Relax and enjoy the skin you're in

It has been stressful for me the last month or so. You can certainly tell that by Wednesday's post which makes today's post seem all the more important to me. You see, I"m a day late for Thursday but wanted to do it anyhow, which means it's my day to do something for myself, encouraged by Katie. In addition to that, Rachel Anne's points for today are also for doing something for myself so that makes it doubly easy to get something in for today.

I have had a lot going on today so my plan for today is to steal away some "me" time by locking myself in the bathroom, filling the tub up with nice hot water, throwing in some bath fizzies and just relaxing. Oh my gosh, does that ever sound wonderful?! Plus, with my ankle, I'm supposed to stay off of it as much as possible and showering pretty much guarantees standing on my foot.

Plus, do y'all have any idea how long it's been since I've been able to just kick back and enjoy a nice long soak? Bliss, I tell ya. Pure and utter bliss. And there's a lock on the door. So that means kidlets and Hubby will just have to fend for themselves the whole time.

I'm linking this up to Katie's "Time For Me Thursday" post and Rachel Anne's "Home Sanctuary" post for today.

Points for today:50 points!
Points for February: 430 points!

When It All Comes Crashing Down...

I'm kind of in a dumpy mood tonight. Yesterday, I had some things that I wanted to get done and in the end, I was only able to accomplish a small portion of it. While coming down the stairs from the bedroom level of our house, I rolled my left ankle and fell down the stairs. It hurt like crazy and I just laid there for a minute, trying to get a grip on the pain and inhaling deeply. And also realizing just how badly our carpet needs to be cleaned. Pee-eww!!!


But I managed to get up and spent the rest of the day trying to do the best that I could. My foot and ankle hurt but I just stuck it out and did my best. The pain mostly went away until later in the evening. Then it was back and absolutely horrible so I went to sleep.

Woke up today and could barely walk on it. Decided to go ahead and get it checked out. The good news is that it wasn't fractured. It is just a sprain. The bad news is that it is a sprain. Did you know that bones take only 6 weeks to heal whereas ligaments and muscles can take up to a full year?

The doctor put me in an air cast, which is like a splint. It has two air chamber thingies that I blow up with a tube and then I strap it onto my leg. The two chambers are connected to each other by this strap thingie that is under my foot. And so I am supposed to wear this until I am able to walk without pain or 3 days, whichever comes last. And he put me on crutches, which I am supposed to use for the next week at least. It's just depressing.

We have had such a horrible run medically since I started the job in the little town. I have been in two car accidents, I had a sinus infection that was so bad, it blew out both of my eardrums, JoNo has had bronchitis, Hubby had influenza, then he had to have emergency oral surgery, I had bronchitis, I sprained my ankle. And then of course, there are other illnesses that are of a less severe nature. I'm just done. I'm exhausted with this stuff. And I'm afraid that I'm going to end up losing my job.

I have been looking for a new job anyhow. Technically, I shouldn't be working at my current facility because of the family supervising family rule. And there are some issues between me and my co-workers. And I really prefer home health to facilities. But I haven't gotten any of the jobs that I have applied for. It doesn't help that my attendance at my current job has sucked either. But it isn't like there was a lot I could do about it either.

In other news, I have another job interview on Friday. This one is for private duty home health, which is my absolute favorite. And I will probably try to see if I can get some hours with my other private duty lady as well. I'm seriously scared about the future of our financial status.

It will work out though. I know it will. And it doesn't help to worry about it because worrying doesn't solve the problem. What does solve the problem is taking action and that is what I have done. I have put in applications, I have had interviews, I make contacts daily and I keep my job search open.

So if I can get the job on Friday, that will help and if I get some hours with my other lady, that will help even more. It won't be enough, but it will be some extra. And I put an ad on craigslist tonight to try to generate some more leads as well. We'll just have to see how that goes.

