Cards

Here are some cards I have made for Card Club the past couple of months:

January = Thank You Cards

I found this cool paper folding technique online and decided to give it a try. I think it turned out pretty cool.

February = Baby Boy Card

I wanted to try making a shaker card, so this is what I came up with. The backgound paper I created myself with a templete plate that I have and thought was perfect for the occasion. Also, you can't see it really well, but I used a blending chalk on the "Congratulations" that was a light blue. It gave it a marbled look which was kind of cool.

Next month we are making "Congratulation cards". I have something in mind, so we will see. Stay tuned . . .

Walk a Mile In My Shoes

Today as I was struggling with Little Man to get him to eat, my husband came in and proceeded to "critique" my parenting skills without asking what was going on or knowing the whole story. Frankly, I was ticked and thought, "Okay, smarty pants. You think you are so smart and can do better? Be my guest!". I then announced my decision and for the rest of the day, I had a Mommy's day off. It was fabulous!

I ran my errands and got some great shopping deals. I took myself out to lunch. Watched some of my favorite movies and even took a nap! I also relished in the unhappy Little Man moments and his struggling with settling down for a nap. Why? Because it wan't my problem. Mr. "I have all the answers." was in charge.

My favorite was when he came to me and asked what was for dinner and I told him whatever he wanted. He was in charge, and to his credit he did actually follow a recipe and made a good dinner. However, Little Man followed the SOP of late and refused to even try to eat it, let alone taste it. My husband was floored. When he came to tell me, I asked him how that made him feel. He said that it hurt his feelings and actually kind of ticked him off because he had worked really hard on the dinner. I just smiled and said, "hmmmm". As the day comes to an end, I think there has been a little serving of humble pie that has been eaten.

I just smile.

The Art of Purging

One thing that I have discovered as my cleaning frenzy has continued is that there is truly is an "art" to purging. Who knew?! I don't mean the purdge as in "toss your cookies." I am talking about the purge of the ever climbing PILES of junk that collects over the years. Here is what I have discovered so far:

1. Don't purge angry! You may find yourself throwing something away only minutes later to be climbing inside a garbage can retrieving it. (Don't ask!)

2. Be prepared! You will be surprised at the things you have kept that you "might need someday" or keep for the memories. (Seriously? What type of memory was I hoping to keep around by keeping the wedding invitations from my first marriage?) You may also find that certain "discoveries" may bring back some pretty strong memories and emotions, so be okay with that in the moment, but only a moment.

3. Be wise! Purging can get you all excited about changing things. It is best to sit on an idea of "needing" something new to see if you still have the desire in a couple of days or is just an impulse. So far, I have bought a new bedspread and am planning on painting this weekend. I also have my husband looking at tile and possibly a new cabinet for the bathroom. I figure enough with the "someday I hope to" nonsense and just get it done. One more thing off my list!

4. Help is not always best! Sometimes it is best to not have certain"helpers" around, especially when crayons, markers, pens, etc. are found in abundance in a box. Nap times are golden times to purge.

5. Finally, wear old clothes that you don't care about! You may be get an "interesting" surprise/spill on your clothing when cleaning out things such as cleaning supplies. (Again, don't ask!)

Just a few little tidbits I have discovered so far. This definitely is a process and I am far from done. However, I have to admit that with each garbage/box that is thrown away or the pile to the DI gets higher I am enjoying the process and feel like I can breath a little better. I don't know if I will ever truly "love" living in this house, but at least I can start to tolerate it a little more. We will see how I feel when it is all done. Stay tuned . . . .

A Theory/Experiment

I recall once on "The Biggest Loser" that some professionals talked to the contestants about what could be making them fat. One of theories was that some of the contestants had too much "stuff" in their homes. The professional then suggested that if they would clean out their home and get rid of the excess (aka junk), then they would lose some weight by the excess pressure being removed.

Well, since I am currently restricted as to what type of exercises I can do for a couple of weeks, I decided that I would take this opportunity to de-junk our home. This is something that I have wanted to do for a long time, but just never followed through with it. Plus if I happen to lose a couple of pounds in the meantime, then more power to me. We will see what happens.

I can say this much. I began in the master bedroom today. I have to admit that I fell much better about going in that room and have decided to update our bedspread and am trying to figure out how/when I can re-paint it. (We already have the paint. I just need to figure out how to move the furniture on my own, since Jim can't help and do it while trying to care for Tre.). Then I can de-junk some more. However, my drawers are cleaned out, even my top nightstand draw which has been a mess for years! The blinds are wiped down, baseboards scrubbed, and the room completely dusted - including behind and the back of the tv. Aaaaaaaaaaaggggghhhhhhh. . . . much better!

So the experiment begins and I have decided to dedicate one room a day to however long it takes to get it done. Stay tuned . . . . . .

