This is good. Really good.
Sid had my computer worked on this week and with that came the new version of MS Windows. I'm up to date now, but have lost all my bookmarks. AURGH!!!! Good thing I refreshed my blog a few days ago. Most of my favorite places to visit are listed to the right of this page and that made it easier to redo my bookmarks.
And there's a weird one. Bookmarks? There's no BOOK involved! Why do we continue to call them bookmarks? LOL!
The other good thing is my list of "focal points" to the right here. As I read down them this morning, I asked myself how I did last week, or even yesterday on those.
Let's see... Checking them off as I go...
Constant Contact w/ HP
Best Care of Me
Irresistible Spouse
Connect w/ Kids
Home Improvement
Oops! No check marks. Didn't do so hot, huh?
I can almost check "connect w/ kids" because I had some time with Jessie after her swim practice. But what about the other kids? So, no check mark.
Best possible care of myself? LOL! Now there's a laugh. I don't EVEN want to get into that one.
Constant contact w/ HP (Higher Power)?
Okay, okay. Back to the center here. Rein it in. What's important, Arline. What do you REALLY want at the end of a day?
Getting distracted from my focal points, my objectives, etc. is one of THE biggest griefs of my life. Maybe having them here, in broad daylight will help me keep them focused, or at least, perhaps, my eyes will flit by them more often. ;)
Find the focal points. FOCUS!
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Monday, August 24, 2009
Bitter and Sweet
My sister just sent an email about the bitter sweet reality of kids growing up. I'm about to echo that. LOL!
Today is the first day of High School for my daughter. She isn't thrilled and I'm reading that is "scared". But then again, maybe reality has sunk into her, too. HS isn't all fun and games, it's a LOT of work. She is tall, elegant and beautiful. She carries herself with confidence, even if she's lacking it inside. She's smart and determined. This year she'll be on swim team. Awesome! And she's got the best job on campus, working with computers and for a peach of a boss. She'll get to be with her friends more than last year...
And today is my youngest child's first day of 6th grade. Ohmy! He has grown a LOT this summer, physically and I hope in other ways. I hope this growing means that there has been a decided shift in his brain to match the one in his voice. He's such a sweet, smart kid. And he inherited his mother's hyper-distractability and overwhelm. ;) Ohhh, I hope this year is better for him. I hope he's matured enough to handle the homework, the projects AND the social part. (He also inherited by social ease. LOL! NO problem there!)
I've been mothering for half my life, exactly. The oldest has moved out and is married now. I look at him, whenever he's around and wonder. How on EARTH did that happen!? He is incredible. He astonishes me! I LOVE to be around him and see again who he has become. Wasn't it just yesterday that I held him in my arms, there in the rocking chair in the house he was born in? I remember looking at his tiny little face in the pre-dawn hours and seeing the MAN in his face. The man he would become. OHMY!!! Now, he IS that man. I'm amazed.
Our second son will always be a special part of my life. He'll probably always live with us because of his medical and developmental issues. He's my Always Kid. He's helpful, generally agreeable, quiet and easily entertains himself. He has a job 4 mornings a week that he enjoys. He has friends at work, friends on the bus, friends at his dad's work. He makes friends where ever he goes. :) Like his mom. And he amazes me. I'm so blessed to have him be my son.
We thought we were done having kids. We were busy raising Kid #1 and Kid #2. and then... HELLO!!!! SURPRISE!!! Here came our daughter.
I'm so glad we have a girl. Girls are so different from boys. The way they think even. LOL! Yesterday when we went to do the final part of getting her into school, we saw this boy with huge black caterpiller eyebrows. She looked at me, to see if I had noticed. I looked at her to see if she's noticed. No words were exchanged but our eyes connected and we grinned and giggled that we were, once again, on the same wave length. Ohhhh! Being on the same wave length with your children is a MARVELOUS thing. Rare, at time, and oh so sweet. LOL! AND she'll learning to drive. OHMY! She will be a good driver. I just know it. She careful, observent and gaining confidence daily.
