Comfort Zones

So a couple months ago at church, someone introduced me to a girl

who had, apparently, been attending out church for over a year and still

didn't know anyone. The girl is about my age, I'd guess, and has a 1-year-old daughter.

She drops her daughter off in my Toddler class and ever since that day,

I've tried to make a little bit of a connection with her.

Flash forward to a few weeks ago.

I'd been contemplating joining up with the Women's Bible Study.

They meet on Tuesday mornings and I've always talked myself out

of it because it is during morning nap time.

I've worked in the childcare and I know how hard it is on those little ones.

Well, my son doesn't take a morning nap anymore.

I'm sure I still would have talked myself out of it, but then that girl

I'd been trying to connect with - she asked me if I was going and that she'd signed up.

Uh oh! I think God was sending me a message there!

So, I signed up. I'm not really sure why I've been so averted to it.

Something about it seems too personal, or like everyone is going to be

putting on a show or something - or maybe I thought it was more just like social group time.

Anyway... last week was the first week.

It was good. It wasn't as scary as I thought. The people at my table didn't seem fake-y to me. AND it was kind of fun to get to visit with other ladies who I don't usually see on Sunday mornings. Pushed out of my comfort zone and survived! =)

Another good thing?

It's forcing me to keep up on studying my Bible.

We are doing a pretty involved book this time around.

Covenant: God's Enduring Promises by Kay Arthur

Lots of color-coding passages of Bible, which was freaking some people out

(but I'm secreting enjoying!)

So today, I'm having a somewhat quiet day at work (probably one of my last - so I'm trying to enjoy it!)

I decided to bring along my Bible Study homework since I'm a couple days behind. (see why I need this?)

I was also thinking about how I'm doing this in support of that girl - but in reality - maybe she's the one helping me since she's was brave enough to do it regardless of knowing anyone or not. =)

Fall Into Reading Challenge - Wrap Up!

I participated in Callapidder Days Fall Into Reading Challenge this Fall. It ran from September 22 - December 21st. What I liked about this particular challenge is that you set up your own timeline and picked all your own books! =)

Here is the link back to my original post.
Okay... so I had eleven books on my original list:

1. Emma by Jane Austen
2. Where Are You Now? by Mary Higgins Clark
3. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
4. Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris
5. That Certain Spark by Cathy Marie Hake
6. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
7. Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella
8. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
9. Remember Me? by Sophie Kinsella
10. Dead as a Doornail by Charlaine Harris
11. Mr. Darcy Broke My Heart by Beth Pattillo

Out of this eleven, I finished nine.

I didn't read Mr. Darcy Broke My Heart because I couldn't get a hold of a copy anywhere. The library doesn't have it and the paperback swap doesn't have it. I wasn't about to buy it just to read it for this challenge - otherwise I would have.

I'm in the process of reading Eat, Pray, Love by I'm finding it very difficult to finish at this point. I was excited to read it because it was such a bestseller, but I'm having a hard time relating. I started it in enough time that I should have been able to finish it, but I didn't. No good excuse there.

BUT! I also read an additional four books that weren't on my list! Sooooo... I think that I actually came out ahead! haha!

This challenge helped me to get through a bunch of books I had sitting on my bookshelf that I was meaning to read, but just never got too. There were a few that were out of my normal realm of reading material (The Lovely Bones, The Glass Castle, Where Are You Now?) and I was a little nervous to try them. By setting myself a goal, I was able to get through those books and found most of them to be pretty enjoyable! I also buckled down and finished Emma which I'd been working on for quite some time.

Thanks to Katrina over at Callapidder Days for hosting the challenge. I'll be looking for the next one in the Spring! =)

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Getting Back in the Swing

Our "vacation" was so exhausting that I think it's taken me until today to really feel like doing anything productive at home. I haven't felt like blogging, cleaning, going to the store - nothing (I have gotten all the vacation laundry done though, which I thought was an accomplishment).

So today I'm going to try to get a few things done. The Little Guy woke up early because of the time change and so of course if down earlier for a nap. I tried to keep him up about a half hour longer, so that maybe over the course of the week, we'll get back to our "usual" times. He's been in there for about 30 minutes though and still isn't asleep.

I'm writing this post and then I'm going to go get my shower and make myself presentable for the day. Then I'm going to set out everything for dinner. We're having homemade pizza tonight with homemade pizza dough! Yum!

