A Prairie View

They Did What?

I can’t believe they did this, but my husband and his boss hired … another driver. Not one, but 2 more! On. My. Goodness. If we aren’t careful we are going to have more drivers than Neveda has hotels in Las Vegas. This puts us up to … 15 I think. *sigh. Thats alot of paperwork. And chances of trucks flying apart, and problems presenting themselves everyday. What WERE they thinking?? I know, I know. Thats the whole idea of having a business. For it to grow. To become more profitable. And apparently, regardless of what the drivers think and whine about, David is doing a good job booking loads and delivering, and the company is making a profit. Enough to continue to let it grow. I’m not going to whine. I just need to dig my heels in, and do the best I can each day. I am more on top of things in this quarter than I have been in the last few; so if I can just continue to walk that steady path, all will be good. No matter how many drivers they decide to hire.

Ethan’s Blog

A year ago, Ethan talked me into letting him get his own domain, and starting a blog. He came up with a really great name, Acting Thru Faith, and so I said “yes”. Its only $3 a month, and something like $15 a year to own this fine piece of internet real estate. Shortly after getting it though, he started working, and hasn’t had much time he could call his own, so very little has been done with the website/blog. I even had my wonderful and sweet banner maker, Becky, make a special banner for the site that turned out really awesome, but nope… still nothing. I told him if he didn’t start using the site, I was going to take it over. So, we put a “co-author” blurb in the sidebar, but I didn’t get over there much either.

But. I had a brainstorm this morning, and so I have been working on that today. I set up a new blog for him/us — and made the domain name become a splash page of sorts. I found a really cool picture that I thought Ethan would like, and in the tabs at the top, I have made the distinction “Ethan’s Posts” — and “Mom’s Posts”. Then I copied the few entries that he had on the original blog, and moved them to the new one, and marked them to be housed in an “Ethan” category. Whenever I add anything over there, it will go in a “Mom” category. So. When people go to the orginial website, they can either go to all of Ethan’s entries, or to all of mine. They are grouped seperately. That way, if someone just wants Ethan’s stuff, they don’t have to wade through all of my posts over there to find his. I have a specific vision for this blog. Of course there is the one that Ethan would write everyday or at least several times a week, and make it his own little niche in the world of blogging. But, for right now, thats not going to happen. So, plan B would to make it an “Ethan” blog — its still “all” Ethan, but with some input from me. I can blog about his day and such, or post pictures or video clips. Add newspaper clippings when he’s in the newspaper. Post things of interest pertinent to teens. Eventually, I would like to monetize it. But for right now, I would just like to see it be a fairly active blog, and with Ethan residing there alone, thats not going to happen.

Turning 17

Ethan turns 17 in less than a month. With the year he has had, being 16, we have wondered if maybe we should have invested in body shop supplies with all the trouble he has had with “remodeling” several vehicles. Granted, he has stepped up to the plate, and taken financial responsibility in all of them, and paid for damages. And we are hoping that has made him be more of aware of what is going on around him, and to be a little more careful, be more focused, and put away the natural tendencies of being a teenage boy behind the wheel and just take it nice and easy and make his year of being 17 a lot less uneventful than being 16 turned out to be.

Paying Attention

Ethan needs to leave in a few minutes for JIMS practice. As he cruises to the church, I hope he keeps his mind on his driving, and not other things. Two of the three wrecks that he has had, has happened right after this practice he has Sunday nights. With the first one, he was distracted and just wasn’t paying attention, and backed into a van in the parking lot. The 2nd one, he turned into the sun and was blinded, and sidewiped a sign. So, he wasn’t totally at fault for that one, but, it still doesn’t stop me from telling him to be careful every time he goes to practice, and that I worry until he gets home. Hopefully, he’s more experienced now, and knows — from experience, that you have to put your full attention into driving, regardless of where you’re going, or what you have just done, or will be doing. Full. Attention.

