End of the Year Teacher Gift (Wordless Wednesday)

Just a couple of words on this one -- this is the rosary that Molly and I gave on Tuesday to our dear "Miss Angie" that led our Parent-Infant-Toddler group this year. We picked cool colors for a very cool teacher. We'll miss you seeing you each week, Miss Angie, but we'll keep our eyes peeled for you at Mass!

What Doesn't Work For Us (A Meandering WFMW List)

I have really been pondering exactly what to write about for this week's themed Works for Me Wednesday posting. You see, the theme for this week is what DOESN'T work for me.

And, while I have had plenty of things that have not worked for me, it just feels funny to take the time to write a good post about any of them that I could think of. So...my meandering thoughts of a few things that don't work for me, or at least they haven't in the past.

Shopping at Walmart / Target / anywhere with lots of stuff: I do it anyway, but it doesn't work for me. I am a visual person with very little willpower when it comes to spending. I am the kind of sucker that they love. I'm the one that thinks you're not allowed out the door of one of those stores if you haven't spent at least $50, even if you just went in for a loaf of bread.

Lots of Specialized Kitchen Gadgets: This is not to say that I don't love kitchen gadgets. Darn it -- I do. I actually really like them from a certain company that sent me a cease and desist email but what I also love (maybe because of being so visual) are all of those really kitchy kind of things -- the hot dog warmer, the cotton candy maker, the s'mores maker, the quesadilla maker, the maker maker...okay, that last one wasn't really. (And no, I haven't owned all of those, but I have owned some of them.)

Anyway, I have realized that I need to be a whole lot more picky about what I will bring in to my kitchen. It's okay to have things I don't use often -- a trifle bowl, a punch bowl, a bundt pan, etc. But, it's not okay to have the Betty Crocker Bake and Fill just because the commercials looked so neat, only to have it sit in the box and take up space in a cabinet until being carted off to Goodwill.

Buying Lots of New Clothes: Here, the emphasis is on the NEW part of that phrase. I used to buy everyone in the house brand new clothes. Now, I spend a fraction of what I did before, and we all still look nice. I do the majority of our clothes shopping at consignment sales and second-hand shops. I do still buy new clothes, but usually they have to be on sale (like when I just got a lot of great clothes for the kids on a trip to the outlet mall.)

Spending Money Without Planning/Budgeting: Here's the thing...I'm still not good at this. I *still* spend money that I shouldn't and I still sometimes come up short. But, it has really helped us to have a budget that we can look at. It's still a work in progress, and part of that is working on our attitude about money. I just can't help but wonder how our finances would have been different throughout the years if we had started with budgetting like this much earlier in our marriage.

Growing Food that You Won't Eat: Gardening is great, but don't plant things you won't eat (like, oh, I don't know, eggplant or something like that...you know, if one was apt to plant something like that when they didn't really like it), just because you can plant them. If you have something to do with them, fine. But, food grown simply for the sake of growing it is wasteful. I hope nobody else is a dork like me a friend I know. (For the record, at least, we only ended up getting two teeny tiny eggplants, which was for the better anyway.)

Working Outside the Home Full Time: Yes, it works for an awful lot of people in this world. And, there a whole lot of people that have no choice. I am thankful that I do have a choice, and thankful that when I did take a full time job several years ago, I recognized when I got the very first paycheck that it wasn't even close to being worth what I was giving up for it. (In interest of full disclosure, I will say that I do work parttime as an independent contractor through the state I live in, and I do work approximately 5 - 10 hours per week where I set my own hours. So, this isn't me saying that *working outside the home* doesn't work for me, just not full time or anywhere near it.)

Trying to be the do-it-all Super Mom: It's not like I haven't tried from time to time, but it doesn't work. I can't be everything for everyone all the time. By pretending that I can do it all, I steal time from the important things in my life and I make myself miserable.

Culling Out My Wardrobe (Tackle It Tuesday)

One of the projects that I did this week, what with the warmer weather finally here, was to sort through my closet. This is something that I try to do a couple times a year (or at least once a year, as should everyone else too!).

If you think about clearing out the clothes you don't wear anymore, here is my biggest tip -- expect to take some time, if you plan on doing it the right way.

So, this is how I tackled this task -- I tried on every single piece of clothing I own. Yes, every single sweater, polo shirt, khakis, capri pants, dress, etc. Every single one of them graced my body during this tackle it task.

