Today's proclamation....

Be it hereby resolved that I will have a productive day today. I will get much accomplished in little time. I will get my laundry not only washed and dried, but folded and put away too. I will run my dishwasher, and then I will put the dishes away within less than an hour of them being finished. I will get my bathroom cleaned. I will get the Christmas presents put away. I will start dinner early, so that we may eat no later than 5:30. I will get my packages ready to go before the kids are to be picked up from school. I will be on time to get the kids from school.

As Queen of the land, this is what I say, and this is incontestable by all.

Sounds good, right? This was my plan from this morning. My computer froze up, and I never got around to posting it. Good thing too... I separated the laundry, did a load of laundry, loaded and ran the dishwasher, and took a nap..... A nice nap. A long nap. I deserved it. I went to bed at 12:30, and thing 2 was up at 4 AM to start the day. At 5:15 I brought her down to lay with Daddy on the couch so that the TV could babysit for a little while. Common! You would have done it too!

So now "Today's Proclamation" will be tomorrow's proclamation. It's a good plan, don't you think? Well begun is half done. I WILL get my stuff together! I will! .....Tomorrow.... :-)

Resolutions....

So here it is, January 12th... The 12th day of January. The 12th day of the new year. On day 10 or 11, I had broken my resolution already. My resolution was to NOT make any resolutions this year. I never keep them anyway. Why build myself up for disappointment this year?

Well, I decided the other day that I was going to ditch that resolution, and make a new one. It was a good one too. It was one that didn't really seem to be too hard to keep -right? My resolution was to get my crap together... I didn't actually use the word crap. I actually resolved to get my $**t together.

Well, as I've already stated, today is day 12. I'm no closer to getting my STUFF together than I was 30 days ago. I have no more inspiration to get my STUFF together than I did 30 days ago. I look at it/think about it, and flop back down on the couch again. I'm just SO LAZY anymore.

I have no desire to do ANYTHING. Some days it's a challenge for me to brush my teeth during the course of the day. Don't get me wrong, I DO get it done, but my 3 year old has more excitement in brushing her teeth than do I....

And then I start thing about all the crap that I have to do like meetings, orders, inventory, new stock, letters, advertising, meetings. Don't even get me started on basic household chores like laundry, cleaning or dishes. Yup. You'll find me back on the couch. (Actually, you'll find me on the computer.)

Apparently, I've just been out of the workplace for too long. I don't know how to just tackle an obstacle anymore. I don't know how to just muddle through it -as much as I don't want to muddle through it, until it's done. I have no pressure to get it done, so it just doesn't get done.

Actually, I do have pressure to get it done. Better wording would have been, I don't have a boss with a pink slip in hand breathing down my back waiting for me to get it done. Now the pressure to get it done is the seemingly ever growing piles of dishes, laundry or toys. It's the meetings that grow closer and closer, for which I still have to do my leg work. It's the customers looking for new items. It's the orders that are waiting to be mailed out.

I just don't have the desire, the motivation, the.... whatever to do it. You wouldn't think that it would be that hard to finally put away the Christmas presents, would you? At least it's still less than a week past the Epiphany. I give myself until tomorrow. We'll see how that goes. Maybe tomorrow, lucky 13, will be the day that I finally get all "my crap" together.

But how many New Year's Resolutions are really kept anyway? I should have just stuck with the resolution to not make any resolutions.... There would have been no dissapointments in that....

Christmas time...

It's the Christmas/Hanukkah season. Please consider donating a new, unwrapped toy to Toys for Tots. There are many places to drop off your donation including, but not limited to: many schools, Municipal buildings, many stores have collection bins by the exit doors, many fire departments or EMS buildings.

Times are tough for everyone, but some know that they have to choose between putting food on the table or buying presents for their kids. We know that the holidays aren't about presents, but tell that to a young child that has nothing to open on Christmas morning, or during Hanukkah.

Target, Walmart, Big Lots for starters have great toys for five or ten dollars. Five dollars is around the cost of a cup of coffee from Starbucks, coffee for a week from WaWa or 7-11, less than a pack of cigarettes (in this state), less than a value meal from a fast food joint.

