Fantastic book, written by Ellie Kay. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about her life as a military wife and mom of five kids.
My favorite principle from the book? How to lengthen your career. You'll work better if you're happy. If you're not happy, change jobs. But--
"Before changing jobs, ask yourself [these] questions:
Do you respect your boss?
Do you watch your words?
Do you value people?
Do you know your limitations?
Do you do your best?"
The average person puts only 25% of his energy and ability into his work. The world takes off its hat to those who put in more than 50% of their capacity, and stands on its head for those few and far between souls who devote 100%. -Andrew Carnegie
My other favorite principle: she shops for the best bargains, fills her pantry and plans her meals around those, and shares the excess with food banks, needy church families, and anyone she thinks needs it.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
A good day
The positive: I did a good job sticking to my grocery list, and got all of my errands done today. I rehearsed a few piano/violin duets with an awesome 6-year-old for church meetings. I played with my son, and visited with a friend. I wrote in my journal, showered, and went running today.
It was a good day.
But, I didn't do the dishes. And I desperately need to organize the paperwork that is coming out my ears!!! I'd like to hang up Vati's calendar somewhere central where I can refer to it easily.
So, for tomorrow, I need to do the dishes, and do laundry, and prepare dinner. If I have the energy, I might bake bread, too, as we're almost out and I like bread. I also need to finish a book that I'm reading so I can hand it over to a friend who wants to borrow it.
Sounds like a reasonable day. I think I can manage it. Especially if I get started early on the laundry. And dinner tonight is easy-peasy: taco salad. All I have to do is chop some onion, brown the beef, and grate some cheese. All the rest gets put in bowls and put on the table, and we're good to go. Woot. I love an easy and fantastic tasting meal.
Now, if only we had ranch dressing, huh?
It was a good day.
But, I didn't do the dishes. And I desperately need to organize the paperwork that is coming out my ears!!! I'd like to hang up Vati's calendar somewhere central where I can refer to it easily.
So, for tomorrow, I need to do the dishes, and do laundry, and prepare dinner. If I have the energy, I might bake bread, too, as we're almost out and I like bread. I also need to finish a book that I'm reading so I can hand it over to a friend who wants to borrow it.
Sounds like a reasonable day. I think I can manage it. Especially if I get started early on the laundry. And dinner tonight is easy-peasy: taco salad. All I have to do is chop some onion, brown the beef, and grate some cheese. All the rest gets put in bowls and put on the table, and we're good to go. Woot. I love an easy and fantastic tasting meal.
Now, if only we had ranch dressing, huh?
Motivation? Hello?
I like the way I feel when I work hard. I hate getting started on working.
This is why I didn't shower until 5:15 p.m. yesterday. Only because I was meeting with my neighbors for dinner and didn't want to gross anybody out.
It's 9:15 a.m. and I still need to shower and get dressed. I did put the dishes away, and fed Guy, but it's time for me to eat and get ready for the day.
I figure I'll shower once he's down for a nap in about an hour, and then I'll try to take the time to get a little transcription done before Josh comes home. When he gets home we'll make lunch, eat, do the dishes, and then Guy and I will probably go grocery shopping.
I'm feeling good about that, though. Last night I started an expense tracker worksheet that I designed in Excel, and entered all of our receipts from this month. So I know that we're over-budget for groceries. Yeah, fun. I sat down and planned a menu based on what we've got in our pantry and fridge, and then a grocery list (it's really short! yay!) so hopefully my errands will be speedy today.
Other goals for today include doing the laundry. Um, and that's about it. :-)
This is why I didn't shower until 5:15 p.m. yesterday. Only because I was meeting with my neighbors for dinner and didn't want to gross anybody out.
It's 9:15 a.m. and I still need to shower and get dressed. I did put the dishes away, and fed Guy, but it's time for me to eat and get ready for the day.
I figure I'll shower once he's down for a nap in about an hour, and then I'll try to take the time to get a little transcription done before Josh comes home. When he gets home we'll make lunch, eat, do the dishes, and then Guy and I will probably go grocery shopping.
I'm feeling good about that, though. Last night I started an expense tracker worksheet that I designed in Excel, and entered all of our receipts from this month. So I know that we're over-budget for groceries. Yeah, fun. I sat down and planned a menu based on what we've got in our pantry and fridge, and then a grocery list (it's really short! yay!) so hopefully my errands will be speedy today.
