Day 181 and How do you Keep Cool?

How do you keep your house cool in the summer, besides the a/c of course? I use fans, both ceiling and floor, keep my blinds and curtains closed to keep the sun out, and try not to use the oven too much. What other tips/ideas can you share?

What about if you get hot while you're doing stuff around the house? Do you automatically turn the a/c down or do you try to find other ways to cool off first? I will usually go sit in front of a fan to try and cool off. Since my hysterectomy a few years ago, I am just not as able to take getting hot like I used.

I did my grocery and Wal-Mart today and other than that, I have pretty much taken it easy.

Day 180 and Too Tired to Think

Whew! VBS is over! It was a great week and I really enjoyed it, but wow, I'm tired. To top it off, I have been having the hardest time getting to sleep at night so that has just compounded the tiredness.

Tom got paid today and I got a couple of checks, but no debt updates. The money is going to electric bill, gas bill, groceries, vehicle gas, etc. Hopefully when I get my next payment, some of it will be going towards some credit cards. Tom did get a longevity bonus today at work which we are putting aside for our week off to maybe eat out a time or two, rent some movies, etc. I'm looking forward to that week off!

Day 179 and My Grandparents

Today is my grandparents 65th wedding anniversary! Isn't that awesome? My family is having a get together at their house tonight but we won't make it. I'm sad about that.

My brain and body are so tired from VBS! I've had a great time working with the 5th & 6th graders, but I'll still be glad when the week is done.

Day 178 and Gloves in a Bottle

A couple of weeks ago, I saw a review for a product called "Gloves in a Bottle" on one of my favorite blogs. I found out that they were looking for bloggers to test and review the product, so I contacted them and asked for a chance to try and review. Since I wash my hands many times a day, they get so dry and sometimes crack open and bleed so I am always desperately looking for something, anything to help! One of my biggest concerns with trying the Gloves in a Bottle was the scent, since I am very sensitive to many scents. This lotion has a mild scent, not perfumey at all. As for the product itself, I have to say that I am very impressed! My hands are much softer than normal and not near as cracked and dry. For me, the biggest test will be in the fall when the weather cools off because my hands get even worse then. I'll keep you posted! For now, you can check out their website at: http://www.glovesinabottle.com/ I checked and Gloves in a Bottle is available locally at Walgreens in Enid. I've also got a couple of samples here if anyone is interested in trying them, let me know and I'll bring it by to you. You can also request a free sample on their website.

I've also posted a link to their website in my favorites down at the bottom.

Day 177 and a Time Machine

Have you ever wished you had a time machine so you could go back and fix some of your stupid mistakes in your past? Or do you look upon each mistake as a learning and growing experience? I have to confess to sometimes wishing for a time machine, but when I look at some of my biggest mistakes, I realize they made me who I am today.

One of my mistakes might have been marrying my first husband. But then I wouldn't have Serenity & Joshua and who could ever consider them mistakes? If I hadn't married him, I might not have ended up in Enid where I met Tom, married him and had Natasha. No mistakes there!

But what about my financial mistakes? Would I go back and change them if I could? I'm not sure. I've learned a lot from everything that we've gone through, but I would wish that my children would learn from us and not do the same. If I hadn't made them, I wouldn't be doing this blog and sharing my mistakes with the whole world, and maybe I can make a difference in just one person's life by sharing my mistakes.

So...no time machines for me!

Day 176 and Do not Worry

One of my recent morning devotionals talked about not worrying and used one of my favorite passages from the Bible, Matthew 6:25-34. My favorite is verse 34, each day has enough worry of its own. Isn't that the truth? Anyone who knows me well will tell you that I am a worrier, I can't seem to help it. I'm much better than I used to be, I used to lie awake at night worrying about everything, and I mean everything. I have got past that, but I still worry. I think I'm going to print out this passage from the Bible to remind me constantly that God has my back. Have a blessed week, everyone!

25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Day 175 and Forever a Teen

Today would have been my brother's 40th birthday. He died in a car accident when he was 18 years old. In memory of him, I wrote this poem a few years ago.

Forever

Stuck in time, forever a teen

Never growing up,

Somehow it seems

That time has flown by,

The years have gone fast

But I remember the past.

Watching my children,

Remembering my own childhood,

Brothers and sisters

Should grow old together.

But you’re gone forever.

Stuck in time,

Forever a teen.