B is for BOYS!!!

Ah yes...I am Boy Crazy! But not in the way I was when I was in high school but still crazy for these boys of mine. Somehow I ended up with not only my own brood of Chad, Jackson and Joseph but also JT's big brothers James and Joshua and Jackson's little brothers Jacob and Cameron. Not a speck of pink in my world. Not a drop of Estrogen. Just a bunch of dirty stinky BOYS but I wouldn't rather have it any other way :)

A is for Adventures

My sweet friend Jenny forwarded this idea of using the alphabet to keep the blog going. She is WAY more organized than I am but I wanted to try it out and put my own spin on things. More of a "theme" than specific things that start with that letter.

So starting at the beginning. A is for Adventures.

Travel has always been a big part of my life. When we were kids every year represented a new road trip. My dad's van went all over the country, California, Washington, Colorado, Missouri, Arizona, and every point in between - you name it - we went there. No matter how much money was tight, there was always a trip to go on.

I have pulled that forward into my kids' lives as well. Just in the past year we went to Disney World, Minneapolis, the Quad Cities, Kansas City, I got to go to Chicago and I just got back from Cancun, Mexico last week. That's not even including all of our little adventures to the park, the Iowa State Fair, the pool, the lake, pumpkin patches, even if its just in our own back yard its so important to have those experiences and Adventures to hold on to and pass on to my grandkids too. I wonder where 2011 will take us?

Bah Humbug

I only WISH I could get more into the "Christmas Spirit" this year. Yes the tree is up - the bannister is wrapped in holly, the stockings are hung on the breakfast bar with care but I just don't "feel" like Christmas. I am just tired. The weather is dreary and its sometimes a struggle just to get my motivation going. *sigh* This weekend may just be the jump start that I need. We are heading down to Kansas City on Saturday - Jackson gets to see his dad and I get to go out to dinner (kid free!!!) with the KC Core 4! Nothing gets you more in the spirit than the plaza lights and free flowing bottles of wine with my 3 best friends.

My November goals ended up being a bit more ambitious than I had original thought but that's not bad - just different. My relationship with Chad is going better than it ever has before - he is being extremely active in the lives of both boys and attentive to my needs too. We are all settled in to the new house - four more loads of stuff have gone to various charities so my life is feeling much more streamlined now. I have been promoted to the Sales Manager at the office which is a lot more responsibility but its also a good way to get my finances in order as well. I have three guys on my team all with their own quirks but its going really well so far!

I'm just hoping for a really happy 2011 to look forward to!

Goals For November

FAMILY: Only 60 min of TV time per day every day. Home Cooked Meals

MONEY: Rebuild Savings to $1000 again, Pay cash for replacement TV.

INTELLECTUAL: Read one fiction book and one non fiction book

SPIRITUAL: 30 minutes of quiet prayer and meditation each night before bed.

BUSINESS: 50% closing ratio. Learn ordering process.

PHYSICAL: 30 day shred. EVERY!DAY!

RELATIONSHIP: 1 telephone call and 1 hand-written letter to a friend I haven't talked to for awhile per week.

Starting Over

This last week has been a bit of a "do-over" so I thought I would start over on my blogging as well. This week my yearly flu outbreak hit and quite possibly at the worst time it could. In the middle of a move - training some new employees and a visit from Jackson's father. Any one of those things singularly would be a lot to handle at a time but altogether was a complete disaster.

But I am feeling better now and I actually figured out that getting sick was a bit of a blessing in disguise. You see for awhile now I have been looking toward November 1st is my "new year"; my fresh start. I am moving into a new house. I am training a new employee so there is a huge opportunity for financial gain in that endeavor. The plan is to embark on a new physical regime as well. I want the new place to wash away all of the heartache of the last few years and really be some place that has a new feeling for the kids and for myself. A true new beginning. So this illness has been - to put it bluntly - cleansing. I haven't been able to keep much of anything down and I slept for 12 hours straight last night but it has left me oddly clear. All of the toxins and awful eating have been literally flushed out of my system and has left me with this burning desire to do and be better in all aspects of my life. I have been purging my possessions in an effort to not have to pack things that I don't want to carry with me to the new place. I am getting rid of all of the excess in my life and starting completely fresh. Internally and in my external "junk" too.

I really want this to extend into all parts of myself. Parenting, money, fitness, emotional/spiritual, intellectual, business, the whole package needs to be overhauled and it started with this unintentional purging of the inside. Just thinking about how I have lived for the last year kind of makes me feel sick. I have not been very fiscally responsible, my eating habits have been atrocious, my energy levels have been abysmal, I have not spent the precious time with my kids that I need to, have not fed my friendships and relationships with any real nourishment. I need to do better. So starting today I am focused on the task at hand - really taking responsibility for all aspects of my life and making TODAY my fresh start.

Thank you all for joining me on my journey.