And then we're back again to the caboose child, our youngest son. He is a wonder. High energy and yet can't seem to move a muscle when asked to do something that doesn't agree with him. LOL! I guess he's just a typical pubescent boy. Zits, a crackly voice, the whole thing. He's cute and handsome all at the same time. He continues to remind me of his oldest brother, there is a strong resemblence and yet... he's his own self. If it has to do with a computer, he's all over it. If you can't find him or hear him, it's because he's somewhere working on his computer. Sure, he plays games and stuff, but most of the time he's working on his website or figuring out some program or... geeky stuff. If I have a problem with my electronic devices, I call my youngest. Yesterday he was very grumpy while we were shopping. It took a while, but the thing that was bugging him was that he didn't fit into any catagory in the clothes department. He's too big for the boy's clothes and too small for the men's clothes. LOL! Well, we shifted up. Now his shirts are men's smalls. Another LEAP toward adulthood.
So, here I am. Here we are. The beginning of a new school year. The start of High School, swim team, men's sizes clothes, 6th grade... We're shifting gears and revving up, rearing to go. And yet, here I sit. Enjoying the emptiness, the quietness of the house and yet... *sigh* Wow. They grew up so fast!
Today is the first day of High School for my daughter. She isn't thrilled and I'm reading that is "scared". But then again, maybe reality has sunk into her, too. HS isn't all fun and games, it's a LOT of work. She is tall, elegant and beautiful. She carries herself with confidence, even if she's lacking it inside. She's smart and determined. This year she'll be on swim team. Awesome! And she's got the best job on campus, working with computers and for a peach of a boss. She'll get to be with her friends more than last year...
And today is my youngest child's first day of 6th grade. Ohmy! He has grown a LOT this summer, physically and I hope in other ways. I hope this growing means that there has been a decided shift in his brain to match the one in his voice. He's such a sweet, smart kid. And he inherited his mother's hyper-distractability and overwhelm. ;) Ohhh, I hope this year is better for him. I hope he's matured enough to handle the homework, the projects AND the social part. (He also inherited by social ease. LOL! NO problem there!)
I've been mothering for half my life, exactly. The oldest has moved out and is married now. I look at him, whenever he's around and wonder. How on EARTH did that happen!? He is incredible. He astonishes me! I LOVE to be around him and see again who he has become. Wasn't it just yesterday that I held him in my arms, there in the rocking chair in the house he was born in? I remember looking at his tiny little face in the pre-dawn hours and seeing the MAN in his face. The man he would become. OHMY!!! Now, he IS that man. I'm amazed.
Our second son will always be a special part of my life. He'll probably always live with us because of his medical and developmental issues. He's my Always Kid. He's helpful, generally agreeable, quiet and easily entertains himself. He has a job 4 mornings a week that he enjoys. He has friends at work, friends on the bus, friends at his dad's work. He makes friends where ever he goes. :) Like his mom. And he amazes me. I'm so blessed to have him be my son.
We thought we were done having kids. We were busy raising Kid #1 and Kid #2. and then... HELLO!!!! SURPRISE!!! Here came our daughter.
I'm so glad we have a girl. Girls are so different from boys. The way they think even. LOL! Yesterday when we went to do the final part of getting her into school, we saw this boy with huge black caterpiller eyebrows. She looked at me, to see if I had noticed. I looked at her to see if she's noticed. No words were exchanged but our eyes connected and we grinned and giggled that we were, once again, on the same wave length. Ohhhh! Being on the same wave length with your children is a MARVELOUS thing. Rare, at time, and oh so sweet. LOL! AND she'll learning to drive. OHMY! She will be a good driver. I just know it. She careful, observent and gaining confidence daily.
And then we're back again to the caboose child, our youngest son. He is a wonder. High energy and yet can't seem to move a muscle when asked to do something that doesn't agree with him. LOL! I guess he's just a typical pubescent boy. Zits, a crackly voice, the whole thing. He's cute and handsome all at the same time. He continues to remind me of his oldest brother, there is a strong resemblence and yet... he's his own self. If it has to do with a computer, he's all over it. If you can't find him or hear him, it's because he's somewhere working on his computer. Sure, he plays games and stuff, but most of the time he's working on his website or figuring out some program or... geeky stuff. If I have a problem with my electronic devices, I call my youngest. Yesterday he was very grumpy while we were shopping. It took a while, but the thing that was bugging him was that he didn't fit into any catagory in the clothes department. He's too big for the boy's clothes and too small for the men's clothes. LOL! Well, we shifted up. Now his shirts are men's smalls. Another LEAP toward adulthood.
