Happy Leap Day!!

Allergies

I'm so glad that spring is here that my eyes begin to tear,
 then itch and swell. ...Oh well!

I like to smell the clean air breeze that makes me cough and hack and sneeze.
AAAACCHHOOOO!  .....Oh, boo!

I like to see new plants grow that make my nose produce such flow.
Run, nose, run. .....No fun!

I like the warm, lovely day that allows my children to stay out and play,
and run and fly. ....Contented sigh!

So welcome spring and all you bring,  warmth, and flowers, and fresh air, and sunshine.....and tissues....and Claritan!


A very poor ode to spring, but what do you expect from a lady who wears socks on her head!

Happy I Homeschool

There are many benefits to homeschooling, but the one I enjoy the most is the flexible schedule.  This week, the public schools in our area were off for President's Day on Monday.  I will often take holidays the same time our public school does so that my children can spend some time with their friends who attend there.  But this week, we wanted to go to a church meeting in Mississippi, so we had school on President's day.  And we did school in the car on the way to Mississippi.  But we did not do school on Friday.  Instead we went to a wonderful church meeting where I was able to see a dear sister in Christ I have not seen for years.  This sister is in her 70's and she means the world to me.  She lives in Alabama, so I did not expect to see her in Mississippi.  But she was there when I walked in the building, and when we saw each other, we hugged and hugged and laughed and hugged.  What a blessing that I was able to go to that meeting, having accomplished a full week of school, all because I can move holidays when I need to, and can take school with us in the car.  Yes, I am very happy to be a homeschool momma!

She's In Kings' Palaces

This weekend, Elder E.W. Hooven from North Carolina filled a series of appointments in our area.  Friday night he used Proverbs 30 : 24-28 as his text.

     "There be four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise: The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the winter; The conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks; The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands; The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings' palaces." ( KJV)

One point he made about the spider is how she is continually working with her hands to make her palace.  A spider doesn't make a web and expect it to never suffer damage.  In fact, she expects it to be damaged if it is to fulfill its purpose.  When the web is damaged, she doesn't bewail her circumstances, blame the one causing the damage, or expect someone else to come in and make everything right.  She just takes hold with her hands, and rebuilds her palace.

As a stay-at-home momma, I can learn a lot from this spider. I have cleaned  rooms to have them totally demolished by bedtime.  Laundry is finished just in time for more laundry to be done.  Lessons in behavior I thought I had taught my children must be taught again.  Dishes are done in time to cook and eat supper.   Appliances break, cars need repairs, appointments and correspondence pile up.  Basically, my palace stands in need of constant repair. I hope I can be like the spider, and put my hand willingly to the task without bitterness or complaint.  I hope I can build my home to function as it should, recognizing that if I am successful,  I will need to rebuild constantly.  But isn't it worth it to live in a palace?  I think so.

Daily Focus

I am too scattered.  My thought processes resemble a squirrel trying to cross a street.  "I'll go this way, wait, no, I'll go this way, or maybe over here, or over here, or SPLAT!"  You get the idea.  I have so many things I am trying to do, I have trouble focusing on one.  By not focusing, I spin around in circles, taking a lot of time to accomplish very little.

To try to tackle this problem, I am going to assign a day to accomplishing certain types of tasks.  I will do my PM's, and school, but the rest of my time will be focused on these assigned categories.

Sunday- Planning my week
Monday&Saturday-Cleaning (more than my daily pm schedule)
Tuesday-Organizing
Wednesday-Office Work
Thursday-Errands
Friday-Projects

I think these categories are mostly self explanatory.  Office Work will include grading papers, lesson plans, paying bills, and correspondence. Projects will include building, sewing, planting, painting, etc.  I think this will help focus me.....we will see.  For now, I had better defrump and head out to do some errands.  Have a blessed day!

The Things I Love

A list of ten loves on Valentine's day.

1.  My amazing, patient, kind, hard-working, musical, sweet, husband.

2. My dramatic, tender, giggly, girl.

3. My rowdy, dirty, busy, loud boy.

4. The amazing ladies in my home school group that encourage me so very much.

5. Chocolate.

6. My Momma, who had to teach me to control a terrible temper.

7. My Daddy, who taught me how to think and reason for and by myself.

8. My friend Donna, for always being honest.

9. Chocolate.

10.  Last, and most, my Savior, who loved me before I was ever born, who taught me to love Him, and who gives bountiful blessings to me each day I live.

The Ten Year View

This will be my last post about time for a while.  I know I have been a little wordy in some of the other post, so I will keep this one short and sweet.  I want us all to take a ten year view of our lives.  Where will we be in ten years?  In my case, I will, Lord willing, have a daughter in her first year of college, and a son who has just become a teenager.  My husband will be retiring from the plant he has worked at his whole professional life. I will have more time to pursue personal interest instead of care taking responsibilities.  A lot will have changed, and that is my point.

