Tag Archives: life

Mid-Week, post Labor Day blues…

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I’m not really blue (although 3 day weekends are always SO nice…).  I am confused.  Mondays off of work/school always throw me for the rest of the week.  It’s a full-on conscious effort to remind myself exactly what day it is, and in order to make sure the kiddos get to where they need to be WHEN they need to be there.  Therefore, today my mantra is:  Today is Wednesday.  Phew.  Now to repeat for the rest of the day!!!

Here in the states we celebrated Labor Day, which is defined  by the US Department of Labor as:  Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country. I Labor, therefore I get a day.  However, Hubby labors and worked, so did lots of other people…..still a reminder and a paid holiday for me, so I’ll take it!

A few other things Labor day signifies, officially, unofficially, either way it’s a benchmark:

Fall:  It’s a comin’.  Maybe not here in the South where we will continue to swelter enjoy 90-degree temps for another month or so, but it is coming!

Pumpkin:  Fall flavors @ Starbucks.  Pumpkin spice cream cheese (oh MY!!  I bought this weekend and holy cow!!  Delish.  Go get some).  Pumpkin muffins.  Pumpkin cookies.  Pumpkin pancakes.  ‘Tis the season of pumpkin!  Enjoy!!

Fashion:  No more white pants, shoes, etc.  WhatEVA!!!  When we are enjoying 90-degree temps, I WILL be wearing white, just sayin’.  Deal.

End of the beach season:  Maybe for others, not so much for us.  In fact, I avoided the beach this weekend because I know NEXT weekend I won’t be fighting the crowds.

Back to school:  We’re in week 3 here, but at this time of the year, the entire country is BACK TO SCHOOL!  AMEN!!  Perfect time to hit Disney if you are a local…NO lines, baby.

Sometimes with season changes come other changes:  Spring cleaning, fitness changes, furniture re-decorating, garage sales,and so on.   For me, season change usually signal a change-up in my fitness routine and this is what I’m doing to kick off Fall:

Peak 313 has a 5-week challenge starting on the 10th…a Monday, of course!  It’s up over 200 people!  WOW!  I’m always up for a change; I  get  bored so quickly.  It will be good accountability and challenging.  Of course, I’ll still be hitting my track routine during cheer practice and the gym @ lunch a few days a week…so this will be extra!  5 weeks never sounds so bad in the beginning does it?  There’s still time to join in, you can click HERE if you want to find out all the details, etc, etc, etc….

That’s it for today….time to get crackin’ on the day!  Happy Hump day!!!

Someone has to be the base….

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Teamwork

In cheerleading stunts, I am learning the lingo.  The “base” is the support for the girl who is being lifted (aka, the flyer) and tossed in the air.  The base must be strong and sturdy and fully focused on her flyer.  The flyer seems more glamorous in their “elevated” status and exciting tricks while being lifted and then tossed, however, they also must be strong, flexible and focused, completely trusting and relying on their base.  It’s teamwork at its best.

In life, and in cheerleading, our best tricks and “AHHHHHH-inspiring” moments only come when we have a good sturdy foundation.  A base we can trust to hold us up and catch us when we fall.  A lesson I’m learning throughout this, our first cheer season, is to hold my tongue in regards to the gossip-monger cliques, for it is quickly becoming obvious how unreliable their own bases are in their own “mean-girl” actions.  A teachable season for both my daughter and I  to  discern people for who they are, pinpoint traits to emulate and moments to rise above.  There are many girls in this sport who are amazing and wonderful girls and I pray they can all rise above the few who are Divas-in-training to encourage and lift up their teammates; that they can be the “base” in their actions and words.  We all have the opportunity to be both base and flyer; its important to remember it all starts with the base.

How sturdy is your base?

1 Thessalonians 5:11 

Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.

 

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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