Day 508 and have you started thinking about Christmas?

I haven't. Well, other than the money that we put aside in our Christmas account. It is going to be here before we know it so I want to start thinking ahead and getting ready. First off, I need to make a list of who I will need to get gifts for. Then I will need to establish a budget and write down some ideas for each of those people. After that, I can start looking for bargains or purchasing gift cards (whichever the case may be).

Last weekend I made quite a bit of progress on my to-do list. There is still a lot to do though and I plan to work on it some more this weekend. Tomorrow morning I have CPR/First Aid class so that will take up a good part of my day, then I'll see what I can get done after that. If I am not careful the whole summer is going to get away from me and I'll not have got all the things done that I wanted to.

Days 506 and 507 and "staycations"

So the last few days my allergies have been making me pretty miserable. On top of it, when my allergies act up, usually my asthma acts up too. Yesterday my eyes were all itchy and yucky and by the end of the day I was exhausted. I took some Benadryl and went to bed a little after 8:00 and fell asleep soon after! Tom & Tasha were on the computer most of the evening and I just flat forgot to post a blog entry. I slept pretty well and felt better this morning, especially after taking a decongestant. However my asthma is still acting up, I've been struggling to breathe all morning. Hopefully whatever is in the air that's getting to me will go away soon.

A few days ago Tom, Tasha, and I were in the van and listening to the radio. On it, they were talking about "new words". One of the new words they were talking about was "staycations". Now I don't know about you, but that word is not new to me at all. I've used it in the past and we've done it for years. Maybe it's my job or maybe I'm just a homebody, but to me there is nothing more relaxing than a week off at home. Most people think we're weird (and we probably are), but that's what we like to do.

Day 505 and fun things to do on a budget

I thought I would try to come up with some fun "summer vacation" type ideas to do on a budget. One suggestion is if you live in Oklahoma, go to the Oklahoma travel site: www.travelok.com. They have information about attractions all over Oklahoma, even in our neck of the woods here. One year when the kids were younger, we took them to the railroad museum in Enid. It was free and they had a great time looking at stuff and exploring. We also took them to the Cherokee Strip Museum. They enjoyed it, but I think their favorite was the railroad one. In Enid, there is also a Splash Pad that is free, you can take the kids there to play. We took our great-niece last year during vacation and she had a blast. I wished that it had been available when our kids were younger, they would have loved it. Other towns may have something like that available, I know there is one in Norman. Any other thoughts or ideas?

Day 504 and June already!

Can anyone believe it is already June? And it has felt alot like summer the last couple of days. The kids played in the water (the mud actually, LOL) and had a great time. I am totally wiped out tonight so I'm going to call it a night.

Day 503 and Town Hall for Hope

A few weeks ago Dave Ramsey hosted a live web event (and on the Fox Business channel) called Town Hall for Hope. There were over 6000 locations that you could go and watch it nationwide. It was about hope in the tough economy. Tom & I did not get to attend but our pastor had recorded it and we borrowed the DVD from him. It was awesome! It really filled me with hope. There is a website called www.townhallforhope.com where you can learn more about it. Dave gives three suggestions for giving yourself hope. #1 is: Take action! Get up and do something. Don't just sit around and talk about it. #2 is quit listening to loser talk, especially from the media (who helped create this mess with their doom and gloom in the first place, in my opinion). #3 was start giving, if you can't give money, give time. The best way to cheer yourself up is to cheer somebody else up.

Day 502 and working on my to-do list

We got the grocery shopping done last night, and so this morning I woke up determined to make some headway on this to-do list. So far I have accomplished quite a bit, including browning up hamburger meat, laundry, faxing in some paperwork that I needed to do, switching out books in the playroom, gathering up the toys I want to switch out, laundry, and a few other little things that I needed to get done. It feels good to be getting stuff done. Now I'm working in the office trying to clear it up a bit and get it looking slightly less like a pigsty! Well, the dryer just buzzed, gotta go fold clothes! Hope everyone is having a fabulous weekend!

Day 501 and keeping my fingers crossed

Today there was an online article in the Enid News & Eagle about manafacturing layoffs in Enid. They spoke to the head of Tom's company and he said they hope to resume regular hours by the "end of summer". Tom said the rumor at work is that they might go back in July. Either way, I'm praying and keeping my fingers crossed that it is true. At any rate, I know God will take care of us.

Have I mentioned the totally awesome gift that one of my daycare families gave me as a going away gift last week? A two night stay at the Cherokee Inn & Resort in Tulsa. We booked our getaway for July 3rd & 4th! I cannot wait! We'll just need money for food and spending.