Habitual Impracticality

Familiar Pain

2011-11-19T10:19:00.001-08:00

Running is therapeutic. A stress reliever. So when I started feeling familiar pangs of insecurity I ran. Turned on an Elisabeth Elliot teaching and ran until my head was clear.

Afterwards I felt another familiar pain. The Beginnings of shin splints. Blast these muscles and their weaknesses. How am I to run away one familiar pain when it causes another?

Wow!!!

2011-11-15T23:29:00.001-08:00

Push. Run. Breathe. Focus. Posture. You can do it! These are the things running through my head as I push harder and harder. Running faster than I expected to be able to. I'm no olympian, nor am I at all able to even win a race or anything. But for me personally, this is great!

My last few runs I have been able to push and run faster than I expected. Not for very long until today. Today I ran for 5.9 mph for over four minutes!!! It felt SO good!

On the other hand, I have had a horrible sinus headache that has lingered for two days. Deep congestion due to either seasonal allergies (which I doubt as the cold froze everything recently) or the smoke from all of the fireplaces running. I can smell it when my heater is running. Killing me.

But I run. I run to try to create a natural decongestant. I run because I have gained weight due to my period. I run because it makes me handle life better. I run because I am addicted. I run because I love it.

So I run.

Theraputic Sweating

2011-11-09T20:01:00.001-08:00

Yesterday was a long somewhat emotional day. We had a funeral for a precious women who passed away last week. I had not cried yet until I saw the family and started to realize how much they are hurting. They are all doing very well but it is still a very painful time for them.

I didn't get home until about 10:30 and I knew that if I didn't run I wouldn't be able to again until Thursday. Unfortunately I had not been able to run since last Thursday so I didn't want to wait too long.

I ran, sweated, ran, sweated, and by the end I no longer had a crying headache, no longer did I feel emotionally exhausted. In fact, I felt a nice normal "it's late" tired. Running really did help me through what is normally a miserable after effect. Praise God! I doubt it would have been so effectual if she were my own grandmother, but I am sure there is still some therapy to sweating through the difficult times of life. Praise God for treadmills.

Back In The Game

2011-11-01T22:23:00.001-07:00

Run run run as fast as you can or else the person on second will pass you by. Played baseball Sunday. It was fantastic. Monday morning I was so sore I could barely move!

Rerun

2011-10-29T23:22:00.001-07:00

"Why won't some people ever change?!" I thought to myself frustrated. Speaking with Kelly about it later she said "what happened that made you frustrated with this person?" my answer? Absolutely nothing. But the past few weeks I had become increasingly annoyed with the little things.

So what had changed? It was the running. When running I was less tense, more happy, I dealt better with issues and had more energy. But the leg injury had stopped all of that.

Getting a treadmill to my house and making the realization of how much I had changed since I had stopped running both occurred around the same time and so I started up again. Now, four days later, I can feel the renewed energy and can laugh off a few more things. Praise God!!!

Next week I plan to be a little less aggressive and run every other day instead of every day. I am back. Try and catch me!

Minimum Maintenance

2011-01-22T10:05:00.000-08:00

I love M&M's. They are such a simple candy. If you think about it they are really just chocolate drips in a hard shell package. Its the same amount of chocolate that, when baking, you drip on the counter when you move the spoon you used to stir the chocolate from the bowl to your mouth.

Growing up we hated cleaning and so my mom always tried to come up with ways to make it easier and more fun. One thing we did was MM, or Minimum Maintenance. We would spend 5 minutes in each room, clean as much as possible, and move on to the next room. We used a timer. We raced. We laughed. It was over quickly.

I am going to go back to this today. My house has been fairly organized lately and today I need to simply do a quick pick up and sweep. I wonder if it will still be as fun without my mom or brother here to help. Perhaps I should invite mom over?

We also used to gamble with M&M's when we played canasta.

I am Back!

2011-01-19T18:38:00.000-08:00

Week of 52, Day of 6Days to next Tea , Days to next dinner

I am back and I am raring to go! Above you see my typical format from previous challenges. I love the title that I picked for this blog because it describes me perfectly! The reason I have left the above format is because I, once again, as is my habit, want to tackle the impractical. I want to try this again. Perhaps, just perhaps, I can accomplish the impossible. The reason I have not filled in the gaps above is because I am not totally convinced that I want to tack the same old impractical. Why not come up with something new and impractical? What a great idea!

So this is me, coming back to the world of blogging. Letting the writer in me giggle as I tickle its fancy, and the fanciful in me to stretch and yawn and say, "its about time!"

Another Good Giveaway!

2010-02-07T00:27:00.000-08:00

Another really cool giveaway, this one is for a free Wii and Wii Fit, a Drill set or a drill.
I SO want to win this because not only would I love to have a Wii, I really will need a drill now that I own my first place SOOOoooo I would love to win any of the 3 prizes! I actually NEED the drill stuff more than I need the Wii, but with my new house the Wii would be SO COOL! I am excited!!!

Click Here

Another Giveawa

2010-02-06T23:52:00.000-08:00

I don't blog about many giveaways so you know this is a cool one:

http://amomsimpression.com/2010/02/06/evolve-showerheads-giveaway/#comment-5425

This is for a showerhead that is eco friendly and COOL!

Moving Plans

2010-02-06T23:00:00.000-08:00

Week 19 of 52, Day 6 of 6

SOOOOoooo everything has changed. I got the house that I put an offer on so I am no longer on an organization schedule and am not inviting anyone over yet. Currently my goal is to pack 1 area a day. I may still pack on Sundays because it really doesn't seem like work, its a lot of fun! I am VERY excited about this new place and organizing should be SO much easier as I will have 5 closets in the entire house plus the garage, plus the attic. In my current house...2 closets. Thats it.

So, I will keep you posted!

2010-01-26T23:42:00.000-08:00

Week of 52, Day 2 of 6
Days to next Tea TBA, Days to next dinner 19

SOOOoooo February is going to be focused on kitchen, due to that fact I am going to start reading all the kitchen areas of the magazine that I got.

As for cleaning, tonight I will pick up the bathroom. I am, once again, exhausted so I need a small space to work on. Hopefully by Thursday I will find some energy somewhere in this house.

As for now, I am going to get ready for bed and clean while I am doing that.

Oh, quick tip, I had all my eyeliners and mascara that I needed somewhere to put it so I grabbed a tumbler from the kitchen and threw them in that and put it inside my bathroom mirror cabinet. I believe it will work out nicely!

Get It While Its Out

2010-01-25T22:56:00.000-08:00

Week 18 of 52, Day 1 of 6
Days to next Tea TBA, Days to next dinner possibly 20

My cousin showed me a fabulous resource that I had to pass on to you. It is a Better Homes and Gardens Special Interest Publication, which basically means its a magazine that is only printed once. It is called Storage and you can find it at most places that carry magazines. It is amazingly stocked full of ideas that are not only friendly on your wallet but easy to tackle! For example, they have a 1 year plan of organizing your entire house! We are starting late so January will take a little catch up, but thats ok. Each month tackles a different area, (i.e. January is the office) and each area has 4 projects that can be accomplished 1 each week, a few at a time, or whatever you are most comfortable with!

Now, after all that excitement I, personally, am going to skip January since its too late to really get it done right, and save it for a month that doesn't apply to me (like kids rooms). But for those of you wanting to start now then work on your office in these 4 areas:

Gather all slips of paper with passwords and put them in one notebook, then get rid of all those slips of papers.

Create a vertical paper-storage system using wall-mount file holders. This is for things like bills that you would need to see and access easily.

