It's Saturday and Josh is home. He's been working all week and it's nice to have him around. He is about to take Jonah to the Post Office and to Home Depot. It's going to be quiet for a while and i think I'll do the dishes and shine my sink.
To answer some questions:
Flylady can be found here: www.Flylady.net
Basically she offers an organization system that will help you get and keep your house in order. There's a lot more to it, but honestly I'm still working on that part. The first thing she has you do is shine your sink. It really does help. I've also put a link to her book on the sidebar.
Yes- some of it feels like Silly Woman Stuff. However, I never realized that it was Woman Stuff for a reason. Keeping Jonah and Josh and myself in clean clothes, clean dishes, and a good mood is so much easier when someone tells you how and reminds you of those steps. Tara (my twin sister who was born organized) has no problem with this stuff. In fact, it's kind of like having a little Tara on my shoulder throughout the day.
And here's the good stuff:
Saturday, August 30
Wednesday, August 27
A Rare Post Indeed
I don't often talk about politics. Mostly I don't because I tend to get very opinionated, and I think I may not know enough to be THAT opinionated. Also, politics tends to make me angry. Like now.
I watched Hilary Clinton's speech last night and have heard lots about the DNC in the last day or so. I can only roll my eyes and keep my mouth shut for so long.
Why- WHY?- does it have to be an issue of democrats vs. republicans? Why are we enemies (as I have heard them repeatedly say) and why- WHY??- does Barak Obama equal good and McCain equal bad?
Don't misunderstand. I will be equally annoyed in a few short weeks when the RNC is all that is on the air at night. I'll be asking why Barak Obama is satan and John McCain the only logical choice. The truth is that I don't really align myself with either party. I agree with the republicans in some areas and with the democrats in others. I agree with libertarians in a lot as well.
Mostly I am just ridiculously disappointed that the DNC is far more interested in party unity than American unity. What does it take to make people understand that one party winning over another means nothing if we can't cooperate? What good has it ever done a party to have their man in office if they do it at the expense of the other party's man, and in turn incur the wrath of the other party? That seems like a great way to accomplish nothing at all. What does it mean to win, if by winning you anger almost half of the voting population?
I want to have a great deal of hope that the elected man will be able to do great things in the next few years, but I don't see how that will happen if each party continues to speak of the other party in the way that it has been.
When I was spending large amounts of time watching West Wing earlier this year it made me want to want a candidate. It made me want to feel like someone was looking at the issues form a human perspective- not just a perspective of entitlement, or the perspective of party politics. I want our country to be one that is full of humanity. Call me unpatriotic if you must, but I want to be able to be proud of our country.
Tuesday, August 26
More Mommy
It's been a while since my last post. In the mean time I had some family visit, a wedding to attend, and a short tip to Dallas to buy cabinets. Here's the run down:
What can I say about Ikea? We spent 6 hours there and I have a list of things to think about buying next time. If you've never been, it's truly an event. I put up the new pendant lights over the dining table yesterday and hopefully we'll get the shoe rack put together today. We bought a lot of the cabinets, but they were out of stock on two of the large pieces we needed. I guess we'll just have to go back!
The wedding was... I'm not sure I can describe it. I am so very happy to see my Uncle Richard so happy. It makes me all teary thinking about it. Angie is a wonderful woman and I am sure that they will be very happy together.
********
About eight months ago I had a post called "More Mommy, not More Money." I decided that I wanted to stay home with my child at the expense of a large portion of our income- which made it necessary that Josh make more money.
This hasn't been as easy as it seemed that it would. Money hasn't even been the biggest issue- God provides ways for you to provide for your family when you set priorities. Mostly it's been hard because pre-Jonah I was not as organized as I needed to be post-Jonah. I've been working fairly hard to get myself in gear, but things are not always as clean or neat as I would like them. Jonah is not always as cooperative as I would like.
Almost two years ago I came across something called Flylady, which was interesting but did not seem like a necessity. I was slightly depressed, working from home and it helped me get out of a funk, but I recently threw myself whole-heartedly into the system. That doesn't mean I always get everything done that I need to, but it does mean that I have felt a lot less anxiety at the state of my home and my responsibilities.