Other goals for today include doing the laundry. Um, and that's about it. :-)
Friday, January 18, 2008
What to Do, What to Do?
To Do, or not To Do.
Well, I could choose not to do anything, but I have a feeling that after yesterday's read-one-book-all-day-ignoring-housework-entirely, the hubs would be a little less than pleased with my not picking up the slack today.
So, I already did some dishes. And I baby-sat the neighbor's kids for a few minutes. And I'm caught up on the news and things I like to read on the internet. Now, it's time to get serious.
Lunch will be salad and leftovers, but I need to look at what's about to go bad in the fridge and what's on the menu and decide what to eat until errand day (Tuesday).
I need to figure out a better way to track our expenses, GnuCash is too confusing for me right now. Oh, and then I need to actually track them.
I need to clean up the house, including mopping the kitchen and vacuuming the living room.
Laundry would be nice, but given that it hasn't stopped snowing all morning, that might have to wait until tomorrow. I can't maneuver the stroller and the laundry when there's so much snow outside.
So, to recap:
Food! And a menu!
Dishes! And a clean house!
Finances! And a budget!
Sounds like more than enough for one day. Also, we're heading to the temple tonight but the couple we asked just backed out. I suppose we need to ask someone else!
Well, I could choose not to do anything, but I have a feeling that after yesterday's read-one-book-all-day-ignoring-housework-entirely, the hubs would be a little less than pleased with my not picking up the slack today.
So, I already did some dishes. And I baby-sat the neighbor's kids for a few minutes. And I'm caught up on the news and things I like to read on the internet. Now, it's time to get serious.
Lunch will be salad and leftovers, but I need to look at what's about to go bad in the fridge and what's on the menu and decide what to eat until errand day (Tuesday).
I need to figure out a better way to track our expenses, GnuCash is too confusing for me right now. Oh, and then I need to actually track them.
I need to clean up the house, including mopping the kitchen and vacuuming the living room.
Laundry would be nice, but given that it hasn't stopped snowing all morning, that might have to wait until tomorrow. I can't maneuver the stroller and the laundry when there's so much snow outside.
So, to recap:
Food! And a menu!
Dishes! And a clean house!
Finances! And a budget!
Sounds like more than enough for one day. Also, we're heading to the temple tonight but the couple we asked just backed out. I suppose we need to ask someone else!
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Thank you, Oprah
Finally, someone has come out against the HPV vaccine (Gardasil) that has been marketed to the skies.
Facts:
There are at least 100 forms of Human Papilloma Virus.
Gardasil vaccinates against 4 of these.
There is only an association between HPV and cervical cancer.
This association is most commonly seen in women with suppressed immune systems (think transplant patients).
There have been DEATHS from this vaccine.
3500 women a year die from cervical cancer in the United States. Of hundreds of millions of people. That number is decreasing every year as more women get PAP smears and pelvic exams every year. (Heads up--I thought once you'd had enough normal PAP smears, you could skip that appointment every few years altogether. Not so. Pelvic exams are recommended EVERY YEAR. Dang it.)
This has been a public service announcement. Please don't get this vaccine. It's painful, has some unexpected (and probably some undocumented) unpleasant side effects. It's a waste of money, and it's stupid in my mind to support the pharmaceutical companies searching for vaccines they can make lots of money off of by preying on our worst fears.
Facts:
There are at least 100 forms of Human Papilloma Virus.
Gardasil vaccinates against 4 of these.
There is only an association between HPV and cervical cancer.
This association is most commonly seen in women with suppressed immune systems (think transplant patients).
There have been DEATHS from this vaccine.
3500 women a year die from cervical cancer in the United States. Of hundreds of millions of people. That number is decreasing every year as more women get PAP smears and pelvic exams every year. (Heads up--I thought once you'd had enough normal PAP smears, you could skip that appointment every few years altogether. Not so. Pelvic exams are recommended EVERY YEAR. Dang it.)
This has been a public service announcement. Please don't get this vaccine. It's painful, has some unexpected (and probably some undocumented) unpleasant side effects. It's a waste of money, and it's stupid in my mind to support the pharmaceutical companies searching for vaccines they can make lots of money off of by preying on our worst fears.
