Tuesday Thoughts

Hi ya'll!  Just popping on for a few minutes to check in.  I hope this finds you all having a good great week.  So far so good on this end.  It has been busy but guess that is what happens when you have a million things going on.  Our weather here has been wild.  Seems like we have had alot of rain, just like everyone else, so getting in the yard to do yard work hasn't been real easy. I did get my wildflower garden tilled and planted though. I really hope that they do well this year, because I love to be able to bring fresh flowers in the house, and wildflowers are probably my favorite.  I like there carefree look. They are  a bit whimsy and look like they don't have a care in the world.  Kinda the way I wish my life was.

This week is going to be a full week at work and then this weekend, my daughter is going to be going to her senior prom.  It's hard to believe that she will be graduating in a few short weeks. Where does the time go?  Seems like only yesterday she was starting school, and now she is finishing it.  Next week she will take "the board certification" for cosmetology and she is a bit nervous about it.  But I think she will do fine. This is something that she has ALWAYS wanted to do, and she is rather good at it...so I hope she passes so she will have that behind her.  She has been working in a salon for awhile,that she loves.  She worked there last summer and this school year she has been working on the weekends and in the evenings when she has been needed, but they have offered her a job once she is out of school and passes her board.  She is very excited.

Well last night when I got home, I cleaned out my living room...yeah!!!  Granted alot of things got moved to the dining room table until I can find a new home for it, or pack it away.  It's so difficult to decide what to do with "stuff" treasures  when your just not sure what your going to need to put finishing touches on things.  So guess you know what I am going to do tonight.One guess?  I will be trying to work my way through some of the clutter treasures on that table.  I am still  trying to work off my list that I have made out for this week.  Trying to do just a few things each day.  One thing is for sure, this new schedule I have now is more conducive of getting a few things done in the evening for me.  Before, by the time I got home I was just too tired to work on the house.  Now I do a little each day and I feel like I am being productive.  And I like that feeling. Just a few things on my list for this week are:

• Clean out the Living Room ( done)
• Pack up books in my bedroom
• Remove bookshelves from room. Take to storage
• Clean from under my bed (I use it for storage)
• Pack up my vanity items (Take vanity to storage)
• Clean "junk" off of dining room table
• Take items to goodwill
• Call about the new doors
• Make call about the piano
• Hang blinds in Living Room
• Start painting the foyer and upstairs hallway

A while back I saw this "funny" about our work spaces....Do you spend alot of time at work?  If you do and are like me then you probably can relate to some of these pictures.(I can't remember where I found this, but if you know, tell me so that I can give credit, thanks!)
If you spend a large part of your week in an office or cubicle, interesting and pretty accessories can make that time more enjoyable. So below, I offer some suggestions for transforming your work space.
Don't forget a green plant or two. They help to purify that stuffy recycled air and bring a little of the outside in.

Try arranging your furniture & equipment in a new a different way. Moving things around a bit will keep it interesting!

New slipcovers will give your well-worn things a new, fresh look.

Create a new look with wallpaper. Who said foil went out with the 80's??

Here's an example of budget-friendly decor.

Finally, when you want the boss to know that you're not even thinking of working over the Holiday weekend...


Well guess I need to wrap this up so that I can get to work. You saw my list. ..Have a great rest of the day!

A Organized Mind

Hi Ya'll! Happy Monday and I hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day!! It was such a pretty day, it was a bit breezy here in Maryland, but the sun was out and it was so pretty. I had the opportunity to spend some time with my kids yesterday and that is always nice. My daughter stopped over in the morning for a visit before she had to start her day and we had a nice time chatting, and then my oldest son came over and spent the day with me and he made me dinner. It was such a wonderful treat to have him make me dinner. I loved it. My second son came over after he got off from work and spent the evening with me and had dinner with us. I loved having them both there for a little while. I feel truly blessed by the young men they have grown into.
Most of the weekend was spent working in the house, so didn't get much else accomplished. But we did get alot done over the course of two days. Although one of my big goals was to get the main floor completely finished and back in order...Well the work is completely finished but it all isn't back in order, still have the living room to declutter. Guess I will have to work on that over the course of the next several days after I get off work. Boy does my house look different. When my oldest son came over yesterday I ask him what he thought and if he liked it...his reply, " Mom, you have been robbed". I started laughing because to me that was such a funny statement. Especially if you knew me and how my house normally looks. When it is all done, I will share pictures at my home blog. You see, I have LOTS of stuff in my house....but I have boxed up the most of it...so right now, it is sparse...because I want the house to look as big as possible. But it sure did look different to him. It amazing how different a house feels without ALL the stuff...and how good it feels, there really is alot of truth to "it unclutters the mind".
For me, I find I am a better mother and wife if I have a organized Mind.I found this article (http://www.stacksandstacks.com/) awhile back and I think it relates well for me maybe it will for you too.

