Day 286 and feeling lousy

I am feeling so lousy tonight! I came home from Enid and took a 4 hour nap earlier today! Hopefully that and a good night's sleep will help me feel better. I'll try to write a better post tomorrow.

Day 285 and the sniffling, sneezing, stuffy head-ME!

I just want to scream! My nose is running and I am sneezing again. I am desperately hoping that it is just allergies and not another cold trying to take hold. Ugh!

I've got the house to myself tonight. I'm supposed to be working on homework but I haven't got much accomplished except some reading. I have got some other stuff done around the house so I guess that's something.

The weather was just gorgeous today. The kids and I spent the afternoon outside until almost everyone was picked up.

Hope everyone has a nice weekend!

Day 284 and quick post tonight

I had a child care association meeting tonight and I've had a headache all day long so I'm going to make this short tonight. Overall, I felt much better today than yesterday, emotionally and physically. The headache was kind of the pits, but it could have been worse. Tom & I got up and exercised this morning. We're trying to do at least 3 mornings a week.

Day 283 and I went to the pity party

Well, over the last couple of months I've shared some of the things that I learned from Denise Ryan about stress management and keeping our flames going. Yesterday, I was typing up some notes from the conference so I would have them on my computer and one of Denise's nuggets of wisdom was: Don't go to the pity party. In other words, don't feel sorry for yourself.

Then came today and a call from a bill collector. Now first let me back up by saying that I was woke up at 2:00 a.m. with a horrible coughing fit and made the mistake of taking 12 hour cough syrup which in retrospect probably wasn't the greatest idea. LOL. But at the time I wasn't thinking, I was just desperate to stop coughing. So coupled with being tired anyway from waking up in the middle of the night, I was kind of groggy from the cough medicine. Plus this has been a rough month (financially and emotionally) with Tom and I both being sick and my openings still being well...open and I just felt emotionally raw this morning. So when the lady calls, I answer the phone, she asks for me. I told her it was me and she asks about our payment for this month. I said, well, it's not even due until the 25th to which she replied that she has it down for the 20th. I said well, I don't know what to tell you. When I started sending payments to you back in April, I told you that I would send a payment by the end of each month. You arbitrarily put a date of the 25th on that and have now apparently moved it to the 20th. So anyway, she very kindly (said sarcastically!) offered to move it to the 30th. I told her I would get a payment in the mail by the end of the month to which she yelled at me that the payment had to be in their office by the end of the month. That went back and forth a little bit with her yelling at me and me trying to talk to her. Finally, I just said "I'll do the best I can do. I will have a payment in the mail to you by the end of the month. Once it is in the mail, I have no control over how long it takes to get there. Thank you and have a good day" and I hung up. She was still talking. So anyway, after that, I was crying and frustrated and feeling like giving up. Sometimes this all gets so overwhelming. Even though we've paid off over $9000, we still have such a long ways to go and sometimes I wonder if we'll make it. So anyway, I went to the pity party. After some prayer and some deep breaths and a talk with a friend, I felt much better. I know we can't do this alone but we are not alone. We are doing what God wants us to do, we are doing what is best for our family, and we have God on our side, and the support of family and friends.

Day 282 and Skin MD Natural

Remember a few months ago when I reviewed a product called "Gloves in a Bottle"? The promoter for that sent me a sample bottle of another product called Skin MD Natural to try. It has a very light, pleasant scent (not at all perfumey), you use just a little dab (it goes a long ways) and it seems to work pretty well. One thing I really like about it is that it can be used more frequently, every 2 hours where the Gloves in a Bottle was every 4 hours. Since I've probably washed my hands 500 times (or so it seems) in that 4 hours, I often feel like I need lotion LONG before the time is up. However, the true test for both lotions will be in the next few weeks as the temperatures cool off. I'll keep you posted!

Day 281 and starting new classes today

Well, I start my two new classes today. One is called "Road Trip of the Mind" and the other is "Ecology and Evolution", which is basically from what I can tell a biology course. I'm a little nervous about that one, because evolution is such a controversial topic. But it's a required class so I have to get through it somehow. I do not have any grades yet on the two classes I just finished.

Tomorrow morning, Tom & I have health screenings at his job. I'm opening late so I can go down and get that done. I'm highly motivated to do it since it saves us $500 each on our health insurance deductible next year.

Day 280 and Heroes

Who are your heroes? I have a lot of them, but today I'd like to talk about some of them in particular. Last night, Tom and I attended a welcome home party for our niece's husband (our nephew-in-law, I guess?). The party was supposed to be a surprise which is why I didn't want to say anything yesterday in my post (wasn't sure if he ever read my blog or not). John has been in Iraq. If you are anything like me, you've known we had soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan and other places. I have appreciated it, and prayed for them. But it was never as real to me as when I realized John and his brother would be going. Then it became very real and very personal. I think of the families left here at home without their husbands or wives, fathers or mothers, sons or daughters, sisters or brothers. All the wives who give birth to babies while their husbands are gone. All the husbands who do not get to see those babies until they come back. Or worse, never get to come home and see the babies at all. John and Mandy had a baby while John was gone. John was lucky enough to get to come home after Sara was born, but can you imagine how hard it must have been for him to go back after that? I think of all those soldiers halfway across the world away from their families and loved ones. They are helping to keep the freedom that we take for granted everyday. So even if you do not agree with why our soldiers are over there, they are doing it for you anyway. Pray for them everyday. Write them letters. Send them packages. Thank them when you see one here at home. Pray for their families, offer them support and love, and don't forget to thank them too.

John, Mandy, Hailee, & Sara: Thank you for the sacrifices that your family has made so that my family could have freedom. Daniel and the other men and women, I don't know you as well (or at all), but I thank you from the bottom of my heart, also.