There’s No Place Like Home

Ethan made it home safe and sound last night. And of course, he had a hundred stories to tell us. It sounds like they had a really good time. He wanted to look nice for this conference, so last week, he got his hair cut (yes! finally! his hair doesn’t get long, like hanging down on his shoulders. It gets bushy.). Anyway, he got it cut PLUS he got it colored. A dark red. His hair is normally a mousy brown. So, there was a subtle difference, but not shockingly so (like when he was in the 8th grade, and decided he wanted to bleach it blonde.). After not seeing him for a couple of days, I couldn’t help but notice how nice he looked, with the different hair, the nice clothes. He is one of those guys that could wear a necklace –not flashy religious jewelry, but a simple cross, on a chain, or even a thin leather strap, and he would look pretty good. But then, thats just a mom’s opinion. Its good to have him back home.

Saturday Stuff

Ethan left for a Thespian Conference on Thursday, and won’t get home until 7:00 or so tonight. So, its been a quite, if not productive day. I made a list of things I wanted to get done, and have made it through most of the list. Been decluttering, cleaning, even made the Delta faucets all bright and shiny. I put a roast in the slow cooker this morning, so supper will be snap. Now, if I can just get Ethan to help me with a few things tomorrow, I can close this weekend out feeling good about what has gotten done.

David Update

The first day in a week, he isn’t running a fever. But, he still doesn’t feel good. When I saw him at noon, he was doing pretty good. But when he came home around 5:00, he went straight to bed. So, he’s still not totally over whatever it is that he has. He has taken his full prescription of Tamaflu, so you would think he’d be doing good. But, he’s not. At least the fever went away. Hopefully, as the week progresses, he will get to feeling better!

Getting Away

I need to get email Deb at A Flyover Blog and let her know what David did. Sometime in the next 18 months, we will be traveling to Branson Missouri for a mini-vacation. It was one of those time-share telemarketing phone calls, but for some reasons, David decided to listen to them, and actually signed up and paid them the money. We will have to set through a seminar or sales pitch of some kind, but also, we will be getting away for 3 days, getting to see a couple shows. And, hopefully, get to met Deb, who lives in that area. That will be worth the whole trip right there. We need to set a date, and put some actual planning into this instead of flying by the seat of our pants and going at the last minute. We have a 25th wedding annivesrary coming up this year, so maybe we can tie it in to that. I would love to be able to get away for a few days. We don’t do that nearly often enough.

Using A Phone Tree

The Service Team at our church decided to invest in a “Phone Tree”. I was a little skeptical at first, but I am definately sold on it now. Instead of sending out postcards and/or making phone calls when we have an event we want to promote, whoever is in charge of the event gets the guy who actually ordered the Phone Tree and set it up, etc — and they get the word out. Its going to save us time, postage, and it gets the responsibility of promoting something where it belongs — with the people who are in charge of the event. I don’t know if they had to use fiber cable to install it, but it has been one purchase we have made that has well be worth what we paid for it. Whenever we would start the Prayer Chain, I would always worry if we were getting the right information out, and would it change as it got passed down the line (remember that game we used to play as kids? …. the teacher would whisper something into the 1st kid’s ear … and he would repeat it to the next kid, and around the circle, the message would go. And how so different it would be once it got to the last person. This Phone Tree will prevent that from happening, as well as get the word out to so many more people. Right now, there is probably only 30 or so people that have signed up to be a part of the Prayer Chain. Alot of times, people wouldn’t be home when you called, and you never knew if the prayer request really got out there or not. Now the whole congregation can know, with one simple little message. Works for me!

A Moment In Time

With the year still being in its first days, I implemented something that I have been wanting to do. I started another blog. I know. I know. But this one is a bit different. I really don’t have to think of anything to say. It is a “Picture A Day” blog. It can be found at “A Moment In Time” . I am going to try and post a picture there each and every day this year. Right now I have some Christmas pictures I want to get posted — that will catch me up to today. And then, probably, from there, it will just be pictures I take here and there each day. I love taking pictures!

And yes. He is STILL sick. He didn’t work today, other than going out and paying the drivers this morning. He came home around 10:00 this morning, sat down on the couch and slept until after 12:00. He did get up and go to the grocery store; and then watched a movie with me this afternoon (a chick flic, no less. Now I KNOW he’s sick). And then slept off and on most of the afternoon. And went to bed before 7:00. But rest is one of the main things he needs to be doing. And I’ve been pushing the water and popsicles. I sure hope he gets better soon!

