Things I have learend this year

This year has been a doozie.  Filled with ups and downs. Here are somethings I learned this year.

1. Being optimistic 90% of the time takes work. Human nature leads people to be negative. There are also times that require a sober look that is not always a positive thing.

2. Being the positive person can get people annoyed with you. Especially if they are really in a funk.

3. Nurses respond better to sweetness than they do an overly tired grouch.

4. Some nurses really do make huge mistakes and you really do have to call them out on it.

5. A small out of the way restaurant is not always a jewel.

5. Homemade pizza is the best

6. Same with Spaghetti Sauce

7. Water is and forever will be gross but I can tolerate it enough to drink it

8. You are not a loon if you prepare for hardships.

9. There are a lot of preppers out there

10.  Blue Cheese tastes as bad as it smells

11. My toddlers always have very cute high pitch squeaky voices.

12. Forgiveness is not for the other person but for you.

13. The law does not always help the victim.

14. GOD  has seen me through some crap and always will

15 I have way to many clothes and so do my kids

16 Said clothes do not necessarily fit

17 I hate doing laundry in the winter ( my machines are in my detached garage)

18 Pet mice smell like old Chinese food that has been left out for awhile

19  Wood floors are a two sided coin

20  Thinking of my life with out my husband is heart wrenching

21 RA sucks really really SUCKS

22 You can call more than one church home

23 You don't have to totally agree on the details for someone to be a really close friend

24 I apparently consider a lot of people my friend to the point my sisters find it cool

25 My sisters are way more unique people than I could ever imagine.

26 Going wild with your hair is fun

27 Doing your hair can be a bonding experince

28 I love gaming

29 The widower effect is a real thing

30 HP Lovecraft was a genius for his time

31 Your mind is your intellect and therefore you should build up your mind ( Love thy GOD with all your mind)

32 Society is dumb and thus commercials reflect it -I am not going to have a "gooder" day but I will have a better day.

33. A $5 Cheeseburger is not much better than $2 one and never as good as a homemade one

34. Date nights are critical for reconnecting with your spouse

35. You have to have your own thing. It adds spice to your relationship and gives you both something to talk about

36 I get really grouchy if I am tired

37 You have to go after fulfillment in life it does not just happen

38. Trying new foods is fun until you find something gagariffic

39. Those who don't know will make judgements until they hit the same spot you are in

40 I have been blessed with really good kids

41 Just because you live in a nice area does not mean you are not surrounded by crazies or drug addicts

42 You can only help a person so far

43 Netflix and On Demand are awesome

44  Not all craft shows are created equal

45 Some show organizers are awesome and some should not be putting together shows.

46 Record Lows and Highs wreck havoc on your utilities and plans

47 It is 99% percent you and 1% them or your surroundings

48 It takes a lot to make me cry

49 It is hard to see what is coming with your head hanging down

50 Good or Bad Life is a journey. You have to make the choice.

 

