I need a break!

YIKES - I feel like my life is OUT OF CONTROL.  Ok, not really, but it does feel like I am running and running and running, and not really making much progress.

Yesterday I spent a lot of time working on finding fun mazes, word puzzles etc… to create a booklet for the family choir children to have during stake conference.  It was a bit bigger of a project than I originally thought it would be.  I think I have something that is going to work, but I haven’t had time to go make copies to know for sure!  I have to do that today, plus get the word sheets printed out for the congregational hymns.  Conference starts tomorrow!!!! And I am still not ready.  I’m thinking I procrastinated a bit on this one…  :(

So, yesterday.  As I said, in much of my free time, I worked on the “quiet activity book,”  also went to work, of course, the boys had robotics club, then scouts with troop 707.  Bryan had to be there at 5 for patrol leader training.  We have Logan Black (a friend of Bryan’s) staying with us for a week as his parents are in hawaii.  Yesterday was the first day.  Both boys have a big history project due today, that as of getting home from school yesterday (AFTER robotics class) had not yet been started.  Logan stayed here and worked on his project while the boys went to scouts.  We raced home, dropped off Caleb, picked up Logan, and raced off again to get Logan to his basketball game by 7:30.  It was a good game, they were behind (by about 10 points) almost the entire game, but in the last quarter they actually pulled it off and with the help of a few 3 pointers, they pulled ahead and won the game by 3.  Bryan and I cheered for Logan, while we worked a little on the history project.  (They have to create a visual “family tree” - and it cannot just be printed off.)  We took an old dusty artificial ficus tree, one that we have been meaning to haul off to DI for a while now, and turned it into a “family tree.”  counting Bryan as generation 1, we went back 5 generations.  Boys on blue paper, girls on pink.  So at the game, we were using the family search app on my phone and he was writing down all the names.  (of course, it ended up being a waste of time, because when we got home and checked the assignment directions, he needed to include death & birth dates and places…  and we hadn’t left enough room on the paper for that information, so he had to write them all again.

Anyway, we got home at about 9, then they ate some of the dinner that was still left out, then got started on homework.  Logan was basically done, so he ended up just proving to be a distraction as he tried to be “helpful.”  Bryan was able to get his science homework done, and he worked on the “tree” project until about 10:10, then I sent him to bed and I worked a while longer at it - attaching all the papers to the tree.  He has a few more things he needs to write out this morning, plus some math to do…

Today will consist of work until 1, then getting bryan packed for Klondike (i really wish I had insisted that he pack when Caleb did)  and getting the boys off by 3:45.  I have an acupuncture appt at 4:30,  still need to squeeze in getting all the copies made, and I really should run and buy some wool socks for the boys campout.  Caleb could really use new boots too, but I don’t think I’m going to be able to fit it all in.

Somehow I need to figure out how to take some deep breaths and calm myself down or I will never survive this day!

SNOW

It is crazy to me how I can sit down to write and seriously not remember what I did yesterday… I think that’s why all my journal entries sound about the same.  “I got up, went to work, came home, did blah blah blah…
Yesterday i DID get up - and did go to work.  Oh - I can talk about the weather.  IT IS SO COLD!!!!  We are in the midst of a “winter storm watch” or “warning” I forget which, but yesterday was super cold.  Northern Utah got hit a lot harder than we did, as far as snow.  Lots of school districts up north had a SNOW day yesterday…  That doesn’t happen very often in Utah.  It snowed more last night and the road were pretty slick this morning taking Katrina to seminary.  Actually, she drove.  She did just fine - we just took it nice and slow. It’s another FULL day today - I hope I can get everything done.  I think I’m hitting a little wall - I’ve been feeling lack of motivation the last couple days.  I’m having a hard time pushing through all these tasks on my “to do” list.  The problem is, a lot of my “stuff to do” is related to stake conference, which is just 3 days!  I don’t have any more spare time.  I guess i need to buckle down and get it done!

district science fair

Well, apparently I never completed yesterday’s journal entry.  I started writing, but then had to leave to go to my workout - and I simply never got back to it.