He’s Still Sick

I learned something this week. When you say “flu” — throwing up comes to mind. So, when the doctor said David had the flu, it didn’t make sense to me. He’s not throwing up, he’s not even nauseous. He has a bit of a cold — but he has had lots worse colds in the past. By all appearances, he “looks” fine. Except that he is running a fever, and feels like he’s been run over by a truck. This makes Day 5. I was really starting to get worried about him, until I went to Ask Jeeves, and asked “How long does the flu last”. This is what they said:

The flu usually begins abruptly, with a fever between 102 to 106°F. (An adult typically has a lower fever than a child.) Other common symptoms include a flushed face, body aches, and lack of energy. Some people have dizziness or vomiting. The fever usually lasts for a day or two, but can last 5 days.

David’s doctor said he could expect to feel like this 7 - 10 days. He definately is not himself. He was in bed by 6:00 again tonight. He has never gone to bed that early, let alone 2 days in a row, the whole entire time we have been married (almost 25 years). I’m just praying I don’t get it. He’s a tough guy and its whipping him. So far, though, so good. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Sick Man In The House

W ords that I have never heard in the 24 years of marriage, came out of my husband’s mouth this morning. “I’m not going to work”. He has never ever said that. He’s been sick before, but he has always gone, regardless. He’s been running a fever for the last 3 or 4 days. He has some cold symptoms, but not a really bad cold, like he has had in the past. Mostly its just the fever. But its about to whip him. I told him he WAS going to the doctor, and he agreed without a whimper. Not going to work? going to the doctor? the man definately IS sick.

He did go to the doctor, and he has the flu. Which sounds strange to me, but I’m not disagreeing with the doctor. I’ve always connected throwing up with the flu. And he’s not been ill in that respect at all. But, he wrote him to presciptions… some cough syrup with codiene, and Tamaflu. $100 worth of meds. And the cough syrup was only $6.

He did end up going to work. The doctor he sees is in a little town about 15 miles from here. After seeing him, he went on to the office. Our Explorer is still messing up, so at noon, he brought it back to town and took it to our local garage to have them look at it again, and I picked him up from there. We got his medicine and dinner, and went back out to the office. At 4:00, I looked at him and he was sleeping at his desk. I told him we were going home, and he was going to bed. Again, he agreed without a whimper. We came home, he gave me some load #s, and told me which drivers would be calling and what I needed to tell them. And he went to bed. 5:00. This is not a good deal. I have never seen him this sick. Yes, bad bad colds. Throwing up. We have all been through that. But on the surface, he doesn’t really appear to be sick. Except he’s red faced. And hot.

I don’t mean to be selfish here — but I really hope he keeps it to himself. I hope he doesn’t pass it on to me. I won’t be as tough as he has been. And I really don’t want to miss any work at this point. I’m doing good. I’m on top of things, and now working on “damage control” of things I got behind on last quarter. There IS light at the end of the tunnel. I can’t get sick. I don’t wanna get sick right now. Don’t have time.

A Good Feeling

I didn’t want to get out of bed this morning. Which, is the pretty normal. I never want to get up most mornings. But this morning was different. For awhile now, I wake up to my heart pounding, and most definately out of rhythm. Just a way of life. Not this morning. It wasn’t pounding. I assume it wasn’t out of rhythm. I don’t know, because I couldn’t feel it. Most people, under normal conditions (i.e., just in a normal setting, not after exercising or something like that) - are not aware of their heart beating. They know it is because they are alive and functioning. Most days, I am aware of my heart beating, because it is either pounding, racing, or skipping beats. Its called Atrial Fib. But this morning, it wasn’t doing that. It felt nice, and I just wanted to lay there and not feel anything. Maybe it was a fluke. Or maybe, this is an added benefit to the prescription Dr. B gave me for depression. Wouldn’t that be great? We’ll have to see if it was a one time thing, or by taking this new prescription, its going to help the anxiety feelings I have day in and day out.