Create a horizontal filing system for long term paper storage. You can use a filing cabinet or get a cute file holder. Either way, make sure you have hanging folders and tabs to keep it organized and easily accessible. Now is a good time as well (since you are going through them anyway) to begin a file of your tax paperwork. Anything you think you will need for your taxes this year get in one spot and label it "Taxes 2009."

Keep only one current month of your favorite magazines. If old issues have important articles, clip them and store in a binder or file folder. (This one is going to be hard for me!!!)

So there you go. There is a fabulous resource for you to try as well as a preview of whats inside it! You may want to grab the magazine yourself as I am going to try to remember to do this every month but I may forget.

Tonight I am trying to get back on schedule. I am switching from doing laundry on Thursdays and Fridays to a little every night as needed. For example, right now I have a vacation's worth of laundry to do so I did one load last night, I will do one tonight and I will keep doing that until I am caught up. Then I will start washing sheets and rugs and such as they are all ready to be washed again.

Tonight's pick up is going to be in the dining room. It is pretty clean and I am tired so thats an easy one. Tomorrow I will work on the Living Room. Some other day I will hit my bedroom which seems to never stay nice anymore.

Goodnight!

Coming Home Soon

2010-01-22T20:55:00.000-08:00

So I haven't been keeping track of what week I am on, but I will figure that out when I get home. When I do get home my first goal is to continue maintaining what is done and then slowly build back up to where I was before Christmas hit.

I have been recouping and refreshing on this vacation and I am feeling very relaxed finally. Tomorrow is my last day and I plan on spending the morning on a date with Jesus. I haven't had a whole lot of just quiet reflective time since I arrived so I think this will be a nice way to spend the first part of my last day. After that my sister-in-law comes home and I will have some time with her and then Sunday we go home. I can't believe its already over. But I am looking forward to being home again.

As a quick side note, some of you know I have gotten into these giveaways on blogs and one of them that I just stumbled across tonight is for a new faucet! Amazing! I am excited because I am house hunting and if I win I could totally use this in my new house!!! So click here if you are interested and maybe look around, you might find some more similar giveaways and get addicted as well!!!

A Recipe For Goodness

2010-01-18T22:18:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite spices is Lemon Pepper because it is so versatile. You can use it for so many different quick easy recipes. Here is one of my most often used last minute meals:

Some sort of Poultry, whole bird or pieces
Lemon Pepper
Garlic Salt
Olive Oil

Cover the poultry with all of this and cook until finished. It is fabulous!!!

Organization Helps

2010-01-18T20:59:00.000-08:00

We can always use ideas and helps on organizing. Plus reading about ideas help us to stay motivated and feel like we can actually accomplish some of the ideas. So on that note I wanted to pass on this website I found on Better Homes and Gardens about Organization. They have tips and tricks and lots of ideas to help you clear the clutter and get on the road to a better organized household.

Giveaways

2010-01-18T13:57:00.000-08:00

So I'm on vacation and now I am entering a bunch of giveaways. It is loads of fun! One giveaway that I thought I would share is a posturepedic bed giveaway!

http://mommymandy.com/sealy-posturepedic-signature-series-giveaway/
http://www.sealy.com/

enjoy!

Perhaps I am Human After All

2010-01-11T19:32:00.001-08:00

Week 16 of 52, Day 1 of 6
Days Until Vacation: 4!!!

I have resorted to dry erase marker on the bathroom mirror. I know, I know, but you cannot imagine the menagerie of things that are running through my head all day long that I want to get done before I leave. It is quite overwhelming. The most frustrating part is that the mirror is not with me 24/7. I really need a portable mirror to write my notes on.

Tonight I am going to work on taking Christmas down. I really want to come back to a neat organized house and my goal is to get Christmas down tonight, deep cleaning tomorrow, work on my car on Wednesday and Thursday I will do laundry and pack.

As for the title of this post, I am finally feeling human again after being sick for over a week. Today was the first day that I did not actually feel sick at all. I am tired because I haven't slept much, and my nose still runs like it's in a marathon, but I feel great! I am ready to tackle the Christmas decor! See you tomorrow!

Ick

2010-01-07T21:30:00.001-08:00

If you have ever had a fish tank you know what ick is. It is SO hard to get rid of. I think thats what I have only because its never going away.

Ugh.

I mean Ick.

Toolbox Tuesday

2010-01-05T20:22:00.000-08:00

Week 15 of 52, Day 2 of 6

Something that works great for me, and this is no joke, Lotion Tissues. Seriously. When you are sick this is like the best thing for your poor little overblown nose. Regular Tissues have left me refusing to blow my nose because it hurts so bad, I get raw skin and I cry. Lotion Tissues are like a healing balm even when you switch at the end. But man if you start with them!!! They are amazing!!!

Imagine a chenille blanket for your nose.

Normally my toolbox stuff will have to do with organizing but as I am still sick, I am writing about whatever makes me happy right now. And right now, thats lotion tissues!!!

Musing Monday

2010-01-04T19:43:00.000-08:00

Week 15 of 52, Day 1 of 6

Well my first day of musings is not going to happen. I am sick. I can't muse when I am sick. How in the world can I get creative when I have to blow my nose every five minutes because my brain is leaking?

As for cleaning, I can't. Too sick. Ugh.

Sharing Saturday

2010-01-02T17:48:00.001-08:00

I am trying a new writer and I have not set it up with my template of what week and day I am on. But I think its week 14 day 6.

Today I would like to know what works for you. Let’s talk Laundry. Do you do it all in one day? do you do a little every day? For those of you who work how do you find the time to wash and dry?

I was doing laundry starting Thursday nights and I would finish by Friday but the problem with that is that if I missed i would get way behind. In the winter I like to throw a load in at night and then put it in the dryer in the morning. But in the summer its bad because if I forget to put it in the dryer it smells. Finally, how do you get the energy to put it all away? That last load is the worst! Too often I find myself throwing it on the foot of my bed and it stays there for days. This is NOT a good habit.

So share. What are your laundry habits. What works for you? What doesn’t?

Themed Days

2010-01-01T22:40:00.000-08:00

Week 14 of 52, Day 5 of 6

I am going to do it, here is the current list that may change as I go. I will do this until I get bored of doing it:

Musing Monday - This will be my day to practice my silly rambling writings. I may post these here or on my other blog, I will let you know if its on my other blog.

Toolbox Tuesday - I will share a practical organizational tool whether tangible or digital

Works For Me Wednesday - This is where I will share what is working for me as far as organizing. If I run out of stuff that's working for me it will be Website Wednesday where I will share a link.

Thinking Thankful Thursday - This is a good time to evaluate what is working and what I need to figure out but I love adding the idea of thanksgiving all year long so we will include this as a day to be thankful.

Financial Friday - This will focus on the financial side of organization

Sharing Saturday - On Saturdays I will post some sort of question where you can all comment and share what you do for whatever the topic is.

Silent Sundays - As always, Sundays I fast from blogging and all types of computer distractions and rest.

As always this will probably change as I go. But for now it is my plan, which works because its Thursday and I am thinking of an idea that might work :)

Today I am thankful for the provision that God gives for all needs, whether small or great. He is a good God.

Bedtime

2009-12-31T00:55:00.000-08:00

Week 14 of 52, Day 3 of 6
Days to next Tea TBA, Days to next dinner TBA

I know I still haven't planned a Tea or a Dinner but I desperately need a break. I am going to be behind on both of those but I can catch up in march, when I am not tired and have less to do :)

I am playing with an idea of having focused posts every day. They would be themed...my cousin posted a post called "Wordless Wednesday" and just had a couple of pictures and that's what gave me the idea. I am still playing with it though, I will let you know more then.

