On getting organized...

I thought I'd channel Kahlil Gibran with that title. If you never read "The Prophet" there's no better time than now.

Back to the subject...

I've posted a little bit about my organization efforts. I've been reading "Organizing From the Inside Out" and decluttering a little at a time. For the most part, I'm pretty organized now. I still have a lot of things in a tiny little house and as I go through "OFIO", I'll get proper storage for my space. She's already mentioned having to go vertical with space in small dwellings, so that's what I'm prepared to do.

Here's a funny story about just how unorganized I used to be:

So, you're wondering just how unorganized I used to be. Well, at one time I filled nearly 10 extra-large rubbermaid totes with stuff from inside my house. 10! It was a disaster in here, I literally had paths to be able to walk through my house. Yeah, it was bad. But that's not the funny part... it's about the organizing book I mentioned above. I received it one year for my birthday. I thought, "this is great, I really can use this." But as time passed, later on that evening, I came to realize that I already had that book (or so I thought. I was pretty sure that I had already purchased it for myself.) but when I got home, I couldn't find it (which was expected. I couldn't find anything in my house! That's how I ended up with half-a-dozen hot glue guns... lol.) Sometime later, I was cleaning out my locker at work (I worked at Hobby Lobby at the time... easy glue gun purchase there... lol) and damn if if it wasn't stuck at the back of my locker underneath a ton of other stuff. Thank God I'm not that unorganized anymore.

Oh, but be careful when you're decluttering, too. We had this steam cleaner (you know the portable one's you see on TV infomercials) that we NEVER used, ever. I think Dodger played with it once on the day he bought it. It sat in my laundry room for nearly a year. So during one of my recent purges, I packed it up and took it down to the local thrift shop. Damn if that man didn't need it for the first time ever last week! And not for cleaning, mind you, but for work to be able to take wallpaper off. Ugh! I lied, and said I didn't know where it was, being pretty sure that I had already purged it from the house but hoping that it was still here. So, after becoming fully aware that I no longer had it, I ran down to Walgreens (that's where he bought it from) hoping that they still sold them. Blessings to them, they had 1 left! AND lucky me, they have a $10 rebate for it in their catalog this month.

BUT, at the same time, I'm also trying to organize my time. Having not yet read "Time Management From the Inside Out", I'm doing what I can with what I know now. I already have the family calendar in place on the fridge (been doing that for years now, and I've found the best ones have large spaces to write and a pocket at the bottom for storage). I've had a *paying bills* system in place for quite a few years now, too. But it's all these little odds and ends that I need/want to wrap-up into one place and one system. The Master Plan is that place and that system.  It has a place for everything!  Really!  And if you do have something that you'd like to add, you can do that because it's fully customizable.  I love that it's an interactive PDF, which means I can edit many of the pages and save them to the planner, then print them out if I so choose.  It even has homeschooling and unschooling planning pages!

So, with The Master Plan, I can finally start to get all of those details organized and start my on pursuing my goals full steam ahead!

Now what?

My house is fairly clean...I'm no top of the daily stuff... the process of decluttering is moving along... I'm eating right and exercising on a daily basis... BUT because I'm no longer feeling overwhelmed by my house, I have all of this free time and I'm spending most of it on the computer reading blogs and stuff.  I think it's time to make some goals, so that I can put all of this free time to use.

Using credit to get out of credit card debt

I know it sounds crazy, but it's true. Those 0% APR on Balance Transfer offers that you get in the mail can help you get out of credit card debt BUT you have to be diligent about payments, pay more than you would normally pay per month, and NEVER pay late (even a day late will cause you to lose your 0% APR).

Check out #4 in this article on getting out of credit card debt:

Got Credit Card Debt? Ten Tactics to Use Right Now to Get It Under Control

I have done this a few times. The first time I transfered almost $4,000 from a few cards onto one card, and when that 0% APR time ran out, I moved that balance to another card. Today, I did it again, I'm determined to be out of credit card debt by the end of this 0% APR period. I started this quest to pay off our credit about a year and a half ago and we're down to almost $1,000 now. As we get my DH's student loan debt down to a transferable amount, we may transfer his balance to a 0% APR credit card, too. The extra time that the 0% APR period gives is such an advantage to getting the card paid off, without all of those extra fees tacked on to the balance.

Habit Change

In the past, I have been guilty of jumping into changes too quickly. I'd become overwhelmed and quit. Part of the problem was not preparing and part of it was not making changes that worked with my personality.

I started reading, "Organizing From the Inside Out" last night... this book teaches you how to organize your life in a way that flows with who you are.

Steve Pavlina has a great post today about Habit Change. He equates habit change with chess strategy.