After my workout, I took Katrina to seminary.  When I got home we did family scriptures.  I don’t remember exactly what I did then, but at 8:30 I jumped in the shower and got ready for work.  Went to work, ran over to Provo High to borrow lab coats from Christie, got home and ate some lunch, sent Bryan off to UVU for the district science fair, went to pick up Katrina from school.  Worked on the word sheets for this weekends conference, then drove over to Orem for a session of acupuncture.  Went to UVU to check on the kids and be there for the awards ceremony.  They did well, and advanced to the next level, which will be held at BYU in March.  I guess now the group needs to figure out if they want to do more testing and beef up their project, or if they are content with what they have and they just keep it as it is.


  


I got home just after 9pm and instead of either going to bed early OR being productive on things that I need to get done, I wasted time on facebook (posting a “proud momma” science fair post and watching the “likes” roll in…) and watching dumb clips or news stories that came up on my phone…  I really should have just gone to sleep - you should have heard the argument going on in my head for 30 minutes this morning as I laid in bed, refusing to get up.  (finally was stern enough with myself and got up at 5:30.)

Oh well - I guess there are just going to be days like that - it is a bad habit I have, sometimes when I feel I’m going, going, going all the time…  I rebel by grabbing hold of a chunk of time and not “doing” anything that I’m “supposed” to do.  The trouble is, it is almost always at night - once everyone else is in bed, and it just ends up hurting me in the long run - cause I still have to finish everything I am putting off - AND now I’ll be more tired the next day!

Cooking pancakes with Faith, instead of electricity

Well, I woke up at 5, and then fell back asleep.  But my body was good amd re-woke me at at 5:20 and I jumped out of bed that time!  Yesterday was a good day.  Went to our ward, then practice the song with the 14th ward girls (and 2 of their leaders) then ran my kids home.  Went back to church and attended the 14th ward meeting and sang with them.  They were sounding good and I don’t really think they “needed” me, but the girls were persistent that they wanted me to sing with them, so I did.  (and I only felt slightly awkward :) 

After that meeting, I came home and had several hour to fill before stake choir.  I know I had lots of things I could have done, but I decided to bake a whole bunch of cookies to take to the family choir.  It is no easy thing to bring a family with children to a rehearsal each week - so this was their “reward.”  It was a lot of baking, but I felt they were well received and appreciated.  Next week is conference and this particular choir adventure will be completed.   It is coming together.  There are a few things i would change if we could, but at this point I am trusting the the Lord to make it what it needs to be.

Caleb shared his testimony in Sacrament meeting yesterday about his first experience in the temple.  It was very sweet.  It was also his first time passing the sacrament.  He did great.   I also shared my testimony.  I related the experience we had at the pancake breakfast with the lack of power, then miracle  of it coming back on.  I know I shared this story yesterday, but here is the way I wrote it out in the letter I sent out to the missionaries last night: 

We were holding the fundraiser at Wasatch Elementary which is a really old school in need of being rebuilt.  We got everything set up for the breakfast, then 20 minutes before people were supposed to start arriving, we turned on the griddles to start cooking the food.  The old wiring and electrical system could not handle it.  Just when a griddle would start to get hot enough to do anything, it would flip the circuit breaker and we would lose all power.  We tried new power strips, different plugs, different extension cords, everything - nothing was working.  the sweet custodian was doing everything she could to get things working, but time after time, we'd lose power again.
Finally at about 7:25, we did what we should have done earlier - we gathered the boys together, explained what was happening, and told them that we needed to pray in faith and ask Heavenly Father to help us.  Caleb volunteered to say the prayer, and with all the faith of 11 - 12 year old boys, they prayed.  As soon as we said Amen, we checked the griddles and they all had power.  We did not have any more trouble for the rest of the event.  We were able to run everything we needed to feed the people that came.  Bryan came up and talked to me, saying "I read a story this week in the Ensign about a family that didn't have enough money to pay for oil to put in their furnace, but they paid their tithing anyway, and their furnace kept working.  They said that their furnace ran on FAITH instead of OIL.  I think the griddles are running on FAITH instead of Electricity."
I shared this experience in testimony meeting today.  I related how I had said my personal morning prayers before we left for the breakfast - and I had prayed that everything would run smoothly...  I guarantee that Sister Oldryod (the troop leader) prayed for the same before she left her home that morning and probably every other parent there... Why didn't those prayers work?  Why did we have such a crazy power crisis?  I believe it is because Heavenly Father wanted 8 young men to have a personal experience in which they were part of asking God for a miracle and seeing it come to pass.  I believe he wants them to know that they can call on the POWER of GOD in all circumstances. 

