tackle-it tuesday.

It's absolutely amazing how the weather can motivate me to be productive. Here's my wish list of tackle-it items:
1. Perfect weather. It's 71 degrees and sunny, so I opened the windows and filled the sinks with hot, soapy bleach water. I love when my kitchen sinks are shiny white.
2. Bloomers. I have flowers on my front porch that need to be planted, so I'm waiting on the shade to arrive in the front yard do to that.
3. Veggie beds. My vegetable gardens are begging to be cleaned up and planted...I'm hoping to do that on Thursday (and probably Friday and Saturday...) when we have friends over for the younger kids.
4. Is it time to clean out the coat closet? It feels like it, but I better wait a few weeks..so technically this item doesn't belong on my list, does it? Just an example of how my mind is working today - I want to attack every nook and cranny with a vacuum cleaner and Clorox wipes.
5. Frig. This sounds big, but it really just takes a half hour or so...I want to clean out my refrigerator! It's almost empty, so it's a good time to do it.
6. Wash bedspreads. Check. I've already started that one!
7. Bake chocolate chip cookies. Yummy-ness for a sweet friend, check. I'm already working on that one, too!
8. Take pictures for ebay items. Okay...I have to admit that I am not excited about this one. The weather is not motivating me and I have been procrastinating with this. But it needs to happen and I know I will be so happy I did it (when it's over and all the stuff is mailed and my paypal account is full!).
9. The Landfill. Yes, the garage is a bit of a mess again. I won't be working in it this week, but this weather makes me want to. (This weather is like a wonderful buffet that makes you want to fill up a plate - or two! - but you realize that you could not possibly eat everything you took.)
10. Mail Doug's broken iPhone back to Apple. This has to happen whether I am motivated or not! (smile)

My mom's in the hospital for the 2nd time in three weeks, so if I have the chance to farm my kids out, I'll drop anything I'm working on and go hang out with her a bit...the girls are so busy so they can't go and the boys are so "active" (the nice way to put it) that they don't exactly promote a healing atmosphere.

In case you are wondering...today's photo is a picture of my baby participating in an activity called mutton bustin'. He rode a sheep at the Houston Livestock Show and "made it flip over." Please note that he is wearing a helmet, face mask, and vest. His number is 24 and he is convinced that he was solely responsible for flipping that sheep onto his head, but I am pretty sure the sheep was flipping Corey onto his head in an effort to rid himself of a little boy on his back. I was not there, otherwise we would have 100 pictures instead of this one. Doug did take a few others with his phone, but they are quite dark.

{Then we your people, the sheep of your pasture, will praise you forever; from generation to generation we will recount your praise. Psalm 79:13}

not my analogy.

I didn't make this up. My friend told me that her husband said it. I don't know if he made it up, either.

But it fits me today, which is actually tomorrow, because I just noticed that it is after midnight...again.

Here it is:

"I feel like I'm in a blender, just waiting for someone to push the stop button so my life can slow down and settle a little bit."

Now. I am sure that it was actually put a little better than that because when I heard it, I didn't visualize myself literally swirling in a blender (ouch and eww) - just the pieces of my life swirling around me, knocking me in the head every once in a while and whirling by so fast I can barely recognize anything...much less enjoy it.

The sermon this morning was about bearing fruit. Any fruit I have going on seems to be turning into a smoothie these days...

{Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. John 15:4}

tackling tuesday. and wednesday. and thursday...

I made my list on Tuesday. I should have called it "Tackle-It Tuesday But Only What I Can Tackle While Driving." Is that pretty self explanatory? Lots of driving on Tuesday.

Tuesday afternoon, I did manage to empty my closet into my bedroom. The plan was to empty the closet, clean everything (dust, mop, etc.) and replace only what should actually be in there. I got it emptied (remembering to take "before" pictures and "during" pictures - yay!) and then got busy dusting. (It's baffling how dusty the inside of a closet can get.)

While dusting the baseboards and making really great time, I smashed my head into a wooden brace that supports a lower rod in the closet. It hurt so much that I actually felt my brain slam into my skull on the other side of my head. The side I hit hurt ("hurt" is such an understatement here) and the the opposite side hurt, but on the inside. Weird. I guess I've never hit my head that hard because I've never felt anything like it.

Skipping the gory details, I'll just say that it slowed me down quite a bit...

I'd have quit the closet-cleaning project right then and there, but the contents of my closet had been emptied into my bedroom and it looked like we were having a multi-family garage sale in my bedroom. I had to persist. No question.

So for the next hour I checked my pupils every few minutes for strange activity and alternately cried while trying to apply ice and wished I could turn back the clock and to the moment when I was deciding whether to clean out my closet. (If I could have turned back the clock, I would have said "no" to closet cleaning and "yes" to Words With Friends in a comfy chair with my phone. But hindsight is 20/20.)

