I just had a successful booth at a Holiday Mart. I am very happy because it is a big investment and sometimes they don't work out. Now we are off to a hotel to enjoy the local telethon!! Non-stop fun this wekend. Woohoo!

I am a recovering sleep addict...

and yet my children dislike going to sleep and can't wait to get up in the morning. First light rouses them right up and attem'. I love to sleep. I don't like to go to bed, I have to make myself go to bed. I love the midnight hour. The aloneness of it. I am very excited to be alone, it is so rare. The next morning though, I want to sleep till noon. This is not an option and I begin each day a little resentful. I just need to cave in and go to bed at 10 and get up at 5 which would put me up before my kids for once.

I accomplished alot last night. I went through and threw out a lot of paper clutter. It is alarming how much unnecessary paper stuff is floating around here. Homeschooling creates such a dileman-I want to have "proof" of work, but I don't want to keep all of the work either. What do you fellow homeschoolers do about ALL OF THIS PAPER??

I am getting ready for a whole weekend of work (Pampered Chef) and I am both euphoric and also dreading it. I love the flexibility of my business, but I am also positive that most days I would fire me if I had other staff that could fill my slot! I need to set some firm office hours and stick to them. Instead of waiting until I have work and then taking three days to sort through and get ready!!

Okay, I am off to start some breakfast. I believe scrambled eggs and toast for this morning!! Have an awesome Friday, y'all.

The winds of change are blowing

I am beginning to see what an un cluttered life will be like. Some rooms are very successful (kitchen/baths) as far as being uncluttered. The kitchen is there too if you don't count the dining room which is covered every surface. I am making progress but it is soooooo slow!!

My energy level has been shot. I think it is because when we re-introduced sugar, I went a little crazy with carbs. Carbs are like that. They always want to play and do fun stuff. Hang out with you and watch TV. The complex carbs I am hanging with now say, "Come on Janice, you're not hungry. Drink some more water and go to bed." Today is the first day I woke up and did not swear I was wearing lead pajamas.

I am also trying to be more environmentally correct (but mostly it is for my hands and nose) and clean with vinegar and baking soda. Cheap is a nice plus. That cleaning aisle at Walmart will kill the budget! I have been doing this in the kitchen for months now. I waited to use up all my other bathroom stuff to make the switch in there. I was also very doubtful that it could clean tub scum. I ran a bit of hot water, made a baking soda paste and rubbed it on the sides of the tub. Then I sprayed the vinegar all around on that paste and let it sit a minute or so. My tub just sparkles. I am amazed. My hands are so happy. Vinegar is also a natural deodorizer so my house is starting to smell like nothing. I love it to smell like nothing...or the candle I choose to burn.

This is my last year for scouts and I let everyone know it at the beginning of the year. I have my first casualty now. If they start dropping like flies, I don't think I can last the year out. This particular one is at odds with her cousin who is also in my troop-but still, her mom is awesome, a big help and it will be really hard to see them go. Please let everyone else stick it out to the end!! It is always hard to lose a girl. I second guess myself to death. I should just let it go, let it flow, its OK. Now cleansing breath...

I can't wait to get snowed in and not be able to leave the house. I would like to be home long enough to develop cabin fever, anybody with me?????

Carnival of Homeschooling

I made a carnival!! My blog was mentioned in the carnival of homeschooling over at Spunky's blog. For those of you bopping over from there, please scroll on down to Nov 4th.

Peaks and Valleys

As I crawled into bed last night after a girl's night out, I had such a feeling of love and afection for my dear hubby. He was glad for me to get away and spend time with my friend. He enjoys his time with the girls-eating frozen pizza and watching TV. Sometimes they clean the garage or wash cars. Not too long ago, they "helped" him plug a tire that had a nail in it. Despite all of our quarrels-and there are many-we are truly blessed to have one another. Our girls are blessed to have a cool dad-a drummer and a mailman and he knows alot about cars too.

