I credit my low stress to the fact that I have given up. I choose joy. This world is NOT my home, I'm just a travelin' through. I stepped out of the race of having the best behaved kids, nicest car, hippest clothes(maybe I should try a little bit on this one) and cleanest house. It's good that I did too, we were always coming in last anyway, LOL!! I pray every day that I can love my kids and enjoy them. I will teach them to the best of my ability and hope God can help me beyond that. The housework, well, I do what I can and hope people always feel welcome.

Your Stress Level is: 31%

You are slightly prone to stress, but generally you keep it under control. You know how to relax and take things as they come, even when your worlds seems to be falling apart. Occasionally, you do let yourself get stressed out, but you snap out of it pretty quickly.

How Stressed Are You?

If you give a Mom a weekend away...

...she will come home and hit the ground running trying to desperately fill in all the gaps of her time away. She will notice laundry that was all finished when she left piled up exactly 24 hours after she arrived home. Getting behind on laundry will remind her of outings and appointments. Appointments and outings will allow dishes, paper and chores to pile up. Paper piling up will remind her that it is difficult to do school without a clear table or smooth surface anywhere to write upon. She will cancel school for one day after History and math are finished in a vow to clean. This vow to clean will cause a friend to call with earthshattering bad news that involves lengthy listening time and much affirmations. Lengthy phone call does away with cleaning time, moving right into meal prep time. Preparing meals will cause more fresh messes and more chores to be behind on. Evening meetings, outings as a family,church, and Bible study will keep these chores undone. Bad smell in house will be a constant reminder of need to clean. New oil burning air-freshener bought on family outing with "CLEAN" scent will not make house smell better. Exhaustion will prevent cleaning. Bad smell will cause depression. Depression will prevent cleaning.

Tomorrow is Friday. I wish I could say TGIF, but instead I must feebly ask where all the days since Sunday went to. I think they are misplaced. I'd like them back please. They were days to clean, straighten and do some laundry-maybe even school. I implore you to be on the look-out and send them on home if you see them rushing by. REWARD! Am I staying home tomorrow to catch up all that is behind? Absolutely...NOT!!!

Could someone slow down time for a day or two????

My weekend was fabulosa! I am going back next year! It was like a bed and breakfast on the lake with lots of nature trails thrown in to keep me excited. I learned so much and did cool things I never thought I would have, like:

*Got up at 5:30 to go on an early morning hike with someone I did not know because it sounded fun. (It was fun and we saw three deer-I love deer. I see them all the time but I am always excited to see them.)

*Held a snake, not for long, but all by myself just the same. (another lifelong fear issue!) At the same animal encounter, I also watched a possum eat. Nasty business. I had never seen a possum alive but I did know they existed because of all the dead ones I have seen in 34 years of living. Not a cute animal, but interesting.

*skimmed a pond with a dip net and was fascinated by what we found (newts, 4 different life stages of tadpoles, dragonfly larvae, leeches, water scorpions and so much more!!)

*existed an entire day with hardly any sleep because of all the snoring. We were also awakened by the sounds of hunters which was comforting since I was doing the aforementioned hike.

*I was completely fascinated by the history of the Civil War, especially the battle of Fort Donnelson. (I don't like history so this was a big surprise.)

*I saw an eagle nest. It is as big as a small car and she ain't done yet!! I did not see the eagle but I sure hope too next time I go.

*Made friends with total strangers. (Okay, this is really not a surprise.)

I had a great time and loved every minute of my stay there. They gave us all kinds of goodies in a tote bag and they were totally sweet and accomodating in every way. I don't think I opened my own door ever. Unmatched hospitality. I felt honored and revered. You don't get that very often in this day and age. The man that runs Brandon Spring and all the staff there are nice, fun people that truly love their jobs. When I grow up, I think I wanna be a park ranger.

It was a wonderful weekend and I can't wait to go back with my family!!

Back to the real world:
* I cut alot of Kayla's hair off the other day and it looks cute. No more crying over all the tangles she had to comb out!! She was really mad at me but I really did just intend to give her a trim and it just got trimmed too short. She really likes it.

*We had our first care group on Sunday and it was great. I can't wait to spend nine months with these people.

*We went boating after care group and had wonderful family time. The water is still warm and wonderful. Erika tried to ski and almost did but she just does not have the leg muscles yet. She was exhausted after two tries but she almost got up both times. We spent about two hours on the lake and then we heard thunder rumbles. Erik got our boat out and loaded just as it was beginning to sprinkle. On our way home there was wind and great lightning. We got out just in time to miss a really big storm!! Thank you God!!