Clearing The Cobwebs

I am so pleased with today. Makes me think that the meds that Dr. B put me on just might actually be kicking in. I puttered along at the church, addressing the cards the board members signed last night (this is kinda like my little ministry. I buy “Thinking of you” cards every month, put the name of everyone on our prayer list on each card, and then the guys, at their monthly board meeting, split the cards up between them, and write a note to who’s ever card they get — letting that person know that they, as a person, and we, as a church are thinking of them, and praying for them. After all the cards are done, they have a moment of prayer for those people. Then the next day, I finish addressing them, and mail them out. So, I worked on that, and worked on the shepherding list that I need to have done before the elder’s meeting (not this next Monday, but the following Monday).

Everything that got accomplished at the trucking company this afternoon, though, is what impresses me. Even David said he was impressed. I pulled all the 2007 stuff and got them put NEATLY into a couple of tote boxes. As I said yesterday, the billing for this week is done. I worked up a deposit, and cash receipted them on the computer. Entered all the bills that have come in the mail. Filed away all the ones we paid the other day. Worked on IFTA stuff. I’m basically down to 2 major projects. The quarterly IFTA report, and the checkbook. And its only Tuesday. If I work my normal 4 hours these next 3 days (12 hours total), I think by this Friday, the IFTA report can me complete done (well, at least my part). And then next week, I can start on updating the paper checkbook. Since everything we do is on the computer (writing checks, etc), we make very very sure that the computer checkbook register is the right total. Because I couldn’t “do everything”, I kinda let the paper checkbook slide. But, what I think I’m going to do, since it is something that seems to still need to be done, is take the reconciled total for January 1, and use that as a beginning number, and then try to keep it up every day from that point on. And THEN, as time allows, go back and catch up the last 6 months. *sigh. I know thats not the right way to do it, but the computer total is right. David has balanced it with the bank every step of the way, so I have faith that that number is right. But, we’ve always kept the 2 checkbooks, so I guess I had better try to get it back up to date (even though I think its repetative….. but its not my company). The good part about it is though, it just feels good to be half way on top of things again. Even the filing!

It hasn’t been a “lightning bolt moment”, where one day, its total darkness for me, and the next day, its daylight. Its been a gradual process, but I really think what Dr. B prescribed a couple weeks ago is kicking in and starting to remove the cobwebs and that gray “I don’t want to do anything” mood is being lifted. I still have issues and concerns with other things, things that aren’t going to go away overnight either. But. One step at a time, and each step forward that I make encourages to take one more step, and then one more and one more. Thats what its all about. It doesn’t take diamond pendants to make me happy. Just a clean filing cabinet, and shiny clean refrigerator — and I can say I did it, and no one helped. That. Makes me very happy.

Helping Others

I wonder if I can convince Ethan to make a car donation with his car. Right after Ethan got his driver’s license, David bought a car for him at an auction, for $185.00.   All considering, it gave him very few problems, even though it is older than Ethan is!    Since then, David has bought him a second car, that looks and runs just a little bit better.  And so, another car, sits in our yard, not being driven.  Car Angel is a non-profit company that uses car and other donations to make videos for kids and teens.  I know Ethan is all about helping people and working for causes.  Donating his car would be much better than turning it into a demolition car, and running it in the demo derby next summer.  Car Angel has given away over 2.4 million videos,  much like this video….

The videos promotote anti-drug and prison literature messages.  We have a generation growing up that needs the same values that we had growing up, as well as those of our parents, and their parents.  Donating a car or boat or other things that we are not using helps spread that message.  They do all the hard work — scheduling the towing, title transfers and our donation process is fast and professional. 

Being A Sandwich

It pays to be a sandwich. The weather guy just said that to the east of us, they are having thunderstorms and tornado warnings and watches. To the west of us, snow. But us? We have had 50-60 degree weather today, and its not supposed to get down to freezing tonight, so thats a good thing. We have lucked out several times this winter. Just being on the fringe of things, or a black spot in the middle of a big mass of blue on the weather map. Works for me. I hate winter weather, and am so looking forward to spring.

I have a full week ahead of me at work — both places. But, if I keep my nose to the grindstone, I may be able to get back on top of things and actually be in a good place. I have shepherding lists I need to make up for the elders. I need to make corrections in the directory — I’m still waiting on the serving list for the guys for the year. Once I have that, I can get it published and behind me. Its such a major project and I am so close to having it done in the respect of distribution. I’ll be glad when its done.

