Mulligan

Wow, I haven't blogged in like, forever.  Last year, when I quit my job, my plan was to set goals and blog about my progress.  I think I'd like a redo on that.  So here goes:

Goals, year 2: (after what amounts to a year long vacation, apparently)

Save $200 per month-this is a passive goal, sort of.  I mean, I don't have to get up in the morning and DO something.  Sounds easy, eh?

Turn the attic into an office for my husband.  I have started this, but that doesn't really count, because OH LORDY is it a project.  I have given away or sold approximately 1/4 of the detritus up there, this year I NEED to finish.  I think I have to break it down into smaller goals:

1.  Handle (completely) one box or bin (minimum) each week.  This means that everything that is in that box or bin has been placed in it's permanent home, whether it's someone else's home, Goodwill, or where it belongs on our home.

2. By January, be ready to organize what's left and theoretically belongs in the attic.

3. Paint.

Paint the Living Room. (or move)

Paint the Dining Room

Turn the Coat Closet back into the coat closet (currently the downstairs version of the attic.)

Date Nights.  These need to happen.  We'll start with a goal of once a month, and up it as we hopefully progress.


This is enough to start.  Wish me luck.

Today I am thankful for so much.  My husband actually has appointments today! Yay!  On Saturday, we participated in a community yard sale/flea market that was waaaaay too hot for any sane people to attend, and yet we made a little bit over what we paid to be there, so we came out a wee bit ahead, and got rid of some stuff we didn't need.  We also got to meet some new people. 

While hubby was baking at the yard sale with the little guy,  I was with a friend picking blueberries.*  Talk about HOT, man was it hot.  We sweated in places we didn't know could sweat.  Best part of that-the blueberry fields belong to a family from our church, so......free!  And the friend I was picking with?  Gave me her old (working) sewing machine.

Then yesterday, we had our quarterly family get-together with my husband's siblings, and my awesome SIL gave me her old (working) treadmill.  We had a wonderful dinner together, great conversation, lots of laughs.

Before the weekend began, I emailed our landlady, who is the sweetest landlady EVER, and explained our situation.  She is so patient, and she told me that she knew it would work out somehow, and if she could, she'd tell us to just not worry about it at all.  I am feeling a little more at peace.....

We are truly blessed.  God is good.

Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.  Psalms 37:4

* those awesome sweet blueberries made some amazingly wonderful dishes - I made blueberry donut muffins from this recipe at The Finer Things, and a blueberry cobbler to take to SIL's.  Both delicious.  How happy am I to live in the blueberry capital of the world.  Sorry no pics, but I can attest that the muffins are every bit as good as she claims!  (And we kept them home for us!)

11 Reasons My Husband Rocks

1.  He is a good man, and always wants to do what is right.
2.  He has a never-say-die attitude.
3.  He loves me.
4.  He tells me my hair looks great when I'm having a bad hair day, and he doesn't tell me that it looks great when it does look great, because then I wouldn't believe him on those bad hair days. 
5.  He mostly has me figured out.  (See #4.)
6.  When I ask him to heat up the coffee maker, he makes me a cup of coffee.
7.  He makes the best cup of coffee!
8.  He is a great Dad.
9.  He lives with a crazy woman, and puts up with my irrational obsessions, and even complies with them.  (I'm not totally nuts, but I don't want my comforter to be lop-sided, and it shouldn't touch the floor, ever.  I don't think that's asking too much.)
10.  He sings.
11.  He loves to cuddle.

Twelve years ago today, we met in person for the very first time.  It was an evening that changed our lives forever, and I am so thankful to God for bringing us together.  Even when it's bad, it's good.  Happy anniversary, babe!

Two days in a row!

How 'bout that???
So today is a very depressing day for me.  My husband is a salesman, and works solely on commission.  The rent is due by Thursday.  We have $0.00 coming in this week.  My check is only enough to pay the bills, and buy health insurance (1/4 of my salary!)  So I can't even juggle any money; there is none.  This recession has hit us hard.  First we lost our business, then our home, now we are living paycheck to paycheck, and not even making it.  I am trying so hard to trust in God, to have faith that he will provide.  Somehow, it's easier when we're not in such dire straits.