So, here I am. Here we are. The beginning of a new school year. The start of High School, swim team, men's sizes clothes, 6th grade... We're shifting gears and revving up, rearing to go. And yet, here I sit. Enjoying the emptiness, the quietness of the house and yet... *sigh* Wow. They grew up so fast!
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Absolutely BUZZING
Most of my life, these days, is spent running around. LOL! I put an average of 100 miles on my mini-van, M-F. Almost all of it is work related but, it doesn't matter the reason, what matters is that I'm always buzzin' around. Sometimes I'm at a noodle pace, takin' my time, because I'm not in a huge hurry. But most of the time, I've got to be at a certain place at a certain time and... you get the picture.
So with all this, WHY on earth would I be thinking of more work? Finding MORE jobs? Creating a home-based business? Or TWO?! Sounds seriously loony. As Sid says, "Don't you have enough to do already?"
Well... I'm hoping the one will feed the other. One is the means to an end... the other.
Vague enough for you? LOL!
Well, I've added a house-cleaning, house-sitting, dog-sitting, etc. business to my already busy life. The money I am able to make isn't tied up in the family budget, needed to make ends meet. It is extra. Mine. What I do with it is entirely up to me. How every lovely! I've never had a large sum (okay, it's relative. It's large to me. ;) ) that I could spend or save, with no one or nothing demanding that I hand it over. Ohhhhhhh!!! The absolute bliss of the possibilities. Should I buy our very first piece of new furniture (No, decided not to. Not yet.) Should I... Or what about... LOL! Endless possibilities. Absolute bliss.
Anyway, one of the most delicious possibilities is the thought of starting an small yarn shop. Mostly serving customers via the computer but, also out of our home to my knitting friends and other local yarnies.
So, the research has begun. Much reading needs to be done. How DO you start a business with $1000 or less? Can it be done? What about the current economic situation? Is this a good time to do something like this? Where do I find the wholesale yarns? Should I just sell what others have created, preferring the independent (like myself) over the big yarn companies? Should I get the raw, undyed yarn to dye and then market? Ohhh! The ENDLESS questions. Absolutely endless.
I talk with my knitting friends, my sisters, my dad, but I have yet to talk with my husband about this. :) I need to do that, don't I? Weeks of mulling it over, searching online, thinking, dreaming.
Out of the clear blue sky THE name appeared. LOL! BUZZZZZZZZZZZZzzz!!!
Bee Bop Yarn Shop
I love it! And bees WILL play a roll on every page of the website (bought the domain!) One night this last week my brain was a whirring so fast I couldn't write fast enough. I just scribbled down ideas, pictures and words as fast as I could.
So, I guess if you're reading this, you'll get to follow the journey. ;)
())
<((()0'
(Oh! And the main bee character on the website will be named "MiriamBee". And therein lies another story!)
So with all this, WHY on earth would I be thinking of more work? Finding MORE jobs? Creating a home-based business? Or TWO?! Sounds seriously loony. As Sid says, "Don't you have enough to do already?"
Well... I'm hoping the one will feed the other. One is the means to an end... the other.
Vague enough for you? LOL!
Well, I've added a house-cleaning, house-sitting, dog-sitting, etc. business to my already busy life. The money I am able to make isn't tied up in the family budget, needed to make ends meet. It is extra. Mine. What I do with it is entirely up to me. How every lovely! I've never had a large sum (okay, it's relative. It's large to me. ;) ) that I could spend or save, with no one or nothing demanding that I hand it over. Ohhhhhhh!!! The absolute bliss of the possibilities. Should I buy our very first piece of new furniture (No, decided not to. Not yet.) Should I... Or what about... LOL! Endless possibilities. Absolute bliss.
Anyway, one of the most delicious possibilities is the thought of starting an small yarn shop. Mostly serving customers via the computer but, also out of our home to my knitting friends and other local yarnies.