At the trucking company, I got the billing all done, checks wrote for bills and ready for the mail. What I really need to work on tomorrow is getting some tote boxes and start boxing up all of 2007 stuff. I have 2008 stuff that needs to be filled, and I would like to stay on top of it. Since I’m ahead of the game this week, I am hoping to make a dent in some of those things I got behind on last year. The quarterly report is due again, and I don’t have everything checked. But, since the billing is done and out of the way a day early, that gives me that window of time that I need to make some progress on it. And don’t foresee any reasons to have to leave early or not be there. I really really do hope I can get all those little things that have been getting done actually done this week. I do see light at the end of the tunnel for a change.

Ethan doesn’t have to work Saturday — he worked a 4 hour shift for someone on Sunday, and then another 2 hours for her today because she is still sick. She is taking his shift for Saturday. So. Maybe. Just Maybe. We can make some headway here at home as well. I’m still having these “wanting to nap” episode; but before I get to that point, I do see to be coping a little bit better, and making some progress. Don’t know if its the cobwebs clearing though, or just the timing of things, and the mentality that its a new year, with a new slate, and I’m grabbing ahead of that and forging ahead. Whatever it is though, I’m not letting go, and I will continue to forge ahead.

Sunday Visiting

Its been a half way productive weekend, considering that part of it has found us on the go. Yesterday we played “fix it” with our vehicles. David determined that my Explorer not starting Friday wasn’t the battery. He wanted our local garage to look at it, esp. when the “Check Engine” light came on Saturday. So, we took my Explorer there, as well as Ethan’s car, so he could get that tire that keeps going flat fixed. They are right next to Pizza Hut, so we timed it right around lunch time. Left our vehicles in their good hands, and had a nice lunch. They were busy, and took forever. But, because of our circumstances, we didn’t care. When we got done there, our vehicles were also done, so we were able to hop in and go home.

Today was church, and several meetings. I also worked on a few computer projects. I’m glad we have more than one computer in the house. The PC was acting a little strange. Without the laptops as backup, I would have had to resort to a computer rental if our computer decided to crash. I seem to be a person of routine, to some degree, and when you through me off my routine, I don’t do well. I know the things I did today may see frivilous to some people; but to me, they were a sign of things “getting better”. Its not an overnight process, but just the fact that I took on some challenges, did various different entries, etc… that gave me a glimmer of my old self. Yes, granted, there are definately part of the old me I wouldn’t want back. But there are other parts that I really did enjoy that they were a part of me. And I miss that. It was like an old friend visiting today. And that old friend was me.

Closing In

He doesn’t understand. Heck, I don’t understand. I just know that I have to dig really deep to go anywhere. If it was up to me, I would stay home. All. The. Time. He doesn’t understand my “less than enthusastic” response when he says we are going out to his parent’s house for supper. “We might as well do something tonight”. Which, I agree. But. I want to stay home. Its not because of where we are going. We will go. We will have a good time. Not that there is anything at home that is obsessively holding me. Yes, there was a time that I was consumed with graphic design, blogging, and other computer stuff. I still blog, but it is almost an effort. That frame of mind tells me that something is definately wrong. And yes, I have taken steps to hopefully make it better. But, he said it would take at least a couple of weeks before I would notice a difference. Its probably a good thing that I do work outside of the home, or I probably would stay home all the time. This time of the year is the worst. I just wish he understood a little bit better. But. Maybe he does. And thats why he pushes for us to get out and do things. Because other wise, before we knew it, I would be totally house bound. Making me get out keeps the circle from closing in.

TGIF

It just seemed to be one of THOSE days. Not terribly bad, but just little annoyance things. Starting with my Explorer not starting this morning. And normally, this would have been a huge hassle; but earlier this week, we ended up playing “musical vehicles” again. My middle son has been looking for a different vehicle, and he’s been driving our Ford Ranger. David’s boss decided this week to sell his little Ford Ranger. So… Matt bought our Ford Ranger, and we bought Wayde’s. David’s Ranger is a stick shift, so I couldn’t ever drive it. The one we just bought from Wayde is an automatic. So, that right there, is worth the trade. For days like today.

