I'm Tired...So What's New

I don't know if our having three days off and getting out of the rhythm of things has totally caused my body to reacting, all I know is that I am TIRED!!!

Today started at 5:30, up, dressed and Joey out the door...only he didn't go far as it was raining, no pouring and he wouldn't leave the dry of the carport...he finally tinkled on the generator (sorry Ron) but I had things to do so back into the house we went.  

Relieved our night staff person (some of our friends call her our babysitter) and yes it is weird going into our apartment while someone else stays up in our living room...we call her our "human alarm" and yes on two occasions she has gotten one of us up for a kidlet who had a nightmare and one night when CPS showed up (they do their inspections to make sure we have a night time awake staff member between 11p and 5a though we say it would be better to come on a Saturday morning at 7:30a to see if we are all sleeping in)  AND NO we have not gone back to bed though we both have talked about wishing we could.

It is about as far from NORMALCY as you can get...but that is another story.

Spent a few minutes organizing my day, got the kids a "home lunch" ready...it's funny  because when I was a little girl we always had to take our lunch to school.  Nothing fancy, a sandwich and maybe a piece of fruit or some chips and change for milk.  And would beg my mom to let me buy lunch.  Here at the Yaokum ISD all the kids are provided breakfast and lunch each school day so it's the reverse treat for them...they like to take "home lunch" as AR calls it...so one day a week I make them a lunch to take.  It usually consists of a lunchable, a piece of fruit, some cheese or peanut butter crackers, either a pudding or fruit gummies and a Gatorade.  

And then Ron took them to school and I folded the two loads of laundry from yesterday and got two more loads going.  After Ron got back from the school run we headed to Walmart to pick up a few things, then to Tractor Supply ~ we were looking for 

for Joey..remember he wouldn't go potty out in the rain.  Nope, couldn't find anything so we went to HEB and got groceries and some cleaning supplies...then back home to put the groceries away and then it was time to go get Little Bit from school.  

Little Bit has a mind of her own and when she decides she doesn't want to do something she just won't do it...today she didn't want to match and fold her socks.  Last night it was she didn't want to take a bath...last night it was fine, if you don't want to take a bath, get your jammies on and go to bed.  Then it was "I don't want to take a bath and I don't want to go to bed!!" at the top of her little lungs for about 15 minutes till she cried herself to sleep.  Sometimes it's just plain hard being a 5 year old.  So back to the not matching/folding her socks...she was told "everyone has a job to do and today your job is to match and fold your socks."  So while whining she didn't want to match/fold her socks she matched her socks.  It got done with a bit of complaining but it got done.    And I was told "You are a mean mommy."  I said back to her "it's okay that I'm a mean mommy, I still love you."  She is never quite sure what to say to me when I say that to her.

Being five, once her "job" was done she was off to watch her movie and pet Joey...she loves Joey.  We only allow about five minutes at a time for her with him because they are both getting to know each other.  

The afternoon went by quickly and then it was time to go get AR, then AZ came home and homework got done, some hearts for Valentines Day were decorated and then time for tutoring...math for both of them.

Before long it was dinner time.  Tonight was a win..spaghetti and no complaints.

Bath time and then bed...whew!!!

I just sat at the computer for a few minutes to catch my breath, answered a couple of emails and then thought I should write a few words.

That is a pretty typical school day for us...

...I want to get back into writing more devotionals, share some stories, write a few guest blog posts for This(Un)ExceptionalLife, and get back to writing my book which includes transcribing all of my handwritten journals to the computer.  I would also like to put my mother~in~law's stories together from her handwritten journals to pass on to her grandchildren and great~grandchildren.  

...I want to get back to reading for fun ~ I can't remember the last time I picked up a book just to read for fun.  Lately it's been training manuals or daily devotionals but a good cheezy romance novel would be fun to indulge into again.

...And then there is my crocheting...I finished up a blanket two days ago and started on one of my temperature blankets.  Once I get the first 20 rows completed, I will start on number two and then number three.  Plus there are a couple of baby blankets/stuffies I need to get busy on.

...oh and continue being a wife, mom, Grammy and foster~mom, friend and Oh Yes, take a nap once in a while!!!!

Stay tuned and see what I get done!!!

A Surprisingly Nice Day!

It is nice to have a nice day...

the sun shone for most of the day,

kidlets played outside from mid~morning till time to get ready to go to the campground potluck...lots of food, kids were great, had a couple of people come up and say how polite they were...always makes a mama's heart feel good.

I like days where there are no arguments and everyone gets along.  Lots of kids here in the campground which kept the kidlets busy.  

Now they are all settled in for the night watching 

Ron has been busy reading a David Baldacci book "The Long Road to Mercy" and I have continued to just take care of me...I spent some time in the Word

and was encouraged "being renewed" as that is what part of this week camping has been for...to give us new and renewed energy as we begin this new year continuing as House Parents. And along with being renewed having a new attitude towards our health and being responsible and taking care of our physical body...God's Temple...Habit #4 is Movement...just move at least 2 minutes a day!!

So today I drank 46oz of water (Habit #1) not as much as I would like but better than the 22 oz I had yesterday,

spent time in prayer before crawling out of bed (Habit #2)

eat healthy...I did pretty good at the potluck dinner having only one slice of cake instead of three or four desserts (Habit #3)

I sat outside in the sunshine for most of this afternoon, coloring and thinking of the many projects I would like to accomplish this year.  Lots of unfinished crochet projects, three Temperature Blankets...

one for Birch Bay, WA, one for Bonney Lake, WA and one for Yoakum, TX.  Once we are home from this camping trip I will be getting all my yarn together and start them...I want to do 5 to 10 rows at a time on each blanket...pictures will follow as they progress.

I also want to work on organizing our home...especially all the little cubbies that has stuff in it and once organized keep it that way.  And then getting our trailer organized so that on days off we can just hook up and go!!!

And like I mentioned yesterday I want to write more.

Right now I am just writing about our days and what is happening but in the days ahead I want to review the poems and short stories I have written and possibly submit some of them for publication.  I belong to a small group of writers and will be doing some guest blogging with them.  

I also want to work on Anne's stories that she wrote and kept over the years...I would like to get them put on the computer to share with family.  And also finish a cookbook for another sweet friend who passed away many years ago...I would like to get it completed to give to her daughter and friends.

So you can see I have lots of things I want to do, now it's time to get the lists going and prioritize what I want to work on.  

That brings me to..."I have a question" as Azzy likes to say multiple times a day...what tools do you use to keep track of your projects? your goals?

Do you work on everything a little bit every day OR

 do you set days aside to work on projects?

Do you set a deadline for working on specific things OR

do you just finish them as time permits?

I would love to hear your responses to my questions from today.

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One more thing...if you are the praying type would you say a prayer for our friends who lost their mom this week and another friend waiting to get results from some medical tests.  Thanks!!!!