 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  Philippians 4:6-7 

I could use your prayers.  Thank you.

I am a miserable failure.........

Look at this, it is the END of JUNE.  I am only here because someone stopped by, and I linked back to my pitiful blogsite and read my last post.......from JANUARY. (I didn't even realize I was still linked through my comments.)   Just for kicks, here is the progress I've made thus far:

coffee table - same condition as 6 months ago
headboard - what headboard?
dining room chairs - re-covered!  YAY!  (and I lovelovelove them!)
attic - (insert maniacal laugh)

I did caulk the vanity top in my bathroom, which took all of 1/2 hour, so I hardly think that deserves a pat on the back.  And I almost finished my bible-verse-chalkboard-made-from-an-ugly-yard-sale-painting project, but I taped over the painted frame too soon so that I could chalkboard paint the inside, and now I have to sand and repaint the frame.  Live and learn.  That was about 2 months ago......

But what was going on instead of all the crazy housekeeping and D-I-Y-ing?  I was working 2 jobs (delivering papers and my "real" job) so I was T I R E D all the time.  And my thyroid medication is still not right, I believe.  Or at least I'm going with that.......  Anyway, I quit the delivery gig, since the price of gas was going up, making it stupid to get up at 3 a.m. for the net pay.  Of course, NOW gas goes back down, but I'm betting it won't stay down.
Also, we learned that my son is allergic to corn, soy, rice, peanuts, walnuts, and almost every tree there is.  The blooming allergies we deal with-Claritin and Singulair daily.  But the food allergies have rocked our world.  Of course, there is corn and/or soy in virtually everything that is in any way processed.  In looking for foods without these allergens, I discovered how disturbingly prolific GMO corn and soy is, and so now all three of us are eating organically.  So that's been a bit of a time thief.  And I've been cooking/baking more, since whole foods are in order, and I defy you to find a cookie or twinkie-type product that doesn't contain corn, soy, or rice.  So now I am periodically baking the BEST chocolate chip cookies ever, thanks to EnjoyLife chocolate chips and King Arthur flour (from whence the recipe comes.)  Those chips are seriously the bizzomb - such a better flavor than those "enhanced" fakey ones.
And last but certainly not least - we got a Guinea Pig.  His name is Patrick, because we were supposed to get him on March 17, but he was too new and we had to wait until March 21, and I don't know any famous person who has a birthday on March 21 (not that I looked) so we kept it.  He is thecutestlittleguineapiginthewholewideworld and I tell him so every day.  He's abbysinian, which means he has a bad hair day every day, but he wears it like a rock star.  Maybe I can find a picture of him.  That's what this blog needs, more pictures, less words.

Patrick Pooper

Thanks for reading.

Have a wonderful 4th of July.  And Labor Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving......I kid.  I hope.

I will, I will, I WILL post this year.

I don't do resolutions.  I try to do better, though - continuously.  Last year our bible class was reading the bible in chronological order.  I couldn't keep up. So I decided to do it on my own this year.  So far, I'm not keeping up.
Last year, I was keeping notebooks on my drugstore spending & saving.  That ended sometime before summer.  I thought I'd pick that up again.  So far, not so much.
Last year, I had a list of projects to get to.  For the most part, they didn't get touched.  This year, I think I will tackle a project and see it through before I start another.  That means I have to paint or stain my sad found-on-the-side-of-the-road coffee table, and THEN start my headboard.  Or vice-versa.  They are both taunting me from different areas of the house.  Oh, yes, and I need to organize the attic.

Today, I am just going to pat myself on the back because all of Christmas is finally put away.

Ta-ta.

WOW.

It's been 7 months since I've posted.  Surely I've had SOMETHING to say.

Be back soon.