I've already done some vacuuming and put away some laundry, but it seems like there is still a lot to do. I also want to do my Weekly Home Blessing hour (six tasks - 10min each), to try to keep up on all my progress I made on my house during my October Challenge (which I also still have to post about!).

Then this evening I'm leaving the Little Guy at home with Dad and I'm heading over to my grandma's with my mom to continue cleaning out her house. Hopefully without the Little Guy to get into everything, we can get a lot accomplished!

Is it weird that I broke out the Christmas music today?? It just never seems like I get to enjoy it long enough if I wait until Thanksgiving, so I decided to start early this year. =)

Following Up

Well, following my rant last night, I woke up this morning to an email in my inbox with one of the members of our group who is a constant source of irritation to me - quitting! Whoo hoo! It's terrible to feel that way about another person and actually, I have nothing against them normally. It's just that they weren't interested in playing anymore, so I didn't understand why they just didn't quit. Like... 3 years ago. Case in point - last month she and her roommate (who also plays and hasn't quit yet) scheduled a vacation over bunco. And then now they've started a Bible study that meets at their house on Monday nights. It's pretty obvious they don't want to play with us - uh... so why don't they just quit then?

So... getting down to the wire here for our vacation. The house-sitter came over tonight to meet the dogs and our bags are mostly packed. I got out on the roof today and washed the outside of a couple windows that the birds had pooped on. Gross. I guess this vacation/reunion is going to arrive no matter what!

October Challenge Day 22

Today I didn't get a whole lot of actual cleaning done, but I did do my work-out video for 20 minutes! whoohoo!

I also packed some for our trip and cleaned up my side of the bedroom (aka: put all the laundry that was scattered all around in the hamper) I'm also doing a pretty good job of keeping up with the other areas of the house and not letting them get too messy in the meantime.

October Challenge Days 19-21

Didn't post about my challenge for a few days. Let's just say that over the weekend (Days 19-20) I maintained my progress. Okay? =) I worked all weekend and my husband was gone hunting, so not a whole lot got done around here. Then yesterday I had tea with my cousin and she lives 45 minutes away and met my mom for some shopping, so it was kind of a bust also. I DID make some yummy Pumpkin Bread though and I may have to share the recipe because it's so good!

Lets just move right along to day - Day 21:
This weeks Zone is the Master Bedroom and Bathroom. We don't really have a "Master Bathroom", but there is one upstairs that is kind of the family bathroom. A couple weeks ago I did a Deep Clean on the downstairs bathroom and that's what happened upstairs today.
-cleaned the outside of the cabinets (organizing the inside is going to have to wait for another day)
-scrubbed the tub (ugh... hate)
-deep cleaned the toilet
-washed down all the fixtures
-washed the door
-cleaned the mirror
-scrubbed the sink
-took down the shower curtain and bleached it
-threw away A LOT of CRAP
-washed the walls
-cleaned the baseboards

The only thing I didn't get too was the floor because the Little Guy woke up at that point. Yay! I felt so good because that room was in desperate need of a good cleaning. The Little Guy and I also went on the 2-mile loops walk today and I had to do it speed walking because I had to be back at the house in less than 45 minutes (which is usually how long it takes me to walk it!)

October Challenge Day 18

Yesterday I had to come home and sleep after my LAST NIGHT SHIFT FOR A MONTH! Yay! Then, I got up and tried to fold some of the laundry from the day before, but I wasn't very motivated to do much else. I'm so wiped out after those shifts that it's hard to get much done.

I did convince myself I needed to excerise though and although doing 20 minutes of workout video seemed too hard, I decided some fresh air would do me and the Little Guy good. So, we headed off for the 2-mile loop walk and enjoyed the crip October day.

October Challenge 17

Today was an interesting day. It started out with my son waking me up by calling "Dadda. Dadda!" from his crib. This is weird. The only thing I could figure was that he remembered that Daddy had put him to bed last night since Mommy was at work.

As soon as I got up, I realized his disposable diaper had exploded that nasty gel stuff all over the place because apparently "Dadda" didn't pull the diaper up far enough in the front so the Little Guy soaked it right at the top. So... bath-time. Right off the bat. (These are the mornings I consider doing cloth diapers at night... but then I am just so afraid I'd wake up to wetness EVERY morning that I don't.)

As soon as I get that dealt with and him re-dressed, I hear my cell phone beeping from the other room. My MIL had called to say that the fireplace repair guy was "fitting us in" sometime today. We rent our house from my in-laws, so this is why she was telling me this. I've not been able to get the fireplace to turn on for a week now and we've been freezing to death.