 
And the whole parenting thing - yeah, that's going a bit rough right now too. I am trying to figure out the best way to handle screen time and chores and allowance and privileges and I thought I had a good system worked out and then today, my system turned on me. Hubby and I had decided to limit the kids to one hour of screen time per day during the week. And it only happens after their chores and any special requests have been completed. Then on the weekends, they can have up to three hours each day, but once again - only after chores are done. Allowance will be given every so often (we were trying to decide between weekly, every other week or once a month) and the amount was to be $1 for each year they are old. So Natty would get $10, JoNo would get $7, Punky $4 and Boo $3.

But then yesterday, JoNo buckled down and really kicked tail on helping out around the house, knowing that I was in pain and I totally appreciated it. I didn't even ask him to do anything beyond his room and to just do a quick sweep through the den. Oh yeah, and he also cleaned up the yard outside too. Meanwhile, Natty moaned and groaned and complained about having to do any chores and not being able to just play video games right away, so on and so forth. In the time that it took JoNo to clean up his half of their room, the bathroom, the den and part of the kitchen, Natty got almost half of the living room done. It was ridiculous.

Then today, JoNo brings home his book order and shows me the books he wants to get out of it and asks how much he earned for helping out yesterday. When I tried to explain it to him again that chores just needed to be done before screen time and that allowance was going to be a set amount every so often, he got tears in his eyes because he had worked so hard yesterday and he was wanting to use the money that he earned to pay for some new books.

Yeah, I suck. So I need to figure it out. I'm thinking that they will have their set chores to do to earn their screen time, they will have their allowance that they get at whatever interval and they can earn money for doing extra work and going above and beyond. I think that might be the best solution. I just don't know. This parenting gig is tough!

I just have lots of things to sort out and figure out and hopefully soon, it will all come together. And in the meantime, my carpets really need to be cleaned and I'm not supposed to bear weight. Oh Hubby!...

Tossed It Tuesday

   

 Well, if you read my last post, you would see that I had cleaned out my pantry. From my pantry alone, I tossed out 8 boxes of expired foods, around 12 cans of expired food, and a bag of potatoes. I also got rid of some old chairs that were breaking and weren't in good enough condition to repair. We finally got the high chair out of the house too. I sorted though some books and got rid of some of those and of course, the great laundry sort continues!

Some things that I am planning to get rid of this coming week include: a couch that has been water-damaged from our basement flooding.

Some carpet that has also been water-damaged from our basement flooding.

Shoes. I am finding that we have TONS and TONS of shoes.

Tackle It Tuesday

My tackle this past week was the kitchen pantry. Oh my word. I could not believe how junked out it was! I had no idea what I had on hand, I was buying products that I already had on hand, while not buying the products that I was low on. It was pantry disorder at it's finest. Absolute craziness!

So I started off by taking EVERYTHING out of the pantry. And I mean EVERYTHING. I grouped all the like items together. After doing that, I then decided to pull out everything from our overflow cupboard as well. And our spice cupboard too. It was a big ordeal! Unfortunately, I only got pictures of the pantry before - not the spice or overflow cupboards, because I didn't intend to get them done too. But it was necessary. Items in there belonged in the pantry and vice versa.

So, pantry before pictures:

Things were grouped together in there but there were some duplicate items in different areas and it just needed a good overall clean out. It also needed to be organized in a way that made more sense.

Things were just tossed in here and while they were grouped together, it wasn't exactly the best plan. Plus there were many outdated items in there. Also, do you see the bag of potatoes? Down there at the bottom? Let's just say that potatoes do not belong in the back of the pantry at all.

And here, there were many outdated boxed goods. And I had too many items that I don't use on a regular basis down low while the items that I was using was up high on the upper shelves.

So, I decided to use the upper shelves for the overflow and store extra of the items that I already had down below. Instead of trying to keep it all completely grouped together, it meant that keeping an amount down below on the shelves that I would typically go through in a certain amount of time, and keeping the extras of those items up on the shelf. Rather than having 30 cans of peaches down on the shelves, I have room for six. The other 24 cans of peaches would have to go up on the overflow shelf. I can just replace what I need from my overflow shelf first.

