Validation

I am excited to let you know that since I quit ingesting artificial sweeteners, and started taking B-Complex, extra B6 and Fish Oil tablets, I feel like a new woman!! I feel like I can think more clearly, concentrate better and I have more energy. I am also careful to make sure I do not skip meals, and eat healthy snacks in between, like cheese or seedy trail mix. I'm still making my latte in the morning (WITH caffeine!), but no other caffeine during the day. I am noticing that I get up in the morning more easily than before, and I don't seem to take an energy dip in the afternoon. My next step is to add Vitamin C to my regimen to help protect me against all of the gick I will be exposed to at school. And then, I will probably add Calcium and Magnesium after that. I don't think I really have time for exercise, although I might try to see how often I could sneak out for a half hour walk around the neighborhood. So much of my extra time is consumed with studying right n...

Here's how our house is coming: flooring contractor: hired vinyl for 3 bathrooms: ordered upstairs carpet: Friese carpet ordered drywall repair: Joe has it half-way done crown moulding: purchased plumbing: 3 new toilets purchased checks from insurance company: hopefully on their way Next steps: finish drywall, texture and paint paint and install crown moulding have vinyl installed install toilets touch-up wall paint in damaged areas move furniture out of upstairs have carpet installed replace all removed baseboard mouldings have downstairs carpet cleaned

Well, I guess I will have another week to get ready to be in a small group. I emailed the leader, and she said that the group starts NEXT Friday. She also said that we will be doing SOAP's. SOAP's are a method of daily devotions that our church uses in small groups and what-not. It follows a daily Bible reading plan, where you read through the Bible in one year. Then, there is a journaling process, where you do each letter of the acronym SOAP. S= Scripture (write a verse in your journal that stuck out in the scripture reading for the day) O=Observation(write down what you see in the scripture) A=Application(write how you will be different today because of what you have just read) P=Prayer(Write out a prayer based on the devotion) All of this can be recorded in a "Life Journal" created by Pastor Wayne Cordeiro that you can buy, or any kind of journal you want. The Life Journal itself is very organized, and you can even create a table of contents of the titles of ...

I can't write much, because I have some studying to do before I hit my wall and have to go to bed. But, I was thinking the other day, that even as much as I needed to leave my old church, I really miss some stuff. I miss that I knew the names and faces of a few hundred people. I miss the familiarity of the faces. Maybe even the quick, superficial conversations once a week. I really felt this tonight at AWANA when I got to talking with a couple of gals from my old church. I kinda miss these people. I mean, man, it's not like I stopped LIKING people just because I left! Maybe some stopped liking me, (HAHA!) but I still feel exactly the same....... Maybe these thoughts are a sign that I'm ready to join this small group at my new church. It starts this Friday morning. I'm not intimidated by being in a small group or Bible study. I never have been. But, I'm afraid of this not working. I'm afraid of finding out it's a bunch of churchy women playing t...

I've been pretty much studying my butt off since school started, trying to stay on top of things with interruptions from dealing with our insurance claim from the flood. We are now getting money to replace our carpeting upstairs! Yay! Joe and I are going to work our money so we can replace all three bathroom vinyl also. So, we will pretty much have all new flooring throughout our house. Our downstairs carpeting is only 2 years old, and so is the kitchen floor......It's just going to be very interesting how we are going to get all of our furniture out, so the new carpet can come in.....I told Joe he needs to basically schedule any work to be done on his days off, because I have a flood of my own - a flood of studying.....

I'm still in the land of the living. As of today, that is. So far, two bathroom floors are torn up, a large portion of the downstairs sheetrock is removed and upstairs carpet is ripped up. Each team that comes over to check drying progress, has a different opinion about our kitchen floor, but today, Joe and I made a command decision to not have it removed. We are negotiating having our upstairs carpet completely replaced. One team said it was salvageable, but the other team says it's not. As difficult and inconvenient as it is going to be, we would rather have it replaced. We are also going to pay the difference, and have our third bath flooring replaced to match the others. We are also wondering if we should replace our cheesy toilets. The guy that came today, said that he sees a lot of water damage in new construction, because of the cheap toilets they put in. He recommended either replacing all of the "guts" of each toilet, or just getting new ones. I...

My anxiety level is through the roof right now. Last night, for whatever reason, our second bathroom toilet overflowed. This morning, I awoke to a half inch of water covering the bathroom, and wet carpet extending out into the hallway, and into the entrances of two bedrooms. The water had also taken the path of least resistance and traveled downstairs, where I found more wet carpet, and dripping coming from the beautiful crown moulding my husband installed in my front room. There was also a wet spot on the ceiling a few feet away from the dripping. Amanda and I mopped up the water in the bathroom, and started walking on towels spread over the carpet. I got out my carpet cleaner, and attempted to suck out more water. I dumped and dumped that thing, and the carpet was still absolutely, squishing wet like wet sod. The dripping downstairs stopped. I won't go into too much detail from here, except to say that we are now dealing with our insurance company to take care of the probl...