We often feel that we are in the wrong time.  Some feel like their whole lives revolve around diapers and spit up, or ball games and school functions.  Some people feel like life has passed them by; like they have raised their children and there is nothing left to do.  But if we will take a ten year view, we will see that diapers and school functions don't last forever. For the empty nesters, there is a freedom to pursue all of the things you put on hold to care for others.  You just have to remember what those pursuits were!!

Carpe Diem, whatever our diem holds, because this is the only diem we have.  God bless us all to serve Him to the best of our ability each moment we live.

P.S.O.

I have trouble with the phrase "saving time."  I don't think we can actually save time.  We can spend less time doing things, but time just keeps ticking away.  It's not like we have a time account we can make deposits in when we have too much time and then make withdrawals from when we need more time.  I have tried to live that delusion before, and it is not fun or productive.

I also get tickled at the phrase "making time."  This always conjures up a Rumpelstiltskin type character in my mind, feverishly spinning straw into minutes.  In my imagination these minutes look like a bluish, sparkling smoke wafting through the air.  Wouldn't it be great if there was a recipe for time.  A pinch of this, a cup of that, stir until moistened, throw into the air and watch time fly!  But, alas, that is not possible.

However, I do think we can find time.  Time exists.  We just have to find the time to do the things we need and want to do.  And we have to do them now, before the time slips away.  I can think of three primary ways to find time...prioritize, strategize, and organize.

Prioritize
We can't do everything we want to do in life.  How boring would life be if we could! Imagine waking up one day and saying, I have done everything there is to do in this world.  What would you do?

Since we can't do everything we want to do, we must chose the things we will do.  We must prioritize our life's ambitions, responsibilities, and joys.  We will not be as likely to chafe against our time constraints if we have spent our time on the most important items.  We must also recognize that these priorities will change as time marches.  For example, I want to be a children's writer.  Before I had children, I was pursuing this and felt to be on the verge of success.  But when I had my daughter, a four year, medicine and stress filled endeavor, I stopped.  Not because I didn't want to write anymore, but because that use of my time was not a priority to me. I still want to write children's stories.  In fact, I have a notebook full of stories, in very rough form, I had to write down to get them out of my brain.  One day, when my children are older, getting those stories published will become a priority, and I will spend time cuddled up with that notebook.  For now, home schooling my nine year old, corralling my three year old, and cuddling with both when those rare moments present themselves take up the majority of my time.  That is okay...they are my priority.

How do we prioritize?  By asking and answering a few questions.  Will this opportunity be available later?  Is there a moral obligation involved?  Will this help or hurt others?  Must this be accomplished today?  What if I didn't do this?  By this time, you should have an idea of an item's importance and can prioritize it appropriately.

Stratagize
Now we know what we want to focus on, we must determine the best method of attack.  We must find time to accomplish our prioritized goals.  This could involve re-purposing time or setting up a pm schedule as discussed in earlier posts.  This could involve enlisting help, if we just can't get things done by ourselves.  For example, company is coming, the kids just got over Hungarian body rot, the dog needs to go to the vet, the bills have to be paid, the stove just blew up, and the mountain of laundry would make Mt. Ranier look like a hill.  You could sit in the middle of the floor crying,  or perhaps Bradying,  or you could come up with an amazing strategy.  Call your girlfriends, explain the problem, and promise to help them one day soon if they will come resuce you today.  Ask the husband to burn half a day of vacation to come sit with the kids,waiting for the stove repair man while you take the bills and the laundry to the laundry mat.  It might cost a little, but to get all that laundry done in two hours, while paying all the bills could be worth the expense.   Stratgize like a general.  Access the problem, access your resources, and come up with the best plan of attack.  Then implement that strategy as if it will work.  After all, if the general doesn't think the mission will succeed, the troops will not be inspired.

Organize
I must admit to this being my greatest weekness, and I have no doubt it accounts for a great potion of my wasted time.  When we are constantly searching for items, time is lost.  When we are in the middle of projects  and discover we don't have the supplies we need, time is lost.  When we buy items we already have but couldn't find, time AND money is lost.  All of this could be solved with organization.

I recently organized my pantry.  I wish I had a before picture I could show you.  It was AWFUL!!  Food in the very back that I had bought years ago.  Spills, dry and sticky, abounded.  And opening the pantry door was a test of reflexes and coordination to see if your toes could miss and your hands could catch all of the items that tumbled out.

But this is my pantry today.

I have saved sooooo much time since doing this.  I know where my groceries are, and what I have available.  I know what I need when I go to the store.  I have not hunted for anything, lost anything, or spilled anything since this was done.  If I do spill something, it will take little time to wipe it off of the vinaljuast put the bowl in the dishwasher.  A little organization has made cooking, putting away groceries, and making grocery list a MUCH easier tasks.  I am determined to continue organizing, and see just how much time I can find.

Prioritize, Stratagize, Organize.  These are time finders.  Try it out, and let me know what happens.

The Right Tool at the Right Time

Tools are awesome IF used correctly and IF you have the right tool for the job.  Without these two conditions, tools are infuriating.  Have you ever tried to use a screwdriver for a hammer?  Have you ever been stuck with a pen when you really needed a pencil?  Have you ever had to use scissors on a project more appropriate for an Exacto knife?  Tools are only great if you use the right tool, the right way, on the right problem.

