Homebody's Life Shift

Motivated Monday-DH’s Birthday

It hit me this morning when I got up that I have known my husband for 40 years.  Wow that number is huge!  He was 11 or just turned 12 when I saw him for the first time.  It was love at first sight.  Sappy, but true.  Unfortunately it took him almost all of 7th grade to fall for me!

My motivation this morning is physical.  Yes I am getting up, doing my devotional and I have my exercise plan, but I am amending it.  At this point I am not worried about aerobics so much as get my body moving. 

With coming home comes the guilt of not contributing financially, so I feel like I have to be doing something all the time to contribute my share to the marriage/home.  I have forgotten what brought me home in the first place, which is my body could not physically take being a medical transcriptionist and I need a break.  So what do I do?  I start weeding and cleaning and cooking and grocery shopping and cleaning and weeding some more!  

Being at home I have the time to indulge in my love of fabric and quilts and worked on this all day yesterday. 

It is made completely of scraps mostly leftover from my oldest daughter making a baby quilt for a friend.  I  did switch it around a bit (per her advice) since taking this picture……

By the time I stopped and sat down for dinner, getting back up again was daunting.  Apparently I cannot cut and sew and press for 5 hours straight anymore.  So today’s motivation is to get better and quit feeling like I am 80.  I woke with a crick in my neck and my midback really bothering me, probably from the bending over the dining room table cutting.

So my goal is 30 minutes at a time of activity interspersed with a few minutes of stretching and changing up the activity.  So I can weed for 30 minutes, do some stretches and then water, then stretch, back to weeding, etc.  This morning it is getting the sheets in the washer (Monday’s are master bedroom days), then eating some cereal while checking e-mail and posting.  Then I will get up and walk on my treadmill, then a shower, then an activity, then stretching, etc. 

I keep hearing my accountant telling me to work smarter, not harder.  I didn’t know really what he meant at the time and am not really sure how to implement that, but I am going to try!

DH and I are alone this week since YD and granddaughter flew to San Diego to spend the last few days with my SIL before his deployment to Afghanistan.  I know I have to get my back strengthened as my granddaughter gets bigger and more grandchildren come along, because when she says, “Up grandma”, I can’t say no.

Motivated Monday, 08/30/10

Motivated Monday for this week is to make a daily plan. 

Monday – Master Bedroom

Tuesday- Kitchen

Wednesday-Bathrooms

Thursday-Livingroom/TV room

Friday-Floors and office.

I need to have a plan for my mornings because I get up about 2 hours earlier than my daughter and granddaughter who are living with us while my son-in-law is in Afghanistan.  So far my exercise, bible study and planning take about an hour.  I also need to be quiet during her nap times too.  Our house is not that big and unfortunately today my husband called and the phone woke her up. 

So far I have:

Menu planning/matching coupons.

Working on price book.

Knitting.

Reading.

Paying bills, financial planning.

I may be able to sew, but not sure yet (if my machine is in the dining room).

Work out in the yard.

Anything else??

Okay see that cake!  Lemon poppyseed with lemon cream cheese frosting.  Semi-homemade cake.  Started with a yellow cake mix.  Anyhoo, one of my 12 Things ( http://www.likeawarmcupofcoffee.com/home/2010/08/12-new-things/) is to learn cake decorating.   The day I made this cake (Wednesday) was the day I signed up for the Basic Cake Decorating at Michael’s.  I also bought the kit with a 40% off coupon!  The class was half price too.  Unfortunately or unbelievably, it is on my husband’s birthday, which is Labor Day this year, September 6th. 

My youngest daughter (whose birthday was 08/24, celebrated 08/25) wanted me to use the kit to decorate her cake.  She said, “How hard can it be?” when I said I didn’t know how to use it yet.  Ha Ha.  The naivete of youth or is that the fearlessness of youth??

I also signed up finally (after 9 years) for the free classes to learn how to really use my Bernina Sewing Machine.  I should have made that one of my 12 Things!  Okay now I have 13 Things!

So I feel like I am definitely making progress!

Motivated Monday

Well all I had to do was think about my husband coming home from hunting tomorrow and I was motivated!  I have been sick with a summer cold for the past 4 days so not a lot has gotten done.

My daughter, SIL and granddaughter have all gone over to SIL’s dad’s house for the night so I have the afternoon and evening to clean, clean, clean.

I got up and was out of the house by 9:00 a.m. to run errands, do banking and shopping.  Tomorrow is my daughter’s 23rd birthday and she has requested a lemon poppyseed cake.  I wanted to make it from scratch, but all the recipes I found sounded more like pound cake, so I decided to go with the recipe that starts with a cake mix, hoping it will be lighter.  We will not actually celebrate until Wednesday and daughter’s MIL is coming over, so back to this mess!

Thankful Thursday.

I am so thankful for my husband and family.  I am thankful that at this point in my life I am home taking care of my husband, youngest daughter and granddaughter while my dear SIL deploys to Afghanistan.

Wonderful Wednesday

I became a grandmother 2 years ago today and it was one of the best days of my life.  Ally is visiting Disneyland today with her daddy and mommy (my youngest daughter).  My SIL is deploying to Afghanistan soon.  My daughter drove down to pick him up in San Diego and bring him home for his predeployment leave.  I am so glad they are able to spend this special birthday together before he leaves.  Here she is from last year:

I finished a sweater for her, my third from “Minnies”.  I also bought one of my favorite word books from my own children. 

I woke up this morning with a sore throat.  I did manage to make it to Kohl’s to spend my $20.00 in Kohl’s bucks.  I bought my youngest daughter 2 necklaces for her birthday and myself a new workout bra that was on 80% clearance (the necklaces were too!).  It came to exatly $20.00!  I am planning to rest the remainder of the day and hopefully will be feeling better tomorrow.  SIL, YD and granddaughter start home tomorrow and may try to drive the entire way from Southern California to very Northern Coastal California.  Thank goodness for portable DVD players and Ruby and Max!

12 New Things……

I am a new blogger experiencing a huge life change.  I have so many plans for the coming year, and I found Like  A Warm Cup of Coffee blog (while using my youngest daughter’s iPad while on a little trip)  just at the right time.  I do not have specific months for my 12 things because I just cannot plan that well!

1.  Learn to blog and make my blog attractive.

2.  Learn simple cake decorating.

3.  Learn flower arranging.

4.  Learn to garden better and undertake some flower propogation.

5.  Learn Excel.

6.  Learn to stipple or free-hand machine quilt.

7.  Learn to make curtains for my home.

8.  Learn to make pillows.

9.  Learn to prune my roses correctly.

10.  Learn to become a better cook and baker.

11.  Learn to take care of my husband.

12.  Learn to relax.

I started #12 over the weekend as we went to a family wedding in South Lake Tahoe.  For the first time ever I am not coming back to a job so I have all day to get the laundry caught back up and take care of getting the house back into shape, instead of right back to work.   That in itself is relaxing!