Black Friday

It's 5:45 in the morning and I am already home from my Black Friday shopping! Pretty amazing.

I got to Penney's at 4:20, after it had already opened, and I still got a door prize for being one of the first however many customers.

Finished up there and headed over to ShopKo, where the line came just barely out of the front doors. Lovely! I am used to that line going all the way to the end of the parking lot.

I didn't bother with WalMart, and it did look a bit busier than the rest. Nothing there that I wanted.

Got some great deals, spent too much money and am looking forward to getting all the Christmas decor up today. We even have a dusting of snow outside.

Perfect.

P is for Pie

And for me, Thanksgiving is all about the pie.  Turkey, schmerky.  Bring on the PIE!!!

Joel's in charge of the dinner, I'm in charge of pies.

This year, I made

two kinds of PumPkin

Pear

aPPle

And Joel made us a Pecan, just because he's never made a pie and wanted to try his hand. 



(Forgive the icky quality of that photo.  I didn't think to get the tripod out until the other pies, and I didn't redo this one.  Trust me, it looks delish!)

Happy Thanksgiving!

(Enjoy your pies!)

Why we're all visiting the dentist and the eye doctor next week

Since Joel started working in mid-August, we only elected to have $100.00 put into our Flexible Spending Account for the rest of the calendar year.  We figured that should cover any co-pays or surprise ER visits for 4 months.  We're not big doctor-goers and we're generally healthy.  Plus we all got new glasses in April.

Well, as luck would have it, somebody entered our $100.00 for the year as $100.00 per paycheck.  We just noticed the error last week, which is obviously a bit late in the game.  We were able to stop it coming out for the next two paychecks, but that still leaves us stuck with $700.00 in our FSA, which is more than we have ever in our lives put in for an entire year, much less 4 1/2 months.

And we have to use it all by December 26.

Chloe's broken wrist has been the only expense so far since moving here, as the insurance covers all well child exams completely.  Our out of pocket for the wrist?  A whopping $75.00.

So.  We can either go buy $625.00 worth of Band-Aids, aspirin and saline solution for the contact lenses I only wear once a week or so, or we can get new glasses (again) and dental work done.  Normally, I'd hope we didn't have a lot of dental work, but now I'm hoping that there are some unforeseen problems that we can take care of with our unwitting healthcare "windfall."

I'm also hoping that if we aren't able to use it, that we can plead our case further and be reimbursed for the unused portion.  Because the benefits lady took Joel's file out this morning, and clear as day it said Annual Election-$100.00.  

I'm not holding my breath, though.

Moral of the story?

Always read your check stubs and don't be surprised if I give you athlete's foot cream and Tylenol for Christmas.

Stuff I am not grateful for. (But really I am.)

A few days ago, Sophia managed to wet her bed and mine, all in the same night.  Because I was a little too tired to bother with changing her sheets, I let her come to bed with me after the first incident.  And then she managed to repeat herself in my bed, less than two hours later.  As if this wasn't bad enough, she was cuddled up so closely to me that she also wet me.

Naturally, this wasn't something I could sleep through, and there were no more beds left.  So, I had to wake up Joel and we changed the sheets.  Then I changed Sophia's clothes for the second time that night, and then changed my own.  Lots of changing.

In the morning, my plans for the day were a bit derailed as I stripped Sophia's bed, and hauled all the urine-soaked items to the basement to do a few loads of laundry.  Situations like these do not generally make me very happy, so I was muttering to myself as I tromped down to my dungeon of a laundry room.

I was definitely not grateful for the situation by any stretch of the imagination.


Somewhere between starting the first load and beginning to sort the other hampers, it hit me.  There are probably hundreds of women who would give anything to have the kind of morning I was having.  They'd probably even give quite a bit to have the kind of night I had, wet beds and all.

What if I didn't have a washing machine to quickly take care of the problem?  What if I didn't have sheets or beds to be wet in the first place?  And, worst of all, what if I didn't even have Sophia to wet them? 

That would be a lot worse than the minor inconvenience of waking up at 2 am to change the sheets and having extra laundry to do the next day.

How many things in life are like that?  It's impossible to count.  I'm guessing for nearly every annoyance or complaint you have, you can turn it into a gratitude.  Here are a few more I thought of.

Dirty Dishes.  Boy do they ever pile up.  Sometimes, like laundry, they seem never ending.  Unless I begin to use paper goods entirely, they will always be there.  As much as I hate doing them, it means I have food on my table and children who aren't hungry.  It means I have a sink to wash them in (no dishwasher here) and cupboards to keep them in.

Laundry.  Doing all of the mountains I do week after week gets pretty old.  But it means my children have (lots of) clothes to wear.  It means my husband and I have clothing.  It means we will stay warm through the winter.  It means I have sheets and blankets on my bed.  And I'm not out in the river scrubbing my hands raw to clean it all.