So. No concussion. No scarred-for-life children who unfortunately witnessed the incident and had to be de-briefed afterward because Mommy really didn't deal with the pain well.

The rest of the day and into the evening, I walked around with my head scrunched slightly down into my shoulders because I constantly felt like I was going to hit it on something. Even when I was in the middle of the room.

I got enough put away that we could sleep on the bed Tuesday night and finished most of the rest today with the help of my professional-organizer friend who is merciless and focused and amazingly motivating when faced with a really gross display of closet-I-don't-know-exactly-where-to-put-this stuff.

(This sounds so crazy, but while typing this, the bruise/bump on my head starting tingling and stinging ever so slightly at the memory of that traumatic head crash. Is that normal?)

(Disclaimer on today's verse: this is such an interesting verse, not exactly relevant, but it showed up when I was searching for a good one about head injuries and I decided that it would be just fine. I hope it blesses you. insert smiley face)

{For instance, a man may go into the forest with his neighbor to cut wood, and as he swings his ax to fell a tree, the head may fly off and hit his neighbor and kill him. That man may flee to one of these cities and save his life. Deuteronomy 19:5}

daily dose.

1. I sure hope the first weeks of March are easier than the last weeks of February! I won't share the details, but I got to a point in February where I had to abandon (temporarily) my blogging plans. Bummer.

2. I think things are normaling out a bit now. Of course, "normal" isn't any kind of easy, but I'll take it!

3. Since it is the first day of March (So long, February! I won't be missing you!), I'll share a link to the Project of the Month - "Daily Dose" - at the new Fiskars Website. Today's project is super cool and every day this month is going to have fresh, creative inspiration! I will have a couple of projects in the mix, but I don't know which days yet. Check back every day in March...and don't forget that it is National Craft Month, so you'll need to be especially crafty this month.

4. Since it is Menu Plan Monday, I will share that I have made no progress in my menu-planning efforts yet, but I'm still thinking about it, and that has to count for something. I've been reading blogs by more experienced menu planners, and they really do motivate and inspire me! There is some freezer cooking going on among some of the bloggers I follow, so if you are interested in saving time as well as money, check some of them out. Here are a few of my very favorites:

Life as a Mom
Money Saving Mom
The Extreme Housewife

5. Tomorrow's Tackle-It Tuesday, and I really, really, really hope to be tackling some stuff on my list!

10.Now, taking people to dance and myself to the gym. My feet (plantar fascitis) have been feeling so much better - as long as I stay away from the flip-flops or bare feet - so I'm hoping to start back to a good walking routine.

It's hard to make a "ten" list when people are wanting to be driven somewhere...pretend that was really 10.

{This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God. Genesis 6:9}

quick quote.

Cody says to me:
"You are already old. But when you are 73, you'll want a cane."

Welcome to my world.

[Abraham and Sarah were already old and well advanced in years, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. Genesis 18:11]

random musings of a person who should be at the beth moore retreat but is instead at home with a tummy ache.

Now. Before you think I am sick again, please know that I am most likely not actually ill. Here are my best guesses for this current situation:
1. the antibiotic I am taking isn't "agreeing" with me,
or
2. I ate something last night that didn't "agree" with me (but then wouldn't a whole lot of other people be sick since there were like 148 women at the retreat?),
or
3. I have the current "stomach bug" that is going around (which would, in fact, make me technically ill).

I just don't know. I sent my sweet hubby out for some acidophilous and I'm hoping it will help. Since I can't go to the retreat today in this condition, I will play with the October Afternoon papers I got in the mail yesterday. Oh, my. I love "The Thrift Shop." I love "Fly A Kite." Lovelovelovelovelovelovelove. Love. Them.

I am going to make wallpaper backgrounds with these new papers for my phone and switch them out every day so I can see them even when I'm not home. (Thank you, October Afternoon, for making the best papers ever! Sincerely, Stacey)

Yesterday was Finish-It Friday. I don't think I finished anything, but I did make a huge, gigantic dent in the pile of coupons I had that needed to be sorted and filed. I am almost finished and then I will go shopping. And I will save lots of money while stocking up on stuff we will use throughout the year. I love walking by items in the store, knowing that I have a big pile of it at home and that I paid less than half of what it is regularly. I love when someone in the house runs out of toothpaste or shampoo and I give them another from my stash that I paid almost nothing for. It's so much more fun than putting it on a grocery list and having to pay full price! The only way I have found to do that is to have the coupons and buy when the items are on huge sale. (I'll get off my soapbox now, sorry.)

