A little encouragement

A little encouragement goes a long way! After a recent experience, I was left feeling I had no purpose in a certain area of my life. God heard my prayers and sent someone to me that allowed me to feel my feelings both the silly and the defeated, but also to support me on my journey. I know I have people in my life who will help me when I’m feeling off, but it does make a body feel better when they say they will help you work through it. I don’t need someone to hold my hand through life’s journey, but I sure like the offer. That is all I needed to hear to kick me back into gear.

Cha Cha is Hiring

Ok This won’t be an inspirational blog, but possibly a profitable one. Many of my readers know I have worked for Cha Cha since October 2006. I’ve seen this business grow and now it has become very busy. So busy in fact that they are now hiring – a window that is only open a few times a year.

ChaCha is seeking smart, savvy people, for a fun and flexible role helping find answers to wide-ranging (sometimes irreverent) questions. Just enter my email address in the referral box on your application. Let me know if you need it. Sign up today at http://becomeaguide.chacha.com !

My favorite part of being a guide, my own hours as many or as few as I want from my home and I sell nothing. Basically I just sit on the computer and I never even have to talk to anyone. Check out chacha.com to find out more about Cha Cha and their services or ask me any questions. Just wanted to post this in case anyone was interested. Requirements: 18 years old or older and a US Citizen. There is some painless training involved as well.

Just curious if anyone is interested – let me know. Feel free to ask me questions too.

Become a Cha Cha Guide

Great Minds Think Alike

January 21, 2010
Why am I not on TV? Ok I’m shy and don’t want to be on TV, but my ideas and actions sure are. Whenever we watch Suppernanny, there are comments “Hey, that’s how you gave us time out or got the kids to stay in bed” and the list goes on. Clean House – same thing – That is how we clean out, rooms, closets and basic clutter if it got to be too much. Keep, sell, donate. Now I sit down to watch tv and there is a woman who plans her meals a year out (ok I’m not that far out). But I don plan especially the summer meals a few months ahead for grocery shopping. It really does help you to save money. My plan has not been the same since the school year with every meal planned. It was getting difficult and frustrating with the work/school/sports and play schedules. I still have a basic 2 week plan, (I do mix up the days and have included soup once a week during the week)
Week 1 – pasta 1x, chicken 2x, steak 1x, ground beef x1, pork x1, dine out
Week2 – pizza 1x, chicken 2x, steak 1x, ground beef x2, soup and salad x1
We stick pretty closely to it. It will change up from time to time, flexibility is important, but the shopping list is a cinch to manage.
The newest thing with my kids, husband and from time to time my own schedule is crock pot meals once or twice a week. Same main meat ingredient, but something that can cook while I’m at work or meetings. Then I know the kids are getting something other than ramen noodles. Family meal time is still very important, we don’t eat together Sundays,but other than that we usually have 4 out of the 5 of us there together. I do miss the days of dinner at 6p.m. but with our line of work and Samantha with school, theater and work we had to add flexibility to the schedule.

Challenging Myself

January 18th, 2010
I challenged myself today to do something I haven’t done years – ice skating. My first attempt 26 years ago ended quickly resulting in me sitting outside on a bench with ice on my ankle after only 15 minutes. I had no desire to attempt it again, certain the result would be the same. After witnessing the rest of my family attempting it with success, I gave in and thought I would give it a try. I was not graceful nor could I attempt a triple lutz. In fact I held onto Bruce most of the time, except when I was holding onto the wall. I managed to stay on my feet or my skates for the hour and a half. I must say it was amusing and a bit embarassing to see 2 and 3 year olds fly past me on the ice. The biggest thing I got from this experience was not sore ankles, but the pride that I tried. Will I do it again? I’m not sure, I’m just proud of myself for trying something out of my comfort zone.

Heartbreak in Haiti

January 17, 2010
A 7.0 earthquake hit Haiti on Tuesday, January 12th. The loss of life is expected to exceed 200,000 people. The photos and stories are heart breaking and make you want to leap from your place and get on a plane. But to where – runways are severely damaged as well are the ports. After shocks continue and bodies are being piled in the streets because there is no place for so many people so quickly the be afforded dignity of being buried.
Opinions of the USA reaction as well as other countries are spilling out onto the television, radio and internet. The cause of the quake, well some don’t believe in natural disaster, but only a punishing God. Some people have even determined that it was a political move. All arrogance and ingnorance aside, it was loss of life – mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters and babies.
I feel sorry for those who can not see this event for what it is – tragic. I ask people to look at our own country of the United States of America. When we had a mass loss of life on September 11th, 2001, we lost over 2,973 people. It was devastating and changed our lives forever as a country. Yes it was brought on by man, terrorist, but does that make the loss any less. This country of Haiti is much smaller than ours, with a government who has been missing in action since the tragedy whether by death or choice It is expected to have lost 100 times the number of people in a single day by no choice of their own. I have mixed thoughts on those people who make ignorant comments such as “they brought it upon themselves” or “it was a planned government action” whether spoken in truth or jest. Shame on you that you will speak of such a tragedy in such a flippent manner not allowing yourself the empathy or sympathy for the value of each human life and the lives they touch. But I must also consider that these people, who comment so recklessly abodandoning the thought of any tragedy and the people it afflict, must have been blessed by having experienced no tragedy in their own lives as not do understand the heartbreak.

Donate to Haiti through UMCOR.  100 percent of Advance gifts made will go to support relief and development efforts due to emergencies in Haiti.  For more information click on the link below.

