Where did January go???

I can not believe that January 2008 is already over! Where does the time go? It just seems like yesterday that we were opening Christmas presents, and now we are just 14 days from Valentine's Day! (Yea- happy valentines day to me I got a JURY SUMMONS!!! :-(
But I just feel like time is slipping by, and I haven't accomplished much this month. Hopefully with some medication tweaking by my doctor, and some much needed sleep that I am about to be all caught up on (I have slept soundly the last four nights, the past three unaided (no benadryl:), maybe my energy will return and I'll be able to get more things accomplished in February. (Maybe I need to try an organizational chart for my time/activities...)
*** Resolution update, I am still reading (not much, but it hasn't died all together yet) and the menu thing worked pretty good for January, now I just need to get February's completed... :-)
And I finally get to go get my wedding ring back the day after tomorrow! Yea!! I have felt so lost without it!

Tagged Again! :-)

I’ve been tagged by Laura!
So now I’ll tell you four things about me in the following categories:

Four jobs that I’ve had:
1. CNA (for two weeks)
2. Telemarketer
3. Caretaker for my Grandparents
4. Social Worker

Four movies you would watch over and over:
1. Summer Stock
2. Phantom of the Opera
3. Guys & Dolls
4. Steel Magnolias

Four of my favorite foods:
1. Mexican food
2. Italian Food
3. Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups
4. Diet Cherry Pepsi (I know it’s a drink, but still one of my favorite things :-)

Four TV shows I love to watch:
1. Apprentice
2. House Hunters
3. Most anything on Food network (the only thing I can’t stand is the barefoot
contessa)
4. Jon & Kate plus Eight

Four Places I’ve lived:
1. Pueblo, CO
2. La Junta, CO
3. Rocky Ford, CO
4. (that’s all I have so far):-)

Four places I’ve been on vacation:
1. Palm Springs, CA
2. Las Vegas, NV (I can’t wait to go back- we used to go every summer to visit my
aunt)
3. Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota
4. Los Angeles, CA (honeymoon)

Four websites I visit daily:
1. Arbonne
2. Heavenly Homemakers
3. MammaMia
4. Jayme

Four places I’d rather be right now:
1. anywhere except Rocky Ford, CO
2. reading a book in bed
3. sleeping in bed
4. anywhere except Rocky Ford, CO

Four people I’m tagging:
1. Marie
2. Laughing Laura
3. Chelf
4. Sally

What the freak is wrong with me?!?!?!?!?

I still can't sleep!!! It's 12:15 in the morning, and I can't get to sleep...and if I do manage to drift off, I move, or get jostled, and I'm wide awake- for hours, not minutes. I had four such episodes last night... I am so beyond exhausted, I don't know how I am managing to function at all... I just don't know what to do, I've tried everything I know, and nothing works... My mind just won't shut off... and there are not many things that are sutible for watching on tv at this time of day either... you think that would bore me to sleep, but hasn't helped so far... sigh...sniffle...(yes, I have been brought to tears more than once over this...)

Why men shouldn't take messages

This is too funny ! :-)

Feed hungry people while testing your vocabulary...

Click on this link only if you don't have an addictive personality. It's hard to stop once you start! :-)

I'm a Survivor...

Well- I did it! I survived my first multi-day, multi-state sepearation from my husband! And other than a little sleep deprived, I'm none the worse for wear- I even got banana bread baked! :-) G got home around 11p last night. He was able to catch a flight an hour earlier than scheduled, which was nice & he brought me some yummy looking chocolates from the fancy dinner they had Tuesday night (there was a box at each place setting at the dinner tables, four spots were empty on his table, so he picked up the extra boxes since nobody else wanted them)... I haven't tried them yet, but they look really good!
Now if I could just have my wedding ring back, I'd be whole again. (Have to wait til at least Saturday for that though... it's still in Denver being worked on...)

Toothpick Eyes

This is how I feel... I've been up since 4:00am, thanks to my lovely dogs- who I had to clean up after because instead of just using their puppy pad and then going back to bed... they used their puppy pad, and managed to get their bed on top of the puppy pad... mess-o-rama! All over the bed, the floor, their toys. It took me 45 minutes to get it cleaned up. I laid back down, but was too awake to do more than dose off- right as the alarm went off at 6.... Diet Cherry Pepsi will be my best freind today, of that I am sure... Good thing dad comes home tonight, or the puppies may have been banished to the garage...(not really, I feel too sorry for them in the cold- but I did threaten it anyway!)

National Weather Service... Experts???

I think the National Weather Service got it a little wrong today... here's what their website says our forecast is today...(I tried to copy and past the today's forcast from the website, but it's not working...)