I drove the "hot" car last night and you are right Susie, it is very lightweight and goes fast quickly. I made sure to set the cruise on the interstate! It has some new-fangled security things that I will have to get used to, but I like the car.

So far, KY did not elect the criminal to office but he was defeated so narrowly-81 votes-that Carroll Hubbard felt "he owes it to his supporters to ask for a re-canvass". I can't believe a former felon can even run, much less be almost elected. The union brotherhood is all that keeps the democrats in power. If the republicans could just support unions a little, that liberal freak-a-zoid party would ride off into the sunset never to be heard from again. Is anyone really FOR higher taxes, bigger government and redistribution of wealth? I don't think so.

OKAY, I know you don't read MY blog for politics so I will shut up-unless that recanv-ass changes anything and then I will have one more rant. Bob Leeper is a good man who does the right thing no matter what. I am glad he won and he had my vote. For the record, he denounced republicans as well as democraps and votes to do the right thing not the "party" thing. What more could you want from an elected official?

Please KY-don't elect a criminal!!

I will be so embarrassed if our end of the state sends Carroll Hubbard back into office. He is a convicted felon who committed his crimes WHILE IN OFFICE. Most people around here are such die-hard democrats, you just never know.

Had a girl night tonight and it was fabulosa. My friend Steph and I spent time together. She moves to Abilene in one week. I am sad. My kids are sad. I hope God really blesses her family with this move. IN A BIG WAY, cause it is breaking my heart.

Ted Haggard

Please go to Mike Cope's blog first and read his blog first. He publishes the apology letter Ted wrote to his congregation and some commentary.

The heartache of this circumstance is so evident no matter where you look. There are so many hidden sins around in the church. We are all so shocked when they are revealed. I believe each one of us has a vice that cuts us to the quick, our "hidden" sin. Most people are not quick to reveal these. Christians are in bondage of sin and we pretend we are perfect. We put on our church face and tsk tsk at the sins of others.(I prefer to tsk tsk over a slice of chocolate cake!) It is easier to see the speck in someone else's eye and ignore the plank in our own.

If we can appreciate the great leaders of our world and realize they are under attack daily by Satan, we might strengthen our cause not weaken it. Prayers lifted up on their behalf, not expectations. I expect all of my christian family will be called to a life that is set apart from the lives of the world. I learned a long time ago from a friend how hard it is to live in a fishbowl way up on a pedestal. The expectations of others are impossible to live with, in fact, it becomes a stronghold like no other.

We must remember that satan is on the prowl seeking to devour and defile believers. If we put on our perfect face and act like we have it all together all the time, we do a diservice to our family of believers. In the last days of the church, if we don't get on our knees and fight the battles of spiritual warfare united together, we not only lose the world, we lose ourselves.

Please don't join the scorn of Ted Haggard, pray that God will restore him and build his testimony to reach others with similar strongholds.

Also, we must remember, only Christ was perfect. As much as I love Beth Moore, she is only human. I want to believe she is perfect. Sometimes I even think-"I wish I could ask Beth about this". This borders on worshipping an idol. She is not God, she speaks truth that I believe is of God but that does not make her God. Like Paul, she is a messenger to our time. As Christians we are called to serve GOD, not people. If we get all caught up in serving and worshipping our leaders, we missed the real deal of Christ.

Leaders come and go, rise and fall, but God is forever.

SOS-Communication advice, anyone?

My husband and I, like many other couples, speak two different languages. We communicate so infrequently that most of the time this is not a problem. This pretty much means we only miscommunicate about the big stuff. This is a problem. I have a headache from trying to communicate why I am upset about the car purchase. Which leads right into all our other unresolved fights. Which puts us exactly right back to square one.

I am re-reading "The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands" again so I can again feel convicted of being a bad wife. Because, right now I feel like a doormat, with a hint of new car smell. I guess I need to pray some more about that attitude adjustment.