Dontate to UMCOR

Kindness Journal

January 11, 2010
I received a kindness journal from my sister for Christmas. She asked that we each just do an act of kindness for someone each day and write it down. I am happy to say that I and Christina have been doing this, I’m not certain on the rest of the family. I still feel a bit awkward writing things down, feeling that it almost loses it’s sincerity that way, but I have continued on with the challenge. Some are as simple as allowing someone to pull out in front of me or going ahead of me at the store. Some are more complex and appear arrogant in writing, but a leap for me. Being an introvert, it takes an effort for me to go out of my comfort zone and talk to people I don’t know. But I am stretching those limits by trying to notice and engage with new people at the church by giving them an on the spot tour of the facilities or adding a few words of conversation to someone I usually just share a nod of hello. Acts of kindness or arrogance that it is kind for me to speak to someone because I am just THAT important. Knowing personally, what it takes for me I go with kindness if not for the person to whom I am talking with, kindness to myself for stretching my limits.

How do I earn money doing what I love?

January 4th, 2010
What do I want to be when I grow up? I love my job now and really am excited in the direction God is calling me. But job number 2 can be time consuming and believe it or not I don’t always like to be a robot on the other end of the computer. I’ll keep doing it because the hours are great (I can work when ever I want and not work when I don’t want to). I would love to figure out how to organize for others. I am an A type personality and absolutely love to organize anything from cabinets, kitchens, meals, grocery lists, parties. I love making a list with all the details. I just don’t know how to do it for others and get paid. When I have offered to help someone get organized it usually meant I did the cleaning too. That doesn’t excite me. I would rather help people get their closets, homes, and lives in order, but leave the cleaning to them.

Someday I’ll figure it out.

The New Year 2010

I’m not certain what God has planned for me this year. I am honest in saying I’m a little nervous and excited. Bruce and I’ devotion last night was about God creating us for a purpose. I am an organizer, a planner, but He does like to challenge me and I just have a feeling it will be a year of challenges.

I ended 2009 with fun and laughter with great friends at Lake Chatauqua only to begin the New Year an island again with the family. We received 2 wonderful, meaningful calls after Christmas, but then headed back the same road of the unimportant and left behind for the New Year. Disappointing, but we lick our wounds and move on.

My sister gave us a journal at Christmas to write 1 good thing we did for someone else each day for the year. She would like to compile them for a book of some sort. This is a wonderful challenge that I accepted. I did my first “good deed” though I have not yet written it down. Though I will try to write things down, for me it is not the measure of the deed but doing unto others that I hold important to myself and as a witness to my children.

Exercise – Feeling better on the inside!

We got a YMCA family membership a few weeks ago.  I have been trying to be faithful in going.  Yes I want to lose some weight and get in shape, but to be honest I am just cheap.  It is a lot of money to be spending money on a gym, not to be using it.  So I have tried to jump in, but also did not want to over do and lay myself up on the couch for days.

I have tried to update my progress on facebook, always looking for that extra encouragement from friends.  I have now been trained on the weight machines.  They are not to bad.  They take longer than my usual cardio, but I don’t get distracted doing them so the times goes quickly.  I have realized that I basically have no upper body strength.  So for those of you who have asked.  Here is my basic schedule for the last week or so.

On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.  I do about 10 minutes of cardio – usually the acer machine or stair master type of equipment and then I do 3 reps on each weight machine.  This takes me about an hour.  On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I do the tread mill for 20 minutes and the bike for 10-15 minutes and then the ab and back weight machine.  Do I always want to go?  NO!  Do I feel better afterwards, the majority of the time yes.  This week I was feeling the strain of the upper body weights, so I admit I didn’t do them all on Friday.  I didn’t want to be super sore for my busy weekend.

They say you form a habit in 3 weeks.  I believe this is true.  So I’m coming up on the 3rd week so we’ll see if it’s a habit.

I admit I would like to lose about 15 pounds, but whether I lose the weight or not I think I will feel better about myself if  I am toned and in shape.  I must say I do feel more attractive working out. I don’t think it has made a difference yet on the outside, it has made a diffference on the inside and on the way I see myself.

What I want for Christmas

I realize Christmas is over a month away, but the question has been asked “What do you want for Christmas?”  As always I have “stuff” I would like – a lid for my skillet, a new crock pot, and several other replacements for broken household items.  But those aren’t endulging items I want under the tree.  I call those gifts for the house.  Would I be pleased with jewelry or new clothes, yes it would be nice to feel like a girl.  But what I really want for Christmas is thought.  It just seems like everyone is in such a rush or so worried about money that the thought behind the gift is lost.  I will admit money, as always is an issue, and I do shop early, but I try my hardest to think of the person, not the gift.  I have been greeted with disappointment in giving these gifts at times.  I did the homemade gifts only to find them unappreciated and unused in lieu of the newest “as seen on tv” gadget.  I can understand not being excited about a stitched bookmark, but each book mark was completed with a prayer for that person.  One year I made aprons, not for everyone, but for those who liked to bake. One year, our family had been distanced from other family members so we made a basket of our favorite things to share.  The hope was to share a bit of ourselves with others and share why it is one of our favorite things, but in the hustle of the day explanations of what the gifts were or meant , were interrupted and missed the mark.  In fact by he end of the day, some of the items were even returned to our family because they would not be used.  It didn’t bother me that  Bruce’s favorite trail mix was handed back, but it was that they seemed to miss the biggest gift – sharing of ourselves.

Last year my sister made everyone photo albums filled with letters from various family members.  Our family has looked at this album several times through out the year.  I remember a time I gave family members a photo of an item I would get them if money were no object.  My son, knowing my love for Star Wars, took his money and bought me a mini millenium falcon.  I had no use for this item, just something to dust, but it is precious to me because his thoughts were on what was important to me and what I would like.  These are the gifts that hold my greatest memories.

So what do I want for Christmas? I want thought.  No matter the money, no matter the value, homemmade or store bought.  I would like people to give the gift of thoughtfullness to others and whatever it means to them.