After the breakfast was over and we were all cleaned up and about ready to go home, we gathered the boys up again and one of them volunteered to be voice as we said a prayer of gratitude.  It was a witness to me that you can being doing everything right, and things can still go wrong. - but are they really "Wrong?"  Or are they just opportunities to learn and grow and strengthen our faith and testimonies?  (that's a hypothetical question, pretty sure we all agree on the answer to that one, even it we don't LIKE that answer when it is US in the middle of a "growing experience.)

Well - I have another full week ahead of me - but I’ve totally GOT  THIS!

2/3/2019

I want to add one more this to my list of benefits that I have seen in doing the MM challenge. 

I sleep better.  I feel like my sleep is more restful and sound.  Hey - I have a fitbit, I should look that up and see if the fitbit agrees with me…  Ok, apparently my fitbit hasn’t synced for the past week…  I wonder why.  I’ll have to have tim look at it again.  Looking back before that, it certainly appears that I have been much more consistent in how much sleep I’ve had…  if only I could get myself to bed a little earlier each night.

Anyway.  Yesterday was a good day.  Busy, but good.  Pancake breakfast went well. At least, it went well after we remembered to say a prayer.  We got to the school at 6 and set up - (the centerpieces were great!  I got a lot of positive feedback regarding them)  the event was held at Wasatch Elementary school, which is an older school - and is on the list of schools that the school board is trying a bond passed so they can build a new school.  After my experience, I can understand why…  we were in the cafeteria and were plugging in griddles to cook the food.   The breaker kept flipping and we kept losing all power.  The sweet custodian was running back and forth, flipping breakers, bringing us surge protector power cords, etc…  we ended up running extension cords into various places to try to spread out the draw of power, but NOTHING was working.  Finally, we remember to stop and pray.  Immediately, the problem stopped and we didn’t have any other problems with the power for the rest of the morning.   It was pretty amazing.  And YES - after we were all cleaned up, we gathered the boys and had a prayer of gratitude… 

Other events from yesterday - went to the YM basketball game at noon and cheered for the boys.  (they lost, but they had good attitudes)  Bryan spent a few hours with Annalyce and Spencer, getting their board ready for the district science fair on Tuesday.  I spent some time getting the music ready for stake choir rehearsal tonight.  (It’s not perfect, i can see a few things I could have done differently that might have been a little better - but I think it is good enough. 

Our friends, the Goodwins hosted a “year of the Pig” (Chinese new years) pot luck dinner.  Everyone was supposed to bring some kind of Asian dish to share.  I tried making cream cheese wontons (rangoons) with mixed results.  The GOOD part was that I love rangoons and they more or less tasted good.  The BAD part was trying to fry them  I don’t know if I just didn’t seal them right or what? But you are supposed ot cook them on both sides, but as soon as they had been in the oil for a minute or so, the cream cheese mixture was pur liquid and if you flipped them (or when they flipped themselves which was common) the cream cheese would all run out.  Suffice it to say, several of them turned out pretty HOLLOW - with just a hint of cream cheese flavor that USED to be in there.  I really like them though, so I think I’ll do a little more research and try again

This morning pretty was hard to get up.  (even though it is Sunday and I get a whole 50 minutes extra of sleep  :)  But I did finally get up,  (at about 6:10) and I declare that it’s going to be a great day.  (although looking at the time right now, I think this morning is going to be a bit rushed - as we have to be at church in 40 minutes and as of right now - I haven’t seen or heard movement from ANYONE (except Tim, He left 20 minutes ago for bishopric meetings)  i guess I’d better wake people up then jump in the shower.

