NOT new year resolutions

can i make resolutions even though it's not the new year yet?  by the time i spend all my energy dreading christmas and then christmas is finally over, i'm usually so sick of hearing about new year's resolutions, that i make a resolution NOT to make any.  cuz against the grain is just how i roll.  so here they are, a whole month ahead of time.  (don't expect me to stick to any, mind you).

• school the yahoos on a schedule so it gets done more often
• learn about leonardo da vinci and his 'non-painter' world
• travel as much as possible
• go to concerts
• write in my journal during the happy times, not just the sad
• send more snail mail to people
• pay my bills on time
• figure out who i really am and stick to it
• discover my gifts and grow them so they can be shared
• finish getting this house set up (scrap/craft area, overnight guest space, toy room)
• be more diligent with gospel basics
• determine where they sell the jars of unselfishness
• continue to grow my dvd collection
• build a wardrobe that i love instead of one i dread 

looks like 2011 is gonna be busy...

CERTified

i took this class recently to learn more about emergency preparedness.  CERT stands for Community Emergency Response Team.  i thought i would enjoy it more, but it got to be kinda dry.  i'm still glad i did it, and i got a big bag of supplies at the end.  SCORE!  it then became someone's crazy idea to put all my gear on and take a picture.  not sure why i went along with it.  but here they are for y'all to have a good laugh.

southern fishing

my kids have never been taught how to fish.  a couple of them haven't ever held a fishing pole in their hands.  it's one of the things i wish we would've had more time for over the past years.  the doc was invited by a couple people from work to bring us all up to a cabin in the middle of nowhere on a lake stocked with fish.  the kids had a blast and can't wait to go back again.

 

marz caught more fish than anyone!!

 

 

yes, that makes sense dash.  how else would you get the fish to stop moving?

 hmmm...lemme see how squishy the eyeball is.

a southern dinner isn't complete without deep fried fish!

mmmmmm...hush puppies from scratch!

one rut to another

spent the entire day out of the house yesterday.  it reminded me of 'back when' i used to do that every day.  it's been 8.5 yrs since i've had to be gone all day on a daily basis.  i don't think i would have the energy to return to that.  kudos to all the working moms that do that all the time.  i don't know how i did it back then. 

back in the day it was 2 little kids, at least one up a few times in the middle of the night, alarm goes off about 1/2 hour after the last time i return to bed.  leave the house to drive to work in the dark, many times return home in the dark.  saturdays the kids spent eating and sleeping in the car all day as we ran errands from morning til night.  sundays we spent driving all over town between church and visits to family and friends.  monday morning we'd be back at it again.  most days i felt like we would never get ourselves out of that rat race to take a breath.

12 yrs later, life seems like the complete opposite.  if i leave the house at all it's an achievement.  if i shower AND leave the house before noon, it should be documented.  laziness seems to be the drug of choice these days.  and on days when the sun isn't shining, well... we won't even go there.  i have kids who cook, clean and babysit.  i have kids who read to other kids.  i have computer apps that teach the kids math and such.  i have a cd player that reads the history.  i have a very helpful husband, and friends who keep my kids when i want to run away.  after all that, some days, it still doesn't seem like enough.

i wonder how i jumped from one rut to the next without seeing the in between?  how did i miss the plateau?  and how do i cure this escape i wish for, from things that others would give anything to have?  anyone know which store sells the jar of contentment i need?