the power of no

Recently, I've been saying NO.

Like, unsubscribing to the myriad emails I do not need. All the travel ones, all the Disney ones, all the ones that have coupons I am unable to use. I have a separate email now for the coupon stuff I can use and any free stuff I want to get. Then, If I have no further use for the site, I UNSUBSCRIBE to it. This is not a perfect system. But, it's a work in progress. The effort to use coupons (that have to be printed) requires certain reminders and emails and stuff. (I find it a bit of a pain, to be frank.)

Also, I have been learning to NOT answer my phone when it just isn't a good time for me. If I need the escape (from kids or husband or myself), I grab it like a lifeline. But if not, I am working to walk away.

I am throwing things out a bit faster (like the Land's End catalog I don't have any reason to look through once, much less twice...and no need to savor the free shipping for something I already know I'm not buying), learning to see what I need versus what I don't. I am working to notch down the stress one tiny bit at a time, to purge with a heavier hand when we're done with something. It's these little things that are adding up one bit at a time.

I'm putting my foot down for me. My days are feeling a tiny bit less like a stuffed turkey (in spite of the still cluttered kitchen counters...maybe I'll get to those soon). I like it. And I want to get better at it.

delurking day

Okay, I've seen a few other blogs asking their readers to delurk...so I'm going to be a copy cat. This week or day (or whatever) is offically for delurking. I do not know how they know that. But it works for me.

I bear my heart and soul on here (when I get around to it at least), so if you are a reader, even just for today, please be so kind as to leave me a comment and let me know you stopped by.

Who are you?
Do I know you in real life, just in a virtual world, or not at all?
And while you're in the comment box, please tell me something about you....

Yes, I delurked/recommented on the blogs who asked. Therefore, I know if I can do it, you can surely do the same.

After that, go have a wonderous weekend!

it's my birthday and i'll cry if i want to. . .

things NOT to do on your birthday:

-weigh yourself
-not shower so you have a bad hair day all day
-have a migraine
-try to nap in the living room surrounded by loud, cranky kids
-realize your facebook wall won't let anyone write on it
-take everyone to get your prescription refill, late in the day
-stay too long at the store
-agree to look at toys while at the store
-forget to run another rather urgent errand before heading home
-get home late for a fast dinner of canned soup and quesadillas
-still have a migraine hours after treating it
-realize you have not done nearly enough laundry in the past 3 days
-weigh yourself again


things that make even the birthday blues look brighter:

-remember how awesome last night's big family dinner was
-cozy up on the couch with a good book
-have mom's homemade enchiladas for lunch
-realize you actually got a bit more nap time than it felt like
-take migraine treatment of choice: 6 Motrin, icy Dr. Pepper, & Gardettos
-make Target your errand destination
-use gift card money on clearance toys for your kids' upcoming birthdays
-find birthday wishes on adjusted facebook wall (yes - pathetic - shut up)
-finally take a scalding hot shower
-and even shave your legs while you're in there
-put the kids to bed
-finish the last (and biggest piece) of the homemade chocolate cake
-watch the rest of Inkheart with your husband
-fall asleep knowing you spent the day with your most favorite people in the world

thankful thursday - baby j

Two years ago I was awake all night after an hour or two of restless "sleep" - pacing and rocking on all fours. Around 3am my mom arrived; John hustled me into the car and off we went. Before dawn lit the sky, I held pure joy in my arms.

Baby J is happiness personified. Everywhere we have gone for the past two years (except on the occasional trip where he's plumb tired of being out and fusses) people have asked if he's always this happy? Well...yes. He gets fussy if he wants something but he doesn't have a boatload of words yet, so who can blame him. He gets angry if he's gated out of the kitchen or kept out of my room (those areas are kept closed to his curious ways). But generally speaking - he is truly a happy little person.

And snuggly and delicious and warm and sweet and lovey and kissy...oh, the list goes on. I cannot believe it's been a whole two years since first I held him in my arms. How completely he belongs with us - in our hearts, in our home. How much he adores his big brother and sister.

He also gets into more things than my other two kids put together. He empties the bookshelves like Miss C used to do, but then he climbs onto them (and gets stuck). He likes to sneak into a bathroom and undo as much as he can in the 10 seconds it takes for me to realize he's missing again - turn on the tub, unroll the toilet paper, flush the potty, dump the q-tips . . . . or meander out with the plunger if it's handy. He's artistically managed to sneak crayons and pencils (colored and plain alike) onto my walls several times in the past few months. Recently, he managed to climb up onto the cabinet in the playroom that our bird is on - I found him sitting there, face to her cage talking (a few minutes before, he'd climbed on something to reach over and attempt to open her cage...).