The area behind the pull out on the left is my baking good center. I have cake and muffin mixes on the top shelf. The second shelf holds crisco bars, powdered sugar and brown sugar. Shelf three is home to flour and sugar, while the fourth row has a container with butterscotch chips, a can of evaporated milk and a cookie mix on it. There's an empty shelf and then on the bottom, there are three jugs of cran-apple juice.

The right side of the pantry behind the pull out shelf has all of the pasta and sauces and helpers. Top shelf is boxed pasta. Lasagna noodles, manicotti noodles. Second shelf is more boxed pasta. Elbow macaroni, penne pasta, mac n cheese. Bagged spaghetti calls the third shelf home, while the fourth shelf holds pasta sauces and a can of yams (may seem odd unless you know that you can use yams to stretch the pasta sauce).  Fifth shelf is refried beans and taco shells. And the bottom shelf is Hamburger Helper boxes.





This is the shelf and cabinet above our stove. On the right side of cupboard area, we have our overflow or less commonly used spices. On the right, soup bases. The shelf has my Tupperware containers on the left that hold powdered milk, instant potato flakes, splenda packets, pink lemonade mix and two empty containers. On the right, our more commonly used spices. So handy to have all of this stuff right here above the stove.

Before, this was our spice and overflow cupboard. I hated it. It was cluttered, there were so many things in here that didn't belong in here and it just wasn't nearly as convenient. Now, it holds only what it needs to. Top shelf is for currently unused items on the top left, and cooking oils on the right. Middle shelf has a sandwich section on the left (peanut butter - SIX jars - no kidding!), honey and strawberry preserves. The right side has two 24 packs of microwave popcorn. Extra butter and light butter. Bottom left is more baking supplies - baking soda, baking powder, cornstarch, and yeast. In the middle, there's the citrus juices - lemon, lime, and key lime and then a can of french fried onions. On the right is a drink mix center. We have hot chocolate mix, coffee, cappuccino mixes, malted milkshake mix, apple cider packet, crystal light packets, and tea packets.

So there you have it. That was the tackle that I did this past week. And once again, I apologize for the poor quality of the photos. At that point, I was still taking pictures with my phone. I have since gotten a new power cord for my camera. Well, sort of. I bought Hubby a camera that was similar to my own, that I was pretty sure would have the same power cord as mine (it did), and so I am using his until I actually locate my own.

Valentine's Day

Today's small thing was to let someone know that you were thinking of them today. I did this before I even read Rachel Anne's assignment for today. This morning, when I got onto Facebook, I dropped by the walls of a number of friends and wished them a Happy Valentine's Day, sent them my love and let them know that I was thinking of them.

The one friend who stands out most right now in my mind and my heart is my friend, Erin. Her hubby recently deployed and she's home with their three kiddos, adapting to yet another period of time with him gone for the military. She is one of the most incredible women that I know and she knows that I think that too. I wish I was there today to bring her flowers and chocolate and coffee and to give her a chance to relax and rejuvenate, but we live many many miles apart and it's just not possible. But she was the first one on my mind when I got onto Facebook this morning. I visited her page, another friend's page (who doesn't like Valentine's Day - and then to boot - her grandpa died today too), and many more.

This afternoon, Hubby and I sat down and talked with the kids about some changes that we have decided to make around the house involving screen time and chores. We have decided to limit the kids' screen time to one hour per day. I am so tired of screen time being such a huge focus and the kids not knowing what to do with themselves without a screen in front of them to entertain them. We also decided that allowance will be freely given, chores will be done before screen time is allowed and it will be done with a cheerful attitude or screen time will not be allowed at all.

Natty complained and whined and cried about the changes, while JoNo buckled down and got right to work. JoNo went so far above and beyond that there will be little for the kids to do tomorrow. Well, there will still be plenty to do, but in comparison to what there was to do today, there will be very little.

Natty was incredibly upset and at one point, we sent him up to his room, where he laid on his bed, whining and complaining about the changes. I laid down on JoNo's bed across the room from Natty and we talked. He poured out the troubles that were in his heart and I just listened. Sometimes that is the hardest thing to do. I want to jump in, give him advice, tell him how to fix it, analyze it, whatever... But all he needs is someone to listen. Which, thankfully today, I did. And it seemed to do wonders for him as well. As I was leaving his room, I told him that he was welcome to come back down whenever he felt ready to.