It's amazing how disorganization can creep up on you. It actually takes me less time to take care of things when I make an effort to be organized- in my house and in my head.
What can I say about Ikea? We spent 6 hours there and I have a list of things to think about buying next time. If you've never been, it's truly an event. I put up the new pendant lights over the dining table yesterday and hopefully we'll get the shoe rack put together today. We bought a lot of the cabinets, but they were out of stock on two of the large pieces we needed. I guess we'll just have to go back!
The wedding was... I'm not sure I can describe it. I am so very happy to see my Uncle Richard so happy. It makes me all teary thinking about it. Angie is a wonderful woman and I am sure that they will be very happy together.
********
About eight months ago I had a post called "More Mommy, not More Money." I decided that I wanted to stay home with my child at the expense of a large portion of our income- which made it necessary that Josh make more money.
This hasn't been as easy as it seemed that it would. Money hasn't even been the biggest issue- God provides ways for you to provide for your family when you set priorities. Mostly it's been hard because pre-Jonah I was not as organized as I needed to be post-Jonah. I've been working fairly hard to get myself in gear, but things are not always as clean or neat as I would like them. Jonah is not always as cooperative as I would like.
Almost two years ago I came across something called Flylady, which was interesting but did not seem like a necessity. I was slightly depressed, working from home and it helped me get out of a funk, but I recently threw myself whole-heartedly into the system. That doesn't mean I always get everything done that I need to, but it does mean that I have felt a lot less anxiety at the state of my home and my responsibilities.
It's amazing how disorganization can creep up on you. It actually takes me less time to take care of things when I make an effort to be organized- in my house and in my head.
Sunday, August 10
Saturday, August 9
...and all is well.
It's seven thirty and my child is asleep. It's no wonder since he only took one good nap today, ran errands with Mom and decided to stay up pretty late last night. It's great because I can get some stuff done, however, I am hesitant to make a lot of noise. I was doing the dishes when Josh brought him in. They will sit- silently- soaped but not rinsed until tomorrow.
So what to do? Hmmm... why not post on my blog? Here's a little eye candy:
My boys were still sleeping this morning when I got up. Jonah had joined us around 7:00 and I coudn't go back to sleep, so I let Josh and Jonah snooze while I got myself ready for the day.
Jonah and I got ready and then played around on the bed until my laundry was done. Yes- that is a bruise on his cheek. My rough-and-tumble 9-month-old has started trying to climb up on top of things (the coffee table, the bathtub, his little chair...) and he managed to have a rough tumble the other day.
In other news, our dog has gone missing. She rarely ventures near the road, so we think someone might have picked her up. I don't want to think about other possibilities. I'm still hoping that she will show up again tonight. Our neighbor (she runs a dog rescue) suggested that we grill some bacon or meat or something on the grill, and if she's around she'll come back. I'll let you know how it goes.
Also, this promises to be an interesting week. Thursday my parents will fly in, Friday my twin will fly in, and Saturday my Uncle Richard will get married. We are terribly excited for Richard and Angie!!
Okay- one more piece of eye candy!
What's better than a happy boy?
So what to do? Hmmm... why not post on my blog? Here's a little eye candy:
My boys were still sleeping this morning when I got up. Jonah had joined us around 7:00 and I coudn't go back to sleep, so I let Josh and Jonah snooze while I got myself ready for the day.
Jonah and I got ready and then played around on the bed until my laundry was done. Yes- that is a bruise on his cheek. My rough-and-tumble 9-month-old has started trying to climb up on top of things (the coffee table, the bathtub, his little chair...) and he managed to have a rough tumble the other day.In other news, our dog has gone missing. She rarely ventures near the road, so we think someone might have picked her up. I don't want to think about other possibilities. I'm still hoping that she will show up again tonight. Our neighbor (she runs a dog rescue) suggested that we grill some bacon or meat or something on the grill, and if she's around she'll come back. I'll let you know how it goes.
Also, this promises to be an interesting week. Thursday my parents will fly in, Friday my twin will fly in, and Saturday my Uncle Richard will get married. We are terribly excited for Richard and Angie!!
Okay- one more piece of eye candy!
What's better than a happy boy?
