Today looks...

It looks like it is half way done but really there is so much more time to accomplish what I want and need to do.

Nic is at Jr. Theatre camp this week as a counselor then Shakespeare workshop in the afternoon. 

Will is trying not to spend the WHOLE day gaming.  It ain't easy!  I hope to hear a saxophone note or two this afternoon. 

Fred is at work and I am plugging along with my mental to do list.  I think I'll type it so I can go back and check it...

Laundry  - In process
Pick up Dry Cleaning  - CHECK!
Call IRS re REvoked status
Email TX PTA after I talk to IRS
Marinate chicken for dinner and plan sides
Cut up strawberries in fridge before they spoil
Clean up LR (vacuum, dust, straighten)
Cull through SLS items to make piles for follow-up and recycle
Scrapbook (I need 7 more pages to meet July goal)

Well, looking at that list I guess I'd better get off this BLOG and get busy!

Setting a goal to blog 10 times in August. Gotta try.

Back to normal please.. whatever that is.

Will is home from leadership camp and so we are a family of 4 again. It was nice sleeping in a full house again last night. I may pine to sleep alone in my bed but sincerely, we work well as 4 and it should be that way as long as it should be.

So, this fine Saturday not too much was accomplished. I did my best to keep myself busy enough to stay away from a garage sale at a local scrapbook store. I need NOTHING in my stash. Even at 50 cents I need NOTHING. I actually spent some time this week looking for some creative fuel to help me accomplish some things up in my space. I signed up for a free webinar that was informative and did inspire me. It was about putting together page kits. Not page kits as I was used to. My page kits usually included photos and specific paper that I wanted to put the photos on. This technique involved putting together paper and embellishments in some sort of container THEN finding photos to use.  I have such a stash of papers that I HAD TO HAVE that I just need to USE!  I then bought a couple of other mini sessions and one was about GETTING THINGS ON A PAGE!  Not waiting for the perfect page or waiting to find that other photo that goes with the first one. Holding a space for the ticket stub is fine but don't let that hold me up from getting the rest of it on the page. 

So last night I started to put together some page kits. I have patterned paper in them and need to go back and add solid base pages and embellishments. I am going to make 10 kits then challenge myself to use the random photos that I already have printed and get through those kits. I think, based on my schedule that I should be able to do that in July. I hope to get 20 pages done. That will be a combo of single and double page spread across a variety of albums. I wanted to try to catch up on one or both of the school albums but that probably won't happen. Time will tell.

Well all this writing has me itching to go upstairs and accomplish something. First I will go water the neighbor's plants then I will get in my pj's and get busy filling out those kits. If I begin July with no excuses that will be a great way to begin July!

Ready for some SIMPLE summer time.

Well we have hit both coasts and had lots of fun so far this summer but it has been far from SIMPLE.  I am ready for some simple summer fun.  I am hoping to SWIM soon. I would say I am hoping to sit outside and read a book in the hammock but.... The hammock broke a couple of months ago and it is 104 degrees out this evening.  There will be NO reading outside for quite some time.

William is away at his leadership camp and I MISS HIM TERRIBLY!  I cried when I dropped him off last night in Austin.  He was less than enthusiastic about attending and it is further away then camp last summer.  We were both pretty nervous about the new location of the camp itself and the fear that comes from new things.  He handled it better than me. He is there with a friend and I have complete faith in the adult staff. He will have fun. And I know if her doesn't I will hear all about it.

He returns to us on Friday. Camp is done at about 1. My fabulous neighbor Meredith will bring Will home to us. A BIG part of me wants to drive down and pick him up but it makes no sense. He can get a ride home with the Smiths. I'll have him back home soon enough.

Nic will enjoy being an only child this week.  I have no major expectations. He has some dog sitting responsibilities and a new video game so he should stay out of trouble.  Nic will begin summer school next Monday. We signed him up for Speech. He will take a semester long class in just 14 days. 5 1/2 hours/day.  It will be intense but good to get that out of the way. Hopefully he can take another semester class next summer and be able to have a little flexibility further along in his HS career.

Fred hasn't been traveling at all for work lately due to some unrest in Mexico. I am happy to have him safe and in town but some nights I really want to sleep in the middle of the bed alone.  Is that a bad thing?

Simple is working

I had a pretty significant To Do list yesterday. Mondays can be like that. The good news is that I was able to handle everything on the list. I volunteered, took care of business for my family, made it to a meeting, fed my boys a home cooked dinner, and took a few minutes to pet the cat.  The last item wasn't really a choice. Dear Griffin pinned me between one errand and another and MADE ME STOP and relax.  I thanked him for that. Then I went and got the lint roller.