There is a thrill for him in sneaking into Little B's room and grabbing a Lego piece for a trophy of accomplishment or making it to Miss C's room and trying to play with her myriad of Littlest Pet Shop toys or the toy computer. He moves faster than I can; I gave up trying to keep up with him long ago. And, oh, the delight he gets from his escapades! There are not words for the grins and squeals and joy that ooze from him!

Yesterday, I spent a bit of extra time on the couch loving on him. At one point, I was naming body parts, he was pointing them out. After a moment I noticed a dry booger in his nose and did a total mommy thing - I picked his nose. I mean, what else would I do? Make a big deal out of it and get a tissue? That takes too long. He was amused. And proceeded to try to pick my nose for me - full of giggles....

Happy Birthday my little Tiger!

thankful thursday

Yes, it's Friday. Night. That's beside the point, though. I'm chronically tardy and apparently this is no exception to the rule.

So, my Thankful Thursday - I'm thankful it's Friday! (haha!)

We no longer have school on Friday. I toyed with this idea for a couple weeks, tried it out, and now I have more reasons than ever for being glad I chose this route.

At first, my plan was simply to stretch school into a mostly year-round situation, spacing it out and keeping it from feeling like a pressure-gauge ready to go off as the end drew near. A lot of four day weeks mixed with a few three day weeks and some holidays/sick days and you still have breathing space at the end of the required 180 days. Just not 10 weeks of it. This keeps the consistency of school and busyness in balance, in my opinion.

In the month or so we've been doing this, I have discovered another reason I like Fridays off. It gives me a weekday to be a mom. Not in firm, gotta-do-it teaching mode (some days it's very much like that). Instead, it's a day that's not a weekend where only kid play is expected (it's still our library day which I sift into the school-ness of the week, time wise), chores are still supposed to happen, and it's not just "better because Daddy is home" like a weekend. I can take it easy like today, or we can run errands like other Fridays. It varies.

BUT. Mostly, it's just a normal day. Without school expectations. Of course, Little B spent part of the day voluntarily watching several DVD's on Language Arts and Science, and at bedtime he will likely be picking up (again) the book he's enraptured with from his Sonlight curriculum. Learning is everywhere. Even on the day "off."

time alone

I got some much needed time alone yesterday. Yes, yes, some of it was at the grocery store buying a ton of cereal for 1/2 price since there was a one day special. And yes, the other half was spent getting a filling, complete with my first shot of lidocaine. I survived. Indeed, I felt refreshed for having sat there alone with complete attention on me for a while, not having to tend anyone else's needs. Just mine. Maybe not what I'd call "fun" but it was pretty much worth it for the down time.

Just how desperately pathetic does that make me???? Wait, maybe you shouldn't answer that. . . .

Thankful Thursday

So, I thought I'd try out my concept of "Thankful Thursday." I don't know for sure if I'll stick with it, but I guess we'll find out. If you decide to join me, please leave me a message and I'll come read yours...


Rain.

I live at the edge of a lake (I can literally walk to it from a path across the street). I drive across the dam that makes said lake at least once, and often twice a week. The summer we moved in, three years ago, someone "accidentally over-drained" the lake while sending water to another state for a nearly extinct fish. By five feet. The lake started to look a little...sparse. Boats struggled some and many people were frustrated - a fish over the water supply for our own people? Yes, it's our water supply. I understood that frustration.


And at about the same time, our state entered into a drought. A drought that lasted a couple of years. I found myself praying for rain. Thankful for rain. Loving rain. Whenever we would get it, albeit briefly.


Last year, many skeptics spoke of how it would never come back up, it was too far gone, our water supply was never going to be able to meet our (overgrown area's) needs...etc. etc. I secretly laughed. There are always seasons and cycles to life. "This too shall pass," is one of my mother's favorite reminders. I felt it quite applicable in the matter of our water supply.


This past spring, our lake level was more than 19 feet down. Sparse was a kind word. Barren, more fitting. So many times I wished I had my camera to take pictures for my blog. The erosion was more clear each month as the water levels dropped, then the weeds began to grow and grow and cover it up. The signage in various bars no longer stuck up above water, but now the entire bars were growing weeds. The wall that held water back from a walking path was not only visible to a driver on the dam, but we could see the entire wall - and see where it met the ground below. That day I was amazed by just how low the water levels had dropped.


And then the rains began. It rained and rained and rained. And rained. And rained some more. Not many weeks back, there was a lot of flooding in our area. Each time we crossed the dam, we eagerly checked the digital sign showing the current lake level. We watched in anticipation as the numbers climbed, the shore receded, the weeds became tips above water.


A few weeks ago, our gorgeous lake was above the suggested lake level! The aforementioned sidewalk was indeed slightly flooding on one rainy afternoon. The lake was burgeoning with ripples and waves and boats.


Beautiful.

I am so thankful for the rain.