Friday, August 8
One of my favorite poets is T. S. Elliot. His work could often be rather difficult, but also beautiful. I think sometimes people shy away from him because his work can be difficult, but according to the quote above, that wasn't his concern.
I'm going to try to post my new attempts to be creative on here, at least once a week. My first attempt is the new layout. I hope you like it because I do.
Thursday, August 7
The Friday Archives and Creative Endeavors
A while back I started posting something called the Friday Archives and then, after three or four weeks I abandoned it. I would like to offer and explanation.
The Friday Archives were supposed to showcase some creative endeavor in my past. However, I found it difficult to post things that were truly indicative of the things I had done. I found three or four more things I could have posted but I realized that most or my creative outlets had been oral, and that I had stopped being very creative after I started work at NSN.
It is often difficult to work for an Arts organization and continue to be an artist yourself. I have found that much of your energy goes into the promotion of the art form and other artists and very little goes back to your own work. Leaving NSN was the best thing I could have done for myself creatively.
That all being said, I have been working on a book, on and off for a while now and recently I found myself more on than off. Hopefully I can finish it this year and see it to the next stage of it's journey.
Instead of showing you something from an Archive of past creativity (because i am sure i could dig up lots of bad High School poetry if you all wanted to hear it!) I would like to try to showcase something of my current creativity. This may be a tall order to meet for tomorrow, but I don't really plan on starting too big. Maybe I'll post a chapter of the book, or maybe a poem, or a picture of the sock fox I'm working on for Jonah... We'll see!
From now on, this is what you'll see on Friday:
The Friday Archives were supposed to showcase some creative endeavor in my past. However, I found it difficult to post things that were truly indicative of the things I had done. I found three or four more things I could have posted but I realized that most or my creative outlets had been oral, and that I had stopped being very creative after I started work at NSN.
It is often difficult to work for an Arts organization and continue to be an artist yourself. I have found that much of your energy goes into the promotion of the art form and other artists and very little goes back to your own work. Leaving NSN was the best thing I could have done for myself creatively.
That all being said, I have been working on a book, on and off for a while now and recently I found myself more on than off. Hopefully I can finish it this year and see it to the next stage of it's journey.
Instead of showing you something from an Archive of past creativity (because i am sure i could dig up lots of bad High School poetry if you all wanted to hear it!) I would like to try to showcase something of my current creativity. This may be a tall order to meet for tomorrow, but I don't really plan on starting too big. Maybe I'll post a chapter of the book, or maybe a poem, or a picture of the sock fox I'm working on for Jonah... We'll see!
From now on, this is what you'll see on Friday:
Saturday, August 2
Quiet
I'm sitting alone in the house for the first time in a while. I'm not sure how long I have to savor the quiet, but it feels guilty. Life feels kind of squishy right now- like the way the pumpkin you left on the porch for about a month too long gets a bit mushy on one side.
The house is a mess, and it seems I can't catch up. Jonah has the sniffles and it makes him clingy. Money is tight (whose isn't? When hasn't it been?). I haven't done my hair but once this week. It's over 100 degrees outside right now. I need a nap but there is too much to do.
I've been trying to get Jonah on a better schedule, and it's working a little, but nighttime is still quite rough. I'm getting myself a little better organized, and I keep trying to remind myself that it takes a little time to get a house completely in order when you have a small one and you move.
So I'm savoring a little quiet- ignoring the laundry and the clothes that need to be put away. Enjoying the fact that I've already made dinner for Monday and been grocery shopping. I'm being happy that Jonah's room (at least) looks just the way I want it to.
Deep breaths.
The house is a mess, and it seems I can't catch up. Jonah has the sniffles and it makes him clingy. Money is tight (whose isn't? When hasn't it been?). I haven't done my hair but once this week. It's over 100 degrees outside right now. I need a nap but there is too much to do.
I've been trying to get Jonah on a better schedule, and it's working a little, but nighttime is still quite rough. I'm getting myself a little better organized, and I keep trying to remind myself that it takes a little time to get a house completely in order when you have a small one and you move.
So I'm savoring a little quiet- ignoring the laundry and the clothes that need to be put away. Enjoying the fact that I've already made dinner for Monday and been grocery shopping. I'm being happy that Jonah's room (at least) looks just the way I want it to.
Deep breaths.
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