Toys all over the house.   I may trip on them and I may throw up my hands in defeat when the kids forget the fact that we have a playroom and bring everything to the kitchen (and the living room, and their bedrooms, and my bedroom, and the bathroom) to play with, but it means we have plenty of toys for them.  It means I have a big enough house for them to be strewn all over the place.  It means I have children who want to be where I am, and not upstairs alone in the playroom.

Cleaning the toilet.  Quite possibly one of the worst jobs in the house, but it means I have a toilet.  It means I live in a day and age where things are so darn convenient, I don't have to bundle myself up and traipse through weather and mud to get to an outhouse.  It means potty training is a heck of a lot easier. 

Vacuuming.  This is the one chore that always seems to be moved to the next day because I run out of time.  But when I finally do get to it, it means I have a way to clean my floors that is quick and easy.  It means I don't have to pull my rugs outside and beat them with a stick.  It means I have rugs to clean, and children to grind crackers into them.

Paying bills.  There is nothing more exciting than watching your entire paycheck go flying out the window to tithing, to the bank, to the insurance company, to the electricity people, to the preschool and music teachers, to the student loan, to the mortgage.  But it means we have the money to have all of those things.  It means my husband has a job.  It means we are responsible adults.

Exercising.  Nope, don't love it yet.  But the fact that I can do it means I have a body that is working.  It means I am basically healthy.  It means I have time to think and ponder, or time to just watch TV.  It means I am overcoming my tendency to not exercise.

I think I'll end there, but you get my drift.  There is always a silver lining, and I have been trying to focus more on that part of my laundry-filled life, instead of the part where I have to do laundry and I hate it.  Because, as it turns out, I don't hate it.  I love it, because I am truly blessed.

Now, what are you not grateful for (but really you are)?

Time Flies When You Waste It.

I have a stack of magazines that I haven't read.  They just keep accumulating as I turn my attentions to other projects and necessities.  Real Simple.  Better Homes and Gardens.  Classical Singer Magazine.  Martha Stewart Living.  Even The Ensign on my nightstand has been a little neglected lately.

Last week I finally found a bit of downtime and snuggled up in my comforter to read after the kids were safely in their own beds.  As I was flipping along, trying to digest all of the information (Diet No More!  Eat Well, Stay Healthy, Feel Great!; Get Organized, Stay Organized; Simple Paint Tricks to Perk Up Any Room; The Singer's Purse; Beautiful Wrapping Ideas; Spend Less This Season) I came across a quote that hit me hard enough to make me stop and really think.

"Those who make the worst use of their time are the first to complain of its brevity."                             ~La Bruyere, Characters

I am forever wishing that each day held double its allotment of hours, because I can never manage to finish all that is on my daily list.  Often I am frustrated because, yet again, I just plain forgot to do the laundry while I was busy doing some other project that struck my fancy.  Like painting the bathroom in the middle of a crazy week, for instance.  I really honestly think that I could complete all of the tasks on my daily lists, but by the end of the day, I realize it is a hopeless quest.  I have simply run out of time.

I have generally chalked it up to having expectations that are way too high for myself.  I am not Martha Stewart, after all.  What I am is a mother of young children.  That makes for some interesting side trips on my daily to-do list.  I don't wake up each morning and plan to clean up an entire box of Cheerios from the kitchen floor.  I don't foresee having to change and wash the sheets on two beds because Sophia managed to wet both hers and mine during the night.  I definitely never thought that cleaning toothpaste out of my own hair would ever take top priority in a day. Broken wrists, fevers and coughs, runny noses--these can grind vacuuming to a halt, leave dirty dishes in the sink for hours and sometimes days, and easily push practicing right out the window.

You will all be quick to reassure me that yes, this is most certainly the case.  I simply try to do too much, and of course, there are the children.  I'm normal.  I shouldn't worry. I accomplish enough. And yet, that quote I read struck something deep within me.  Something about it rang a little bit too true.  I don't make the best use of the time I am given.  Far too much of it is wasted doing things that matter little in the grand scheme of things.  Or even in the littlest scheme of things, really.

Let's just be honest here.  I waste time.

Period.

I have always freely admitted my distaste in being beholden to schedules and to the clock.  I completely resent being immersed in a project (however unimportant) and having to watch the time because I have some annoying commitment.  I also completely resent having to stick to just one thing.  I like to flit between projects.  This happens on both a macro scale, evidenced in my frequent "kicks" which are dropped with not a thought when I tire of them, and a micro scale, evidenced in my inability to finish making my bed when I think of something I need to do upstairs.

If only I didn't waste so many minutes during my day.  I could be truly great.

So, the other day, I stayed focused and on task.  I really thought about what I wanted to accomplish, vs. what needed to be accomplished.  I thought about my kids and their needs.  I scheduled it out and I executed.