He says:

"Trying to change a habit overnight is like trying to execute scholar’s mate in chess. Scholar’s mate is a strategy of achieving checkmate in only four moves. It only works against total beginners. Against a chess player with an ounce of experience, scholar’s mate will fail. A botched scholar’s mate puts you in a disadvantaged position, so attempting it is usually a bad idea unless you’re playing against a complete novice.

Are you applying the scholar’s mate strategy when trying to change old habits or adopt new habits? Do you go straight for the kill, only to find your attempt shot down?

When you try to change a habit without devoting sufficient time to the early game and middle game, you’ll almost always fail to make the change stick. Only the very easy habits will succumb to this kind of brute force strategy.

The early game of habit change is education and setup. In the middle game, you execute some changes to support your habit change. Only in the endgame do you go directly for the kill."

Go read the rest... Habit Change Is Like Chess

New CD!

I don't what took this guy so long to ship his CD, but because he's so cool, I'll forgive him. Got this in the mail yesterday! WooHoo!

Brian Lauri - Train of Thought

Another nightly battle

Work was great last night. I wore different shoes, which helped with my foot and leg pain that I've been experiencing since the new ad set system has been in place (maybe I haven't talked about this here... this new system involves a ton more walking, than we are all used to... because of the walking, the extra hours [because we are understaffed], and my extra weight on my tiny feet [70 lbs... gasp... on a size 5 foot], I have been nearly crippled for weeks now. I haven't been able to walk without constant and sometimes severe pain. It also helped that we got out of work early last night, we haven't been able to do that for quite some time because of being understaffed. So, I wasn't on those awful floors for as long.

I got home just a little after midnight. Spent some time with Dodger, watched Seinfeld, and read a bit more in "Fit For Life." My nightly battle, again, was within my head... one part of my brain screaming, eat-eat-eat... and the other part screaming, no-breath through it-you don't have to eat-it's too late to be eating-you'll over tax your system if you eat this late at night and right before bed. Ugh! I won the battle again... but damn, it sure sucks! I sure hope one day that the *bad* voices in my head aren't so loud.

My Yummy Lunch

I thought about trying to fast today... but, that didn't end up happening... it's a bad week for fasting anyway, we're super busy all week long. SO, since I was super hungry, I decided to try my hand at this food combining thing ("Fit For Life" by Harvey and Marilyn Diamond). I didn't want to take the time to cook meat, so I made a baked potato (via microwave) w/ a little butter instead and had a whole bag of seasoned Asian veggies, lightly steamed. Being that veggies should make up at least 70% of your food intake, the bag was just right. The veggies took up almost 3/4 of my plate. I wish I had taken a picture, like PTF does, maybe next time. :) My meal was delicious!!!! And I didn't have any fluids... fluids water-down the digestive juices... I wonder how long I have to wait until I can drink? I'm thirsty.

Nook and Cranny Cleaning

My friend Julie has fallen in-love with her house again and has been cleaning and purging every nook and cranny.  You've inspired me, Julie, it's time for some nook and cranny cleaning myself.  :)  I'm looking to start sewing again and thinking about selling my stuff, so I really must get my stuff organized so that I'm not inefficient.

AND I need to make a honey-do list.  It rained hard here last night and I noticed a discoloration in our living room ceiling shortly there after... our roof is leaking... why?... because Dodger lets the tree droppings pile up in the dip in the spot between the top roof and the porch roof and stuff's been growing in it and obviously breaking down the shingles to the point of leakage.  Needless to say, I'M NOT HAPPY ABOUT HIS LAZINESS!  Ugh.  Why do I feel like this man's mom sometimes?

My struggle to stay conscious

Some of you may know that for a long time I've struggled with food. It has been my *addiction*. It used to be really bad... hording, binging, sneaking food, hiding the evidence (who the hell did I think I was hiding this from... I think I was trying to hide it from myself, actually)... all of that has stopped, but I still struggle with conscious eating. I still notice myself zoning out when food enters my mouth and when that happens, I find myself eating 1 too many portions and it's like I'm screaming from somewhere deep in my consciousness to put on the breaks before I go for another helping. I also struggle late at night... I believe that because everything slows down at night and my mind and body is no longer focused on the tasks of the day, that the urge to eat fills my brain, so that I'll have something to fill my time and space.

BUT, I am so very proud of myself. See, I've been reading "Fit For Life" by Harvey and Marilyn Diamond. Like most other alternative thinkers concerning eating and medicine, this book promotes natural ways of eating, food combining and a process called "Natural Hygiene." I won't get into all of that, you can get the book and read for yourself... but my point is that I didn't eat late last night like I wanted to. The thoughts running through my head were, "it's too late to eat, your not really hungry, cleanse or clog." :) Yeah, for me. :) I over-came the urge to eat, when it wasn't beneficial for me to.