Tonight I did not clean or do anything. I was at church until 11 and was exhausted. I came home, took a bath and am going to bed now.

Goodnight world.

Tired Tonight

2009-12-29T18:23:00.000-08:00

Week 14 of 52, Day 2 of 6
Days to next Tea TBA, Days to next dinner TBA

I already cleaned the bathroom...yay...not cleaned like really but picked up the aggravating mess that had accumlated after Christmas. I hadn't finished putting away my stuff from spending the night at my parents. So Its all cleared now. I will do the real cleaning on Friday or Saturday.

Last night's budgeting wasn't bad...I thought it would take a few nights but the first step, the quickie budget, that was fine. There's a longer budget that I will do when I have gotten familiar with the quickie budget. So time to start on project 10!!!

Tonight I am going to start on the bill drawer. It has been SO annoying.

I forgot to mention yesterday, the Project 10 is always only 10. The reason is that way its not overwhelming. You work on one project till its done. Then you can cross it off and add a new one. You don't have to do them in order.

Thats it...on to the drawer!

Here We Come Or Ganizing Amonst The Cluttering

2009-12-28T17:48:00.000-08:00

Week 14 of 52, Day 1 of 6
Days to next Tea TBA, Days to next dinner TBA

Lets start with answering questions:
1. The picture above I was attempting a still life. Not the greatest. But it was fun.
2. The Project 10 on the side was an idea I got from the organizing book. Have a list of ONLY 10 projects you want done and work on them a little at a time. They suggest 1 a week, I do a few minutes every day.

Now for my questions:
Julee you are naming her Hosanna??? I LOVE THAT! That's the coolest name ever. How pretty. Middle name? Praise? Harmony? Hosanna Harmony Huy...that would be sweet :)

Ok, now for the purpose of this blog:
Tonight's goals are to clean the living room. Not just pick up but dust and vacuum and maybe hit the window sills. Once I have that done I am actually not going to work on my project 10...my goal this week (I decided this morning) is to get on the budget that I want to do in 2010. It is Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace Plan. I have the basic stuff I need to start so I will be getting that going tonight. Then I will plan one night a week (probably Fridays) to look at things and see where I am at...until I am ok to start only doing it every couple weeks and then once a month.

Since this blog addresses all sorts of organizing issues I will explain a little bit more about Dave Ramsey's plan. The goals are simple, get an emergency fund as fast as possible. Start paying off your debt. Use cash for some of your budgeting that its easy to overspend (i.e. groceries), etc. There's a whole budgeting system and that is what I am going to start working on tonight. Over the weekend I did all my checkbook balancing and such so now I have to sit down and see how I want to run January. Then February. etc.

If you are interested in Dave Ramsey you can go to www.daveramsey.com.

Fresh Start

2009-12-26T13:28:00.000-08:00

Week 13 of 52, Day 6 of 6
Days to next Tea TBA, Days to next dinner TBA

The past week was a wonderful time to spend remembering the birth of our Lord and Savior. The Christmas program ended up being a huge blessing! There were quite a few people there, it was a packed house. Praise God!

So today is a day of rest and cleaning. I am going to take it slow but get the house nice at the same time. It has been neglected far too long. I am ready to get back to a more structured schedule of 15 minutes a night and working on a different room every night. YAY for fresh starts!

Today's goal is just to get as much done as possible. Whatever I don't finish I will have to start on Monday. But my main goals are to get each room picked up, the fish tank cleaned and all of the laundry. Beyond that (deep cleaning) I don't mind how far I get.

I will work on posting some pics later but I am going to get back to cleaning now.

Quick Update

2009-12-22T23:35:00.000-08:00

Week 13 of 52, Day 2 of 6
Days to next Tea TBA, Days to next dinner TBA

Today I am going to wrap and then put away the wrapping stuff. its driving me crazy being out like that!!!

This is all I am posting today. Its late.

Phewph!!!

2009-12-21T22:21:00.000-08:00

Week 13 of 52, Day 1 of 6
Days to next Tea TBA, Days to next dinner TBA

Christmas is pretty much done! I handed out all the church gifts and only missed one person on Sunday! That is a record for me!!!

I have about 3 gifts left to wrap but I can do those anytime between now and thursday. Tonight my goal is to get all the laundry that is on my bed hung or folded and put away. Its all clean, its just not put away.

There was a lot of drama this weekend for me but to read about it you will need to read my other blog Symmie's Spot.

Alright I am out now. Going to clear my bed and get an early night. Goodnight!

Day of Somethings

2009-12-18T09:14:00.000-08:00

Week 12 of 52, Day 5 of 6
Days to next Tea TBA, Days to next dinner TBA

You have probably heard the phrase, "you are your own worst critic," but sometimes I think the truth is more "you are your own horrible dictator." Granted I'm only speaking to certain personality types here, but it seems to me that a lot of us get something in our head that we should do and then beat ourselves up like crazy in order to accomplish it. Sometimes this is called drive, but a lot of the time it stresses us out over silly things.

Do you need an example? Really? Other than the one floating in your brain right now? Ok, for instance, I love my quiet time with God in the morning. I love reading His word. Sometimes I do a published Bible study and sometimes I simply study and dig deeper on my own. Regardless of what kind of study it is my goal every time, "finish the study/book as soon as possible." Why? Because then I accomplished something. But I literally will rush through the study trying to get more than a days worth accomplished so I can finish on time or even early. Most of the time the "on time" is a date that I personally specified. In all of this I lose the main point of my quiet time and that is, "with God." God has never put a deadline on me. He has never said to me, "Briana, you are reading through and digging deeper in 1 Corinthians and that is great, but make sure you read the whole book in a month because its all about finishing!"

Recently I was praying with a precious woman and as I explained to her the things that I was very nervous about for the Christmas program she said, "make sure you don't miss your quiet time in the morning, you will need that in handling the people lovingly and Christ-like." Suddenly it hit me, I had slipped into the "finish quickly" mode again. So I have set aside my current Bible study, The Power Of A Woman's Words, and have taken up Streams In The Desert, and a few other daily devotions. I read whatever day it is, in 1 or 5 devotions. I may spend 1/2 hour or 5 minutes. Nothing is set. My main goal is to hear from God. I will pick up the other study again when God releases my heart to, but for now, it is His sweet presence ministering to my weary soul.

Here We Go!

2009-12-17T22:17:00.000-08:00

Week 12 of 52, Day 4 of 6
Days to next Tea TBA, Days to next dinner TBA

I have my next tea victim in my sights. I haven't spoken with her yet but I know who God has laid on my heart. We'll see how it goes!!!

I also am tentatively planning an overnighter (remember, I wanted to do 4 during this challenge of my year of organizing). We'll see if it happens. Some of it depends on my house and schedules.

I have good news! I have been so emotional lately, like I was before eliminating soy and milk from my diet. I could not figure out why as I have been doing pretty good lately. Then today it occurred to me that we have had this sausage at church. Some of it is cut up in marinara and some of it is in links. I have eaten either form every day for a while now. Perhaps there's soy in the sausage. Very likely. If not the preservatives might have been a shock for my system as they are used to homemade non preservative foods now. Either way I am very happy that I think I found the culprit. I will let you know in a few days when it is out of my system. No more sausage for Bri!!!