So right after breakfast, I decided I better get dressed - I mean - I didn't want the guy showing up with me having no bra on, right? So, no sooner had I gotten myself presentable for the day (uh... no time for a shower though - didn't want to take that chance he'd show up while I was in there) then he showed up.

What was wrong with the fireplace? Oh yeah. I just didn't turn the little knob from "pilot" to "ON". Oops. $135 later I have heat. Thank you Mr. Repair Man for enlightening me. (He was actually very nice)

Okay.. so what did I get accomplished today for my challenge?
-Well, had to change the sheets on the Little Guys bed and so flipped the mattress at the same time.
-Moved the crib and vacuumed under it and around the baseboards.

Attempted to organize the horrendous mess in the Spare Bedroom/Office/Sewing Room. Actually got quite a bit done although it still looks like a mess.
-I organized my sewing/craft corner and moved all the bins and crap under it to vacuum under there.
-Broke down all the cardboard boxes that I've gotten and save for future Etsy orders and put them all in another box.
-Tried to collect the Little Guys toys in that room and see what was missing to compare with misc toys downstairs.
-Took out a bin of outgrown toys

In addition:
-I took down and washed the curtain from the hall window (not ironed, not put back up)
-Cleaned off the window sill from above window where the DH had piled a bunch of misc junk (probably from his pockets at the end of the day)
-Did about 100 loads of laundry and got about half of them folded and put away
-Made a super yummy homemade pizza for dinner!

Okay... that sounds pretty amazing when I write it all out. I actually spent quite a bit of time reading my book in there too! The Little Guy has a bit of a cold, so we were just hanging out at home and that was really nice.

Tonight I'm at work - it's my bi-weekly night shift, but my last one for A WHOLE MONTH! Whoohoo! I'll be in Texas in two weeks, so I'll missed that one. Tired tonight though, so hoping to survive through this night. =)

October Challenge Day 15-16/ And Catching Up

Ever have those days where you just don't feel like doing much? I had one of those days today. Our house was super cold and I just wanted to stay snuggled on the couch to read until it was time for me to go to work at 3:00.

I turned the pilot light on in our fireplace last week only to discover that our temperature control thingy is not working. So... I have a pilot light, but can't turn the fireplace actually ON. Not a lot of help... I mean... a pilot light put out a little heat... but not much. =)

Anyway... Day 15 of my Challenge was super productive! Yesterday I deep cleaned my downstairs bathroom. Now you have to understand. I hate this bathroom. Don't ask me why... I don't really have a good reason for it. I just don't like it. It's small although it has a sink, toilet and shower stall. No one uses the shower down there, so it ends up storing all my stuff like my mop and toilet cleaning brush behind the shower curtain. Soo... I choose not to use it that much because I don't like it and I choose to not see how dirty it is so I don't have to clean it. =) But yesterday I cleaned all the crap out of the cabinet, deep cleaned the toliet, washed the walls around the toilet, mopped the floor, cleaned the sink, washed off all the knickknacks and washed all the towels and rugs. Whoo hoo! The only think I didn't do was clean the shower stall (which I have no idea how it's so dirty, but it is) and I forgot the "fart fan" as my husband calls it.

I only did a ten-minute workout, but I decided I did a lot of work by scrubbing the bathroom to make up for the rest.

Challenge Day 16 - As I said, today I didn't do much. Basically just maintained what's been done and a couple loads of laundry, but I did get a 20 minute workout in before I went to work, so we'll call it good. =)

Tomorrow I need to tackle the Office/Sewing/Spare Room. Ugh... it'll be a huge job.

October Challenge Days 12-14

Over the weekend I did pretty well at maintaining my good work. I kept my sink pretty clear of dishes and my living room and dining room picked up. My husband is even helping out, so that's exciting! I think he sees how hard I'm trying to keep it picked up and it's motivating him to actualy DO something. =)

This week we are in Zone 3, which for me is the Office, Nursery & Main Bathroom. I thought this week was the Kitchen, but somehow I kind of missed it, I guess.

I didn't get to my Zone cleaning today, but I did work on my Weekly Home Blessing Hour including: changed all the sheets, vacuumed carpets, emptied all trash and one load of laundry.

I meant to make up one workout over the weekend for the one I missed during the week, but I didn't get to it. Today though my Little Guy and I walked around the 2 mile loop again, so I felt pretty good about that.