I believe that with continued practice and sometimes raw effort, I can be a conscious eater. :)

Happy Learn Nothing Day!

Those of us over at RCU have already decided that it's IMPOSSIBLE to go a day without learning anything.

Here are some of what we've learned already:

*I had thought since we didn't have anything else planned today the girls might like to go swimming, then I thought they would almost certainly learn something swimming, so we can't do that. lol

*Would it be okay if I accidentally learned something? Or do we have to actively avoid any and all learning?

*Well, I've blown it already. My best friend thinks she's in labor, and I may get to see a baby being born today! So I could be in for some major learning. And I've already learned TMI about my friend's body. :)

*I already blew it....open and read the story about the names...learned that parents can be dumber than I thought...so I've already learned something today...oh well ;-)

*Well, I already learned when my DH's company picnic is going to be, he told me at 6:30 before he left for work. (I forgot about that whole better not get out of bed thing.) Then I forgot I wasn't supposed to learn anything today and turned on Good Morning America. (Didn't learn much of any consequence there, LOL) but then I just had to check my email. I learn all of sorts of things in my emails : ) I am not actively trying to learn anything today, but it's just so hard. The world wants me to know things LOL!

*I've already learned many things today! The kids are still asleep so they have a sportin' chance at it.. at least until they wake up. ; )

What did you learn on Learn Nothing Day?

An interesting conversation

I had my yearly evaluation at work last night.  It was your typical *meets expectations* with the side of *look what else L.J. does for us* eval.  But c'est la vie... I don't know what more I can do for them without giving them my life, which isn't going to happen.

Near the end of my eval, my boss and I got talking briefly about my life and that some how ended up bringing up homeschooling.  She mentioned getting into a convo with some other people recently about homeschooling and asked me if I was ever going to put Dancer back in school, to which I said, "if she wants to go, I'll let her, but I don't see her wanting to."  Her question was typical, "How will they be prepared for life?" And my answer, "Is anyone ever really prepared?" She looked at me, smiled and said, "No," then mentioned that that's what these other people that she had been talking to said, also.  LOL.

What is this preparation for life that everyone seems to think you're going to learn about in school?  Since when is school anything like life?  Unless, you consider becoming a work drone part-of life... well, then, I can see where school would prepare you for that.

My baby...

...TURNS 12 TODAY!  No way, I can't believe it's gone by so fast.  My sweet girl is one more year older and nearer to the day when she'll want to go out on her own.  I get choked up when I think about it.  She's been the biggest blessing to my life.  I would have had no reason to change and work on the person that I am, had it not been for her existence in my life.  She has always been and still is the coolest person I have ever met.  I see things in her that are so very different from me and many things that are so similar.  The similarities make me realize that some things certainly are hereditary... like our tendency to take ourselves and life too seriously.  I see that in my mom and my grandmother, too.  I have worked really hard to let that go and I'm working really hard on helping Dancer to let that go, too.   I love everyday that I have with her.  I thank God everyday for the blessing that is Dancer and pray for her future.  I know he has a super plan for her life.  :)

Her birth story:

Let's say that her conception was meant to be. A few months go by and I realized that I had missed a period or two and that one of my breasts was bigger than the other and they were sore.  I even mentioned the breast issue to my grandma (my dad's mom... boy do I miss her... LOVE YOU GRANDMA) because I was worried that something might be wrong.... hehe.  I never thought I might be pregnant, it just didn't cross my mind until I had missed another period.  So, I bought a pregnancy test and took it over to Shawn's house.  I figured that if I was pregnant, that I should be with someone that I knew I could relax with without judgment.   So, yeah, as you know, I found out I was pregnant.

I'm sure I told Dodger first.  Being that I was 4 months along, I didn't tell anyone else.  I had the test verified at PP.  We were living with my dad at the time and he found out because PP sent me something in the mail and he saw it.  No biggie... it was just a shock.  I think he wondered why I didn't feel comfortable telling him before he found out.  I was 20... and crazy... and not ready for a baby... nor did I know what I was going to do about it either.  I think that's why Dodger and I kept it to ourselves for so long.  We hashed out what we were going to do.  I eventually had to tell my mom, because the evidence was going to start showing.

