Breaking the Ice, and Getting Reaquainted

Hello Old Friend! Long time no connect! WordPress recently reminded me of our anniversary and like any newlywed who forgets a special day, I felt bad. I started this blog about a year ago and, whereas, it is always on my mind it seems to settle at the bottom in the kaleidoscope of tasks I try to accomplish every day.

So, what has been going on?!

My youngest started Kindergarten in August and I had glorious dreams of fully embracing my inner Artist. However, reality has a way of twerking one in different positions. First off, it’s all about the Benjamins. Since I will have student loans until I’m in my 60’s a steady income is needed. I started back at working part time substitute teaching. I love it and hate it. I love that I can pick my days but hate the role. When you are a full-time teacher you build a rapport with your students and you set rules from the beginning that students adjust to. When you’re the sub it’s a different set of kids and classroom routine each day. I don’t use my teaching license to work full-time because I want to be an Artist and with all my other obligations I honestly don’t think I have time to work outside the home every day. Quick shout out to the Husband, if it weren’t for his hard work and good job I wouldn’t have the option.

lady-tired-overworked-housecleaning-clipart-watermark-mum-clipart-rgmsb7-clipart

So what is my normal day that I have lost time to blog and don’t have time to work a regular job?

Ready?

Hold on, its going to get bumpy….

First off I don’t really have “normal” days. I literally have to look at my day planner every night to know what is going on the next day.

I am: a substitute teacher 3xs a week.

A football Mom 2 games a week.

A cheer Mom 2 times a week.

(This will change to Basketball and Cheer Extreme Mom in a couple weeks.)

A   Pink Zebra Consultant and

A possible Thrive promoter.

Ope, and a negligent blogger.

On top of those titles and their responsibilities I have:

A house that looks like a tornado hit

And 6 children to keep up with

Oh, and Husband is graciously giving me money to haul wood as of late.

There are not enough hours in the day or parts of Jenn to go around.

Under all this though, is a happy woman. My children are happy and healthy. Our drama level has been hovering at, right around 4% which is nearly nothing, HooRah!! My marriage is better than it ever has been. I think it has taken the poor guy the first 10 years to come to grips with my crazy Libra self.

I am not happy with my career though. I guess I should quit saying I’m not an Artist because whether I sell my creations or not I still created. Days come and go then suddenly a whole week has passed where I haven’t even gone out into my Shed. This is a matter of prioritizing, organizing, and energy.

To address the energy issue, I have started the Le-Vel Thrive for women system. I bought a four-part system of: Balance at night to help detox, capsules with lots of water in the morning, followed by a shake that I actually started craving by Day 3, and a patch that keeps me going all day and I look like I’m quitting smoking. Today is Day 4 and it really is delivering what it promised! I am overweight but I’m not a fan of women who look like twigs so I’m fine with being heavy. It looks like I could hold my own in a strong wind. However, I have no energy, cramping legs, and according to my Dr., heart issues. My past behavior has been to watch what I eat, cut sugar, drink more water, and walk everyday. I would stick to it for about 2 days so I needed something that would give me a jump-start. I kept putting off trying Thrive because of the cost of it. However, when I look at how much I spend to see the Dr., on fast snacks at McDonald’s, and over-the-counter supplements its worth it! I wanted to change how I felt without changing my lifestyle.

As far as priority and organizing….I tried 3 tasks a day last week and accomplished some but still didn’t make it to the Shed. Three things a day was a system I had read about for goal setting where I would write 3 tasks I wanted to accomplish for that day.

Example:

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
Laundry Mow Vacuum pool Kitchen Bathroom
Girls clothes Living Room Car Paperwork Boys room
My room Girls room Refrigerator Dining room Wash Dog

 

The idea was if I got the 3 tasks done when my head hit the pillow I would feel like I accomplished something. It worked in a way, except I was too tired after teaching to really get anything done.

So this week I’m doing the hour at a time idea. Since the kids got on the bus I have changed my activity from housework to business every hour. So far so good, I’ll update you next week because YES! I plan on blogging more. When I went back over my previous blog posts I was reminded how much I like writing and that I’m not half bad!

Thanks for the ClipArt at    Tired Mom Clipart

 

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Best Humpday Headway so far!

windows

LOOK at all this progress!!!!

nowindows

All because Husband went and got me a couple windows! This is how it feels when a spouse validates your dreams. Shazam!

As I started to bring things into the shed I looked at Husband and said, “I forsee a problem in the next few days as you see just how big my hoard is.” He thinks I’m joking when I say I own half of Hobby Lobby and JoAnn Fabrics.

Firstposter

Of course he wasn’t sure on my first bit of wall décor but this is MY space after all.

Official  Announcement

Last Friday was my last day babysitting on a full time basis. It means I now have no gas money or extra but it means I get to pursue my artwork full time! So look forward to seeing better writing and more updates from me. I plan on Humpday Headway, a day I just update you on things I’m building, painting, or repurposing. It will be all about the Art Shed. Friday is Teacher Tidbits, a day I post little ideas that can be used in the classroom or even at home to help your students/children succeed. Monday I am dedicating to getting to know my fellow writers. I have missed so many great blogs over the last few months! Tuesday and Thursday will be all about big pieces I’m working on as far as writing. This means if I do post on one of these days it was most likely something I spent some time preparing for you, dear reader!

Happy List for Cloudy days

When your Sad     and lonely    and need a helping hand

You can call me       I’ll be there   …….  except I have to get the kids at 3

It seems this is about how it is anymore. We all have friends we know we can rely on but everyone either works full time, is a caregiver, or volunteering to save the world. Meanwhile you just woke up and it feels like someone put concrete in your slippers, the coffee isn’t working, and all you really want to do is go back to bed. But, alas, who shall clean thy King’s socks? Or braid the Princess’s hair? Or prepare the feast?

So sometimes when we get up we are thinking more of shoving the King’s socks down his snoring throat. And sometimes we wake up with a true hatred for Walt Disney and Pixar because thanks to them we have to learn how to do the Elsa braid in under five minutes on two different girls or the bus driver is going to leave without them.  And sometimes, yes sometimes, we just want everyone to figure out for the love of all that is true in the kingdom to be able to pour their own cereal! To accept frozen pizza can be a meal once in a while, and it isn’t necessary to make five course meals everyday!

We could pretend we are the dog, and just sleep all day!

We could pretend we are the dog, and just sleep all day!

A List of my Happy places

  1. Sitting by a crackling fire with the smell of Apple Cinnamon in the air, sipping a cup of hot tea.
  2. Marking things off a To-Do list, sometimes I even write down things I’ve already done so I have something to mark off!
  3. The woods in the Spring and in the Fall, I’m a fair-weather friend to woodland creatures.
  4. Johnny Depp’s arms, sshh, let me have it
  5. Watching a movie with my husband or best friend
  6. Music that makes me dream, cry, dance, or sing loud
  7. Receiving packages in the mail even though I knew they were coming and know what is in them
  8. Walking thru cemeteries alone and thinking about what stories the dead had when alive
  9. The smell of books at the Library
  10. Walking into the craft store