Then, Natty and I made supper together tonight. We did a breakfast for supper, which is a family favorite. I let him do all the measuring and mixing for homemade pancakes. I didn't even supervise directly. I just told him what he needed and let him measure and pour, stir and mix and all of that. It also gave him a chance to show off some of his math skills, since we were doubling the recipe. Amounts like 2 1/2 cups of flour, he was quick to know was 5 cups with our modified recipe. And 3 teaspoons, he immediately knew was actually 1 1/2 from the original recipe. We changed it up and some of the time I would tell him the amount from the original recipe and some of the time I would give him the amount from the modified recipe. I figured a bit of a confidence boost would be good for his spirits and it was. He is very proficient in his math skills and I knew that having the opportunity to show those skills off and to cook at the same time would be a major mood lifter for him.

He also wanted to make a special pancake for Boo - so Boo got a Mickey Mouse pancake. Then he wanted to make a special one for Punky - so we made her a flower - complete with petals and a stem. I made a car-shaped pancake for JoNo, which he loved. It looked like a VW Bug. It was cute.

And to show my Hubby my love today, when I was helping the kids get their Valentines cards finished up before school, I also stashed away a bunch of mini bars of Hershey's milk chocolate. We had gotten a mixed bag of mini bars - Hershey's milk chocolate, Hershey's special dark chocolate, Mr Goodbar and Krackle. Hubby prefers milk chocolate to any other chocolate and I wanted him to know that I was thinking of him too, so I grabbed a bunch of the regular milk chocolate bars and "hid" them in a decorative cup next to the container where I put all of the leftover Valentine's candy. I let Hubby know about his "secret stash" of milk chocolate and he seemed quite pleased that I had thought of him in this way today.

But it is late now and I am tired, so I am going to end this now and tally up my point totals.

Points for today: 50 points!
Points for February:  380 points!

'Round the table they go!

We have four children. Four messy eating children. We have six chairs at our table, one for each of us. I try to get the chairs wiped off at least once a week. My grandmother did it every single time she did dishes (which was directly following each meal and then once before bed - four times a day in all!), but well, I'm not that accomplished. Although, I suppose if I did, it'd be less of a job for both the chairs and the dishes to get done. Hmm...something to think about.

Today's task is to clean off the chairs around the table. I did it the best that I could. At some point, Boo has gotten pink paint on a couple of the chairs and I have not been able to get it off. Although, let me tell you! I have most definitely tried to do so! I wiped down the chairs, getting the magic marker off of one, crusty milk off of another, and then just giving them all a good overall cleaning. Which is great because Hubby wants to have guests over tomorrow for dinner, so provided that the chairs stay clean, they will look as great as they can for our guests.

Nice timing on this one, Rachel Anne! :)

Points for today: 40 points!
Points for February: 330 points!

(There were extra points available for today - an extra 30! But I didn't wipe down an extra set of chairs. I got distracted by some other jobs that I wanted to get done and well, yeah, it just didn't happen!)

Time For Me Thursday

Thursdays are the days that Katie had deemed as a day to blog about some time that we spend on ourselves. As a parent, a spouse, an employee or whatever, it's hard to find time to really do something for yourself. You spend so much time focusing on your kids, your mate, or your job, that you don't often stop and take time just for yourself. Katie's designation of Thursday to blog about this is also my reminder of my need to take this time for myself.

I consider blogging to be something that I do for myself. It's my time to get my thoughts out of my head and into written form. It's also a place to share the things that I am working on around the house or with the kids or whatever, that the people in my regular, everyday life are really not interested in hearing about. And who knows? Maybe you all don't really want to read about it either, but it's still there. :)

I have not had much chance to knit recently, so I am contemplating that as an option of something to do today. Maybe a little bit of knitting and some Grey's Anatomy on the agenda for tonight. Sounds like a date with myself to me! :) That is my plan for this evening. Knitting and Grey's, pure bliss!