Alright my goal tonight and tomorrow is this:
Wrap Something
Clean Something
Type Something
Make Something
Write Something

I will do that list over and over and over until I am ready for Christmas. Here's the explanation:
Wrap something - thats pretty obvious
Clean something - also obvious
Type something - I have a couple of gifts that involve some typing and I haven't done it yet
Make something - finishing poiema gifts, working on more of some other gifts as needed
Write something - Christmas cards...I know I know...but I have mailed all the ones needing mailing. I just haven't done the church ones yet (we have a card exchange area so we save the stamps).

Alright, I am off to do...something!

Stuck

2009-12-17T00:40:00.000-08:00

Week 12 of 52, Day 3 of 6
Days to next Tea TBA, Days to next dinner TBA

Its been an emotional week for me. Not for any specific reason but still emotional. Then tonight I met with my accountability group and poured it all out to them. Cried all through the prayer and just feel spent. I ended up leaving the church at about midnight. I got home and pulled into my driveway, oh wait, I mean I tried to pull into my driveway but instead I high centered my car on the snow mound that is at the end of our driveway. I was so discouraged I wanted to cry more. I know i am exhausted and emotionally spent but it was difficult not to just sit down in the snow and cry some more. Instead I went to grab the shovel and found out, oh its not out, its in the garage. The good news is that my landlord was still awake. He came out and towed my car off of the mound. He is going to shovel the snow a bit in the morning so that I don't get stuck. He's very sweet. I told him "this is what you get for renting to a girl" and he laughed.

So I am very blessed, very weepy, very tired. Things will be better tomorrow yeah?

You Asked For It

2009-12-15T22:41:00.000-08:00

Week 12 of 52, Day 2 of 6
Days to next Tea TBA, Days to next dinner TBA
Possible Sleepover over Christmas Break. We'll see.

Lavender Cardamom Honey is Honey with Lavender and Cardamom infused in it. I had to heat all the ingredients together (had vanilla too), then steep it for a while. I didn't know what Cardamom was until I made this, its just a spice. Its the pods that you see in the picture.

These jars are $2 at Walmart. Not bad. They are great for honey. It holds maybe a cup of honey in there.

Tonight I finished the NKJV versions of the paintings I am doing for Poiema. My goal is to do one version a night so I am done soon but not overwhelmed.

Here is a picture of one of those:
There are 2 sayings from each chapter and the James is painted over the top. Its pretty cool. This particular background was green with blue and an almost purple color. Others were just blue or just purple with the green. I liked this one the best but it was created when I ran out of the blue so I couldn't duplicate it. On the first two I did I had "Draw Near To God" in place of "Submit To God" not realizing I had already written Draw Near To God on there. So two people will have incorrect ones.

Each of the youth are memorizing in the version they are most comfortable with so I am going to change the phrases to match the version.

Perhaps I forgot to mention why? Our discipleship group is memorizing the entire book of James. We are on Chapter 3 right now.

I keep forgetting that I want to add Poiema 2009-2010 to the bottom. I need to do that before I forget.

I didn't do anything else tonight as I was meeting with one of the Jr. High girls that I am mentoring. We won't be able to meet again until after Christmas so I needed to get that in.

As for presents I still need to finish the poiema presents (I have all the backgrounds done, so just the 7 other plaques), I need to type in some stuff that I can't explain here, I have to type in some other stuff for a family, I need to stain the frame for Ana's puzzle (probably on Monday night since my dad will build it Saturday), and I need to finish the thank you gifts for the Christmas program (putting candy in a little bag with a simple ornament). Other than that its just wrapping.

I am nearly done but I will be busy between now and Christmas. Crazy me took on too much. Still haven't finished my cards. But I can mail the ones I have. :)

I'm Back!

2009-12-14T20:29:00.000-08:00

Week 12 of 52, Day 1 of 6
Days to next Tea TBA, Days to next dinner TBA

At the risk of never becoming a famous blog writer like Julie in Julia & Julie (or was it Julie & Julia?) I may not post every single day. Or maybe I will. I haven't decided yet. My week off helped me gain some perspective. I would love for this blog to continue as is but the reality is that it is somewhat of a burden to try to post every night 6 nights a week.

On the other hand, it is good accountability for me for cleaning. I have lost some steam in that area as Christmas is underway here. I had my house clean, then I decorated. Then I had it clean again, then I started making gifts. Then it was almost clean again when I decided to wrap gifts. So at this point I am doing pick up here and there and catching up on gifts.

Last night I made Lavender Cardamom honey. For those of you who live near here, if you are reading this then I hadn't a clue that you kept up on my blog and would not have posted that!!! It is surprisingly good. Not that I expected it to be bad, I just didn't know. I figured it would be pretty regardless, and it is!!!

Obviously I didn't follow the Frazzle Free plan all the way through. But I am nearly done. I have one more gift to purchase a few more to make, which I already have the supplies for, and everything else to wrap. The last thing I need is an idea for what I am making for Christmas Morning Breakfast at my house. I'm at a loss.

Our Christmas program is semi finished as well. Other than the fact that I only have 16 candle lighters when I wanted 50. Not quite sure how to work that out. Our big practice is this coming Sunday. That will be when I am completely nervous to see if it all fits together like it is supposed to. I'm very nervous about this one. It is so unlike anything we have ever done that I haven't a clue if its any good or not.

Well I am off to paint some canvasses for our youth discipleship group. I am painting canvas with artistic words all over based from Scriptures from James that we have been memorizing. We'll see how it turns out. If it doesn't work they are all getting popcorn seasoning!!!

Taking a Break

2009-12-08T20:53:00.000-08:00

My Faithful Readers,
This is an explanation for my Habitual Impracticality blog, as well as an update for my Symmie's Spot blog and for Facebook.

The explanation of why I didn't post yesterday is because Sunday was our Annual Ladies Tea. It was beautiful! We had a huge turnout, more than expected, and everything ran smoothly. How did this affect my blogging you ask? Well, I had taken my laptop to church with me to use in the powerpoint portion of the tea (we read a book every year and I project the pictures so all can see). As we were leaving that night I said, "I don't need my laptop tonight, I will bring it home tomorrow."

Well tomorrow came and so did a foot and a half of snow!!! My little car is not heavy enough to drive well in snow so Pastor Pat declared a snow day!!! It was so nice to stay home and rest and relax. I got some Christmas presents done and I am going to keep working on more tonight.

Now for another update. I will not be posting any more this week. I have become very selfish and self centered lately. Sunday the teaching was powerful and convicting regarding sin in our lives and getting to the point to where our sin breaks our hearts because of what it does to Jesus' heart, not because we got caught. The Lord convicted me for my self-centered thinking and I am going to be doing a media fast all this week. For me my computer is all about entertaining me, when I am not constantly wanting to be entertained is when I start recognizing others and am not focused on my comfort and ease.

So see you in 6 days!

1 Week and 1 Day To Go

2009-12-05T18:22:00.000-08:00

Week 10 of 52, Day 6 of 6
Days to next Tea TBA, Days to next dinner TBA
Frazzle Free Christmas Week 7 of 8, Day 6 of 6

Oh Christmas is lighting up around here! I am so excited! Lights and decor are all up. Presents are getting made. Its all so pretty!

Tonight my personal goals are just to get things a bit more organized in general. Last night left me in a frenzy. I had a clean house, but Christmas boxes are still around. I also am getting ready for the tea at church tomorrow.

Frazzle Free: Complete all your gift and buy list shopping today. Wrap 5 presents. Pre-make 1 Christmas dish. Take a look at your holiday menu and decide what you will pre-make next week. Add the ingredients to your grocery list. Finalize any plans an confirmations and print off maps and such for family activities next week.

