Category Archives: Life

Friday Frenzy….

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It’s the end of the week AAAAAAAANNNNNNNDDDDD the end of the month, how in the???  what???  ugh.  You know when you’re growing up and all the old people your parents tell you, “The older you get the quicker time goes by”; I hate that they were right.  Therefore, as we roll out of August and into September (and subsequently get ready to celebrate our SECOND teenager) you can join me AND Jen and all her groupies/bloggies as THEY wrap up THEIR  week, too!

  1. I am having a little bit (just a touch) of CNMC 2012 envy.  It’s the Catholic New Media Conference and I think it would be a completely phenomenal way to spend a few days meeting a lot of these people I follow through blogs and podcasts, books and the National Catholic Register.  I’m sure I’d be a complete geek, stalker.  It would be fun though.  I imagine it to be a  huge pep rally going into the “Year of Faith” and New Evangelizer focus in the Catholic church.  I’ll have to put it on my bucket list.  Ah, but then I’d have to start a bucket list…  
  2. Partly because of the CNMC and Hurricane Isaac (in case you don’t know, it was a huge storm that took the same path as Hurricane Katrina did 7 years ago TO.  THE.  DAY.  right into Louisiana, Mississippi and some of Alabama) I joined Twitter.  Mainly just to get the updates.  I can’t change anything, but I need to be informed and my news input through the day is just sporadic between patients.  So.

    A pic from our Louisiana friends. Thankfully, they evacuated and are safe!

  3. In regards to Twitter , I don’t REALLY get it.  I think I may have just sucked myself into yet another social vortex.  You can follow me.  So far, I’ve got nothing to say (on Twitter), I’m standing there with my mouth wide open….I want to put the tweets into folders or something…can’t you organize it better?  Ah, for now I’ll just check in and scroll…..and scroll…..and scroll.
  4. Week 2 of school and I think we are getting into the swing here.  Some tasty meals (and quick…..I’ll add 2 new recipes in my recipe section if interested!), some extra graces for pushed back bedtime on sports nights and kids getting into their homework groove.  The key has been communication.  If we can keep this up……we’re golden.  I usually peter out about 2 weeks in and fall back into my ways, hopefully Hubby can keep me on track!
  5. And lunches….making them the night before a HUGE time saver.  HUGE I say.
  6. Workouts…ehhhhhhh, not quite on track this week, the rain has been killing us in the evenings (excuse 1) and I haven’t been going to the gym @ lunch b/c I am counting on walking in the evening and sooo……you can see the pattern.  I have seen what needs to be changed, I’ll take care of that next week!
  7. Resume is updated.  CPR is updated.  Professionally, I’m feeling pretty organized, let’s see if it brings me any luck…..I’m feeling God has something in mind for me and to say I’m stepping out and going blind is pretty fair.  I’m just putting it out there and we will see what happens.

The high schooler is stirring and thus begins the Friday Frenzy……I AM the EARLY girl today!  C ya, peeps!  Have a great weekend and be sure to blog….I’ll have lots of time @ the football fields between games and such!!

Stormy start to the week

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image cred: NOAA

It’s been a blustery weekend as we watch Tropical Storm Isaac make its way through Haiti, Cuba, the Keys and now working its way toward land via the Gulf in a track similar to Hurricane Katrina  7 years ago.  Fortunately, it is by no means as strong as Katrina, but nerve-wracking nonetheless for everyone in its path.

When we moved here 8 years ago, we had a string of Hurricanes….4 in a row within a 6 week period.  To this day, I still don’t sleep well when we have a bad storm come through.  I can’t even begin to imagine what it would be like for the residents of Mississippi and Louisiana who suffered through the destruction of Katrina.  Then again, weather is weather.  We can’t do anything about it.  Just make preparations, safe choices and hope for the best, right?  So, we will move on through our day today.  Rain, wind, bluster.  School, work.  See what the next few days bring.

List making goes Techno!!

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OK.  I am a list maker.  And I LOVE to check things OFF my list….it makes me feel so accomplished!  I’ve been making them forever and like Kate Wicker, I remember putting “shower” on my list when my kids were small so that I could remind myself that I DID actually DO a lot during the day.  I still make lists, however, with 4 kids getting older and into more activities, additional schedules to juggle, school and sport fees to pay, work schedules, things to be done around the house, etc, etc, etc….(I’m sure you have a similar “list-issue” in your house) it gets quite boggled and I’ve lost SEVERAL lists which does NADA as far as list-productivity goes, so it was with great curiosity I read Dorian Speed‘s article on Catholicmom.com regarding EVERNOTE.  At first, I didn’t quite “get it” and how I would or could use this app.  However, I downloaded it to my MacBook and my phone and let me just say, Holy!!!  Cow!!!  This thing rocks.  Here are a few examples why I find it incredibly useful, maybe you’ll be a convert, too!

  • The app communicates between your PC/Mac/phone, whatev…..if you make a list or tag an article on your home computer and you are away from home, it’s on your phone!  And vice versa.  Ask yourself how many times you’ve “left it at home”.  Too many times to count for me.
  • You can make a list and edit it….
  • You can take a picture and that can be your list
  • You can make folders of lists…..disclaimer here…..I haven’t used this YET, but feel certain I will….Each kid needs their own folder as well as Hubby and I!
  • There’s a cutie little app called Skitch that can be used as well with it…a photo app for screen savers, however, I’ve yet to give it the patience it needs to figure it out…it’s a fun thing, not as much a productivity thing…plus I don’t do a ton of screen savers anyhoo..