A Christmas Adventure

So I know I said I would post about things I learned this year but something worthy of writing happened. It actually started Christmas eve when my family I was supposed to go see on Christmas day called and we decided to meet this weekend so no one had to get out in the winter storm that was supposed to hit.  Which meant for the first time since my nuclear family was formed we did not have to go anywhere on Christmas day. We went along with our usual Christmas Eve traditions including baking my Blueberry Coffee Cake and letting the kids open one small gift. Everything was cozy and normal. We went to bed a little late "Santa" duties. As the norm we turned the heat down a bit. Over night it got cold, really cold. When Christmas morning came around I got up to turn up the heat with the idea I had simply turned it down to low for the weather. I turned it up....nothing Turned it up to 83......nothing Turned it off and then back on........nothing. I scurried back to bed and crawled back under the covers with the news that the heater was not working.  We laid there for a minute going over options and letting me warm back up. My hubby then called our landlord who had him turn on the A/C and then it off and then the heater on to test the thermostat and then to take the filters out and try the heater again....... no heat. The landlord said the earliest he could get it fixed was the next morning. So we called my in-laws and planned on going over to their little place and celebrate over there for the morning, it's a tradition to celebrate with them on Christmas morning and they live right behind us.  Afterwards we came home and my husband set about  heating the house. He lit the gas heater in the bathroom, turned on the stove,sealed every possible leak he could and then went to the closest 7/11 for some of their over priced firewood. He came home and built a big fire and then we created a barrier between the living room and the rest of the house by hanging blankets over the doorway.  This successfully warmed up our little living room to a comfortable level. This also led to a very slow and cozy Christmas. A little bit of an adventure too. We watched movies, played and snuggled together. I am so appreciative of my husband for all that he did to take care of us and to keep us warm. Including getting out on the icy roads not once but twice to make sure we had enough wood to keep us warm. That night we brought all of the kids mattresses into our living room and we all bunked down in our little cave for a nights rest. My husband got up to put wood on the fire ( which is a big deal with his RA) and the fire didn't go out till early morning. We left our last bundle till when we got up. It did get a little cool after the blaze went out but it was so beautiful and warm right up to the last. The kids loved watching the fire as they laid down to rest. When we woke up my husband restarted the fire to help rewarm us. The heat and air guy came very shortly after we woke up. He had to go get a new part for the unit so even if he had come Christmas day he would have been unable to fix it anyways. Needless to say though our heater is now fixed but this all has really emphasized what Christmas is really about.It's not about presents or big holiday dinners but about the most precious blessings in our lives our family and friends. Time with these people is after all the most important and expensive thing you could ever give.  Well I hope you enjoyed this little story and that your Christmas was a special as ours was. Thank you for reading.

A week in review

This week was so great. Like I noted in my previous post we we the week with no TV. After the first day the kids handled it really well. We all learned  very valuable lessons.  We have decided to make it a new rule of no TV till late evening if at all .  We actually hardly missed it after the first few days.   I got so many things done this week on top of my normal. It was great. My husband read 3 books. I would absolutely suggest unplugging for week to others.  Today my older two kids preformed in a skit at their church. They did really well.  They both practiced their lines till they had them down. They learned there are no small parts in a play. Every part helps to tell the story. It was a lot of fun to see it all come together. We went to my mom's house today.It was a good time. There is talk of snow on Christmas day. I am so torn about this. It would be so nice for the kids to have such a beautiful treat but we are also supposed to go across town that day. I don't really want to travel in bad conditions. So I am torn. This year we did some home made gifts. I can't post them all on here yet because some of my readers are my gift recipients. I am very excited about how one item turned out that I made. It has lead to an idea for a new line of items. I have been working on setting up my business plan and goals for the next 6 months and then year.  I have some ideas for some new lines. I am also going to be doing some revamping of my look.I am very excited about it all.  I wish I could tell you more but sometimes things are better left unsaid and just revealed. I am so very grateful for the lessons I learned this year. I think my next blog will be on that and other things I did this year. Thank you for reading

Unplug it week

Hubby and I have been hearing a lot through the churches we have been visiting about allowing things to get in the way of how you are intended to live, like spending useless hours watching tv and surfing the internet. Also we have felt that these things have lead to stagnant empty thinking and lives. So after many discussions  we are unplugging, well for a week at least. We are doing NO TV and limited internet.
  I know you are thinking. Why not just no internet use? Well there are a few reason why. 1. My work is online and I have customers who will expect to get what they paid for this week. 2. We do a lot of research online, i.e. We homeschool and the internet is a valuable tool for gathering info.  3. Our kids use it to connect with their friends during the week.
  So we are going with limited internet use. 30 min. for which ever kid has internet use that day. Only for work for me and as needed for research.Yes there will be World of Warcraft withdrawals for me.