10 Tips to an Organized Mind

By Jan Hayner

By organizing your mind, you get rid of clutter that fills the brain, which causes stress and anxiety. We all have enough things in our lives that are uncontrollable that can create problems, so why not organize the things that we can control, giving us a true feeling of accomplishment and stress free living.
These 10 tips will help you to keep your mind on-track and help you organize your life:
1. Make a note.
Always carry a pocket size notebook in your purse or pocket and when you remember something that needs to be done, the very best thing to do is write it down. Check your notes daily to help make your next 'list of things to do.'
2. Keep it all in one place and create a workspace.
Always have a workspace or work center in your home. This is the heart of your work area, where you keep your notes, bills, calendar etc.
3. Keep your body healthy.
Eat healthy; get plenty of rest and lots of good exercise. This will see you through to having a good memory, staying focused and being alert. A body that is healthy, works well, is more active, concentrates better and functions on a higher level.
4. Record those 'instant' thoughts.
Mini pocket recorders are available that attach to your key chain for those fast little thoughts that run through your mind and need to be written down. Unfortunately when driving a car, working on an important document or running after kids it is not easy to stop and write a note. HOWEVER, it is easy to record your thoughts on a mini recorder and play them back later.
5. Leave a message for yourself.
Call your answering machine and leave a message for yourself. It could be things you need to take care of in your home; you may need to make an appointment, to schedule a play date for your child, clean out the gutters, or something you need to add to the grocery list. By leaving a message, it will eliminate it from your mind and you will have a note in place to remind you of it later.
6. Trust yourself.
Know that the note you have left is important and not to be ignored. Do not overlook a note or message that you have left for yourself thinking that it can be done later. It was important enough to jot it down, now do it!
7. Email reminders.
If your job is computer related or you have access to one, you can send yourself an Email or subscribe to an email, calendar or reminder service. Most of these are already 'free of charge' on your own computers.
8. Use Post-it sticky notes.
The bright, neon colors will be great to catch your eye. Need to make an urgent call first thing in the morning? Leave a Post-It Note on your telephone. Need to remind the kids to brush better, leave a note on the bathroom mirror, or keep all of your notes at your work center for fast reference.
9. Use timers for instant reminders.
Set your timer to beep a few minutes before you leave for work to start your air conditioner in the car. Set your timer for a break in your work schedule, to remind you that you need to make that important phone call or that you have 'x' number of minutes left for a particular goal to be accomplished.
10. A picture is worth a thousand words.
You may need to remind yourself what your goal is so you do not get off task. If it is organizing a closet, hang a picture of an organized closet on your closet door. If it is getting a document ready for a client, have a picture of someone smiling holding a paper. If it is making a shelf, have a picture of the finished product hanging up to remind you that all of the work is worth the effort.
For years I was pretty organized and then I went to work full time. My life changed drastically when I wasn't home all day. All the things that I had done so effortlessly, was now taking everything in me to do. I was letting things go that I had never done before. It was creating chaos' in my house, but mainly in my mind. When my house was in limbo, so was my mind. Over time, I have been trying to work myself back to a more organized state of home/and mind. Working on simplifying my life in all areas.

I worked on my "Simple Daybook" last night, so if you would like to read my entry you can hop over to visit.
"Any fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction."
~ Albert Einstein
Keep life simple.
Hope you have a blessed Monday!
Hugs,
Cindy

Just a few weekend plans

Just a little howdy before the weekend starts. I am sure my time this weekend will be busy, since Michael and I both will be at the house and we have LOTS to accomplish in those two days. Note to self * Get my list ready. Our biggest goal is getting the main floor of our house back together. If your wondering what all is going on then jump over to my home blog and take a look see!