And then after school, Ethan went out to his car to go to work… and he had a flat tire. So, I had leave work early, go pick him up, and take him to work. He called when he got off work, and David and him went and aired the tire up, and Ethan drove it home. Tomorrow, Ethan needs to take it to our local gas station, and get it fixed. This isn’t the first time its happened, and its getting old. We should have made him walk; but he was already late for work, and out of respect to his job, I did come in and get him to work. I also brought a deposit from the trucking company, so it wasn’t “all” about Ethan — me leaving work early. I am going to have a short paycheck all the way around this week, which will be fine. But I need to hit the hours next week and work a full week.

I’m just glad its the weekend. Yes, its been a short week. But. I’m ALWAYS ready for a weekend.

(4/365)

Long Day and Saving Money

Its been a long day, and I am ready to go to bed, even though Jay Leno isn’t on. We usually stay up and watch him, but I’m thinking tonight, he’s going to have to go on without us. I got the newsletters done and out, so thats a relief. I do have the bulletins to do tomorrow. I usually have them already done and ready to be proofread by Monday or Tuesday. But this week has been one of those weeks. I didn’t work at the church Monday (although, I did go out and work at the trucking company, and did a years worth of filing [grin] — ok, not quite, but there was quite a bit. So, I didn’t work at the church Monday, or Tuesday. Yesterday, I worked up the newsletter, and today, corrected my errors, added a few things, copied it and got it ready to mail. You wouldn’t think 250 newsletters would take that long to get ready to mail. But, we use 11 x 17 paper, and the first fold, I have to do by hand. After that, I insert a prayer request sheet, and then take the stack into my little work room, and run them through a folding machine, that folds it in half. After that, I put labels on all of them, and tape the bottom and one of the sides, as required by the post office.

At any rate, go them done, and in the mail. David came to town, and we headed to Emporia for a meeting. We thought we were going to be late. Before we even left town, he had to take a detour because the hwy traffic was being stopped to let a funeral procession enter the highway from the church that is there. He stopped at the grocery store to get something to eat, and several miles down the road, we caught up to the funeral procession. So, he took a back road, and we got to the interstate that way. But not before incountering a train, that we had to wait for. We finally got to the interstate, made good time, and ended up having 30 minutes to spare. Thats good. I’d rather be early than late…although, typically, I always run late.

After the meeting, we hit Walmart. $200 later …. Actually, $200 later, and then a stop at the courtesy booth to get part of our money back. They had long sleeve shirts on sale … $3.00 each. I think we ended buying 20 or 25 of them. He can use them as work shirts, plus I’m sure Ethan will lay claim to some of them. At $3.00 each, we couldn’t pass them up. However, 3 of them got run up at $11.00 each. So, he had the girl at the courtesy desk check them, to see what happened. As they are doing that, we discover that we got a little over exuburant in our shirt buying … a few of them were legitamately $6.00 each. He didn’t want those. So, she refunded us the money on those shirts, and then also refunded the different between $11.00 and $3.00 on the others. It amounted to over $50 back, so it was worth the time and effort to do what we did.

The main reason we went to Walmart was to get one of David’s prescriptions filled. We decided to check into and take advantage of Walmart’s $4.00 a precription plan. Not all of our prescriptions are in the program, but enough of them are to make it worthwhile doing. And they will ship them to us free of charge, so “running to Emporia” doesn’t have to factor in either. The prescription he had filled tonight normally cost $23-something. He got it for $4.00 One of mine falls in the $4.00 plan, and the other one doesn’t. My doctor just put me on another prescription, and it doesn’t either — but the pharmacist told us of a similar drug to what he prescribed that is in the program. I took the information, called my doctor; and they called back this week, and he said to go ahead and take the month supply that I had already bought, but we could switch to the other brand then, and go with it from then on out. David takes 6 prescriptions, and I take 3, and no insurance. So, any help we can get with our meds, we are going to take advantage of.

And now we are home, and I’m ready to go to bed. But, since I have been on the go since this morning, not even a lunch break … I didn’t want to mess up Blog 365 just the 3rd day in. Now I’m off to bed. Night all!