So, the research has begun. Much reading needs to be done. How DO you start a business with $1000 or less? Can it be done? What about the current economic situation? Is this a good time to do something like this? Where do I find the wholesale yarns? Should I just sell what others have created, preferring the independent (like myself) over the big yarn companies? Should I get the raw, undyed yarn to dye and then market? Ohhh! The ENDLESS questions. Absolutely endless.
I talk with my knitting friends, my sisters, my dad, but I have yet to talk with my husband about this. :) I need to do that, don't I? Weeks of mulling it over, searching online, thinking, dreaming.
Out of the clear blue sky THE name appeared. LOL! BUZZZZZZZZZZZZzzz!!!
Bee Bop Yarn Shop
I love it! And bees WILL play a roll on every page of the website (bought the domain!) One night this last week my brain was a whirring so fast I couldn't write fast enough. I just scribbled down ideas, pictures and words as fast as I could.
So, I guess if you're reading this, you'll get to follow the journey. ;)
())
<((()0'
(Oh! And the main bee character on the website will be named "MiriamBee". And therein lies another story!)
Time Flies
Whether you're having fun or not, time flies.
Summer vacation for our kids ends on Monday morning. On the one hand, I'm sad, on the other, I'm delighted. This is the first summer that I've been a working mom. Up til now, for the last 32 years of my adult life... ALL of my adult life, I've been an stay-at-home wife and then mother. So, this summer has been extremely strange and very short.
But now, it's done and gone. LOL! Time marches on!
And here I am, approaching my 52nd birthday. HELLO!!!! How did THAT happen? LOL!
I got on the bathroom scale this morning and discovered that I wasn't as huge as I had anticipated, however... time has marched on and if I cut myself in half, I'd be at my "normal" (meaning not too high or low on the average for my height) weight. Got some work to do there. And time flies with that, too. If I just sit here and pout about how seriously unhealthy and unhappy this extra Arline makes me, nothing will be positively different tomorrow and really, I'd like something POSITIVELY DIFFERENT tomorrow. I'm done with the pout.
My creative endevours move along at a slower pace than the rest of my life. My creative brain, of course, can come up with a jillion more delights than would ever be possible to truly create in a lifetime. No, a dozen lifetimes! Narrow down the focus. What is it that I'd really REALLY like to work on? Do that. Finish it. Then... LOL!
Can I actually DO that? I'm so multifocaled at this point.
Again and again I come back to "my picture". A few years ago a friend/mentor/counselor asked me to write a word picture of what my life would look like if it were just the way I wanted it to be. Time passes and that picture never changes. What I wanted then, is what I continue to want now.
Here it is, copied and pasted... let's look at that again, Arline.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
· I have a tight constant contact with the God of my understanding. Every morning, first thing, He starts my day and we "talk". Throughout the rest of the day; every second, we continue in that conversation and I am constantly aware of His presence. I’m at peace with whatever comes because He is right here with me.
· My body is slim, trim and healthy. The principles of NEWSTART are part of who I am. I take the best possible care of myself.
· My children rise up and call me blessed. – I’m connected and involved with our children. I help them grow into competent, capable, happy adults.
· "Her husband also, and he praiseth her". – He gets what he wants most from me. A clean house, happy children and a wife who is slim, at peace, productive and head-over-heels in love with him. I am his help-mate. Walking beside him in lifes journey.
· My home is clean and orderly. Everything has a place and is in its place. Inside and out, there is elegant simplicity with thoughtfully placed (and hand crafted) furnishings.
· I am a good steward of my time and money; being careful not to waste them, but instead, investing them in our future.
· I am a artist, actively using my gift of creativity.
In summary, my life is a picture of peace and comfort. Congruency and continuity are exemplified.
Oh! And one more thing. I own and drive a Prius and/or a highly-efficient car.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
LOL!!! I always love the last line. It's the only one that has changed much. I started out wanting a lime green VW bug.
So, there it is again. The picture of what I want my life to be like. At first glance it seems so TOTALLY doable! Shoot, I've nearly got this one bagged. But, as I look at it more closely, it's a LIFETIME picture. One that is ONLY accomplished when it's all over. Done. So...
Time flies. It marches. Here is where I am, there is where I'd like to be. There is a gap but today, I'm going to choose to actively close some of that gap.