A few of the things that have come in handy FOR ME on Evernote that have helped me tremendously:

  • Putting in each boy’s class schedule and teacher for quick access if I need to communicate with the school as well as their Alpha codes
  • A picture of the school calendar to keep track of days off, holidays and early release days….I know, I know, just put it in the calendar…which I do, but I always seem to MISS something somewhere…it’s a cross-check
  • Pictures of freezer recipes for the week.  This made making the grocery list WAAAY quicker  since I didn’t have to flip through the mag to find them, but could just scroll through and find my recipes and ingredients!
  • Soccer schedule and fee calendar, getting those checks in on time….
  • Cheer schedule and snack list—-don’t want to forget MY day for frozen grapes—(next game), lest those cheerleaders be snack-less.

I haven’t convinced my Hubby to use it yet, however, he’s more of a touch it once and deal with it kind of person and I’m a write it down, ponder it, get back to it kind of person.  On the plus side, I’m losing FAR less lists and on Day 2 of school when our sweet 7th grader couldn’t quite remember his class schedule, I just copied it and texted it to him.  Sweeeeeeeet!!!

Ch-ch-ch-changes….

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Our fluffy, fatty learned to climb and jump and last night he decided to pull an all-nighter. Cats. Dirty little stay-out!!

Back-to-school always brings a new routine with it and, try as we might, it ALWAYS takes a couple of weeks of tweaking and a TON of patience as we all get in to our new groove.  I’m a structured person and change is rarely easy on me, however, God’s grace can carry us through…..if we let it and so far……so far…..a fairly successful week.  We only have a few binders to purchase and some extra loose leaf paper…not bad, not bad…

1.  Oldest son started high school.  New faces, new classes, taking the bus for the first time EVER and so far….so far…..he only got on the wrong bus the first day (coming home).  Aside from that, it appears his transition–especially the waking @ 5:30 a.m. change, has gone pretty well.

2.  Youngest son’s academic brilliance overshines his common sense on occasion and had a little lapse of such during a rainy afternoon resulting in major miscommunication with Dad.  All ended well, its times like these that I have to keep repeating to myself……he’s only 13, he isn’t using his full brain yet…he’s only 13….it’s painful though.

3.  Oldest daughter forgot her backpack one day BUT remembered her lunch.  Dad to the rescue which meant getting snagged in morning school traffic….GRRRRr…..tweak, tweak, tweak….must get in the habit of remembering all that’s to be remembered…

4.  With rain ALL week long the girls FINALLY had practices last night, so we’ve had mostly all family dinners this week!  Which I love.  And which will also be the biggest challenge for me with these evening practices messing up our dinner schedules, but see how good God is??….he eased me into it this week.  How often do YOU have family dinners??

This puppy is on sale now and has some GREAT dinner ideas….a lovely addition for our weeknight dinners…save money….save time…eat well….I like it, I like it!!

5.  Hubby has taken on the coupon challenge and is in the researching phase (and accumulation phase) of coupons and how to work the sales.  He is a detail guy and has infinitely more patience than I in these matters and I look forward to him steering this ship AND saving us some cash!!!  We’ve reigned in our grocery bill for our family of 6 (2 teen boys included) to roughly $600/mo…but I know we can go lower.  What’s your average??

6.  I finally broke down and bought new sneakers.  My work ones are shot, so I’ll swap out my walking ones for work (not my favorites) and use my new ones for walking.  Broke them in on the track at practice last night….3 miles!!  Nice.  Add to that 2 days at the gym (3 today) and I’m feeling pretty good about this week.  Woop woop!!  Definitely helps to manage the stress level!!

My feet liked these….on sale@ Kohl’s…

7.  Having dinner and a night out with one of my oldest girlfriends tonight and several other high school friends. She’s in town from California and it’s going to be a min-high school reunion!  She and I have been friends since 7th grade!!  It will be fun…but with an early game tomorrow morning this Mama will be home early-ish so I’m not so grumpy tomorrow.  That leaves Hubby on practice drop off/pick up, etc, etc….he’s the Bomb and a Blessing.  Balance.  All Balance.  A constant work in motion, isn’t it??  Have  a great weekend!!

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Parents everywhere breathe a sigh of relief….

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Here we go, here we go, here we go…..first day of school pictures!!!

Back to school for us in our neck of the woods…I know some areas wait until after Labor Day but here in the South we like to just barely dip our toes in the school waters and then…..have a little break.  Kinda ease into it…nice and easy like.

Whether you home school or work full-time and farm out the learnin’ to the public and private sector schools, back-to-school time is a grand time indeed.  Don’t get me wrong, I love me some summer-time….and I don’t even GET a summer break.  However, all good things must come to an end and now is the time…..so bring on the paper, pencils, 1-inch binders and glue sticks.  We are ready to get back into the routine of things.  Not as much fun, yet it’s a part of life and we’ll just keep movin’ on and looking back and wondering, “How in the HECK are we back in school ALREADY!?!?”.