Today: Suffocation Saturday. Truly, I need to rename Saturday. It sounds a bit...deadly. But that is what clutter and chaos are to me - deadly! I'm not up for doing much garage organizing today, which has been my main focus lately. But I might work on labeling my paper drawers while I do my scrappy stuff. It needs to happen and it feels to good when it's done!

Next week: the garage. I am on a bit of a timeline with the garage because if I wait too long, it will be hot out there. And there will be mosquitoes. And there will be humidity. I know it sounds crazy, but it's true. In this part of Texas, we have mild winter (forecasted highs in the 40's next week), super-short early spring, then very warm (refuse to say HOT yet) mid-to-late spring. So the garage needs to get organized before mid-April, for sure.

Oh, and there's the attic. It is part of the garage, you know. And it's hot up there after about April 15. And it's pretty full. I have wondered if anyone's attic has ever caved in on their house. I'm not talking about when I put my foot through the attic floor/kitchen ceiling, but just stuff getting too heavy for it. Does that ever happen?

[Better to live on a corner of the roof than share a house with a quarrelsome wife. Proverbs 21:9]

thrifty thursday.

As far as fruit goes, we eat what's on sale.

Oh, happy day, grapes are on sale at Kroger!

I was there on Monday and I saw that grapes were $3.99 a pound and I said to myself (but out loud, apparently), "Who's going to buy grapes at $3.99 a pound? Not me."

I refused.

And this man who was standing not too far from the grapes with a large selection of red grapes in his basket said, "Three-ninety-nine a pound? Maybe I shouldn't buy these..."

And he puts his hand on his grapes cautiously.

He hadn't noticed the price (or probably had no idea what the price should be) and seemed to be conducting a back-and-forth debate in his head (why didn't I keep mine in my head?) about whether it would be okay to put them back.

I didn't get involved.

Later, I saw him wheeling those grapes around in his basket, so I assumed that the people-shouldn't-put-produce-back-after-they've-put-it-in-a-bag part of him had won the debate with the thriftier no-one-should-pay-$3.99-a-pound-for-grapes part of him.

There could have been other factors involved, as well. If it was on his grocery list and that list was made by his wife, those grapes would have had to have been pretty expensive before he would have considered not getting them.

I could tell.
He was that kind of husband.
Follow the list.
Get the stuff.
No questions.
Do not think,
just follow the list.
He was definitely trained.

I wonder if his wife hit him over the head with them when he got home with what looked like $12 worth of grapes.

That was Monday.

Yesterday I went to Kroger for a pill splitter. What a contraption! I thought I'd be 85 years old before my hubby sent me to the store for a pill splitter. They had been out of pill splitters, but the pharmacy called him when they got more in this week, and I went to get it. 42 years old, that's what we are. It's not normal.

So when I walked in the door at Kroger, the very first thing I noticed was that grapes were on sale for $1.99 a pound. I said, "Oh, happy day!" and grabbed a basket because I know myself. I might have been able to walk in and buy a pill splitter and leave the store without needing a basket, but if I'm getting grapes, too, I'm going to end up with a basket full of something!

When I got to the grape section in the produce area, I found a picked-over, almost-empty table. The grapes that were left were icky. I was not the only person excited about the lower price.

I didn't want old, cheaper grapes, just cheaper grapes. I asked if there were fresh ones in the back, and sure enough, the boy brought out a wagon load of beautiful, juicy, plump cheap grapes.

It was a good thrifty Thursday.

[By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Matthew 7:16]

little boy love and weighing in.

Corey pulled up a chair next to me tonight and shared his blanket as we snuggled and I cut coupons.

It sounded so sweet until that last part, I know. But I was making my way through a mountain of newspaper inserts and he wanted to sit on me. We decided it was just as fun to sit right by each other for tonight and so he went and got his blanket and a chair, parked next to me, and spread the blanket over both of us.

When he opened up his blanket, a beanie wolf fell out and I said, "You had a stowaway!" He didn't understand, so I explained how a stowaway is someone who wants to travel but can't afford to pay for the trip so he sneaks on the boat (or plane or wagon or whatever) and rides and then sneaks away. He absolutely loved the idea of a stowaway and he told everyone who came through the room about his "ummmm......what's that word again? The one who sneaks on the boat?" He must have asked me six times. "Stowaway" is not an easy word to remember.

Oh, the cuteness.

Then he tells me how much he loves me. (I am fully aware that I just switched verb tenses and would not tolerate it in a student's paper, but it's my blog and there are no grades, and I am not fixing it.) And I tell him that I love him more than he loves me. This is a daily little conversation, but then he changes it and tells me not to love him too much. I think he's going to say I need to make sure and love Daddy and the other kids too, but he says, "You need to love God the most." So sweet.