God woke me up. Or maybe it was that horrid, bad dream. At any rate, He was the first one that I talked to. He prompted me, after a bit to get up, get on the scale, get a big drink of water and go walk on the treadmill. He is the one who prompted me to come here again. To write, to the universe in general, where I'm at and where I'd like to be. To be accountable here to Him, myself and whomever... to write my thoughts, the events (and non-events), the churnings and turnings of my little world.
Here's to closing the gap as time flies. Here's to my picture.
ONWARD!
Summer vacation for our kids ends on Monday morning. On the one hand, I'm sad, on the other, I'm delighted. This is the first summer that I've been a working mom. Up til now, for the last 32 years of my adult life... ALL of my adult life, I've been an stay-at-home wife and then mother. So, this summer has been extremely strange and very short.
But now, it's done and gone. LOL! Time marches on!
And here I am, approaching my 52nd birthday. HELLO!!!! How did THAT happen? LOL!
I got on the bathroom scale this morning and discovered that I wasn't as huge as I had anticipated, however... time has marched on and if I cut myself in half, I'd be at my "normal" (meaning not too high or low on the average for my height) weight. Got some work to do there. And time flies with that, too. If I just sit here and pout about how seriously unhealthy and unhappy this extra Arline makes me, nothing will be positively different tomorrow and really, I'd like something POSITIVELY DIFFERENT tomorrow. I'm done with the pout.
My creative endevours move along at a slower pace than the rest of my life. My creative brain, of course, can come up with a jillion more delights than would ever be possible to truly create in a lifetime. No, a dozen lifetimes! Narrow down the focus. What is it that I'd really REALLY like to work on? Do that. Finish it. Then... LOL!
Can I actually DO that? I'm so multifocaled at this point.
Again and again I come back to "my picture". A few years ago a friend/mentor/counselor asked me to write a word picture of what my life would look like if it were just the way I wanted it to be. Time passes and that picture never changes. What I wanted then, is what I continue to want now.
Here it is, copied and pasted... let's look at that again, Arline.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
· I have a tight constant contact with the God of my understanding. Every morning, first thing, He starts my day and we "talk". Throughout the rest of the day; every second, we continue in that conversation and I am constantly aware of His presence. I’m at peace with whatever comes because He is right here with me.
· My body is slim, trim and healthy. The principles of NEWSTART are part of who I am. I take the best possible care of myself.
· My children rise up and call me blessed. – I’m connected and involved with our children. I help them grow into competent, capable, happy adults.
· "Her husband also, and he praiseth her". – He gets what he wants most from me. A clean house, happy children and a wife who is slim, at peace, productive and head-over-heels in love with him. I am his help-mate. Walking beside him in lifes journey.
· My home is clean and orderly. Everything has a place and is in its place. Inside and out, there is elegant simplicity with thoughtfully placed (and hand crafted) furnishings.
· I am a good steward of my time and money; being careful not to waste them, but instead, investing them in our future.
· I am a artist, actively using my gift of creativity.
In summary, my life is a picture of peace and comfort. Congruency and continuity are exemplified.
Oh! And one more thing. I own and drive a Prius and/or a highly-efficient car.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
LOL!!! I always love the last line. It's the only one that has changed much. I started out wanting a lime green VW bug.
So, there it is again. The picture of what I want my life to be like. At first glance it seems so TOTALLY doable! Shoot, I've nearly got this one bagged. But, as I look at it more closely, it's a LIFETIME picture. One that is ONLY accomplished when it's all over. Done. So...
Time flies. It marches. Here is where I am, there is where I'd like to be. There is a gap but today, I'm going to choose to actively close some of that gap.
God woke me up. Or maybe it was that horrid, bad dream. At any rate, He was the first one that I talked to. He prompted me, after a bit to get up, get on the scale, get a big drink of water and go walk on the treadmill. He is the one who prompted me to come here again. To write, to the universe in general, where I'm at and where I'd like to be. To be accountable here to Him, myself and whomever... to write my thoughts, the events (and non-events), the churnings and turnings of my little world.
Here's to closing the gap as time flies. Here's to my picture.
ONWARD!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