"Today: Mostly sunny, with a high near 33. West wind around 5 mph becoming calm."

Newsflash- it's SNOWING outside! No sun in sight!!! Has been snowing since before 7:00 this morning.

We'll see if it gets more accurate as the day progresses...

Update... It's 12:20p now and the sun is now shining, finally... but it's odd because it still looks like it's snowing too! :-) There is a slight breeze blowing all the loose powder off the rooftops now.

First night over...

It was not so bad... not that I like being alone, but I did fininsh reading "Tuesdays with Morrie", flipped through a couple of magazines looking for new recipes and organizing tips, and did some dishes, so I did make some progress. I even heard Oreo get up at three this morning, and got up and let her out. My only problem is that I can't fall back to sleep as fast as G can, it took me about 45 minuetes to get back to sleep. But today I feel okay... not too tired... and am starting my next book today- "Jonah", a fictional account of the beloved Bible Character. It's a book I've had since middle school, my Bible school teacher gave it to me because she knew how much I loved to read, but I have still never managed to make it through the book. I will now! (Note to self- I have another one from her I need to find and read too... )
So only one more lonely night to get through- I think I'm making Banana Bread tonight... :-)

All alone in this big ol' house...

This is the first time G and I will be apart for more than one night, and also in different states part of the time. He has to catch an early flight to L.A. tomorrow morning, so he is going to stay in Denver tonight. He has only been gone for two and a half hours, he's probably not even to his hotel in Denver yet, and I MISS HIM already! I think caffeine is the only thing that's gonna me through the next two days, 'cause I don't think I'll be sleeping very well the next two nights, and he won't get home until late Wednesday night. Hopefully I'll sleep soundly that night... Now I just need to find something to keep me busy- I think I may clean my kitchen and get it organized... I need to make banana bread too... and a couple of cards... and read some... now I just have to actually get up and do these things! :-)

Next book please...

Am really enjoying "America's Cheapest Family"- it is inspiring me to see how I can save money from our grocery bills, and how to start a workable budget.
Also finished the first chapter in "If I Really Believe, Why Do I Have These Doubts?" I think it is going to be a great study book for me, I found myself identifying with some of his statements/comments, and really hope it will help me to strengthen my faith.
I have started a new book, "Tuesdays with Morrie". I didn't finish "The Red Tent" -didn't like what I was reading...I guess that's a good thing about this 888 challenge, you can rewrite your lists as you go.
Will porbably start "Frugal Living for Dummies" sometime this week too.
I will have a lot of time to read Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, since I'll be home alone... :-( (My husband will be in Los Angeles for a corporate meeting...:-(

Pupcicles...

When we left for work this morning, it was -2 degrees, it's only 5 degrees outside now (at 9:40a) and the high today is only supposed to get to freezing. I felt so bad having to put the puppies outside, even though the garage is all fixed up for them with their dog house and lots of straw, I still feel bad that they have to be outside. I told G that today is the first day I wished we lived closer to work, I would have left them inside, and went home at break and lunch to let them out, but we live just a little to far away to do that. So hopefully we don't have pupcicles waiting for us when we get home tonight... :-)

Mad About You

We have been watching "Mad About You" from my NetFlix Queue. We are currently watching season two. I loved this show when it originally aired, but now that I'm older, and married :-) I LOVE this show!!! I completely get it now, instead of just laughing along, I'm in on the joke! HA! :-)

Snow, no sleep, and stupid work computers...

That about sums up my day- and it isn't even 11am yet! Work issues are compounding the headache I've had since I got up, feeling more tired than I went to bed last night (which was at 8:30p!- don't know which is worse no sleep at all, or to sleep that long and feel so tired when I get up- but actually didn't sleep that whole time, was up every two hours again...) Our computer system at work recently underwent some detailed upgrades. What they fixed was nice, but what what they "unfixed" has been causing more problems than the original ones they set out to fix! So what should be taking me 5-10 minutes to finsih on a case is now, in some instances taking me up to 2 hours or more! It is so frustrating! And I am so far behind, I feel like I'm never gonna get caught up... Too bad there isn't gonna be enough snow for them to send us home- that would be so nice right now... (And if you know me at all you know how much I hate the snow, so to be asking for it...) Sigh...

I need a drinking buddy!