Next weekend at my church, there is going to be what is called a "Small Groups Showcase," where all the new small groups are advertised. This will begin the new season of groups, and I am going to join one! I am hoping for an early Friday morning group of women. I am ready to be a group member and get to know some women. It will be weird not to be the leader. Usually, once I step out at a church, I end up leading something. That's why I haven't stepped out since we started attending the church over a year ago. My plan is to be very quiet and try to drink in what happens. I hope to get to know some women and not reveal my past involvements. I don't want people to know how I have served in the past, and peg me for something. I want God to lead me where He wants me to go, not someone else or even myself. I want to grow in the Lord, learn from others and make friends. Gain support and encouragement. I need to start feeling a part of this place where I ke...

Ben is in the next room taking a bath. He was playing with this Legos, when he wanted to know if Legos can get wet. Then, he asked if he could take a bath. I thought that would be a good idea, as I had noticed some dirt under those fingernails (it never seems to come all the way out in the shower). Anyway, he was noisily playing and talking in there when I hear this long, loud, bubbly fart. I yelled, "OH, Ben!" He laughs. Then I said, "Are you making a jacuzzi?" Laughter again, "Yeah!"

I've been taking a Vitamin B Complex, a little extra Vitamin B6 and fish oil for about a week now. I'm not sure if I have noticed any differences, but I think I have to give it more time. The fish oil, I had to back off of for a day, because it was upsetting my stomach. It says on the bottle, that I have to take it with food, and that's for sure. After another week or so, I'm going to add Vitamin C. I think every week, I'm going to add something else, until I am taking all of the supplements I want to try. I'm doing all of this to see if it will help some of what I call "fuzz brain." It's this feeling that I can't quite think very well, and it seems to me, that if this fuzz would just lift off my brain, I could concentrate. I'm sure this is related to my burnout, and is possibly related to adrenal fatigue. I just hate this feeling of not being 100%. I need to be 100% to do well in school, and I'm concerned about that. I am ...

I'm sitting here, checking a couple of my favorite blogs. I just put Ben to bed with his classical music playing. He calls it "violin music." He insists on falling asleep to it. On Sunday nights, it's so funny, because the classical station plays religious music. Mostly, they will play what I think are monks chanting/praying. They actually sound a little creepy sometimes. Anyway, it just struck me how unusual it is that my first grader wants to listen to classical music to fall asleep. I wonder if it is from the endless orchestra/symphony concerts of his older sisters that he has attended in his young life. Come to think of it, he falls asleep at them! HAHAHA! Well, maybe I just figured this out, didn't I? Speaking of bedtime, I also sing a little song I made up for him when I put him to bed. Each of my girls had their own specific bedtime song, too. The girls don't request me to sing to them anymore, but Benny still does. His goes like this: ...

MY son. Yes, MY son has memorized John 3:16. I tried to tell a friend, and I cried. It is the most awesome thing ever. AND, he is excited about it!! What's really cool, is that, this is the first of many verses he will be memorizing over the course of the school year in his AWANA program. What could be better than seeing your child "hiding the Word in their heart." MAN!!!

So, I'm way behind in my "Read The Bible in 90 Days" plan. I think it might end up being "Read The Bible in 120 Days," HAHA!! Oh well. It's still pretty awesome to read it in one fell swoop like this. Right now, I'm in Isaiah. Frankly, I don't get Isaiah. I am going to have to read a commentary or something, because I need help getting what in the heck is going on. I know Isaiah was a prophet, and I'm pretty sure there are some "end times" prophecies in there, but I am so at a loss....Ugh! It's really hard to be reading something that I am just not getting. I mean, some books I have read, I got what was going on, but I would still think "why is this in the Bible?" Like Ecclesiastes. Dude. The theme is basically "Life Is Meaningless." Hello!! Do NOT read that book if you're depressed. And Song of Solomon (or Song of Songs). It's pretty much love scenes between a husband and a wife - reall...

Life Ain't No Crystal Stair Langston Hughes Well, son, I'll tell you: Life for me ain't been no crystal stair. It's had tacks in it, And splinters, And boards torn up, And places with no carpet on the floor -- Bare. But all the time I'se been a-climbin' on, And reachin' landin's, And turnin' corners, And sometimes goin' in the dark Where there ain't been no light. So boy, don't you turn back. Don't you set down on the steps 'Cause you finds it's kinder hard. Don't you fall now -- For I'se still goin', honey, I'se still climbin', And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.

So, I survived the first week of school. It went OK! I've had to drive Amanda back and forth from her high school, since she doesn't have her driver's license yet. She has one more "drive" with her driver's ed. instructor, and she'll be finished with that. Joe and I realized that she is going to need more practice before she attempts her driver's license test. She kind of scared me today, when I sensed her not being in total control. She gets a little panicky. So, Joe and I agreed that one of us will be taking her out for an hour each day, until we feel like she is ready for her test. We started her off on our stick shift, which was probably not a good idea. We have now switched to the truck (Explorer), so we can get her to focus on the aspects of driving, and not operating the stick for now. Even though she will be driving the stick mostly, we are going to allow her to take her test in the truck. I think she'll have a better chance at p...