If you are reading this and think, "How in the world can I find the time to try on all of my clothes?" Let me tell you -- if you think this would take more than about an hour or so, then it is my suspicion that you have far too many clothes. That's just a guess, and maybe I'm wrong. But, it is perhaps a sign that it's time to really think about the amount of clothes you have, that's all I'm saying. Mind you, this is in thinking about how I tried things on, and I pretty much put something on, stepped out of the closet to show Eric, and then pulled it back off and either hung it back up or I threw it in a pile to take to Goodwill.

I did all tops first, and then I did all of the bottoms. Okay...hang on...I lied. I didn't try on any skirts. I have worn most of them in the not too distant past. And, really, if I had worn something in the past month or two, I also felt like I could skip trying it on, if I wanted.

Only a few things that I got rid of were things that didn't fit anymore (one too small, and a couple were way too large). Everything else that I got rid of was simply because we just didn't think it looked good on me, whether it be the color or the style.

Lest I sound totally wasteful when I say that this task ending with me taking out a large black trash bag full of clothes, I will note that many of those things were ones that were given to me by other people that I held on to simply because they fit and were free. How silly when that meant that they just sat in my closet! What a waste!

And, now hopefully some Goodwill shoppers will benefit from my Tackle It task! I know I will, because now when I go to my closet, I won't be apt to look and declare I have nothing to wear, as I try to wade through the good and the bad. I simply can look and know that I like and will wear anything that is hanging there, even if it appears to be less clothes than it was last week...it's really not. Now it's all "the good."

(On a side note -- I have other thoughts on what makes a wardrobe "good" and usable right here and here.)

Sneetches, Slap Jack, and Spaghetti

Yesterday, after a day of just hanging around the house (inside), I suddenly decided that it was time to go weed in the garden some (in the strawberries) and help get the other part of the garden ready for planting. (This was another time that I just loved having our new composter we made!)

So, I announced my plans to go out and invited any of the kids out with me. Jack and Molly quickly and excitedly wanted to go out, but Noah wanted to stay in and play his new video game (he had just bought it in the afternoon with a gift card from Christmas). Eric soon also came outside, after talking to his Mom on the phone, as she was checking on him in regards to how he was doing (after his sinus surgery that he had on Thursday). I was glad that, although it took a little while, Noah finally decided to come outside too.

After some weeding, I worked for a little while on reading from The Creative Family by Amanda Soule. It was nice to read outdoors, while listening to the kids pretending and playing. They also were very interested in the comings and goings of birds. It was fun to hear as they declared that our little plastic playhouse was Molly's house, and the fort at the top of our wooden playset was Jack's house.

They ate kettle corn (from the Farmer's Market) and drank fruit juice, and they enjoyed the outdoors. They enjoyed each other's company, and I counted my blessings.

Eric had headed inside to make dinner, although he was able to talk to me from inside as well. I almost hated that dinner would be done, as they kids were just playing so nicely and it was so beautiful outside.

To be honest...very honest...the reason I really hated it is because my kids are video game kids. They are computer kids. They are indoor kids. Sure, they pretend inside sometimes. And, sometimes, we turn off all the video games, computers, Gameboys, etc. and force them to play. It doesn't always have to happen like that, but it does more than I want to admit. Obviously though, I'm not anti-video game. But, I know that my kids spend more time playing them and watching the TV than they should. So, there's my big disclosure. My kids don't play outside nearly as much as they should.

So, darn it -- I hated it that dinner was going to be ready, even though we had totally put off having dinner. But, then at about 7:30 pm, Eric came outside with spaghetti and bread (from the Farmer's Market) on paper plates.

Yes -- we ate spaghetti outside. I told Noah, "You guys are probably the only kids in your class that did that this weekend." And, while I cleaned up after dinner, I heard Jack say to Eric, "Thanks for bringing our dinner outside, Dad!" It almost mad me cry, and I don't know why.

After we finally did go in (only after breaking up bread for the birds and then getting to see at least one bird eat some bread), we had a read aloud of The Sneetches and Other Stories and then some fun (and slightly crazy) family games that included rolling people around the living room, dining room, and kitchen on my computer chair. Oh, and I can't not mention that we also play the game that I called "Slap Jack" (which made Jack's eyes bug out and then we all were rolling with laughter).

I had prayed last Tuesday morning as I drove to some destination, "Please God, help me to live more intentionally. Help me to notice more moments and really embrace them."

And at the end of Sunday night, I had to thank God for that Grace, and pray that I could find the way to help us live like that some more.