*I told my scouts/parents last night that this was my last year as leader and then we could cease to be a troop or someone else could step up. I did not want to even hint that I might stay on longer, because I won't. I love all my girls but it is just to hard to take another night away from my family when there are so many other things that take evenings from my family! I may do our homeschool 4H group or a homeschool troop. I have a year to decide. I am making it a good one to, I plan to leave these girls in great shape for someone else or for whatever troop they go to.

*I will slowly and prayerfully pare other areas of my life as well- by next year I hope to have time, energy and Godly focus to make a difference in my family and my community for the will of God, not just be tired and crabby all the time!

Today? I leave the house at 9:15ish and I won't be home until who knows when. I love days like that!! Have an awesome Tuesday! Call and book an outing at Brandon Spring!! You will have the time of your life! I promise!

Countdown to departure...

My house is somewhat clean with a few piles around the perimeters of rooms for storage or eventual discard(does anyone else do that??) My husband DESPISES IT!! I am a piles person. If I put it away somewhere that is not it's "HOME" I know it will be lost forever. Since not all our things have been assigned "HOMES" yet(and we've been here 6 years!!), it is very annoying to see all the things in piles. If someone knows a better way, let me hear it!! Some piles are just paper, there is also a give-away pile, consignment pile and several toys-to-go-through piles.

Anyway, house mostly clean, laundry is two loads away from done(one in the dryer, one still washing). I want to leave the house in fine shape so dear hubby can enjoy his personal home time between jobs!! He is playing gigs and packing mail all weekend. He works hard for the money... Hopefully he can watch a movie or have a nap in his peaceful home. OR BLOG...hee hee. And desperately miss me since I will be so far out in nature cell phones don't work(I will still have it though if you want to try though, honey!!). Looking forward to some time alone with God as well as enjoying God's land. LBL. Oh and I guess there will probably be some stuff to learn and people, but I intend to enjoy myself despite that...hee hee.

I hope you all enjoy your weekend!! I can't get over all the fun stuff going on tonight!! Never again will there be so many options in our fair town on a Friday night!! Ice cream festival-murray, museum story hour, birthday party, carshow downtown, church trip...I don't feel guilty though because the pox cancelled all those options anyway. SOOOO, I get to be with nature and my kids spend the night with the coolest babysitter on Earth. Seriously, they love my friend Kathy and beg us to date more. AND, Erik drums tonight with no guilt(not sure there ever is but...)of time missed with me. Win-win-win-win-win.

I am outta here...well pretty soon anyway!

Random and ODD!

*I am so excited about my field trip to LBL-I may explode. Being on lockdown at home because Erika has pox only makes it sweeter!!

*I am doing major housecleaning today, can't blog long or I will lose momentum.

*My kids think someone is coming over because of the above. Very sad indeed.

*I have my bible study homework all done.(And I did not just finish 4 days worth today-I finished it days ago!) I can hardly believe it myself.

*I have a peace that surpasses all understanding about all things church. Some of you must be praying with me, thank you. Thanks also to all of you who admitted you feel the same way!!

*My thyroid medicine is upped since my doctor visit. This makes me conclude that yes, indeed, my body is falling apart.

Back to work, if I play my day right, I will be getting some stuff to a consignment store and some other stuff to Heartland's clothing closet. Maybe today! Have a wonderful Thursday.

"The [person] who is always having ... feelings hurt is about as pleasant a companion as a pebble in a shoe." ~Elbert Hubbard

Feeling like a pebble in a shoe today afer re-reading my last couple of posts. The above quote came in my inbox today. Appropriate, me thinks. I considered deleting the posts, but they are accurate as far as how I feel and this blog is my journal that I hope one day my little chitlins will read. I don't want to send the message that my life was sunshine and roses all the time. I don't guess there is any worry of that . My second concern is that some people from my church read this and I assure you guys, this is more about me and mine than anyone at church. We have never reached out to anyone that someone wasn't reaching back! Our church is not large-around 200-but that is an awkward size in my opinion. Too large to be super intimate, to small and varied in ages to group up effectively. Since I grew up in such a small congregation of 50-70-I realize my expectations are a little skewed.