I conquered the list that day.

Can I do this every day?  No.  In fact, the very next day I was back to my old ways: wasting time on the computer, flitting from job to job and never completing any task, putting in a load of laundry and totally forgetting about it, being annoyed at commitments I had made to others because it left me less time to do the nothing I was already in the middle of doing.

I have learned a little about myself.  There's nothing wrong with thinking big and trying to do everything, but a schedule and a plan is paramount.  And I may be just humbled enough to submit to a teensy bit more order in my life. 

We'll see how it goes.

Could I be any more uninspiring?

I was all set to write a wonderful and inspiring blog last night.  I still will, when I find the time to write it.  The problem was, the internet decided to die in the middle of my exercise session (I ride my stationary bike and watch online TV)(yes, I am slowly but surely becoming an exerciser) and I couldn't get it back up to save my life.

So, no inspiring blog post for me.  Or you, for that matter.

But I have certainly been productive these last couple days!  My bathroom is painted and decorated.  Folks, it looks AMAZING.  But you'll have to wait until I show you my kitchen to see it.  That's first.  Because I finally got new curtains in there.

Yesterday the kids were off school because of teacher inservice.  Turned out to be yet another blessing in disguise, because this meant Sophia had playmates home and didn't need to be my shadow all day as she normally is.  Which is fine, but it makes painting a little difficult.  So, yesterday morning I finished painting the bathroom and putting it all together.  I cleaned the house.  I taught two voice lessons.  I practiced.  I made my children practice (they fought over who got to practice first...now that is an argument I love to hear!).  I cleaned some more.  I took Sophia to her Music class.  I dropped Bria off at her orchestra rehearsal.  I came home and did dishes and then hosted scrapbooking night at my house.  Three other ladies came and I got two more pages done.  That makes six for the year of 2009, all done in the last two weeks. Be excited. I caught up on e-mails. I exercised.   And I almost blogged.

Joel and I are out the door now for our Thursday morning date.  We are going to plan our YM/YW activity.  Did I tell you?  He got called as Young Men's President.  There's a good story to be told about that, but again it will have to wait for another day.  Suffice it to say, he loves it.  We love it.  We are a team. 

Perhaps when I come home I will write the blog that is kicking around in my mind.  For now, be uninspired.

Toodles!

Tender Mercies

I love how ever since Elder Bednar gave that talk in General Conference, it's just part of the vernacular.

I'm trying to do too many things at once.  I tend to do this in my life.  And then I become overwhelmed and go to bed.  Anyway, today I'm trying to finish painting my bathroom.  I did some on it yesterday, but it turned out I hated the color so I have to redo today.  On top of all other duties, plus I have my first Messiah rehearsal in front of the orchestra tonight.  Scary.  Especially since the Maestro has only taken over one of my practice sessions, so I'm not really sure what to expect.

Two tender mercies today.  First, my afternoon voice lesson called and cancelled.  I was thinking of calling her to reschedule, but decided I bring this all on myself.  So I was really thankful that she still cancelled in the end.  Second, Joel is home sick from work.  Not really merciful for him, but since our bathroom has vaulted ceilings, I needed him to help me with a few corners.  I told him it's a good thing I'm tall, or I would have needed him a lot more!

Now I'm closer to being done on the bathroom.  Just need to paint doors and trim now (biggest job, probably) and I have the entire afternoon to do it in!  No teaching in my paint clothes or anything.

I'm off to pick up Sophia from preschool, feed her lunch, and get back to work.

What tender mercies have you had in your life lately?

Thank Full

Last year I did my whole "Month of  Thanksgiving" series in November.  I loved doing it, but I just didn't have the energy or wherewithal to do it this year.  But, you can't blog in November without being grateful for something, sometime.

Bria actually made a little book last Saturday which she calls "Bria's Thanksgiving Book."  She did this all on her own volition and creativity.  And I love it.

Here are its contents:

I am thank full for my bed and clothing and stuff that is warm.

I am thank full for my parents giving me food and desserts.

I am thank full for my house and my shelter

I am thank full for my school.

I am thank full for The Church.

I am thank full for the world.

I am thank full for all of the hugs and kisses I get.

I am thank full for all of the resteraunts I get to go to.

I am thank full for my violin talents.

I am thank full for nature.

I am thank full for Family Home Evening.

I am thank full for the animals.

I am thank full for our car.

I am thank full for games to play.

I am thank full for Heavenly Father and Jesus.

I am thank full for my family!

I am thank full for Mom's enchaladas.

I am thank full for Dad's oat cookies.

I am thank full for Chloe and the pictures she draws me.

I am thank full for Sophie and her cuteness.

As for me?

I am thank full for that little girl and the joy she brings to our household.