Vignettes
Walking at dusk across a deserted campus on Sunday, talking quietly of happy things, only to be scared out of my mind by cats jumping out of trash cans at me.
Carrying Guy out to the car, bundled up tight against the cold, and seeing on the snow beside the path a pair of finding nemo little boy's underpants. The undies were cuddling up to a string cheese wrapper.
Out to dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. We were well into our entrees when two ladies sat down at a table next to us, one very thin. Between the two of them, by the time we left they'd devoured two baskets of bread, three appetizers, and were almost done tucking into their entrees, accompanied by multiple alcoholic drinks and several diet cokes. The funny thing is, the very thin lady ate twice as much, and she ate everything with ranch dressing. Even the spinach dip got dipped in ranch dressing.
Kind of an odd week so far, but the pecan caramel turtle cheesecake is divine.
Carrying Guy out to the car, bundled up tight against the cold, and seeing on the snow beside the path a pair of finding nemo little boy's underpants. The undies were cuddling up to a string cheese wrapper.
Out to dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. We were well into our entrees when two ladies sat down at a table next to us, one very thin. Between the two of them, by the time we left they'd devoured two baskets of bread, three appetizers, and were almost done tucking into their entrees, accompanied by multiple alcoholic drinks and several diet cokes. The funny thing is, the very thin lady ate twice as much, and she ate everything with ranch dressing. Even the spinach dip got dipped in ranch dressing.
Kind of an odd week so far, but the pecan caramel turtle cheesecake is divine.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Another List
Today, I absolutely MUST do the following:
Pay that stupid hospital bill that I swear I've called to pay three times already
The dishes (they didn't get done last night because we had company--and really, I preferred it that way!)
The laundry! Two loads today.
Turn in my Wymount log
Work for at least an hour or two
The rest of it? Not as important. But I'd really LIKE to finish the following, too:
Sweep the kitchen
Mop the kitchen
Read fun stuff
Deliver bulletins
So, I need a tentative timeline. It is currently 8:30. I think first I'll try to get Guy to play by himself so I can conquer the dishes. This will make it easier to think about what to make for Josh for lunch. We'll stop that at about 9, 9:15, and go down and start the laundry. Then we'll take a nice walk to the Wymount office, and I'll take some bulletins with me to kill time after until it's time to change the laundry. We'll change the laundry, come home, and pay the hospital bill and play with Guy.
When he goes down for a nap, I'll deliver a few more bulletins and fetch the laundry. Then I'll likely work, though that sounds unfun, it needs to be done. Then we'll make lunch for Josh, and then we can have fun the rest of the day! I'm all for it. Wish me luck!
Edited to add:He's down for a nap! The laundry is in the dryer! And now it's time to do some more stuff!
Work for at least an hour or two
The rest of it? Not as important. But I'd really LIKE to finish the following, too:
Mop the kitchen
Read fun stuff
So, I need a tentative timeline. It is currently 8:30. I think first I'll try to get Guy to play by himself so I can conquer the dishes. This will make it easier to think about what to make for Josh for lunch. We'll stop that at about 9, 9:15, and go down and start the laundry. Then we'll take a nice walk to the Wymount office, and I'll take some bulletins with me to kill time after until it's time to change the laundry. We'll change the laundry, come home, and pay the hospital bill and play with Guy.
When he goes down for a nap, I'll deliver a few more bulletins and fetch the laundry. Then I'll likely work, though that sounds unfun, it needs to be done. Then we'll make lunch for Josh, and then we can have fun the rest of the day! I'm all for it. Wish me luck!
Edited to add:He's down for a nap! The laundry is in the dryer! And now it's time to do some more stuff!
Saturday, January 12, 2008
In Review
Well, three out of six ain't bad.
Today? I need to enter my receipts, clean the bathroom, and put away all the laundry I washed yesterday. I should also deliver newsletters.
Fun, fun, everyone! Maybe if I'm feeling adventurous I'll go to Costco. OooOOooooh.
Today? I need to enter my receipts, clean the bathroom, and put away all the laundry I washed yesterday. I should also deliver newsletters.