See you Monday!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

2009-12-04T20:22:00.000-08:00

Week 10 of 52, Day 5 of 6
Days to next Tea TBA, Days to next dinner TBA
Frazzle Free Christmas Week 7 of 8, Day 5 of 6

Christmas is taking over my house! I have all the decor up and the tree...I just haven't decorated the tree yet. YAY! My house is clean and life is good.

Frazzle Free: Mail your Christmas Cards!

Times of Refreshing

2009-12-03T12:04:00.000-08:00

Week 10 of 52, Day 4 of 6
Days to next Tea TBA, Days to next dinner TBA
Frazzle Free Christmas Week 7 of 8, Day 4 of 6

Our Lord is so gracious and merciful and loving. He sees our every need and meets it. As for our wants, He sees what situation we would best be able to glorify Him and He provides that.

I have been blessed with the day off. I woke up late, spent an extended time in His presence and am fully refreshed. Praise the Lord! Tomorrow I plan on doing the same as well as Saturday. By the end it will be as if I were on a retreat. God is SO good!

A week ago, however, I would not have thought this possible. I was overwhelmed and asking God if He saw the many things I was doing. Did He care? Has He released me to quit any of them? I don't know I don't have the time to see Him about it. That's where the choice came in. Would I trust Him to see my need of rest and provide? Would I glorify Him in the midst of my weariness? Or would I complain, worry, stress, and be cranky to those around me?

I don't believe I walked in either of those completely. I was faithful to trust at times and I sinned at times. Regardless of my faithfulness or my sin, God provided. Nothing I did earned His grace, and in spite of my sin He was still gracious.

What a good God we serve!!!

Frazzle Free: Continue continue continue. Really this whole thing is about little chunks faithfully, have you noticed that?

Cleaning: I plan on doing some all weekend until all my weekly maintenance is done. Praise the Lord things are back on track!!!

Relaxing

2009-12-02T22:54:00.000-08:00

Week 10 of 52, Day 3 of 6
Days to next Tea TBA, Days to next dinner TBA
Frazzle Free Christmas Week 7 of 8, Day 3 of 6

Hello again! I have a long weekend this weekend because I am VERY blessed!!! So tonight I am working on presents! YAY ME!!!

Frazzle Free: Continue with all the same. You want all your gifts bought by Saturday!

Back to the Basics

2009-12-01T19:53:00.000-08:00

Week 10 of 52, Day 2 of 6
Days to next Tea TBA, Days to next dinner TBA
Frazzle Free Christmas Week 7 of 8, Day 2 of 6

Christmas music plays gently in the background as I sit here contemplating the season that is wafting in. Have you ever noticed how the things we cherish the most often, when they are occurring, are never quite how we remember them later. For example, remember your last trip to Disneyland? Do you remember how wonderful it was and the laughter, the fun, the memories? Do you remember the lines, the tiredness, the hunger, the cranky moments? Often we remember the sugar coated versions or a completely negative version. How can we make this season truly a memorable one that doesn't need rose colored glasses? Simplify.

My decorations are packed away in my parent's attic. All except for one small box. So I put out that box. Cards are beginning to come in. So I started putting those out. Eventually I will get to the other box, but I'm not worried about it. Its nice to enjoy the little I have out now. I am noticing it more.

I don't have a lot of plans at this point this year. I thought about trying to squeeze in a dinner and a tea this month and then decided that I would like to take a break and enjoy the season slowly.

Say no to some engagements. The things that wear you out the most, do them in smaller chunks. Play lots of Christmas music. Drink hot tea every night (buy the specialty Christmas teas). Soak up the season slowly and relaxed.

Frazzle Free: Continue as usual. Everything from yesterday keep doing it!

Cleaning: So far I am getting back in the groove. I think for now I am out of project ideas. I know I have plenty but perhaps December's 15 minute projects will be Christmas prep and then anything else as needed. So tonight I am working on cards, Ana's present and possibly some other homemade gifts. I need to purchase some containers but I can do that later.

New Starts

2009-11-30T11:54:00.000-08:00

Week 10 of 52, Day 1 of 6
Days to next Tea TBA, Days to next dinner TBA
Frazzle Free Christmas Week 7 of 8, Day 1 of 6

Chicken Cordon Bleu is fabulous with goat cheese. Burns your pan like nothing other though. I had to scrub, soak, scrub and scrub to get that thing clean! My dinner with Poiema went well again. Everyone loved the Chicken Cordon Bleu (theirs had provolone).

But my house is sparkling clean! This is great news and has motivated me yet again. I was starting to feel so behind and in a slump that nothing was getting done. But now my house is clean. Harvest is put away, Christmas is partially out and I can start this week fresh! I feel ready to start tackling my 15 minutes with gusto!!!

This week I think my goal will be to get my room organized again. I feel it slowly slipping back to what it was. So I will spend 15 minutes tonight organizing the drawer by my bed. It is a mess again. I think now instead of doing all my floors on my weekly maintenance day I am going to add it to whatever room I am doing. Floors are my least favorite and I would rather dust once a week than every night. It will be easier.

I also need to start on my Christmas plans again. I have been ignoring those for a while and am behind on cards and gifts. So, here's to a fresh start!!!

Frazzle Free: Finish online buying today so everything is delivered this week. Wrap 5 gifts today, placing importance on things that will need to be mailed. Continue with Christmas cards. My personal goal is to begin some of the homemade gifts tonight, I will start on Christmas cards again.

Thank you all, you keep me going!!!

Final Days of Thanksgiving!

2009-11-28T11:17:00.000-08:00

Week 9 of 52, Day 6 of 6
Days to next Tea TBA, Days to next dinner 1
Frazzle Free Christmas Week 6 of 8, Day 6 of 6
Thanksgiving Day 29 and 30 of 30

November 29: "Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands! Serve the LORD with gladness; come before His presence with singing. Know that the LORD, He is God; it is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations." Psalm 100

Card: Had dinner with anyone recently? Or gone to a movie with some friends? Write a thank you note. This is especially nice if you have had someone over to your house recently.

Celebration: What was your favorite celebration this month? What did you enjoy the most? Do it again!

November 30: Our final day! So I have put in a beautiful Psalm that praises God with every verse!

"Praise is awaiting You, O God, in Zion; and to You the vow shall be performed. O You who hear prayer, to You all flesh will come. Iniquities prevail against me; as for our transgressions, You will provide atonement for them. Blessed is the man You choose, and cause to approach You, that he may dwell in Your courts. We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, of Your holy temple. By awesome deeds in righteousness You will answer us, O God of our salvation, you who are the confidence of all the ends of the earth, and the far-off seas; who established the mountains by His strength, being clothed with power; You who still the noise of the seas, the noise of their waves, and the tumult of the peoples. They also who dwell in the farthest parts are afraid of Your signs; you make the outgoings of the morning and evening rejoice. you visit the earth and water it, You greatly enrich it; the river of God is full of water; You provide their grain, for so You have prepared it. You water it ridges abundantly, You settle its furrows; You make it soft with showers, You bless its growth. You crown the year with Your goodness, and Your praths drip with abundance. they drop on the pastures of the wilderness, adn the little hills rejoice on every side. The pastures are clothed with flocks; the valleys are covered with grain; they shout for joy, they also sing." Psalm 65

Card: Alright after 29 days of card writing you have probably thought of someone you need to thank. Finish up the month writing a card to that person.