Please consider donating a new toy today. Know that you'll not only be delighting a child who may otherwise be going without presents this year, but think of the relief that you'll be helping to bring to the parents or guardians. Not everyone is in a hard money situation because they make poor spending decisions. Some families have taken on the joyful burden of caring for other children. Some families are faced with unemployment of one or both of the parents. Some families are finding that rising energy costs are just too much for their paychecks that haven't seen a cost of living increase to match today's actual cost of living. And yes, perhaps some have made poor spending decisions. We've all made a purchase that we've later realized that perhaps we should not have made. Don't penalize the children for that though.

And yes, I proudly donate to Toys for Tots, and I have been doing so for years, so this isn't just something about which I'm preaching, it's something in which I actually participate, and no, I don't mean just one or two toys. Toys for Tots is MY "baby" if you will. I have been donating to the cause for about 8 years now.

I was very moved when a friend/co-worker told me that one year she swallowed her pride and accepted toys from Toys for Tots because if she didn't, he daughter would not have have any presents to open up. This was a proud, hardworking, single mother. At the time, her ex didn't have much to do with their daughter, save to build up her excitement for a visit with Daddy, only to let her down. I was amazed (and I don't know why) to find that she was as hard up as she was. She worked a full time job plus two part time jobs.

For this woman to accept help was amazing, and it moved me. It made me realize that one day any of us could be in unfavorable circumstances. One day it could be ME who could be not able to give my children gifts under the tree on Christmas morning. And while I know, and while I tell my children that Christmas is not about presents that doesn't matter when they know that all of their friends will have presents under the tree on Christmas morning. It doesn't matter when they go back to school and they hear all of their friends talking about their cool new gifts, and then they ask them what they got for Christmas.

Can you put yourself in their shoes and have to mutter back that you didn't get anything for Christmas? Can you imagine that feeling inside? Because if you can, then you know how heartbreaking it can be. If you can, then I know that you'll be moved to find an extra five dollars for a new toy for a child in need this holiday season.

Cleaning and Lists

It's amazing what happens when I clean. I find stuff... Stuff that I didn't know was missing, and (if I'm lucky) stuff that's been sorely missed.
My little notebook in which I've been writing my blogs belongs in that second category. I've been lost without if for months now. Not only does it have my mindless ramblings, and late night warblings in it, but it's also home to all of my lists.
Yes, I'm a list maker. They help to calm me. I make all kinds of lists: Things I need from the grocery store, upcoming events in my life (like a calendar, but in list form), things that I have to do over the course of the day, things I'd do/buy if I ever hit the $1,000,000 lotto. Heck! Some days I'd even settle for the $1000 lotto! Anything. Everything. You name it, I'll make a list about it. Like here and here, and I guess that even this is a list too, isn't it? So you already know I like lists.
They help to calm me. they make me feel as if I've got some control over at least some of the things in this hectic, fly by the seat of my pants life that I live.
Perhaps a SCHEDULE more so than a LIST would help to calm me... But then again, isn't a schedule just a list of activities with times attached to them???
Enh, You say TA-mato;
I say TOE-mato.

My list says it's time for me to clean house now... Either that, or no one will have anywhere to have their turkey dinner tomorrow... :-P
Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving. Don't forget to give thanks for EVERYTHING in life -big and small. And don't forget to GIVE, and give from your heart.
Much love <3
Happy Thanksgiving

Backed up blogs...

So, I really do have new blogs to post. -Really, I do! You'd be quite proud of me. I've been keeping a little spiral bound notebook (bought in a back of 6 at Target during their back-to-school clearance sales last year) next to my bed. This way, when the Muse descends right before I fall asleep (as normally happens) I have my trusty notebook (think diary, but I'm too old for a diary -hahaha!) right there.

Unfortunately, even with all of this new found free time I have, I never seem to have time to transfer my ramblings over to the computer for your reading pleasure. And I KNOW how much you love to read my senseless ramblings. :-)

Sooooo.... I DO promise to get them on here.... Sometime.... Shortly.... Maybe....

I know. You miss me. You can't deal without the craziness that is me. I know. You'll have your dose of me soon enough. In the mean time, this will have to hold you over. Don't be too sad. It's okay. I'm still here, and I'm still just as nutty as ever. (More so lately!)