For water that is :-)
Good ol' H2O!
Anyone want to drink with me??? ;-)
I do not drink enough water, and today my body is letting me know about it- big time. I went to the chiropractor at lunch today, and even though my back feels well-adjusted, the muscles are screaming again. I know that's because I don't drink enough. And so when I got back to the office, I filled my water bottle and started drinking- and I've had to pee four times in a little over an hour! Again- bacuase I'm not drinking enough! There are some stretches where I do fairly well, but most days I drink two sodas (diet -over ice at least) and call it good. I KNOW this is not enough, but I don't know how to get myself to drink more water. So maybe, since I've posted about it, I'll do better. (Ususally this helps because I won't want to look like a failure when I have to say "No- I haven't fixed that problem"...we'll see...) Suggestions are welcomed as well :-)

888 Challenge

I finished my first two books this weekend. (That's one advantage to staying home on the weekends stuff actually gets done like reading, laundry, dishes :-) I finished Reunion, the 5th book in a long series of Karen Kingsbury books, it was in line with the rest of them, but sad at the end. When I talked to Sally about it in December, I was only about halfway through it, and had figured out the next twist in the story, but am eager to read on to see where the story goes next.
And I also finished "Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World." My friend from the church here in La Junta, Misty, and I decided a while back to choose a study book to read "together". We read the chapters and then discuss them when we see each other at church. It was a good book, it talked about how to balance worship time and service time for Christ in our ever increasingly busy world. It talked about how we have to have a balance of worship time and service time in order for our lives to have a sense of purpose, because if we get too overworked with no worship we forget who we are working for; and vice versa- if we don't get enough work we feel like we don't have a purpose in God's family. It has given me a lot to think about and to re-evaluate in my life. Which is good, because sometimes you have to look at where your life is headed to make sure you are not drifting too far off one way or the other.
The next book Misty and I are starting is " If I really Believe, Why Do I Have These Doubts?" I am looking forward to it, will fill you in on it as I get into it. And I am also going to start "The Red Tent" this week. Hopefully, I'll be able to finish that one by next weekend, we'll see how the week goes.

Exploring

Today was so nice outside we decided to do a little exploring of our hometown. We have lived here for nine months, and didn't even know where the library was. Turns out it was only six blocks from our house!!! So, we got a "family" library card and I checked out some books. I got a couple I wanted to read, including "The Red Tent". Jayme just finished reading it and made it sound like a good book, so I decided to read it next.
Check out my bookshelf on the side of my blog to see what I'm currently reading (I thought this would be a neat way to show what books I am reading for the 888 Challenge) I found the Shelfari website from one of Sally's blogmates, and thought it was pretty cool! You can set up your own by visiting Shefari.com.

Happy Birthday Ellie!!!

Hope you have a great day! We love you!
PS (your gift got mailed yesterday :-( sorry Aunt K is so slow- but hope you enjoy it anyway! :-)

Random Thought...

Isn't is strange how we can convince ourselves that we don't want something, and then, when the possibilty of getting that very something comes along, we are sad when we don't get it?

A calling???

I have one of those page-a-day desk calendars for my desk at work. It's called "Life's Little Instructions from the BIBLE". It has a quote from one of the "Life's Little Instructions" books, and a Bible verse for everyday.
Yesterday's was this:

Wednesday January 9, 2008
"Never let the odds keep you from pursing what you know in your heart you were meant to do."
As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Ephesians 4:1 (NIV)

But how do you know what it is you are meant to do??? I mean, I'll see something, and think I'd like to do that, and then take off with it for a while, or start planning (like writing out on paper) how I would do this thing or another. But it seems the interest dies before I can really even get started. It makes me feel wishy-washy a lot of the time. (And I don't want to work in Social Services the rest of my life- it's too depressing to see how screwed up the system is, and that your clients get better benefits that you, the one who is working, get.)
Or what if what your heart says you really want to do something, but you feel that it is not attainable, like a dream that you will never be able to reach???

And I know the Bible verse is talking about being a Christian, which I try to live everyday, but you have to make an earthly living as well...

Living in 2008...

I got this email this morning- was good for a laugh! :-)
YOU KNOW YOU ARE LIVING IN 2008 when...
1. You accidentally enter your password on the microwave.
2. You haven't played solitaire with real cards in years.
3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of 3.
4. You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you.
5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is that they don't have e-mail addresses.
6. You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if anyone is home to help you carry in the groceries.
7. Every commercial on television has a web site at the bottom of the screen.
8. Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn't have the first 20 or 30 (or 60) years of your life, is now a cause for panic and you turn around to go and get it.
10. You get up in the morning and go on line before getting your coffee.
11. You start tilting your head sideways to smile.
12. You're reading this and nodding and laughing.
13. Even worse, you know exactly to whom you are going to forward this message.
14. You are too busy to notice there was no #9 on this list.
15. You actually scrolled back up to check that there wasn't a #9 on this list AND NOW U R LAUGHING at yourself.

Have a good day! :-)

And the Number One Reason to NOT Wear Yor Contacts to Bed...

YOU CAN SEE THE CLOCK EVERY HOUR WHEN YOU WAKE UP!!!