Celebration: Think back on this past month, what are some of your favorite memories from this year's Thanksgiving holiday season. Write them down, talk about them with your family. Ask what their favorite memories were.

Frazzle Free: Decorate! Finish Christmas Cards. Also, finalize any reservations or travel plans.

Cleaning: This is it I gotta get it all done today!!! I am going to try to get my decor up today but we will see :)

Black Friday

2009-11-27T22:48:00.000-08:00

Week 9 of 52, Day 5 of 6
Days to next Tea TBA, Days to next dinner 2
Frazzle Free Christmas Week 6 of 8, Day 5 of 6
Thanksgiving Day 28 of 30

November 28: "Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing." 2 Corinthians 2:14-15

Card: Reaching out to someone who is down? How about someone who doesn't know the Lord? Write a note thanking them and encouraging them.

Celebration: Hot tea, coffee, chocolate, apple cider, whatever your favorite is. Grab a fun family game and have a time of laughter and fun. If you live alone then invite over some people for a game night! Enjoy! Make memories!

Frazzle Free: The goal is to have all your gifts bought by December 3rd. so start working towards that. Finish signing and addressing your Christmas Cards. remove all your indoor Christmas decor boxes, tomorrow we will decorate!

Cleaning: Tomorrow is the big day, catching up and getting ready for Poiema at my house!

Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T22:30:00.000-08:00

Week 9 of 52, Day 4 of 6
Days to next Tea TBA, Days to next dinner 3
Frazzle Free Christmas Week 6 of 8, Day 4 of 6
Thanksgiving Day 27 of 30

November 27: "O LORD, You are my God. I will exalt You, I will praise Your name, for You have done wonderful things; Your counsels of old are faithfulness and truth." Isaiah 25:1

Card: Write a card to your parents (Have we done this already?). If your parents are no longer alive then write a note to someone who has filled that position for you.

Celebration: Its the day after, whats a good way to celebrate Thanksgiving the day after Thanksgiving? Invite an elderly couple or a single friend over for leftovers.

Frazzle Free: Just celebrate Thanksgiving today.

Cleaning: ha! Not on a holiday! :)

Tired tired tired and just want to cry

2009-11-25T21:44:00.000-08:00

Week 9 of 52, Day 3 of 6
Days to next Tea TBA, Days to next dinner 4
Frazzle Free Christmas Week 6 of 8, Day 3 of 6
Thanksgiving Day 26 of 30

November 26: "Many, O LORD my God, are Your wonderful works which You have done; and Your thoughts toward us cannot be recounted to You in order; if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered." Psalm 40:5

Card: Write a card to the cook today! If you are cooking then write a card to your helpers. If you are eating out then write a card to your waitress (thank her for serving you on Thanksgiving).

Celebration: Whatever your family traditions are. Enjoy the day! If you don't have family volunteer at a local soup kitchen and help serve others who are without. If you do have family, considering doing this with yours as this is a great way to celebrate the season!

Frazzle Free: continue all the stuff this week and prepare for Thanksgiving!

Cleaning: Ugh, forget it. I just can't bring myself to care tonight. I am tired, hungry, still sick and want good food and not this ucky polenta that I am eating. Does anyone feel bad for me yet? I need some pity!

Changes and Getting Better

2009-11-24T20:17:00.000-08:00

Week 9 of 52, Day 2 of 6
Days to next Tea 4, Days to next dinner 5
Frazzle Free Christmas Week 6 of 8, Day 2 of 6
Thanksgiving Day 25 of 30

Dinner has been changed. I had planned on doing Dinner the day after Thanksgiving at my house with my parents and grandparents. But with me being sick I haven't had time to shop for food or get enough cleaning done. So I canceled this. However, I did have the next Poiema group at my house planned. That was for Sunday, so my countdown was changed accordingly.

I realized that one aspect of this that I do not have is how many teas and dinners of the 12 of each that I have done. I will try to find a way to add something like that. Now for our daily posts! After November finishes I think I will be slightly relieved. I would like to have a little bit of a break then maybe in January I will go back to practicing writing each day for a while.

November 25: "Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven." Luke 10:20

This Scripture is an interesting one because I am quoting in the middle of a story. But this is the point, we have lots to be thankful for, but the best is our salvation. All else aside, if we had no other blessing, that is reason enough to have hope and to continue.

Card: Write a note to the person who led you to Christ. Who was the one that took that final step with you? Thank them for the role they played.

Celebration: Tonight at dinner share your salvation stories with each other. Even if you have already heard them, its a good time to remember. If you like, take some time to write each story down and start a family spiritual birthday scrapbook. If your kids were young when they accepted Christ have them tell the story how they remember it and then tell your side of it. Maybe, if you really want to get creative, have a birthday cake celebrating all your spiritual birthdays. If one of your children has not accepted Christ yet then be sensitive to how you handle that. You don't want to play down the importance of salvation but if one of your children says they want to accept Christ talk with them and make sure the decision is genuine and not just so they don't feel left out.

Frazzle Free: Cards cards cards...I am behind on my cards. The first year in a while I have put it off. I think I have put too much on my plate. But that is why my blog is called what it is. Hopefully by the end of this year I will be so organized and better at keeping control of things that I will need to change the name of my blog! Anyway they also want you to premake or bake a Christmas dish along with a Thanksgiving dish. Purchase one thing off of the buy list, making sure you are emphasizing the indoor decor. Continue to refine your black Friday shopping list.

Cleaning: Ok I am feeling better tonight. No reason not to get back to cleaning. I will do the living room tonight. Its a mess! No 15 minutes until I am even better.

6 Days Left!!!

2009-11-23T18:25:00.000-08:00

Week 9 of 52, Day 1 of 6
Days to next Tea 5, Days to next dinner 4
Frazzle Free Christmas Week 6 of 8, Day 1 of 6
Thanksgiving Day 24 of 30

This past weekend was precious! I was with the youth teens at a conference. It was a mother daughter trip so I borrowed someone's daughter for the weekend. It was very fun and sweet.

November 24: Can you believe we only have 6 days left of our Thanksgiving celebrations? Wow! this month sure flew by. I am already looking forward to next year doing this again and refining it a bit (I think I repeated some Scriptures, I personally fell behind with my cards and celebrations, and maybe I can add more creative ideas).

"Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence." 1 Timothy 2:1-2

Card: Here's an interesting one, write a thank you to a civil servant, be that a police officer, a firefighter, maybe even someone in office. If you don't know anyone personally you could send one to your local police station for the entire office. They will appreciate it just as much as if it were personally addressed.

Celebration: Thanksgiving Day is almost here!!! Do you have any dishes you can premake or bake tonight? If so, do it. It will make the day that much easier. Or go purchase a premade pie or something, anything to make the day not only more special, but a little bit easier.

Frazzle Free: Sign and address some of your Christmas Cards, premake one Christmas dish along with any thanksgiving dish you need to prepare. Purchase 1 thing off of the buy list. Going shopping on Black Friday? If so get a list of things that you have planned on getting that day, organize it with the most expensive items first. Then by store. This will help you make sure you get the largest money saving items first as well as hitting everything you need in each store. Put the stores in order of importance.

Cleaning: I am sick still...started last week. I am going to try to do some pick up tonight but I wore myself out running some errands so I am going to see if its possible. Otherwise I am considering cancelling some of the stuff this weekend. I have something Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Friday through Sunday is at my house. We'll see.