I took a walk with Joe the other day, and I was wearing my gray, velour loungewear from Old Navy. I said, "Isn't it awesome to have clothes that can double as pajamas? All I have to do is slap on a colorful tank top, a pretty necklace, and I'm dressed up!" Have you ever seen a fashion show where they show an outfit that goes from day to evening? Well, velour loungewear can go from sleeping to the bus stop, to the grocery store, to college classes, and back to sleeping again! My kind of clothes. :)

When I went to the paper store yesterday, I bought some beautiful stickers, entitled "Bird and Nest Stickers." They came in a thin tin with 100 assorted stickers inside. They are paper, so they can be stamped on or distressed with ink easily. There are birds, nests, speckled eggs and some words. They remind me of vintage postcard images - SO pretty. I made a card with one of the stickers last night, although it was difficult for me to even peel it off and use it. I kind of get stingy with myself with my favorite things....Anyway, I happened to have this perfect paper that matched the sticker perfectly. All I had to do was cut the paper, glue it to the card, attach the brads and slap on the sticker. I inked everything with Tim Holtz distress ink. I just love how it turned out. I think I'll set it out on my desk for awhile and stare at it. :) I also found a 6" X 6" paper pad of the complete, new line of BasicGrey paper, called "Periphery." ...

Being in this stage of life when I am parenting teenagers, is a crazy time. Life has become a whirlwind of activity. My girls tend to want to be with friends A LOT. This means I drive them around A LOT. Tonight, a couple of Amanda's friends came over (a guy and a girl) to take a couple of pictures of themselves for a poster they're going to make for another friend. I came downstairs to see how they were doing, and spur of the moment, I get asked if Amanda can go to yet another friend's house. I asked who would be there, to which the answer was "EVERYONE." Well, of course. Anyway, I was put on the spot, and feeling uncomfortable, yet not wanting to show it. A bunch of things were quickly processing in my brain at this moment. I suppose I could have taken her into another room and discussed things, but that probably would have been embarrassing for me and her. I could have hesitated too much - also embarrassing. My problem was this: the girlfriend is a...

I had to make another card, since I went to my favorite paper store today. Joe and I went out for breakfast, and stopped in afterwards......This one is a square card (5" X 5"). The black design along the left is a rub-on, as well as the large swirl in the middle. The bird is a stamp. The paper is BasicGrey, of course. Also my favorite. I kinda like this one. I don't know if I want to part with it....

Well, yesterday was the first day of school. The day started early with Melanie getting up around 5:45 AM. And, not quietly. Amanda, who is only attending one class at her high school this year, got picked up around that time also, to join her friends at Starbucks for "devos" (devotions). I felt like a good mom, because I made their lunches the night before, and even last night, too! Why that makes me feel like a good mom, I do not know. Anyway, I walked Ben to the bus stop in my pink, flannel pajama pants and Nike sweatshirt. The ensemble was complete with my Keds sneakers. Obviously, I'm not out to impress the neighborhood. Ben got off to school just great, and I walked home to an empty house. I was a little antsy, but soon settled in with my decaf latte. Good stuff....good stuff. Soon, Amanda came home, and I had to drive her to her school later on for her Orchestra class. She and I will be starting classes at the same college on the 19th - we have laughed ...

With school starting, I have felt a huge need to get organized. I know that once life starts rolling in this household, there can still be peace if things are organized. I started with my laundry room, which also serves as a pantry. It looks pretty good! I also typed up a "Family Week At A Glance" sheet to put on our fridge. I did this last year, and it was really helpful for everyone. It shows what scheduled things people are doing, and what times they are each day. People can write on it if something comes up, but the "set in stone" stuff is typed, and I print out a fresh one every week. I also did something yesterday, that I had only heard of and admired in the past. I am amazed at myself, so when you read this, don't go thinking I'm that special. Here's what I did. (Now, I usually do go grocery shopping with a list derived from about 10 meals I plan out. I hate going to the grocery store, so this limits the trips I have to take). But N...

I saw a link to a site talking about Adrenal Fatigue on the "Mad Church Disease" website. This was interesting to me, because, when I experienced burnout back in April of 2006 (when I hit the wall and was basically incapacitated), my doctor had said vaguely, that the stress in my life was messing with my adrenals. He didn't explain that much, but I've always remembered it. So, as I was reading about adrenal fatigue, burnout was listed there as a sign of severe adrenal fatigue. Interesting. It also said that with severe adrenal fatigue, you can count on it taking 18-24 months for recovery. Not encouraging, but also interesting. The rest of the signs rang true with me, and I'm thankful for this information, because I've been really thinking and noticing in myself that I am not totally 100%. I noticed it when I was going through the difficulties of Spring Quarter classes, and again, in another personal situation that was stressful. I would feel this heav...