Happy Halloween!

Today is Halloween. I have to admit, it's not my favorite holiday but I try to make it fun for the kids. Carving pumpkins....not my favorite. Giving out candy to strangers....I didn't even like doing it as a kid. All the stress of getting everyone ready...not so much. Anyway, I'm trying to remain upbeat and not be annoyed by it. We may trick-or-treat our street and then go to our church's harvest party. I'm just praying my kids don't win a goldfish. I've been there and done that! I will try to post pictures of the kids on fleur-de-mobil so you can see them. I hope this finds you having some Halloween fun! (See I'm getting in the spirit already!).

Love,
Janice

A Quick Note

I am extremely tired, but since a couple of you asked I am giving an update on my housecleaning. It was great, sublime, so freeing! They not only cleaned the bathrooms, kitchen, and floors; but also the refrigerator, the stove, my blinds...I have never spent a more worthwhile $80! The best part...they are coming back a week from Monday! Yippee! It is much easier to keep the place clean in between cleanings. Usually I'm trying to find the time to deep clean, which I don't, and then to pick up and deep clean never seems to happen! I feel blessed beyond measure to have this luxury as long as the Lord sees fit.
I promise to update soon. But for now, I'm off to dreamland!
Janice

Oh, Bliss!

I am having my house cleaned tomorrow. I have not been as excited about something in quite some time! I have things put away; yes, I'm cleaning for the cleaning people. I cannot wait to go sub, and walk in to a clean house. Oh, the satisfaction it brings. I'm so tired of feeling tired and walking in to a list of things I need to do and feeling defeated! Andrew is going to greet them and get them started. Oh the joy I feel!

We had a good weekend. I asked my nephew, Nick, if he wanted to babysit on Friday and he was glad to do it. My kids LOVE him! He wouldn't let me pay him because he wanted to do it, which was a blessing. Andrew and I got to go out to dinner. It was fab. We saw our old friend, John Tolentino, who just got married two months ago for the first time. It was so fun to see him. I also got to read my new book, Sunset, by Karen Kingsbury. It was the end of a series called The Redemption Series, so it was like I visited with old friends there too.

I feel happy today and that's enough for me now.
I love you all. I feel very blessed!
Love,
Janice

Hi Friends!

Hello, I know it's been a while....sorry Mom! I always hear about it when I have not blogged in a while. I'm sure it's boring to see the same thing over and over. I have been very busy. I've been subbing to fund my Washington trip. I've been going to Bible study, Mary Kay meetings, finding Halloween costumes, fixing my car, spending time with family, watching Beverly Hills Chihuahua. It's a busy life, but someone has got to do it! Also, I blog at night, and frankly I've been fall asleep tired every night. I will be subbing this Thursday and Friday and Monday and Tuesday for a dear lady who's mother just passed away.

Also, I bit the bullet and cancelled the phone and cable. So, now we only have our cell phones if you call us. We are freeing up some money so that I can have my house cleaned twice a month! Yeah! I really need the help. There is only so much of me to go around. They come for the first time on Monday. I'll let you know how it goes. I am so excited I can hardly stand it!!!!!

I did get a couple of Christmas gifts for the kids. I'm buying them slowly so I don't charge too much! That's a vicious cycle!
I love you all!
Janice

A Lazy Hazy Kind of Day

Hello! I hated the somber sound of my last post so I thought I'd write something new. Today has been fairly noneventful. I cleaned the whole day yesterday so the house is fairly clean. I'm still doing laundry. It feels like I'm always doing laundry! I'm just glad I don't have to do it the pioneer way!
With this lazy day, I'm starting to think of Christmas gifts for the kids. Because we are going to WA for Christmas, we are going to give them the gifts from us before we leave. It will be easier that way. I'm starting to scour the ads for things they've been wanting. If I wait till later, I won't find them! Plus, if I buy their gifts a little at a time maybe I can pay cash for them. I am trying to be wiser financially!
Well, I hope you are all having a lovely Sunday.
With love,
Janice

My Mouth Is Full Of Foot

Have you ever had a conversation that went awry? I had a conversation that started innocently enough this morning and it seemed to get away from me and made me look bad. I won't bore you with the details because I doubt it's important enough for the people in the conversation to remember, but I have felt odd about it all day. It actually started as a compliment toward one person that implied a slightly derogatory feeling about another place and someone heard and made a comment..yada, yada,yada....Anyway, I've felt the weight of it all day...I guess even innocent enough words can have consequences. Because of my somber mood, I've spent the day reading a book (which is infused with scripture) and feeling tired. I'm praying for a good day tomorrow without the burdens of today. Yesterday was a really good day for me and I guess two good days in a row would be more than I could handle!:)
Here's to a foot-free mouth day!
Janice

Fall Is Coming!

In the past, summer was my favorite season. School was out and that was the time of fun. Now that I'm no longer the student, but the parent, it is Fall. Fall is the time of sweaters, candles, soup, pumpkin patches, and a regular schedule. I love that my electric bill goes down (ALOT!). I love that the clothing is better at figure hiding! I also love that activities that cease for the summer start back up again in the Fall. Fall is also the countdown (see right) to Holidays spent with family and friends. I feel like its going to be a good season this year. My Dad is coming to visit in October (yeah Dad!) and we are anxiously awaiting his arrival.

I have so many things I want to get accomplished right now I don't know where to start! I have heard that perfectionistic people can be messy, and this is why: because if they cannot tackle a project to the degree they would like to, then they don't try at all. This is me. I tend to be detail oriented. I would love my house to look like a page in a magazine (not like a museum but well-decorated, cozy, uncluttered, and clean!) I would find that tremendously satisfying, yet I cannot get a grip on what the other five people do in this house! I find that tremendously frustrating! I feel constantly overwhelmed by their lack of attention to detail. For example, I organized our Wii games and controllers in very cute and stylish boxes. Do you think they can manage to get the stuff back in there on their own....nope! They don't care, only I do. I know what you are thinking....If I took the time to train them to do it, they would. I'm telling you we've gone over it time and time again and they don't care. It is as if they are thinking, "Why would we put it away when we could just reach to the floor and pick it up, duh!"

So, therefore, on this Saturday I have an inner angst. I am, yet again, attempting to put everything back in it's place with 4 unwilling tortured captives (the fifth is being tortured at work!) and one dog chewing up what they drop! Maybe after we're done I'll turn down the air conditioner to chilly, put on a sweater, do some baking and keep looking forward to Fall.

Love to you all,
Janice