The Weekend

2009-11-19T20:30:00.000-08:00

Week 8 of 52, Day 4 of 6
Days to next Tea 9, Days to next dinner 8
Frazzle Free Christmas Week 5 of 8, Day 4-6 of 6
Thanksgiving Day 20-22 of 30

I will be out of town this weekend so here are my updates until Monday!

November 20: "I will praise You, O LROD, with my whole heart; I will tell of all your marvelous works. I will be glad and rejoice in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High." Psalm 9:1-2

Card: Write a note to your in laws if you are married. If you don't have a good relationship with them then you can always thank them for your spouse. If you aren't married then, as we have done in the past, write a note to a couple who have taught you about marriage. Pick a different one than last time!

Celebration: Go out in the neighborhood and gather some festive looking leaves. This sounds silly but it will be more fun that you think. Do it as a family. Take some apple cider along in a thermos. Make sure you are collecting on public property or where you have permission. A park is a good place! Save these leaves for tomorrow's celebration.

November 21: "Make a joyful shout to God, all the earth! Sing out the honor of His name; make His praise glorious. Say to God, how awesome are Your works! Through the greatness of your power Your enemies shall submit themselves to You. All the earth shall worship You and sing praises to You; they shall sing praises to Your name. Selah" Psalm 66:1-4

Card: Who was the earliest influence on you Spiritually? Write a note of thanks to them.

Celebration: Have you decorated your house yet? Now is a good time! Thanksgiving is next week! Use the leaves you gathered yesterday. Buy a pumpkin or some small goards etc.

November 22: "But I will hope continually, and will praise You yet more and more. My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness and Your salvation all the day, for I do not know their limits. I will go in the strength of the Lord GOD; I will make mention of Your righteousness, of Yours only. O God, You have taught me from my youth; and to this day I declare Your wondrous works." Psalm 71:14-17

Card: Write a note to your neighbor. Let them know how blessed you are to have them there. If you have scary neighbors then thank them for not killing you. Ok, just kidding, pray about a nice way to find some good in the situation. See todays celebration before giving it to them.

Celebration: Bake some cookies, a pie, applesauce, something, and take it to your neighbors. If you aren't into cooking, buy premade stuff.

Frazzle Free: Thursday: Continue continue continue
Friday: Get your outside decor from storage and palce them in the garage. Continue continue continue.
Saturday: Put up your outside decor but wait to turn them on until after Thanksgiving (if you can!). Take a look at your Christmas menu and decide which dish to pre-make next week. Add the ingredients to your grocery list. Look ahead and start prepping for next week.

Cleaning: Today I am trying to pack for my trip. I also grocery shopped so I already put those away. I am supposed to pick up the living room but I think I will work on the kitchen so I feel like the house is more clean when I get back.

What's the Point of a Title?

2009-11-18T22:19:00.000-08:00

Week 8 of 52, Day 3 of 6
Days to next Tea 10, Days to next dinner 9
Frazzle Free Christmas Week 5 of 8, Day 3 of 6
Thanksgiving Day 19 of 30

November 19: "Blessed be the LORD, because He has heard the voice of my supplications! the LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in Him, and I am helped; therefore my heart greatly rejoices, and with my song I will praise Him." Psalm 28:6-7

Card: Write a card to a child, I mean under the age of 13, who blesses you. It can be a niece or nephew, or just a precious little on in your church. You can tell them that you were thinking of them and how much you love them. Depending on the age you may or may not thank them for blessing your life. Just make sure you keep it on a level they will understand. So, for example, I am so very blessed by Xofia, she is only 3. So I would write to her "Dear Xofia, Hi! I love you SO much!!! I love playing with you and spending time with you. I hope you have a fun day!!! Love, Bri."

Celebration: Thanksgiving day we tend to have a lot of family and fun but is there someone you won't see for Thanksgiving? Call them today and talk to them, tell them how thankful you are for them in your life. If you can't think of someone look over previous posts at our cards and pick someone off of that list.

Frazzle Free: I think every day is the same this week. Today is the same as yesterday is the same as the day before.

Cleaning: I am at a loss at what project to start next and since I have fallen behind on my normal duties having nearly 2 weeks off in a row I think I am going to focus on just the cleaning for this week. I have got to get back to normal! I have 9 days!!! So tonight is Wednesday and is the laundry room. Which is nice and simple. I am gone this weekend so no weekly maintenance. :(

I Will Finish!

2009-11-17T22:13:00.000-08:00

Week 7 of 52, Day 2 of 6
Days to next Tea 11, Days to next dinner 10
Frazzle Free Christmas Week 5 of 8, Day 2 of 6
Thanksgiving Day 18 of 30

November 18: "O LORD, You are my God. I will exalt You, I will praise Your name, for You have done wonderful things; Your counsels of old are faithfulness and truth." Isaiah 25:1

Have I used that Scripture yet? I don't remember.

Card: Is there someone that you do not fully understand or get along with? Find a quality in them that you can thank them for. Pray about it. Don't write it with any sarcasm or condescension. If you need to write it on some practice paper first and rewrite it. Have someone who can give you an objective point of view read it and tell you how it sounds. This is very important because you will not believe the changes that this makes in your perception of that person.

Celebration: Since our card today is more difficult I want the celebration to be a refreshing break. Take some time to create a memory today. That doesn't mean you have to do anything special. Just treasure a moment. Then write it down. For example, last night I had a wonderful moment of holding a precious 3 year hold. She was sitting on my lap and "reading to me." Every page said the same thing and my reactions were different, which made her giggle. This was a precious moment for me each time she laughed and giggled. I will never forget that moment, especially now that I wrote it down.

Frazzle Free: Christmas Cards!!! Keep it up! Make an online purchase! Same as yesterday pretty much. Bake, buy something on your buy list. etc.

Cleaning: Today I am finishing my bathroom cabinet. Thats it today. I feel like I am getting sick so I am trying to take it easy tonight.

But Joy Comes in the Worship!

2009-11-16T22:02:00.000-08:00

Week 7 of 52, Day 1 of 6
Days to next Tea 12, Days to next dinner 11
Frazzle Free Christmas Week 5 of 8, Day 1 of 6
Thanksgiving Day 17 of 30

This past week has been an emotional roller coaster. I have had one thing after another that was a major emotional hit for me. In each instance I was working hard to take my thoughts captive and to "think on these things." Praise the Lord, by His strength, I was able to get through this week. However, it was exhausting!!! Last night I got some extra rest and was able to wake up physically feeling better, but emotionally I was tired. Tonight was our final meeting for Women's Bible Study for the year. We were doing a special worship set with our regular Women's Team and a couple of youth. The blessing was that as we came together to practice for worship the 5 of us were all in pretty goofy moods. We were joking and laughing and messing around. We prayed that the evening would continue to be a fun celebration as God had really given us all liberty through this Bible Study. God totally answered our prayers! We had SO much fun! It was probably, with the exception of our opening service at the church, the most fun I have ever had during a worship set. Praise the Lord. When you worship sometimes it is a choice to worship and the emotions don't follow, but you still choose to. Sometimes you feel like worshipping and that's when God moves. Sometimes, God just blesses your socks off just cuz!

November 17: "I will extol You, O LORD, for You have lifted me up, and have not let my foes rejoice over me. O LORD my God, I cried out to You, and You healed me. O LORD, You brought my soul up from the grave; You have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit. Sing praise to the LORD, you saints of His, and give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name. For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning." Psalm 30:1-5

Card: This week my pastor sent a thank you text the worship team for worship on Sunday. I had so much fun tonight that I am planning on sending our worship leader a thank you. Why don't you send a thank you to your worship leader or Bible study leader, or someone similar. Just because someone has talent doesn't mean they know they are appreciated. Let them know!