Well here it is Mother's Day weekend. Do any of you have any special plans? As of now, I don't have any big plans. Sad I know....not really. All three of my kids are very busy right now and it is hard to get us all together for any amount of time. So if we can't get together then I am sure we will at a later time.

When God Created Mothers
by Erma Bombeck

When the good Lord was creating mothers He was into His sixth day of
"overtime" when the angel appeared and said, "You're doing a lot of fiddling
around this one."
And the Lord said, "Have you read the specs on this order? She has to be
completely washable, but not plastic; Have 180 moveable parts... all
replaceable; Run on black coffee and leftovers; Have a lap that disappears
when she stands up; A kiss that can cure anything from a broken leg to a
disappointed love affair; And six pairs of hands."
The angel shook her head slowly and said, "Six pairs of hands... no way."
"It's not the hands that are causing me problems," said the Lord. "It's the
three pairs of eyes that mothers have to have."
"That's on the standard model?" asked the angel.
The Lord nodded. "One pair that sees through closed doors when she asks,
"What are you kids doing in there?" when she already knows. Another here in
the back of her head that sees what she shouldn't but what she has to know,
and of course the ones here in front that can look at a child when he goofs
up and say, "I understand and I Love You" without so much as uttering a
word."
"Lord", said the angel, toughing His sleeve gently, "Come to bed.
Tomorrow..."
"I can't," said the Lord, "I'm so close to creating something so close to
myself. Already I have one who heals herself when she is sick... can feed a
family of six on one pound of hamburger... and can get a nine-year-old to
stand under a shower."
The angel circled the model of a mother very slowly. "It's too soft," she
sighed.
"But tough!" said the Lord excitedly. "You cannot imagine what this mother
can do or endure."
"Can it think?"
"Not only think, but it can reason and compromise," said the Creator.
Finally, the angel bent over and ran her finger across the cheek. "There's a
leak," she pronounced. "I told You. You were trying to put too much into
this model."
"It's not a leak," said the Lord, "it's a tear."
"What's it for?"
"It's for joy, sadness, disappointment, pain, loneliness and pride."
"You are a genius," said the angel.
The Lord looked somber. "I didn't put it there."

Happy Mother's Day

Thursday Thoughts

Hi buddies, Can you believe it, another post for me...what is she going to talk about today? Ah, who knows. I have had a slow morning here at work and so thought I would work on a post. I know I should be working on some more training, but don't feel inspired to that....YET! I will....

This morning my mind has been busy working overtime, with all kinds of thoughts about home, family, spiritual, you name it. I feel my existence tugging on me in a million little directions. Now for me that can be a bad thing, but actually now, it's not, It's a good thing. I feel like I have my motivation back, which has been lacking for a while now. Over the course of the last several days (maybe week) I have been working on getting my perspective back to where it is/was suppose to be. For a while, I was just one tired soul. Since my new schedule, I am feeling more "normal" and rested. It is simply amazing what a difference and outlook you have when your body gets proper rest. My optimistic attitude had become more negative. Which is a trait I simply hate. I know that is a strong word, but it is so true for me. Do you realize how many people have negative attitudes and they don't even realize it? For me, I do realize when mine is like that. And I don't like it. And seems no matter what I was doing it wasn't getting better. Praise God, I don't feel that way anymore. For the most part, I am back to my happy little self with way to much going on. :) Oh well, I know it is temporary. Once our house projects are complete, things should settle down.

So did you all see my video that I posted last night? Isn't Chondra a funny lady? Just love her humor and the way she can laugh at herself. I have found another woman that I also enjoy, her name is Jeanne Robertson, see what you think!

Well, I am going to work on a little post for my homemaking site, so if you want to check it out...jump on over there.

Hope your having a blessed week.

Cindy

Happy Wednesday Everybody

Two days in a row...that definitely has to be a record for me.  My track record hasn't been all that good lately.  Today was so much better than the other days of the week.  The sun actually came out to play for a bit....but tonight the rain started in again and it came a downpour.

