Random Ramblings

1. Sanity is beginning to return to our home. First off, I came to my senses and decided NOT to get Audrey's ears pierced and to return to my previous rule. Audrey may get her ears pierced when she can take care of all her own hygiene needs. Shower alone, dress, do hair, and take care of her clothes. When she proves thus, she may get her ears pierced whether that be at 8 or 18 years old.
We have also opted out of the business we were looking into. We just couldn't justify the $500 with the lack of sucess we were having. Therefore you may all breathe easier in knowing we will not be bugging you.

2. I hate to advertise, but I must get word out. I am SERIOUSLY looking for piano and clarinet students. If any of you know anyone in the Ogden area intersted, PLEASE contact me. I prefer to teach people I know rather than advertising in the music store. Therefore, I will try this avenue of word-of-mouth first and see what follows.

3. My newfound freedom is quite entertaining to me. You see, Ben now has a friend to carpool with to work every day. That means I get the van. Now, I haven't taken advantage of using the van for a day excursion yet, but the KNOWLEDGE that I CAN leave if I want to is SO empowering. I find myself more patient with the kids and less watching the clock for Ben to get back from work all because I know that IF I want to, I can leave and go somewhere. Go figure.

4. I have finally sucked it all up and begun walking every day......at 6am. I go with my friend Cicily, and hopefully my friend Heather will be joining us soon. 6am was the only time that we couldn't come up with an excuse not to go. Our husbands are home, the kids are still sleeping, and it's nice and cool. We knew that afternoons wouldn't work because then we'd have to take the combined total of 7 kids between the 3 of us. Evening wouldn't work either because we'd always be coming up with excuses not to go (too tired, couple time, family time, date night, friend time, etc.). So....the only alternative was 6am. We actually went for a few days, then bummed out until we found that pants weren't fitting correctly and we were NOT going to buy new pants. The only other option was to get our rears in gear and walk!

5. Fly lady works. My house has never looked better since I joined up with FlyLady. I love that she just tells you to jump in and start getting out of CHAOS (Can't have anyone over syndrome). I have just been trying to whittle away at the clutter, junk, and non-useful/non-loved items, as well as just taking a few minutes to spruce up at least one room in the home every day. Now, most of you know I am FAR from a clean freak. My house always looks "lived in." What has really changed is that a) I finally have a child that crawls and he is EVERYWHERE and eats EVERYTHING and that's a lot with two other kids leaving papers, and crumbs everywhere.
b) I finally just got sick of always being behind and feeling like I had to panic clean for anyone to come over. The house is FAR from great, but at least the kitchen and front room are usually tidy nowdays. c) I want to be more like my sister Vickie and my friend Kristie who have nice orderly, tidy homes that you feel comfortable in. Not to mention I want to be a better wife, mother, and homemaker. So there we go. If any of you struggle like I do, then go check out FlyLady.com and just remember that you don't have to do it EXACTLY like they say or at the speed they say, but that you just have to DO.

Ok....I'm done rambling now.