Fun, fun, everyone! Maybe if I'm feeling adventurous I'll go to Costco. OooOOooooh.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
To-Do Lists
Well, this week went to pot. My weekly schedule was thrown off by a winter snow storm, and then a husband who forgot to let me know that he'd be with his study group, in a room where they get no cell phone receptions, for four hours. Yeah.
So errands? Not so much. I went to one store tonight, and he came with me, and tried to get all of my shopping done there. So it means not free-range eggs, but they are omega-3. Not raw milk, but still organic. Not 100% organic produce, but 30%. So it's okay.
As for tomorrow, there are a lot of things to do on the homefront. I'm still dying to go check out RealFoods Market, where they sell raw milk, etc. But I'll likely choose to stay home to complete the following tasks:
Bake one loaf sandwich bread (new recipe!)
2 loads laundry
Call neighbors re: lock
Call hospital to pay bill
Enter my receipts into GnuCash
Cook nice meals so we're not tempted to eat out (like we did tonight)
Hopefully tomorrow will go better than today did. We had a bit of a tiff. It always starts with something, and then snowballs into huge emotional drama in this house. But we're over it, we worked it through, we've made up, life is good.
Wish me luck tomorrow. Hopefully Guy will sleep well tonight and do better than he did today. He really was needy. Which is okay, but hard when the hubs and I are having a rough go of it.
So errands? Not so much. I went to one store tonight, and he came with me, and tried to get all of my shopping done there. So it means not free-range eggs, but they are omega-3. Not raw milk, but still organic. Not 100% organic produce, but 30%. So it's okay.
As for tomorrow, there are a lot of things to do on the homefront. I'm still dying to go check out RealFoods Market, where they sell raw milk, etc. But I'll likely choose to stay home to complete the following tasks:
Bake one loaf sandwich bread (new recipe!)
2 loads laundry
Call neighbors re: lock
Call hospital to pay bill
Enter my receipts into GnuCash
Cook nice meals so we're not tempted to eat out (like we did tonight)
Hopefully tomorrow will go better than today did. We had a bit of a tiff. It always starts with something, and then snowballs into huge emotional drama in this house. But we're over it, we worked it through, we've made up, life is good.
Wish me luck tomorrow. Hopefully Guy will sleep well tonight and do better than he did today. He really was needy. Which is okay, but hard when the hubs and I are having a rough go of it.
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
New Year
I'm thinking this blog would be a good way to keep track of goals for the New Year. Just a little bit of personal accountability.
So I'll break it down, in a broad generalization kind of way:
Spend less
Read more
Eat better
Move more
Get organized
So how am I doing so far? Pretty good. But I'm kind of out of it today. I had this whole weekly routine set up and going great, until Josh tried to tweak it for me, and I really didn't want him to. And then it snowed today, so my errand day was shot to pot (something like 6 or 7 inches).
The house, as always, is on the move towards more organized, less chaotic. I took a load to DI this week. And bought a shelf unit for the
pantry. I shoveled snow this morning for exercise, but I ate cookies for lunch.
I've read my scriptures every day in an effort to finish the Bible.
I am trying to spend less, but that's not terribly easy either, as we're trying to eat more healthy. So we buy whole grain pasta instead of white, and we're switching to raw milk from the $2.39/gallon stuff from the Creamery. More fruits and veggies is great, but the majority of them simply taste better when they're organic. Hmm. It's going to be tricky, but I'm sure we'll manage it.
So I'll break it down, in a broad generalization kind of way:
Spend less
Read more
Eat better
Move more
Get organized
So how am I doing so far? Pretty good. But I'm kind of out of it today. I had this whole weekly routine set up and going great, until Josh tried to tweak it for me, and I really didn't want him to. And then it snowed today, so my errand day was shot to pot (something like 6 or 7 inches).
The house, as always, is on the move towards more organized, less chaotic. I took a load to DI this week. And bought a shelf unit for the
pantry. I shoveled snow this morning for exercise, but I ate cookies for lunch.
I've read my scriptures every day in an effort to finish the Bible.
I am trying to spend less, but that's not terribly easy either, as we're trying to eat more healthy. So we buy whole grain pasta instead of white, and we're switching to raw milk from the $2.39/gallon stuff from the Creamery. More fruits and veggies is great, but the majority of them simply taste better when they're organic. Hmm. It's going to be tricky, but I'm sure we'll manage it.
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