Pancakes & other busyness

Crazy day ahead.  It is 5:38 am and in about 3 minutes we are headed out the door to set up and then help run the Troop 707 annual pancake breakfast fundraiser from 7:30 - 10:30..  Bryan has a training/planning meeting for his teachers quorum that runs from 8 - 12.  (yes, he will be missing most of the pancake breakfast, but I’m taking him over to help set up)  The YM have two basketball games to play (stake YM basketball season right now and today is our double header)  we will make it to the 2nd one at noon.  I need to get music copied for the choir tomorrow.  I need to make some type of Chinese side dish or appetizer for the “chinese New Year” party at the Goodwins tonight at 6.  That is my day ahead.  Oh, and I should really clean my kitchen and do some laundry today too.   READY SET GO!

A look back at January

GOOD MORNING and Happy FEBRUARY!

It is mind blowing to me that we are 1/12 the way done with 2019.  (using months as my measuring device)  Since I just wrote last night and gave you a very specific look at what I did, there is no need to report on “yesterday.”  Instead I will look back and review my “January.”

It was a really good month for me.  Very Busy.  A little stressful at times, but good.  I can see personal growth.  I am almost officially done with my 30 day miracle morning challenge and it has definitely been a positive experience.  No, I haven’t lost 10 lbs or seen drastic changes in my relationships with others.  My house isn’t a spotless, organized place to be and I’m not financially seeing any difference in my life.  (I mention some of those things, because those are some of the things that the author noticed.  He didn’t mention a clean organized home…  that was just one of mine that I think I hoped for a little bit)  But the fact is - I have noticed a difference.  It is a little hard to put into words, but I will try.

I feel more self confident.  I set out to do something that I knew would be hard for me, and stuck to it - even on mornings when i had gotten to be late, or hadn’t slept well.  It feels good to be able to say that I didn’t quit.  I didn’t give in or give up when it was “hard’.  It helps me have the confidence to believe that I can do other HARD things.  I have always tended to be a “Fizzler.”  I start out great at something, go strong a whole week or two, then fizzle out.  This shows me that I don’t HAVE to be a fizzler…  I can be a FINISHER

I have been more productive.  I feel like I have been better able to identify my priorities and get what needs to be done, done.  Perhaps it is because in the morning I look at my day and decide what I want to get done that day, then I set out and do it…  maybe it’s because I am getting up early and getting the most important things done FIRST, which gets the ball rolling and makes it easier to KEEP getting things done…  (the whole “object in motion stays in motion” theory)  I don’t know exactly, but it feels good.  Even yesterday, as I had SO much to do and very little down time, I wasn’t feeling overly anxious or stressed, just busy.  I knew what needed to be done and I got it done.  It felt good.

I have made some better choices.  I have had a few times this month where I was face with a choice, and a line from one of my affirmations would come into my mind and instantly, the choice would be clear.  (for example, the choice to go skiing with my family.  “I choose to invest time & energy into the relationships that matter most,” & “I enjoy active adventures with my family.”  Another example was when a good friend of mine (former college roommate) posted something negative about the church on Facebook.  I usually just ignore things people post, because I really hate confrontation, but the line “I stand as a witness of God at all times, and in all things, and in all places” came to mind.  SO, I commented on her post, kindly and respectfully correcting the things that had been misrepresented.  She was not offended (at least I don’t think so, she “liked” my comment), nor did it start a big battle of words or contention, and I was left feeling really good about my choice to stand as a witness.

I feel better about my self worth.  I have just felt better about myself, who I am, and who I want to become.  It’s like investing time and effort into myself is helping me see and feel like I AM worth investing into.

I don’t know, those are the things that come to mind.  It’s been good.  I am going to continue to do it.