Money, Day 12: Spa Day!

This has less to do with money than it does with following up on something from awhile back.  (But there is money stuff at the end, so it’s not a total wash of a post.)

Money, Day 11: Small Windfalls

Whenever you discuss money in Christian circles, you’re going to hear ‘God will Provide’.  I mean, it’s just a given, you need to go in right away and accept it.  You also need to prepare to be told that if you give, God gives back, suggesting that the way to …. sort of buy favor (?) is to tithe properly, I guess?    I know that’s not really the spirit of the thing; it’s a matter of demonstrating trust and the various rewards that come of putting your trust where it counts, and that’s not something I would ever argue with.  But just in terms of practical conversational expectations, you’re going to hear or be told those things.  God will Provide, and If You Tithe, You Will Be Rewarded.   Bring up money in any Christian environment and wait for it, and then say ‘There it is.’, because it will always be there.

Money, Day 9: Luke’s Birthday

Well, I did pretty well.  Luke’s birthday gifts cost me about $40, and included a little soccer set, two wooden puzzles, two new books, a game, and toy train.   I’m very pleased by this, because that really was a pretty conservative birthday for ME, spendingwise, and yet Luke was very happy with what he got.   At three, of course, he doesn’t exactly have aspirations of Nintendo DSes and Wii games or anything, which definitely makes the going there much easier.. But in the past this wouldn’t have mattered that much to me.  This actually gave me a chance to examine how I handle gift-buying, too, which was sort of educational.

Cleaning, Day 6: Almost Perfect, But Not Quite…

Andy came back today.  I managed to get the ground floor looking decent, but upstairs still needed work.  That’s okay; Andy probably barely notices anyway.  I did get the master bedroom straightened up and looking swell, so that’s probably all that matters.  That’s the sort of thing he notices, anyway.

Cleaning, Day 5: On My Own…

Today was nice.  This is actually surprising, because it could easily have not been nice.  Andy is out of town for a conference this weekend through tomorrow, and I’ve had to hold down the fort and keep all four kids under control by myself.  Truth be told, it hasn’t been bad at all.   Last night I even took the whole crew out to a sit-down Chinese buffet, since it was sort of a special Just Us night and all.   Before we went in I talked to them about how we were going to handle the food-getting and managing the toddlers, and it went amazingly well.    No one spilled anything, no one argued.  Everyone received food in an orderly fashion and everyone ate a good amount.   Total win!

Also: Crab Rangoon.  Terrible for you, but oooh….  Everyone needs a Crab Rangoon now and then.

Lent, Day 37: Wildlife Walkin’

Well, if I have been at all lax about walking this week (and admittedly, I did skip one day), I made up for it today.  The kids had a series of activities today, including a Wetlands For Kids fair at Busch Wildlife.  Andy was busy with a golf tournament all day, so I had to handle it by myself with all four kids.  It actually went really well, though sadly Zack and Noah missed out on Archery because the line was too long.

The only downside (which, depending on how you look at it, could be sort of an upside) was the fact that parking was an absolute nightmare.  In the end, we had to park WAY up one of the side roads and walk a long ways to get to where we needed to be.  That plus the walking around AT the fair was a good amount of exercise for both me and the kids.

And I still walked 2 hours tonight besides, so go me!

Sleep, Day 4: My First Failure!

Yep, I blew it last night.  I was working on my room last night, and Ed called to distract me.  This was very much appreciated, since apparently the DVD player in my room has finally, after ten years, decided it no longer wants to work.  This meant I couldn’t listen to my Agatha Christie novel without going into one of the boys’ rooms to retrieve a CD Player, so I was trying to make do with the television instead, and was finding it to be more hurtful than helpful.

The only downside, of course, to talking on the phone as opposed to chatting online is that there is no clock immediately before you at all times the way there is on the computer.  So Ed and I were cheerfully entertaining each other with stories about our respective children and all, and before I knew it it was midnight.  I mean, I’d glanced at the clock and realized a couple of times that we were getting close to my Turn Back Into A Pumpkin Time, but when the time actually came, I was oblivious.

Sleep, Day 3: Calculated Decisions

Well, I’m in the thick of cleaning now, although I am frustrated to report that not having Zack or Noah here these three days has not turned out to be the ‘break’ it was touted to be.   Without their older brothers to entertain them, the younger two are now completely reliant on me to keep them busy and out of trouble, and as a result I’m having an even harder time cleaning than I would be otherwise.  As of this writing, I have finished with Noah’s room and I am about 3/4ths of the way through Zack’s, with the entire rest of the house left to go.

Exercise+, Day 17: Hard Decisions Made Harder!

BAH!

Today was the sort of day that I cannot describe without swearing.   Since I am not, as it happens, a great fan of swearing, hopefully this underscores just how horrible the day was.  Nothing I attempted to do seemed to go as I hoped, and by the end of the day the only member of our family who hadn’t spent an inordinate amount of time in tears was Andy.  What a mess.

While once again, I realize that this entry will have little to do with the diet and exercise regimen for which my blog has become so famous, it nonetheless follows up on yesterday’s entry…so I must beg the patience of my vast audience as I once again dedicate a blog entry to the wrong things.  Please feel free to skip.

Exercise+, Day 12: Workin’ It In the Eleventh Hour

Technically, I should probably say I failed today, since I’m finishing up and it’s nearly 1:00 a.m.  However, in my defense I technically DID get 120 minutes of ‘exercise’ in before midnight…  I finally made good on my threat to get up early and do some Wii Fit first thing.  I got in an hour’s worth of workout, but on the whole I wasn’t satisfied with it, so I’m still going to do at least 100 minutes on the treadmill.

I’m such a slave driver!  But I intend to backdate (or at least back-time) this entry, because it’ll bug me to see a day on the calendar that isn’t filled.   Cheater, me.