On that last day, I got up and went to work.  I was scheduled from 9-1.  I felt horrible all day.  People could tell.  I had no color and no energy.  Right as I left work to head home, I got what felt like bad gas pains.  I thought nothing of it until they continued on my 25 min drive home.  I stopped and got gas at the local gas station... with the continued comments about how bad I looked... lol.  I got home and called Shawn because she had been through this pregnancy stuff before.  I still said that these pains felt like gas but that they were continual.  She timed them... and said with urgency... I think you need to get to the hospital.  So, I called my mom (who lives back in the city I had just come from 25-30 min away) and asked her to come get me.  She asked if she had time to change clothes, and being that most labor lasts longer than mine did, I said, sure... again, lol!  While I was waiting for her to come get me, I tried to pack a bag to take to the hospital with me (hey, it was a few days before me due-date, I wasn't prepared).  I had to pack in between these labor pains that had me down on the floor on all fours.

By the time my mom picked me up, the labor pains had started coming fast.  Because I was having back labor, I couldn't even sit in the car seat during them.  I had myself draped in between the front seats into the back seats, (God, this is so funny to remember.) , almost yelling at my mom to hurry... lol.  I had called Dodger, he was at work in another town about 30-40 minutes away from the hospital, right after I had called my mom.  Somehow, he beat us to the hospital.  So here we are pulling up to admitting and I can barely function because of the pain and I'm trying to quickly fill out paper work.  They make me sit (sitting with back labor sucks) in a wheelchair on the elevator ride up to the OB ward, I think I wanted to rip someone's head off for making me sit.  I get to my room and have to lay down.  Ugh.  Laying down and back labor don't mix but hospitals aren't set-up for alternative birthing, so I had to make them let me rock back and forth during the labor pains.  At some point, I knew I needed to get up and go to the bathroom, the freaks almost didn't let me, but I told them either let me get up and go or I'm going to pee all over this bed.  So, they let me get up.  :)

There was no time for an epidural, just some pain meds in my IV.  I was at the hospital just over an hour before Dancer made her entrance.  The pushing seemed pretty easy to me.  She came out pretty quickly.  She was in distress when she was born, the cord had started to wrap around her neck, so I didn't see her after she was born.  I laid and relaxed for awhile after she was born.  I swore, piece of cake, that was until I had to sit-up to go shower.  That's when I felt just how much it had taken out of me.  I hadn't seen myself in a mirror yet either, when I did I was shocked, the capillaries in my face had broken from the strain of pushing and I had these red dots all over my face.

Dancer came at 4:12 in the afternoon.  I don't think it was until about 7 or 8 that night that I got to see her.  They had tried to bring her to me sooner but she wouldn't stay warm when they took her out from under the warming light and they wouldn't let me get up and go down and see her.   After they finally brought her, she never left my arms.  She didn't sleep in the hospital basinet or go back to the nursury... she slept with me.  I guess I was AP from the beginning.  Co-sleeping was what seemed right and natural to me.  And breastfeeding was a given, breast milk is meant to feed babies, not formula.

So, what can I say.  This beautiful girl, named after her dad and aunt (my sister) stormed into my world and my heart and took over.  She's the best kid.  Never caused me any fuss.  Is fun and quirky and a pure joy to be around (most of the time).  Has changed me forever.  Is so resilient, she doesn't seem negatively affected by the time that it took me and her dad to get a life and grow up.  I miss the littleness of her toddler years.  I miss the silliness of her early childhood years.  But I love her years now, she's fun and quirky and doesn't need watching all of the time (thank goodness that stage does eventually pass).  Instead of her insights being cute like they were when she was little... now, I find many of them profound.  That light in her eyes still glows brightly, thank God for her resilience, having been spared from the strangeness and worldliness that goes on in school now-a-days and from many of life's pains that too many kids are exposed to (I think because both Dodger and I are from divorced families, that we worked harder at staying together, even through all of the shit we put each other through).  She still loves imagination games and playing with boys, boys seem to be more into her imagination games.  She's taller than me now... just one more person in the house for me to ask for help in reaching things... lol.  She loves sports, watching them and playing them.  She loves animals and learning about places around the world.

I love being her mom.

Consistency

Consistency is something that eludes me.  My blogging, my housekeeping, my reading, my learning, my emotional balance... consistency seems to be an illusion that I'm always grabbing for but can't seem to hand onto for any period of time.

Any thoughts?

Stop Hitting Your Kids!!!!

Everyday should be National Spank Out Day!!! Stop Hitting Your Kids!

Another One Bites The Dust

Actually, I'm quite disturbed by this news. I've been teary-eyed off and on since I heard about it yesterday. Someone I grew up with, went to school with, and who was in my husband's class in school died under suspicious circumstances early yesterday morning. Aaron B was a good guy. Dodger even roomed with him and a few other guys right after high school. His family, and he, have been long-time residents of my little hometown. My dad still lives there, the incident happened just around the corner from my dad's residence.