(3/365)

Breezing Through Today

Today went alot better than I had anticipated. After the holidays, and not working for several days, being faced with deadlines and projects once I returned back to work, I was sure it would be a highly stressful kind of day. But in reality, it was quiet, and I was able to accomplish everything that needed to be accomplished. The newsletter at the church is done and ready to be proofread and hopefully mailed out tomorrow. The billing at the trucking company took no time at all. I actually felt on top of the game for a change. Course, it wasn’t a typical week for the drivers, so it wasn’t a typical day of billing. But it was still nice to zip right through it, and finish it all in afternoon. Because of a meeting tomorrow, I knew I wouldn’t be working at the trucking company, so I had to do whatever it took to get it all done. Fortunately, it wasn’t a typical week and I was able to leave early so they could go in todays mail.

Now…if tomorrow will go just as smooth…..

(2/365)

Happy New Year

Its been a laid back, easy going kind of day. David stood around at an auction in single digit tempatures, but that was HIS choice. I chose to stay in where it was nice and toasty warm. I had a bit of an upset stomach, so spent part of the day, just curled up in my recliner with a warm fuzzy blanket, and my own little space heater (our cat). Last night was equally laid back and easy going. Ethan had to work until 9:00, so I waited until he got home, and then we went out to David’s mom and dad’s house, where David was, as well as his sister and her family.

What did we do? They have been going through some old home movies. These movies go all the way back to the 30’s. It was interesting seeing David’s dad when he was little. David’s sister is checking into a couple of places to see what can be done, if anything, to preserve these films, and see if they can be put on to a CD, or something similiar. Some probably aren’t worth preserving, but there were a few that most definately are. So, hopefully, this is something that can be done.

Blog 365

During the month of November, I failed to jump on the NaBloPoMo bandwagon. Blogging every day during the month of November. Should be a piece of cake. I blog — at one blog or the other — most every day. But now, I am more or less going to be accountable for that. I am taking the Blog 365 Challenge.

What is the Blog 365 Challenge you ask? Here’s the rules…

- Blog everyday for 365 days.
- Feb.29th is a Free Day and will be the Blog365 day of rest! (Thanks Leap Year)
- You do not HAVE to post to the same blog as long as you post everyday.
- No internet? Write your post locally and post it once you are back on the grid.
- Computer Broken? Grab some paper and do some old school blogging.
- A post is a post, not everything has to be in writing. Photos, YouTube videos, and the like are all considered content.
- Have fun, because that’s the whole point!

Can I do it? It ties in with that consistency thing I am trying to establish this year. I am tagging the entries with “Blog 365″ so they will all be in one category. You will also see a (1/365) after alot of the entries (only, the “1″ will change each day). Have I lost my mind? probably. But, hey, its a new year. New challenges. And why not tackle a challenge of doing something I like to do, and do most every day. Its all about committing to something and following through. And maybe making some new friends along the way.

(1/365)

A Look Ahead

This year I want to find true pleasure. I want to find meaning and satisfaction in what I do. Whether it is at work, or at home, blogging, or cleaning, What can I do today that will bring me pleasure? I need to find consistency and order in my life. That would bring me great pleasure. I feel like my life is so out of balance. I would like to start small, with 2 activities, and make them a consistent part of my day.

One would involve my personal life. The other would involve organization of some kind. Just a few days ago, we cleaned out the refrigerator. From top to bottom, taking all the shelves out, wiping down the walls. Its silly, but I have gone to the fridge several times since then, and just opened the door to look. Not to get any food, but just to soak in the organization of it. I found joy in that. I love blogging, but I have create chaos among the ranks. But, each blog does have its purpose. So, before I give on “them”, I want to try a bit more consistency with a routine. To log in, do an entry at each, whether its paid or not. And then log off. I can surf later, but I have GOT to get that “get in there, do what needs to be done, and get out” routine.

I know, I know. You should blog for the joy of it; which most of the time I do. But again, I need some consistency, some boundaries, some structure. Otherwise, I find myself wasting time, and getting nothing accomplished. I find comfort in organization. And if I can’t organize something I enjoy doing, then what is the purpose? Such small steps, and yet, miles away.

I start there. Small, but obtainable steps. Towards organization. Towards find a small amount of pleasure each day. You would think it would be so simple. But. Its not. And so, I have to start somewhere.