October Challenge Day 11

Okay... so I'm going to start out saying that I MADE myself get at least a 10 minute work-out today. It was a pretty busy day, but I squeezed it in. =)

First the Little Guy and I had to go to his TEDDY Study appointment today at 10 am. (For those curious about what the TEDDY Study is visit this post.)

Then we got home from that and he was taking a nap so I decided to take that opportunity to
1. Blog

2. Clean the baseboards in my Dining Area (lets not call it a Room... because its actually the other half of the kitchen)

Then we met my mom over at my grandma's house to continue going through her stuff. This has been quite the process and I am starting to think it's doomed to last months a year forever. It is hard to imagine that after taking bags and bags of stuff the the Goodwill every week and filling up the garbage can and recycle bin almost every month since early this summer, that we still have a lot rooms so much A TON of stuff to go through. It is a little overwhelming.

Hopefully in the next week or so I'll have some new vintage stuff up the the Etsy shop. =)

October Challenge Day 10

Wow! I'm getting so much done! Even when I'm feeling like having a slacker day I start to think, "no... then I will have nothing to post about tonight." or "but then I'll have to admit I did NOTHING!" So... this posting thing is really keeping me going. haha

Today I am in Zone 1, which is the Front Porch, Dining Room and Entry Way. I have a very weird house and my Entry Way is basically walking into my Living Room and my Dining Room shares a space with my Kitchen. But I DO have a Front Porch, and it was in some dire need of cleaning.

So today I -
-Swept the front porch and walkway

-Washed all the windows on the outside that I can get to from the porch including the front door window.

-Scrubbed off the porch railing (It's had bird poop on it for like a year and a half and I keep meaning to scrub it)

-Got rid of the cobwebs I could see on the porch

-Cleaned a bunch of junk off of the dining room table

See? Doesn't that sound pretty good? Just don't ask about my workout today... nonexistent.

October Challenge Day 9

Today I didn't get a lot of cleaning done, but I DID get my diaper laundry done and all my DH's laundry folded from yesterday. =) I also had a Candy Corn hat that I had to knit for a customer and finished the whole thing this afternoon/evening.

I didn't do my work-out, BUT I did convince my husband to walk the 2 mile loop around our development with me. And of course he had to make it into a RACE - so I would say a good cardio workout.

Tomorrow I'm getting more cleaning done - I'm cleaning all the bird poop off the front porch railing... I've been putting this off since LAST year, so it's about time.

October Challenge Day 8

Pretty proud of myself today. Did my Weekly Home Blessing Hour (changed sheets on beds, empted all trash, cleaned mirrors and doors, load of laundry, culled magazines...)

Also did a twenty minute workout - even though the Little Guy didn't want to take a nap. Have you ever done an ab workout with a toddler crawling on your chest? Umm.. way harder!

Then I ran around to get stuff for our bunco group tonight. We had a Twister Theme. Here are some pictures:

October Challenge Days 5-7

I've been meaning to post everyday, but the last few days have been crazy busy, so I'm a little behind. That doesn't mean I haven't done anything though!

Day 5 (Friday) - Didn't get a lot done except errands. I'd worked the night shift the previous night and was wiped out. But errands were important, so I got to those.

Day 6 (Saturday) - Completely lost day. Went to my in-laws in the morning (although, I did get up at 4:45 am and 6:30 am make yummy cinnamon rolls before we left!) and then we had a funeral to go to in the afternoon.

Day 7 (Sunday) - Went to church. Came home and realized that the past two days had completely ruined my nicely picked up living room, so before I left for work:

• I folded all the laundry that had ended up on the chair (again) & put it all away
• Swept the floor
• Picked up toys and things that shouldn't been in there to begin with
• Rearranged some candle holders and pictures so my active little guy doesn't break them and dusted underneath all the knickknacks while I was at it.

Tomorrow starts detailed cleaning back at Zone 1 - the Front Porch and Dining Room. Getting back to my exercise routine tomorrow also. =)

October Challenge Day 3 & 4

Oops! Forgot to post yesterday - which is a bummer since I actually got a lot accomplished!

So.. for Day 3 of my challenge:

• I scrubbed down my washer and dryer and got rid of all the junk that had accumulated on top of them.
• I swept around the W & D (as I said, they are in the garage)
• Then I ran a rinse cycle in the washer of bleach water
• I ran a load of laundry (including folding and putting away)
• Picked up some crap from the living room (my current zone)
• Did 2 segments of my workout video equaling 20 minutes

Day 4 :

• Got my dinner in the Crock-Pot early
• Straightened up the living room (found a golf club in the back of an overstuffed chair that we barely ever sit in!)
• Walked 2 miles around the loop of our development
• Got my hair done... does that count for something? =)

October Challenge Day 2

I felt like today was pretty productive. I had to work, so everything had to be done in the first have of the day.