That's what I did last night. G had to be to work early yesterday morning, so we were both up earlier than normal, so by 8:00 last night, I was ready for bed! Got up and got ready for bed, then I was wide awake. Worked in my Sudoku Puzzle book for a while, talked for a while, finally tired enough to go to sleep. Wake up- wide awake- its still dark, I figure early morning, tell myself to lay still & I'll fall back asleep. Give up, look at clock- IT"S ONLY 11:00pm!!! Well then that made me mad- I was sooooo tired, and all I could sleep was a stinkin two hours!!! It was all down hill from there- I was up at least every two hours, if not every hour. First I'd be cold, so I turn my electric blanket back on- then I'd wake up sweating. Then back to cold. I am soooo tired today its not even funny. At least I only have to make it eight hours at work instead of nine- I get to leave early to go have my massage! Hope I can stay awake enough to enjoy it...

Small progress

Even feeling poorly, I did accomplish a couple of small tasks today...G has been working in the office trying to get his stuff organized, now that he's pretty much done, I get to start. We started by moving my new desk that we brought home from Kansas into my side of the office. Now tomorrow, hopefully, I can start getting my scrapbooking stuff organized- I have to make a birthday card tomorrow too!

I also got my new light-switch plate put in the kitchen. My friend from work, who drew my name in the Christmas gift exchange our office had, gave me a Wizard of Oz plate to put in the kitchen, since she knew I was trying to decorate my kitchen in that theme. Thank you RC! :-)




I tried taking a bath to alleviate the back pain- that didn't help. (But did get some reading done while I soaked. I am reading more than one book all the time, so I hope to actually be done with two books off my list this week. I hope.) If nothing else, I'll call the chiropractor in Monday, but looks to be another long night tonight. (Sigh)

Not a good start to my weekend...

Since Wednesday I have been having trouble getting comfortable in bed at night, my body just aches, escpecially my back and hips. Yesterday it even carried over to riding in the car. My back just screams at me no matter what I do, or how I re-adjust. I've been on the couch since 6a this morning when I just couldn't stay in bed any longer. Don't know what I did, but I sure hope it works itself out soon- I am really missing my sleep already... And I don't do well on little sleep... I'm glad we had planned to stay home today though, but don't think I'll get much done on my "To-do" list like I had wanted. Yuck!

Apprentice

This season (which very well may be the last season) the Apprentice has gone celebrity! I wasn't sure about it, but after seeing the first episode last night, I'm hooked! Being a business major in college, I was drawn to the show right from the beginning, I've watched every season. But the celebrity version has added a new twist to it, the celbrities- some of them have good business sense, some have no clue! We'll have to see how the season unfolds, but so far, I'm impressed with Stephen Baldwin.

Happy New Year!!!

2008 Resolutions

My biggest goal this year is to figure out how to use my time better. I want more one-on-one time with my Savior, more time for my husband, my friends and family (even if it’s just email or writing a letter) and more time for me (I kinda forgot how to be me this year- not that the new roles I’ve learned are bad- but if I don’t stay in touch with me- all those new roles will suffer too)

My second biggest goal this year is to save money. I have come up with several ideas/ solutions to help achieve this goal.

-Each month I will plan out our dinners, which is the only meal we eat at home, in advance and prepare a master shopping list so that at the first of each month we can go shopping at Sam’s Club to get the bulk of our groceries at once and for less money since bulk prices are always cheaper. The only things that will have to be supplemented are fresh things like milk, eggs, fresh veggies. (G's lunches only cost $2 a day, and I almost always take left-overs so lunch is covered. Breakfast is up-in-the air (I don't know if G even eats breakfast most days , but I usually grab something from home then too or raid my stash of oatmeal or soup in my work drawer)

-I intend to try very hard to NOT pay full price for ANYTHING we buy this year- eBay, sales and coupons are my new best friends! Gifts, groceries, clothes, accessories, anything we look at we will shop around for (as much as possible). I know this will not be a 100% thing, but the more we try, the more it will help!

-All cards sent from our home will either be from the large stack of already bought cards or homemade. I don’t think we’ll have a problem with this one- we have lots of cards and card making materials in stock at home already!

-I want to try very hard to make all gifts we give too- but I know that there are some things that have to have store-bought elements- but intend to have a homemade element as well.

I am going to try my darndest to make my Arbonne business successful. I want so very badly to be a stay-at-home mom, and want to make that a reality BEFORE the family starts coming.

I am going to get through the Bible at least once this year. I would love it if I could get through the Old Testament once and the New Testament twice.

I am going to take the 888 reading challenge click here to read about it. (Will post my book list when I get it completed. Waiting on Jayme to finish hers too :-)