The Ant vs. The Grasshopper

I am an ant. Not "aunt", although I am one of those to ten wonderful nieces and nephews. I mean an ant as in the parable of "The Ant and the Grasshopper". As someone once put it to me, "I will try to squeeze the blood out of a penny if I can." It's true. What can I say? It stems from my upbringing when my family went from having a lot of money to practically nothing. I remember it all too well and not fondly. It was right during that awkward stage of teenager years when clothes and "stuff" matter. (In fact, having a date pick you up at the local KOA where your family is living . . . . NOT COOL!)

Anywhoo . . . Because of all of this if I don't have a certain balance in my checking account, I truly do panic. I won't tell you that balance because for some it is a lot of money. For me, it's my "cushion" that I need in times of emergencies or my "safe money" as I like to call it. Whenever we get close to it or below that limit, I panic and go into "survival" mode. Yes, it drives my husband crazy.

Part of this is because of how he was raised. He grew up in a home where money was never an issue. They had housekeepers come in and clean their house and even to this day his parents spend an exorbitant amount of money on "extras" that just makes me cringe.

So, we have these "ant" and "grasshopper" discussions on a regular basis. I have to say I am glad he is around to help provide the balance, especially right now. I just discovered that our "wonderful - NOT" medical insurance will not cover any of our ultrasounds that I have to do to see if there is even 1 follicle around to even try to get pregnant. When you consider that they run around $200 each and you have about 3 - 5 a month, it adds up pretty quickly. Not to mention medication, shots, and the IUI procedure that - nope they don't cover. (What is interesting is that they did with Tre. We just didn't get "caught".) Stupidly, I thought they did cover them since they did last time. Ummmmm, NOPE! And because they usually take at least a month to process anything, I just found out about last months bills and we haven't even started on January's.

So while my "ant" self is in the process of a freak out because this was so not in my budget or my plans of things I wanted to do this year/spend money on and wondering how I can sell a kidney, my "grasshopper" spouse shrugs his shoulders and says, "Yeah, so?" Oh, how I love him!

By the way, anyone wanna buy a kidney?

Fertility Blues

Today is one of those days of fertility blues. I am so tired of the treatments, testing, calculations, guessing, lack of privacy, etc. I had forgotten how intense all of this is, and the emotional roller coaster that is involved. Plus, this time I have a little one to care for so holing up in my "cave of grief" is not really allowed. I have to plug on and try to stay positive and happy for him.

Today in Young Women's we discussed how to overcome problems. One of the things that I stressed to the girls was that no amount of praying, scripture reading, obedience, etc. will have our problems go away. It just helps to soften the "edges" to allow you to experience the trial more smoothly.

It was funny to hear about the problems they are facing. To them they are so real and so large. Oh, the beauty of ignorance in our youth. I miss it some days.

C'est la vie. The sun will still rise and set and the world will still turn. I just need to learn to experience the ride.

A Year In Review

As I look back on this past year, I have to admit that for me it seemed to go veeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeery slow in some ways and way too fast in others. The biggest events were all of the changes that Little Man made this past year. He went from being a newborn to being a full blown toddler that is definitely on the move and eats on his own. CRAZY!

As for my husband's schooling: It just seems to drag on and on and on and on and on and on and on. Every time I think we are getting close to the end, he drops a bombshell about how he has to add another semester on to get his master's degree. The only thing that I know for sure is that at some point in time in 2011 he WILL have his master's degree. This is a HUGE benchmark for us! Why? The master's degree is a MUST degree for us. His doctorate is an ideal. In other words if something were to happen with his job, our health, etc, as long as he has his master's degree we will be okay. If he was to get a doctorate, it would be even better. All I know is that I am soooooooooooooooo ready for him to be done and so is Little Man. If I have to hear the words "I have class" or "I have to study" ever again once he is done, it will be too soon!

Another big event we having coming to us in 2011 is the child support ends! May is our last payment FOREVER! This is so exciting in so many ways. The biggest two are that it definitely frees up some money for us and hopefully, it eases up some tension without a court order being around. Only time will tell. In the meantime, we are trying to figure out what would be the best way to handle our "raise" that we will get in June. The list is sooooooooooooo long as to how it could be spent that we could easily spend it several times over.

My hope is that in the new year we will also be able to sell our home, but that is truly a long shot at this point. Our house is far from ready and is in need of some repairs/updates before it is show ready. Since we had people crap out on us for the holiday break and my husband's shoulder may be in need of surgery, I am not sure when we will be able to get to it. (Oh, to have a fairy godmother at this point.) While I am grateful that we have a roof over our heads that we can afford, I have to admit I have been completely green with envy as I listen to friends/neighbors/ward members talk about there new homes they have bought or built to the point that Jim is about ready to ban me from Facebook because I get too upset. (In case you didn't know, I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY want to move!)

As for me, I honestly have no plans or set goals for the new year other than get the long list of projects that I want to complete, completed. If I can do that, then it truly will be an accomplishment! Otherwise, there are too many "what ifs" going on to know for sure what will happen this year. I know what I want to see happen, but I have learned many times over that what I want isn't what is going to happen. So . . . . we'll see.