This weeks Zone is in the Living Room. Because my living room is fairly small, I've lumped the laundry area (which is actually in the garage) in with it for my detailed cleaning for that zone.  Today I washed all the windows and window sills in the living room. I also moved the loveseat (to get to the windows) and cleaned behind it. I actually got out the soapy water and scrubbed down the walls around the windows since they were a little grimy.

I made it to the Post Office to mail off a couple Etsy sales and finally got around to ordering something for our Texas trip which is coming up exactly ONE MONTH from now. We're going to attempt to take the car seat even though we haven't purchased a ticket for the Little Guy, so I needed to get a travel bag for the car seat. I've heard horrors of gate checking the car seat only to have it pretty banged up, so I bought this today:

So that was one thing on the "Travel To Do" List done also.

Only thing I didn't get to was my workout! Ummm... I don't really have a good excuse except that I decided to try to change the font on my blog titles..... Got to get to that workout tomorrow for sure. =)

Tomorrow I'm cleaning around my washer and dryer!

Curious about my October Challenge? View the original post here.

End of Day Wrap Up

Well, this was a good first day to my October Challenge, I think. I didn't get quite as much done as I'd hoped, but it wasn't because I was lazy! =)

First I got up and worked on my Weekly Home Blessing Hour (changing sheets, emptying trash, vacumming floors, etc). Didn't get all 7 things done, but most of them. Then it was blogging and giveaway posting time. haha

Then I went and helped my friend Leah in her 5th grade classroom for about an hour. She has a few students who don't go to band or something and they are learning to knit instead! Leah needed an extra set of hands to help the kids as they are learning. I was worn out by the end of the hour and there were only a handful of them! I don't know how she has almost 30 kids all day. =)

Lastly, I came home, made us a very yummy dinner (because, as part of my challenge, I'm trying to have my menus planned for the week!) and relaxed with my family. My sink is clean, dishes are waiting to be run before I go to bed and my living room is picked up. Yay!

I always ask myself why I don't live like this all the time... it's really not so hard and it makes everyone feel so much better when the house is clean. Ah, well...

October Challenge Prep

Tomorrow starts my October Challenge to myself. I tried to give myself a tiny head start by getting my laundry all put away off the chair downstairs and my sink cleaned off all dirty dishes tonight.

Then I got kind of inspired to organize some of the random mail that needed to be brought upstairs to organize off the dining room table and got rid of a box of clothes someone gave to us for the Little Guy that I decided I didn't want.

Yay! I'm  feeling good about this. =)

Tomorrow's Zone for FlyLady is the Living Room. Good place for me to start.

Remember if you'd like to join me on a challenge of your own for the month of October, leave a comment on the original post!

October: My Challenge

Since working the crazy work schedule that I have for the past two months two things have resulted:
1. my house is a disaster from having no energy to clean on my days off
2. I'm feeling like I've put on a few pounds due to eating crap while working nights and once again.. having no energy to excerise.

So, I've decided I need to make myself a little challenge for the month of October. At the end of the month, we are leaving for about a week to go to Texas to celebrate my husbands grandparents 60th wedding anniversary/family reunion. First, I will be having someone staying at my house for that week with my dogs and would like to NOT be embarressed. AND for obvious reasons, I'd like to look my best - I mean - I only see these people every few years or so.

My challege - starting Monday:

1. Do my FlyLady cleaning every week (yes, I know I've said I would do this before... but I am determined this time!) If you havn't checked out the FlyLady's cleaning program and you need a little motivation cleaning your house - you should!

2. Do some form of exercise at least 5 days a week. I just purchased two work-out videos that I actually enjoy doing (I know! Crazy, huh?) They are both from the 10-Minute Solution series and I can do two segments and feel like I've gotten a decent work-out in 20 minutes.

That's it. No dieting, since I don't really believe in diets and no resolutions for doing this long-term. I'm just kind of hoping that by challenging myself for a month, I'll stick to it AND maybe make it into a habit in the meantime. =)

I am going to post a short post at the end of each day to say what I got done or didn't get done that day, so that I can feel like I'm being accountable. Wish me luck!

Want to join me? I'd love some company, so if you'd like to challenge yourself to something this month, I'd love to hear about it.