This is the 4th person (that we know of) from Dodger's class (one class ahead of mine) that has died (the other's are: Ryan A [motorcycle accident], Mike B [suicide], and Abe W [automobile accident]). This is the craziest one so far, although Mike's suicide was pretty messed up, too. I hope they find out what happened and who was responsible. Please, pray for his family, the not-knowing has to be making this so much harder for them.

Update: This case has finally been solved!

Mother's Day

Really, I can't stand Mother's Day (it feels so much like Valentines Day... a day conceived to get people to spend their money and celebrate love one day out of the year, when love should be a daily expression).  I don't have much of a relationship with my mom and I don't need a day to remind me of that.  It all feels so contrived.  The dinner after the dance concert (our dance concerts are always on Mother's Day weekend) and feeling that I have to buy her something, when I really don't have the extra $ to do so.

And for myself, as a mother, I don't want 1 day out of the year when my family feels that they should celebrate me.  My family is pretty good about staying in tune with each other every other day of the year.  I don't need a special day celebrating motherhood.  The celebration is in the small things that happen throughout the rest of the year.

KWIM?

Free Printable Checkbook Register and Calendar

SUPPLIES needed for ONE register:

• File downloaded
• Printer 
• 10-12 sheets of printer paper 
• 1 sheet of cardstock paper 
• Paper cutter, OR scissors and ruler 
• Stapler 

PRINT THE REGISTER:

• Print 10-12 copies of PAGE 1 ONLY
• After the printing is finished, print the same number of copies of PAGE 2 on the blank side of the printer paper, making sure page 2 is printed upside down from page 1. In order to fold the pages correctly, Page 2 MUST be printed 'upside down.' (Please see TIP section below) 
• Print ONE copy of the Checkbook Register Cover, using the cardstock paper. It's located on page 3 of either choice. 

TIP: On my HP printer, the page is printed to the tray: printed side up, and the image appears facing the printer (upside down.) When printing the back side, the printed sheets are taken from the 'out tray' and the stack is placed exactly the way they came out of the printer: printed side facing up, and the image is upside down, into the 'in tray' of the printer. The sheets do NOT get rotated, or flipped over to the blank side to be printed.

YOUR PRINTER DIRECTIONS MAY VARY. PLEASE CONSULT YOUR PRINTER DOCUMENTATION FOR MORE INFORMATION.

ASSEMBLE THE REGISTER:

• Line the "cut line" surrounding the checkbook register pages with the paper cutter blade to trim the edges evenly. Scissors can be used to do this, if you don't have access to a paper cutter. You can draw a line connecting the 'cut lines' to make your cutting straighter. Two horizontal cuts (top and bottom) and two vertical cuts (left side and right side) will be made, for a total of 4 cuts. Repeat this process for the checkbook cover. The checkbook cover will be longer and wider than the checkbook register pages. 
• Individually fold the trimmed checkbook register pages from top to bottom. Stack them one on top of each other. Flipping from one page to another, you should see the "Issued to" at the top of each page, and along the crease. 
• Fold the trimmed checkbook register cover from bottom to top, so the words are on the OUTSIDE. Personally, I like to have the 'info' side (register info about when it started/ended) as the back, and the "This Register belongs to" info as the front side of the cover. Insert the folded checkbook register pages into the cover lining up the creases. 
• Place the register pages and register cover (with the cover facing up) in the stapler, with the crease of the folded stack of pages as the part that will be stapled. Staple all pages with three staples spaced evenly, from left to right along the crease, then fold along the crease one more time.

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CALENDAR

Below is a calendar that you can customize to the size that you need and then download it to either Word or Open Office (Open Office is free to download here: http://www.openoffice.org/) and print.

• Go to http://www.calendarsthatwork.com/ 
• Click on The Sample Calendars in the left-hand sidebar.
• Scroll down until you find the Yearly Landscape calendar. Click on it. 

Here are the specs that I used to make it the right size to use with the checkbook registers.

• Page Size: A3 
• Resize content:  Width: 80%  Height: 60% 
• Calendars per Sheet: The 5th option, which has 4 red squares. 
• Adjust the Starting On date to the beginning of the year.
• Running For will automatically adjust to 4. Leave that as it is.
• Click the Sample Calendar print option.  This generate a downloadable file.
• Save it to your computer.
• Print.

You will need to trim your calendar and tape it to the register. Or better yet, print it off on sticker paper, trim, peel, and stick it to the register.

Spring Dance Concert 2008

 Here are a few pictures from Dancer's spring dance concert this evening.

Dancer, Megan, and Jan