Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Bad

I am just getting REALLY BAD in the blogging department. I wish I could get myself back into posting routinely, but it just isn't working for some reason?

We've been pretty busy lately, which is no big surprise. We have activities every night of the school week, except for Fridays. That wasn't really planned. Gage's Taekwondo class added a 3rd night and after he becomes a Camo Belt (tonight) we have the option of going 4 nights a week! Mon, Tues, Thurs and Sat. I hate to commit to that, since it isn't required, but I would like to make sure we are getting our money's worth ($89/month, + testing fees every 8 weeks, + equipment fees)!!! Gage is enjoying it and until he starts complaining, we'll continue with the schedule.

Girl Scout Cookie sales start on Friday! Emma has set big goals this year. She wants to sell 500 boxes! YIKES! I told her she is going to have to work extra hard to meet that goal. We sold 221 last year, and didn't work too terribly hard at it, so I suppose it is possible to reach that goal. If only I liked selling things. If you want any cookies, be sure to let us know! :-)

Emma will be singing at church again this Sunday. I'm pretty darned nervous about it since she hasn't practiced yet. She did go through the song once a week ago with our babysitter, Erin, who plays the piano, but that is it. I haven't even heard how it goes yet, so I can't even really help her. She will practice on Wednesday evening with the other 2 girls. Thank goodness I have friends who can plan the piano and get her a couple of extra practice sessions in before the weekend! I'll be sure to get it on video and post it on YouTube for those of you who won't be able to see it.

I'm hoping you all have a great week!

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Out with the old and in with the new!

I just can't believe how quickly the year 2009 flew by! I'm hoping to slow the progression of 2010, the best that I can!

We had a great Christmas in Iowa with family. The kids just LOVE being there and playing non-stop with their cousins. It's unfortunate for Emma that she doesn't have any female cousins her age, but she makes do.

It wasn't until just yesterday, that I noticed how "calm" I was feeling. I was thinking about why I had that feeling, and decided that I must have had quite a bit of anxiety leading up to the holidays. I'm not quite sure why I get myself so anxious, but I'm going to try and put an end to most of that craziness, if I can. I cause alot of the stress myself, by taking on too many things. I think I would be less busy if I had a full-time job, if that makes any sense.

The kids' activities are picking back up now that the holidays are over. I don't think that all of those things going on are what cause alot of my anxiety though. However, we have, or are in the process of, having a few more things added to our list. Gage will have an extra night of Taekwondo starting next week for 3 evenings/week. The kids decided they really enjoyed going to LOGOS, the church's youth group, which is on Wednesday evenings, and Emma is going to play basketball with a team of girls from her class at the YMCA starting next week.

I think most of my anxiety is brought on by the need that I feel to do things for others. I enjoy doing those things, but when you are a person that can't say "no", it gets a little overwhelming at times. I'm not sure how I can stop doing all of those things, because I haven't suddenly gotten good at saying "no" overnight. It's going to take some time, I'm sure. I just want to be able to stop and recognize when the anxiety level starts to rise and then figure out how to slow things down a little so I'm not stressing out. (Good luck with that Stacy!)

I'm not one that is big into making New Year's Resolutions. I figured out several years ago that I typically fail at carrying out the resolution for more than a couple of weeks, to a month. Last year I decided to make the resolution to be more organized. I worked hard at it initially, but then slacked off and got overwhelmed. I wanted to make the same resolution this year, to get organized. I think I am just going to try and get organized without making it a resolution. I think if I can log onto A&E.com to watch past episodes of Hoarders on a regular basis, that will be enough to keep me going right there. I love that show! Instead, my resolution for 2010 is to take more time for myself to do one of the things I enjoy most........................scrapbook. I have been getting together with a friend, on the Fridays that I don't work in the lunchroom, and scrapbooked a few hours in the morning. Although I don't always get as much done as I would like, I am making some progress. Every page counts.