So we talk about how we have lots of love to spread around and that God can have all our love and we still can love each other and how loving God actually gives us more love to share with each other. Then he says, "Mom. I have 280 pieces of love." And I acted like I was extremely impressed because I am pretty sure it was the biggest number he could think of.

So I wrote that part down so it wouldn't get lost forever.

Okay, the weigh-in. I weighed at the doctor's office yesterday. His scale weighed me eleven pounds heavier than the one I have at home! It was a little sad, but I happen to know that I did not gain 11 pounds in 6 hours, so I'm not going to worry about it. It is better to only pay attention to the one scale I weigh on consistently, I know.

I am already feeling so much better. It's amazing what a bunch of bacteria can do to one's health...

Tomorrow is Hair Day. Haircut and color. I am planning to take a picture before I go so I can document the white line down my head that is the roots of my hair. White. Just like my sweet dad. White. Almost completely white. I just cannot be white-haired at 42 years old. Hence, Hair Day. (I taught transition words in Writing today.)

And now, I will abruptly end this post. Thrifty Thursday tomorrow...although I won't feel very thrifty after Hair Day. Maybe I'll get all those coupons sorted. That's thrifty.

Good night!

[Gray hair is a crown of splendor; it is attained by a righteous life. Proverbs 16:31]

quick ten.

1. I got an antibiotic. It is ginormous. Not exactly the thing for a girl with a really sore throat. I will expect to be feeling significantly better by tomorrow night.

2. Dayna, if you're reading this, I remembered the letters. But I bet you aren't.

3. I talked to three of my favorite scrappy people today. Tif. Kelli. Kendra.The coolest thing about the internet is the friends. Thanks, Al Gore. (I should link those girls, but I'm too tired. Just Google them.)

4. I looked all over the house because I didn't remember taking the NyQuil capsules that I got out of the box. But I can't find them anywhere and I'm about to conk out, so I guess I have my answer.

5. The card above is one I did for the Prism blog. It's one of my favorites because I love that orange and the Harlequin background stamp (from Fiskars).

6. No crazy-weird dreams tonight, please.

7. If you have been waiting for me to ship you something, I am so sorry. I just replaced the printer, so now I can print the label. Apparently going to the post office never occurred to me.

8. My 2010 calendar came today...I took pictures because the shipping box was so cute. I'll post them eventually. You have to see.

9. I did not pay almost $3 for a Rice Krispy treat in Barnes & Noble yesterday. No way. It would not be thrifty . That would be ridiculous. I wouldn't pay that much for a whole box of Rice Krispies, so of course I wouldn't buy a ridiculously overpriced Rice Krispy Treat just because I had to drive all the way to B&N and I felt terrible.

10. I did. I bought that Rice Krispy Treat for $2.95 at B&N. It was yummy.

[I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety. Psalm 4:8]

how they make markers by corey k.

Here is another layout I made for the Prism blog last month. It was a challenge and I was supposed to use at least three yellows and one orange. I think I used five yellows and three oranges. The title is just me cutting out letters without drawing them out first. I don't make them like that very often, but I kind of like it. :)

(End of scrappiness for today.)
----------------------------------------

"Mom, I think I know how they make markers.
They take a crown (crayon) and put it in a thing and then they let it sit in the car. Or no, they let it sit on the beach, some place where it's real hot.
And that's how they make markers."

It was such a cute little speech.
Corey, January 22, 2010
(I inserted the punctuation because it really sounded like one long, run-on sentence.)

I know. It's Monday.
Menu-planning Monday.
Here's how it went down:
I drove a million miles to countless activities.
I decided to go get a strep test tomorrow because I still feel awful.
We had oatmeal, cereal, and pepperoni rolls for dinner.
The pepperoni rolls were from lunch - my in-laws sweetly brought them from Double Dave's.
I felt too icky to eat a pepperoni roll at all today, which is pretty darn sad.
I didn't plan any meals.
I have no plan for planning meals.
I am not modeling good meal-planning habits this week.
Sorry.

And my poor husband has this blood clot in his leg for which he is taking intense medications and giving himself injections in his stomach which have turned him purple from the bruising and he has been in constant (although finally, diminishing) pain...and I, his help meet, his lovely (in theory) doting wife...I have been moaning about my headache, sore throat, yada, yada, yada for five days. What a story. If we made it into a movie, I'd have to find someone really whiny to play me.

Oh, hey, and I ordered Beth Moore's new book from Amazon, So Long Insecurity: You've Been A Bad Friend To Us. It looks so good. (Please pretend I underlined the title of that book.)

[The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing. Psalm 34:10]