This is a busy week for our family, last night I had a Pampered Chef sales meeting, tonight Erik has practice with his blues band, and Thursday is my Bible study. Friday, I leave here at 4PM, drop my kids off to my friend and head to LBL(land between the lakes- a huge natural settings park for you out-of-towners) for my teacher workshop(they let me in-heehee). I won't be back until Saturday evening and Erik has gigs and work, so all of our family will be all over!! I am very excited as I will visit parts of LBL I have not been to: Fort Donelson-which apparently has a historic military hospital and cemetary and some other area I have not ventured far enough south to see. We will be housed at Brandon Springs which is yet another area I've not been to. Anyway, the trip teaches us how to get the most out of a field trip to LBL and the services they offer. They are home educator friendly!

In other news, Erika is quarantined starting today waiting for the outbreak(chickenpox!)Her outbreak won't cancel my plans though!! My friend Kathy said if it happens, she will deal with it! It does mean no church for our family tonight. If Erik did not have practice, he could take the other two-but Wednesdays work out best for the rest of his band for practice. They don't practice alot since they play so much, but about four or five times a year they are learning a new song or playing an important gig, so they get together for an hour or two.

We are finally back on track from the long weekend-it took ALL DAY yesterday to get caught up. Today we are not doing that. They are watching a video on bugs to supplement our insect study. I vowed last year I would incorporate some fun stuff in our year as school lest we all spontaneously combust.

Thanks for always lisening, bloggy friends!!

I am waiting for the apples to kick in...

I am a little better today. I am trusting that God will guide our family in exactly what we should do. Thanks for the sweet comments, especially you Julia, I swear we are sarcastic soul sisters. I miss your posts, love your pics, but enjoy your thoughts as well. A church change would be an awesomely huge decision that I am not sure any of us could do right now. Plus my heart aches at the thought-our church is family in so many ways. Clicky with lots of issues, but family nevertheless. Maybe it is me, maybe my personality is so obnoxious that people dislike me enough to ostracize the whole family. I try really hard to always be kind, but I know gentleness is not my strong suite!! If so, a church change would only intensify these feelings. Maybe it has nothing to do with me and it is just the time factors that all of us deal with-trying to fit all we have to do in a day with so little left over. Maybe God is allowing me to wander in the desert a bit and grow my faith. It just seems like he would give me people to minister and mentor me instead of making me wander alone.

Erik and I just had a nice conversation about it and agreed to sort of take a wait and see attitude. (I learned tonite that rubbing Erik's back with lotion makes him OK for discussing things) We will start a new CARE group soon and that may make all the difference. Whew, no pressure CARE group!! Hee hee! I am also in a ladies Bible study and that is always a welcome bonding experience. Erik, though, really does not have any friendships through church at all and that bothers me(Especially since he is so cool and all!). I want more God in our day-to-day living and Godly friends are a very essential part of that. I am thinking maybe we should just reach out to more people in church and be a little more proactive instead of waiting for the friend wagon to pull up in our driveway!!

OKAY-shutting up on that for now. I am praying and listening to God instead of ranting from now on (at least on this subject)

We had a very productive labor day. We laid around all morning but then we rode our bikes to Erik's Mom & Dad's for ribs & the fixings. Buddy the wonder dog(we wonder where he came from and why he LOVES us SO MUCH!) came along. We were shocked. He nevers leaves this yard. Our other dog, Thunder, never comes home-he truly lives at the corner grocery and comes home when they close. Buddy, though, apparently takes his job of guarding our family very serious. He is very good at it. It takes him a long time to accept even welcome visitors. Last week, he had a group of Jehovah's Winesses backed up to their vehicles until I saved them (If only we all took our beliefs as far as they do!) Anyway, other than being scared of Memaw and Pepaw-he was very well behaved and eventually took rib bones from their hands. Then we rode home again with much fuel to burn off(much much fuel!). We then tackled our garage in what proves to be only step one towards completing the task. We are also draining our pool-it takes a while. Hopefully we can finish up those chores tomorrow afternoon, or Erik's next day off.

I am also still decluttering. It takes along time when you have the vast collection of all things that I have amassed. I went through our games and resolved that we will play more often and yet keep fewer!! We started last night with Scrabble Jr. It is a neat game. I love scrabble-but it will be a while before my little mis-spellers will play the real version!! I hope another consignment sale is coming up soon so I can keep my vow to never have a Yard Sale again!! I bet we could fill up a truckbed right now and I am not done yet (or even close!) I hope the ache for more space will go away once I clear out the space we already have. I had a nightmare the other night about a house so big I lost our kids. I just want 300-400 more square feet really. I have never wanted a very big house. Too much to clean, paint, maintain, etc. 1800-2000 square feet would be just perfect. All in one story please. And a big barn and chicken house out on the back ten acres please. (getting greedy!)

Okay, laundry to finish and Frazier to watch!