 Now the no TV will be hard at some points too.  Our kids whined a little when it was dropped on them this morning what the new deal is for this week. They have shows they like to watch and follow as much as we do. My husband and I feel though that this time will only stand to increase us. We feel it will bring us closer together as a family. We feel it will teach us to entertain ourselves instead of allowing others to tell us what is entertaining.  We feel it will open up previously unseen opportunities to learn something new.
         I am not saying this will be a breeze, as a matter of fact as I write this I am wondering if a new episode of my new anime series is on now. I will say though that with out the distractions of the TV or internet my productivity increased 10 fold today.  Also my home was kind of peaceful with out the "background" noise form the TV I had become so accustomed to thinking I needed, I will say the ringing in my ears was a little annoying though. Well thank you for reading.

Beauty is in the eye of the mom

I love to sketch and doodle. I have since I was younger. I thought I would show off a little doodle I did with Pixlr - Don't laugh that's not nice :) . I don't have any of my normal drawing tools on my new laptop and thus resorted to using Pixlr. I actually thought the little pencil tool had some neat tips to play with. This just a simple scene scape but a lot of times I find my self doing faces and figures. Yes I a lot of time they tend to lean towards the anime/manga or fantasy. I only do it for fun because I am not all that wonderful as you can tell.  All of my kids have picked up the love of drawing and/or painting. I love to see their creations. I of course display them from time to time. Till a new one comes a long or the picture gets mangled from being pulled down to  be looked at by the artist.  Each one has their own styles and I try to encourage their own styles and talents by showing them the types of styles similar to their and artists similar to them selves. I also show them the renowned pieces of classic art, to which I am fond of.  I will not say my kids are prodigies but I do love their work and hope that it remains an outlet for them during their lives. 

Whatcha doing?

This year my husband and I have been blessed by a very sweet angel in our lives. They are giving my family one of the biggest gifts that has ever been offered. Something so huge I would have never dared dreamed. I was asked to not share what the gift has been but I am more thankful than they will ever know. It really does mean a Merry Christmas to my family. I do feel a lot of stress from some changes coming but I know things will be alright. There are a lot of balls in the air right now. A lot of decisions to be made, a lot of people pulling , some growth that needs to happen and things that need to be said or not said. There are people I would love to talk to but I just don't know if that door will open. I am looking forward to seeing my kids in their play they have been working on. The 27th will be bitter sweet with some very dear friends moving away on that day. I of course am still playing World of Warcraft. Love that game and most of the people I meet on there. I have been trying to grow my intellect- 2 of our wonderful Pastors have been reading and discussing  with us a wonderful book on the topic( to which we went and bought so we could study it at home)- so I bought a book by a new author ( a classic author of course) and am reading that instead of watching TV( well most of the time).  I do love the author so far H.P.Lovecraft. Very intense space Sci-Fi type stories which is amazing considering he died in1937. Trying to learn new words- to increase my vocab. Some have come from my new book and yet others from other sources. Trying to learn new topics- to broaden my view. Mostly computer, social media and web junk but a little science stuff too. Speaking of computers - I recently went over to my dad's new home to celebrate his and 3 of my kids B-days, which was way over due but couldn't be helped. I am so happy for him and my step-mom. The house is gorgeous and big enough to fit our ever growing clan 1grandparent-2parnets-4daughters-2husbands-2boyfriends-5grandkids(like I said big) not to mention 3dogs and 2 cats I think. My grandma was there It was very nice. She used to live in Florida and I really only saw her a little bit as a kid so hopefully I will get to be around her a little more now. It was great though because my kids got to see again and for 2 meet for the first time another 1 of their great grandmas. Actually the last one :(   It was a little odd not being in my childhood home for the celebration. Now both of my sets of parents have moved from my childhood homes. I do look forward to the new memories formed at the new houses.  Oh for those who know me personally and my vast capable of desert dwelling just to avoid it dislike of water.....I have been drinking my water. Sorry I have not posted much lately I have been overwhelmed lately and also haven't really had much to post about.  I have decided to make a few changes on my businesses which will mean slowing down in some areas and picking up in others. I think though the new direction is a good idea and should be in full force in no time. Well thank you for reading my blog. Hopefully will be back soon.  * Little Special side note HI DAD!!!! smiles and waves. I love you. Let's get together soon.