Time is a tool.  Used correctly, on the right problem, time is awesome.  But used incorrectly......ARRRGGGHHHH!!!!!!  It leaves us feeling frustrated and defeated.  Let's consider a few areas of life where this might be happening.

 Maybe we feel like we never have time to connect with our children?  Maybe if we re-purposed cooking time, driving time, eating time, or recreational time we could find ways to connect with our child.    Allow them to assist us preparing food while discussing the day.  Ban all electronics form car rides lasting less than an hour.  Turn off the television and go shoot some hoops or play a round of cards.

Maybe we have trouble finding time to exercise? We could repurpose lunch time, play time, getting dressed time, cleaning house time to include some exercises.  Walk don't drive to lunch.  Do leg lifts while brushing teeth.  Play chase with the children before bath time.  Don't bend to pick things up, but do knee bends.  Try to clean an entire bathroom in 10 minutes. Huff, huff, huff.

If we will evaluate our use of time, we may find that our biggest problem is not using it correctly.  For example, how often have we rushed around in the morning, doing an impersonation of a psychotic hunter gatherer as we try to get everyone out of the door on time?  Let's say all this running around and hunting took 25 minutes.  How frustrating is that experience?  How many times do we snap at a loved one?  What are moods like when we all finally leave the house?

Now imagine the difference if we had taken that same 25 minutes the night before. Maybe while the kids played in the tub as the husband watched, we could do all of this hunting and gathering.  If the kids are older, they could help with the hunting and gathering.  We might still be frustrated by the time we are finished, but instead of going out to face the day, we can get a cup of hot tea and a good book, and chill out for a few minutes  The next morning as everyone leaves, moods are calm and maybe even excited about the day.

I am not talking about saving time, though that is certainly a subject I hope to cover.  I am talking about using time correctly so that the use of it produces a sense of accomplishment instead of failure.  In what areas of our life do we fight time?  If we can find a different time to do THOSE things, if we can re-purpose our time to accomplish multiple goals at once, then time will become one of our most valuable tools.  My MIL has often said, "If you don't use your head, you have to use your feet."  A little planning can go a long way.

The Truth About Time

No one has enough time.  The working mother, the homeschooling mother, the professional father, the farmer, even those who are single.  Work, family, community and our own mortality steal our time.  And seconds do not return.  Once spent, you can't get a refund.  There is no money back guarantee.  Time just keeps ticking on.

That fact CAN be comforting. When time seemingly drags by we can become so frustrated that our circumstance just endures and endures, but we know time's passage continues, and this trial will have an end. During labor, I had my husband count seconds for me during contractions.  I knew every second that went by was one I had mastered, one that brought me closer to seeing my child, and one that would not have to be repeated.  I knew that the only thing that would stop time was the Lord coming back, in which case all would immediately be well.

But time's continual passage can also be frustrating and scary.  Many of us have set goals to accomplish by a certain time.  As that times looms closer and even passes us by, and those goals are not accomplished,  we can start to panic.   We work faster and harder and become stressed.  Or we struggle with feelings of helplessness and failure.  When we are bombarded my too many responsibilities and not enough man power, we rail against time and it's steady, inevitable pace.  And when old age creeps up on us, we fight time tooth and nail, never willing to give in to it's degenerative effects on our bodies.

Sometimes we want to jump ahead. Sometimes we want to slow down.  Some people want more time, and some want less. But the truth of the matter is that we are creatures OF time....subject to, governed by, inextricably linked to time.  And we can't stop it, or rewind it, or fast forward it....we can just LIVE it.  THAT is what we should focus on...LIVING our time.  Not wasting time by complaining about our lack of it.  Not fighting against it in the hopes of somehow beating it back into a corner.  Not wishing it away.  Just living  our time.

We all lack time.  Let's just admit it and move on.  Old age is coming, unless we die young or the Lord returns.  Let's accept that.  And all bad things, even time, will eventually have an end.  Let's be comforted by that.  Let's use our time wisely.  I know it is easier said than done, but isn't everything worthwhile hard?  How can we USE our time, instead of losing our time?  Over the next few days, this is a question I hope to explore here....using time as a tool, instead of fighting time like an enemy.

A Place To Be

There is a Fisher-Price book, A House for Mouse by Babs Shook, that my daughter loved when she was four.  My son, who is three, found the book and asked me to read it to him the other day.  While reading, one line stuck with me and has been playing over in my head day after day.  "I need a house, a place to be."  Don't we all.  Isn't that what our house should be?  A place for our family to...be.  To be safe and comfortable, busy and relaxed.  To be themselves; to be loved.  To be taught and disciplined.  To be fed physically, emotionally, and spiritually.  A place they want to be.  A place they  are allowed to be.  A place their "being" is desired. 

If I can accomplish providing for my family this little mouse's aspiration of a place to be, I will have been a success.  The pay may not be great, but the rewards outweigh the national debt!