Will take the time to read this magazine.

I think that this attitude of SIMPLE is probably a much more healthy approach to my life these days. It is a reminder that I can not be in more than one place at a time. That will planning I can do all things and that a life plan of SIMPLE will allow me more time to rest and enjoy all of the awesome things going on around me.

So, it is time to look at SIMPLE improvements and attitudes that will help me keep my family and friends satisfied and keep ME happy as well. I think it's going to be a great experience for everyone!

It took a few days but....

I have my new word. SIMPLE.  Yep, it's the one. It involves very little pressure and a whole lot of peace. It is good for the  body, the soul and the psyche. It will benefit my family, my friends, my organizations, my community and ME!

I have dusted off a few titles about simplification and will skim them as I have time. I think that soaking in the work is a great place to start.

Looking at my calendar for the week and seeing no less than 37 commitments that I have written down and I am not even worried. Do you know why? Because I know that I can not be in more than one place at a time. Because one person can only do the tasks of one person. Because I know that it takes time to get from point A to point B and I will sing along to the radio between those points. Simple joys await me this week.  I hope I can see those simple joys and perhaps even stop long enough to take a picture.

I am moving into my day with such excitement and feeling very light about having let go of INTENTION. It was too much. I know that now. My SIMPLE life is going to be amazing!

I think I'm changing my word...

I have been thinking about it for a few weeks. Probably really a few months. Since I chose it. I recall second guessing my words each year but this time it is different. I think I'm really going to change it.

I fear that the PRESSURE of INTENTION is too much for me right now. I need to cut myself some slack. I need to take it day to day. I need to have some FUN! INTENTION is just too serious and business like. My boys are growing up to fast. My hubby and I haven't been on a FUN date in who knows how long. My friends think that lunch with me is like and Amway sales pitch. Something is wrong here. I need to right the course. Gonna sleep on that and make a new plan to start out my MAY.

Stay tuned!

What has INTENTION done for me?

Maybe that should read what have I done with INTENTION. I have pulled together Easter outfits that suit each member in my family yet still coordinate ever so slightly. I haven't coordinated my family in a VERY LONG time! Maybe since our directory photo for St. Thomas A Becket in 2003. We looked so nice and stood so tall. It was cool. I even convinced the family to stand still and let me figure out the timer on my camera. See results below...

Easter 2012 Frisco, TX

I also managed to create a few scrapbook pages this week thanks to my pal Sabrina. She invited me to a crop on Friday night. They have one at a scrapbook store nearby and we have never gone. She brought it up then we both kind of forgot. I then brought it up again later in the week and we ACTED WITH INTENTION and reserved spots and pulled our stuff together and got busy! Sabrina's OLW is CREATE so it was a good night for both of us. I completed a couple of pages for William's school album and also did a few pages in the 10 Things that Define Me album. I added a few pictures of 5 Fashion Fads from when I was a Teen. SCARY stuff!

Mock turtleneck and an AWESOME Granny!

My final INTENTIONAL act was filling my boys' Easter baskets. I generally go a little crazy with Easter. Boys have received videos, games, candy, pj's, clothes, books and more in baskets over the years. This year I was a little stumped but did know of one item that I knew I wanted to include. I presented each boy with a Bible in their basket this year. The boys have had Children's Bibles and we have a beautiful family Bible but neither of them has a personal Bible. I probably had one by the time I was their age from going on a retreat. I used to get a new Bible each time I went on or facilitated a Quest retreat back in the day. My boys are attending a church that preaches about Bible stories each week. They attend a weekly youth group that is also biblical based and may soon be joining a Sunday morning Youth Bible Fellowship group. They needed Bibles. I made a special trip to Family Christian Bookstore a couple of weeks ago hoping to find just the thing but what I found was that Bibles aren't cheap! Not that they should be cheap but I was hoping for reasonable. Especially since I needed two of them. The ones I thought were acceptable at FCB were $35-$40 so I walked away and kept searching.  Last week I was at the mall and before I went I came across the last three gift-cards for Barnes and Nobles. These gift cards are about 3 years old and were bought to replace books that were lost in the fire. I took those gift cards and bought some VERY IMPORTANT books for my boys, Bibles!

Neither boy was disappointed with the sparse basket this year. I think that they "get" that Easter is the most important religious holiday of the year and one that should be celebrated but not commercialized. Yes, they received their Bibles in their baskets but I look on it as a gift of SPRING and new life and hopefully a fresh young relationship with Christ!