I had a little bit of free time so decided to change my background to something a bit more cheery.  What ya think?  Well this week is zipping right along, and before we know it, it will be the weekend.  Our dear  friends ( the ones we go out with all the time) he is turning the big 50 on Friday.  So hoping that sometime we will be able to get with them to celebrate. I know they have lots of plans with family this weekend and with it being Mothers Day they have to incorporate those activities as well.  So not sure if we can get together Friday or if we will have to wait until next week.

 This week at work I have been working on some computer training and it has actually been fun for me.  It's been awhile since I have been given the opportunity to do anything like that at work, so I have been plowing through them.  Today I started working with Photoshop CS.  It looks like it will be a good class.  Although I have worked with web pages for years, I haven't actually done much in the graphic arena, and I have been itching to work with some of the software. 

Well, guess I should wrap this up, i haven't eaten tonight and it's already after 9.  So need to grab a snack and hit the hay.  But before I go, i want to leave you with something to make you laugh.

Saying hi

Just stopping in to say a quick hello and hope you all are doing well.  Sorry I have been gone for so long, but so much is going on with me these last several months that I can't seem to stay on top of things.  And my blog has kinda gone to the way side.  I hope soon that I will be able to visit with some of you again.  I do keep up through my RSS feeds though. 

Working on ALL the additional renovations is taking all our free time, so bare with me.  Miss you all!

Working round the clock!

So you wonder what I have been up too, huh? Bunches of stuff going on with me and my family. At the moment, just trying to keep our heads above water. We are busy,busy in the middle of doing some renovations in our house, and seems like every spare moment is taken up with that. Some of the things we are doing is we have ripped up the old carpet in the living room so wonderful hubby can install wood flooring. He installed all wood flooring on the main level of the house 18 months or so ago and we left the LR until later, it is now later.

We ripped off old wallpaper in the dining room (which I liked but hubby didn't,

but we were ready for a crisp new look) and repainted the room (country white) as well as the LR (butter cookie). In order to do all this, we have had to rent a storage unit and move furniture into it so that we could move around. My LR and DR has a open concept so we had to remove almost everything for all the supplies and tools. So we truck back and forth to the unit to get what we need until it is complete. Hubby is also framing in my LR windows to give the room a more custom feel. Over the last several years we have redone almost all the house, and that is THE one thing we have done in every room. It is such a small and inexpensive thing but makes such a big difference. Once all rooms are completely finished we will be ripping out all the carpet on our second floor. Whoopee!!!! So I am in the mist of looking at carpet samples. It's gotta be something that doesn't show dirt, and can handle high traffic. Especially the steps. Thinking maybe a berber. Any tips?

On top of all this, my sons have been looking for jobs. One down and one to go....my daughter took ill and was out of commission for over a week, running extremely high fevers. Three night in a row at the ER. Doctors thought she had mono but all the test came back negative, but she was exposed to it and it was kicking her little butt. I am so glad she is feeling much better and is back in school. My aunt passed away unexpectedly and it was a total shock...so I had to make a quick trip to Kentucky for her burial. Needless to say, there have been many days that I felt like I was on "auto pilot". Doing all this on top of trying to work full time, the only time I missed work  was for my aunt funeral. Whew!

My step son is getting married this weekend, so have had to shop for "something to wear". I picked out a little sleeveless navy with small white polka dots (so Julie Roberts) and the cutest shoes.  Still haven't packed, but looking forward to the trip.It will be nice to visit with hubby's siblings and his kids. It also happens to be my first anniversary so hubby and I are going to take a few days afterwards and get some R&R. Believe me we both could use it. It has been a highly stressful time for us. with everything that has been going on.

We will be in the Gatlinburg this weekend, and I can't imagine a more perfect place than the mountains to celebrate Easter and our anniversary. Once we get back, we will have to gear up for my daughters graduation and a party for her. It is hard to believe that my baby is graduating from high school in just a few short weeks. Where does the time go?

Ok...I wasn't going to write a book...just a update. Hope all is well with you and your families and your enjoying this Easter season.
Hugs