a wonderful percentage sheet that even tells if your budget is realistic or overblown in a category. I know that all of this sounds so boring but these are the things that amuse me.

I have big plans for this year and they run from typical to absurd. Some doable and some wishful. But it never hurts to try them. So for my last favorite new website. Loseit.com. They have a free website dedicated to helping you lose weight or maintain it. The site has recommended calorie budgets and places to input your meals, snacks, and drinks. You can have friends on there and earn badges for sticking with goals, logging exercise, and losing. All these are great for a nerd like me. This is where my absurd change is because, for me, weight loss is not an easy thing. I love to eat, cook, and share my creations with everyone who will have them. But one has to try.

I guess that is my theme this year. I must try. Not that I am going to start chanting it or anything but....... I MUST TRY!!!!!

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Is It Over Yet?

It is nice to be able to blog again. Sorry that I have been absent. In the time that I was away, we have moved twice, started a new job (hubby), unpacked a Pod (three days before Christmas), attended a lot of family functions, and settled into life as we know it. It all started with the job offer for hubby and it all snowballed from there. He accepted the position knowing that we did not have a place to live but God provided us the opportunity to stay at his mothers while they were away. Not perfect but doable. The only hitch was that it meant a 1.5 hour commute each way. The commute and crazy gasoline output made us double our efforts to find a place of our own. Again God provided. Not perfect or exactly what I had in mind, but doable. See a pattern developing? We were able to get the keys and start cleaning and we picked a date to move in. We got help. We called Pods to deliver our things. Here the problem developed. Our date was not available. The quickest they could deliver was the Tuesday before Christmas. Sometime before 7pm. Oh, and by the way, they would be picking it up that Friday, early. No pressure. But now I do not have help lined up. Again God provided. Not my prefered method... Okay so I have established a pattern of how my life has unfolded over the past several weeks. Omiting the mundane and crazy. God has been teaching me a lesson. I have a plan but it might not be HIS plan and thus I need to step back and relax. Right. Easier said than done. So I have to ask... did I learn or is this going to haunt me for a while? All joking aside, I really would like some planned order and serenity. God is in control. Always. I have my plans and desires. Always. It is where these two meet that is the quandry. I hope I learn whatever lessons God has for me quickly... I keep asking, is it over yet???