MUAH!

The little things in life

So it's the little things in life that really make such a big difference. No, I'm not talking about my Thing 1 and Thing 2 being my little things that make a big difference. They make a HUGE difference. I'm talking about the little day-to-day things that you normally don't think about, but they make things in life so much easier.... And since I love making lists so much, I figured that I'd compile a list of those little, not so often thought about little things for which I'm thankful. Feel free to share your own lists as well. I like to hear about other people's little things. :-)

I'm thankful for (and don't forget, these are the SMALL THINGS in life, not things like God, family, friends, health, ect...)

Twist ties. You know, the little plastic coated wire thingies that you use to close bread bags and stuff. They come in boxes of garbage bags, but I don't use them for the garbage. I use them for so many other things though -even hair bow making!

That bread makers/slicers were smart enough to slice the bread in an EVEN number of slices. So much easier/better then having one slice left over when you use it to make sandwiches.

Self adhesive stamps. Do I really need to explain this one?

Sippy Cups because I was just fool enough to give Little Miss a regular cup, and she dunked her hands in it before spilling it. Luckily it was only water. Unluckily, I spilled the rest of it while cleaning up her mess!

Free samples tucked inside the mail. It's always nice to get a little treasure (and not a bill) in the mail.

When free samples in the mail come with COUPONS!

Thrift Store treasures, like my book I bought for 99 cents, and sold it yesterday for $20.50! :-D

Aluminum foil. I just can't get that plastic wrap to work for me!!

Having a pirate birthday party around Halloween. Woo Whoo! There is sooo much skull & cross bone stuff out for Halloween. I'm really lucking out this year!

Baby wipes. They great not just for cleaning up messy behinds. (EWW!) They're good for cleaning everything!

Debit Cards. They make it easier for me to track my money, and I'm not thinking that I dropped a 20 dollar bill on the ground all the time.

Clothes pins. They're great for clothes lines, of course, but also arts and crafts, letter holders, toast getter's (if stuck between two tongue depressors), and more!

And so much more of which I can't remember right now because I'm sitting down to blog. I've already told you that when I sit here to blog, I forget everything that was on my mind. Gotta love it!

Now, I want to hear yours! Let's remind everyone not to dwell on what seems to be like the huge, horrible things in life b/c life is made up of TONS of little things, little blessings, most of which are over looked all the time. The good, if noticed, certainly outweighs the bad!

Let's hear 'em!!

It's always playtime...

The inventiveness of a child's mind never ceased to amaze me....
Right now as I write this, Cool Dude and Little Miss have two friends over. Since it's still too went to go outside and there's no T.V. they're using their minds, and playing an inside game. I'm not sure what the game is, but it seems to be some take on hide and seek.
One child goes int he other room and hides their eyes. The other kids then run to the corners of the rooms to hide. The seeker then asks if the others are ready, and if they say yes, the seeker shouts out numbers. The hiders then say yes or no I'm guessing that these numbers coordinate with the corners in the room.
If the seeker guesses the right number, they then must guess who is there. If they guess correctly, that person becomes the seeker. If they guess incorrectly, they hide again, and it starts all over again.
I guess you could say it's hide and seek meets Battleship. :-)

They also play another game called Silent Ball. It's basically catch (with a beach ball) but you cannot speak during game play. If you speak, you're out. If you drop the ball, you're out.
This is one of their favorite games to play together. I think it's because it's Miss M's game. Miss M is the oldest at 9 years old. The others kinda idolize her a bit because she's a "big kid." She like the game because she makes the rules.
They all have fun playing.... for a while... Then they start to bicker, and it's time for a new game.
They really like this new Battleship/hide and seek game they're playing though. Of course, it now reminds me of pool, "7 ball -corner pocket," but instead it's G-Force (Cool Dude's BFF) saying, "Number three?!"

They're so creative! It makes me wish I still had the same creativity when it comes to stuff like that... But then, I was happy to play outside with a reed leaf and a magnifying glass. -No, I didn't start fires! I'd just write my name in all the leaves.
Guess I never was very good at making stuff up!
So funny to listen to these kids play though!

Happy Birthday Dh and Dino Boy!! (Yes, when I wrote this, it was your birthdays.)