Celebration: Spend time today in prayer and praise. Worship is one of the best ways to give thanks. If you have a spouse and/or children, include them. There is nothing like worshipping as a family. Even if its just one song, it will be a blessing. It might be awkward but the more often you do it the sweeter it will become.

Frazzle Free: I have to be honest, I have not been following the plan very well. I have been too tired. Plus some things have hit that have changed my plans financially for Christmas so a lot of my gifts are being made. So we will see. But on today's list is continuing your Christmas Cards, start online shopping if you are doing any, continue to purchase things on your buy list and lastly pre-make or bake something on your cooking list today or sometime this week.

Cleaning: Finally we are getting back to normalcy. Last week I didn't finish. It was too busy and tiring. But in less than two weeks I have 3 events at my house in 3 days (Friday, family over for dinner, Saturday 2 people over for tea, Sunday Poiema at my house again) which actually means that in December I won't be having a dinner at my house. I will be ahead so I can use the break. But tonight I will be cleaning my fish tank. They are very sadly needing it. So my 15 minutes is that. Next I will be doing my regular cleaning, my bedroom.

Thanks all for reading. I need it! Its what keeps me coming back.

Halway!

2009-11-14T18:57:00.000-08:00

Week 6 of 52, Day 6 of 6
Days to next Tea 14, Days to next dinner 13
Frazzle Free Christmas Week 4 of 8, Day of 6
Thanksgiving Day 15 and 16 of 30

November 15: "Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving." Colossians 4:2

Card: Today is halfway! By this point there should have been someone that you have been waiting to thank and haven't yet. Write a card to them. If you don't think of someone then pray for God to lay someone on your heart.

Celebration: Take time for rest today. When I mean rest I mean truly rest. No media, be quiet before the Lord, take a nap, read a Bible study, etc. It is amazing how refreshing one afternoon can bless you and in the end you will be so thankful you did.

November 16: "As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving." Colossians 2:6-7

Card: Write a card to a woman or man that helped you understand how to be a Godly woman or man. Thank them.

Celebration: Is there a movie that represents the heart of Thanksgiving to you? I don't mean the cliche of watching Pocahontas or something, I mean something that represents the heart of being thankful. Watch it!

Frazzle Free: continue and finish. Pre-make or bake one of the things on your list.

Goodnight!

Habitually Impractical

2009-11-14T01:06:00.000-08:00

Week 6 of 52, Day 5 of 6
Days to next Tea 15, Days to next dinner 14
Frazzle Free Christmas Week 4 of 8, Day 5 of 6
Thanksgiving Day 14 of 30

November 14: "Be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and petition, let your requests be made known to God and the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6 (this was from memory so it may be paraphrased).

When we have our minds on Christ we rest in Him and we recognize the things to be thankful for.

Card: Write a card to thank someone that you know prays for you. Prayer is awesome and when people are praying for us we gain the results but I don't think we will quite realize how amazing it was for us until we get to heaven. It doesn't have to be currently, it could be someone who prayed with you in the past. If you have never had anyone pray for you then email me and I will!

Celebration: Several years ago when I was still an active youth leader there was a gentleman in our town that died. At his funeral everyone got up and said all the wonderful things about him that had not been shared to him personally. That following youth night the kids were still pretty shook up and so sad that they never shared with him. We ended up holding, what we later called a "live funeral" where we called over each kid one at a time and told them all the good that we saw in them. The potential they had, the leadership or encouragement qualities. All the positive things that had it been their funeral we would have been sharing about them. Instead we shared with them face to face. It was a huge blessing. Hold a live funeral with your family. You don't have to call it that, so its not so morbid. But make sure what you say is positive. If you do not have immediately family at home, call someone today and do it over the phone.

Frazzle Free: I have a confession to make. I have been slacking totally on this. My schedule has been so busy that I have been slacking on a lot of things lately. But I plan on getting back to it all next week I pray. But on today's schedule it is continue continue continue. So do that!

House: Yeah...not happening...I did do the dishes today. But we had a scrapbooking night tonight and I didn't leave until 1 a.m. So its late and I'm only posting so I have the Thanksgiving stuff on there :) Goodnight!

Keep Up The Good Work

2009-11-12T18:59:00.000-08:00

Week 6 of 52, Day 4 of 6
Days to next Tea 16, Days to next dinner 15
Frazzle Free Christmas Week 4 of 8, Day 4 of 6
Thanksgiving Day 13 of 30

November 13: "Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good!" Psalm 118:1, "His Mercy (love in some translations) endures forever." Psalm 118:1, 2, 3, 4

Card: Write a thank you card to someone that has influenced your child(ren) for the good. Perhaps a youth leader, Sunday School teacher, someone who mentors them or is a good example to them. If you do not have children then switch it up. Write a thank you to someone that has helped you understand what it will take to be a parent.

Celebration: Thanksgiving day is approaching quickly!!! It is going to be amazing! Today let's celebrate by giving someone else something to be thankful for. Watch someone's kids for an hour, clean someone's yard for them, pay for someone's dinner. You know, something random and kind.

Frazzle Free: Buy at least one non-meal item off of your buy list. Sign Christmas Cards. Continue working on your gift list.

Tonight I must get back to cleaning. So I will do it right. I will clean and work on the bathroom cabinet. Ugh. Its a busy weekend so I may not get to do my weekly maintenance. We will see how far I get tomorrow. Saturday is busy busy busy. I may be working tomorrow. I haven't decided yet.

Sleepy Time

2009-11-11T23:02:00.000-08:00

Week 6 of 52, Day 3 of 6
Days to next Tea , Days to next dinner
Frazzle Free Christmas Week 4 of 8, Day 3 of 6
Thanksgiving Day 12 of 30

I just realized that yesterdays post was still saved as a draft. I thought that I had posted it. If anyone is actually reading this day to day, I apologize for that. I am on track and will make sure I actually hit the "publish post" button.

November 12: "Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing." Revelation 5:12

Today's verse blesses me because we do serve a great God and one day we will join those voices around the throne worshiping Him!

Card: Write a card to someone who inspires you. Perhaps it is someone that inspires you to be a better person, it could be someone that inspires you to keep on serving, perhaps it is someone who inspires you in your creativity. Whatever it might be thank them for their inspiration. Often that is an unintentional gift bestowed but to be thanked or recognized for it is awesome!

Celebration: One big part of celebrating anything is remembering past celebrations. Take some time today to look through some old photo albums as a family. Sad or happy memories both have a way of knitting families together.

Frazzle Free: Continue getting your gift list together. We want this done by Saturday! Write your Christmas Cards. Schedule your Christmas shopping days. Plan out by how many gifts you need to go to, how many stores you need to visit and plan accordingly. Buy at least one non-meal item off of your buy list.

I am very tired and do not have the time or the energy to do 15 minutes. I am exhausted and need to get some rest. That is the beauty of this habitual impracticality. At least I can be practical within it and realize my limitations.

Thanksgiving Previews!

2009-11-10T19:31:00.000-08:00

Week 6 of 52, Day 2 of 6
Days to next Tea 18, Days to next dinner 17
Frazzle Free Christmas Week 4 of 8, Day 2 of 6
Thanksgiving Day 11 of 30

My biggest goal tonight is to finish season 5 of 24. My friends want to borrow it and the friends I am borrowing it from have threatened to tell me how it ends if I don't finish soon. So I threatened to quit answering their calls!

November 11: "I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make its boast in the LORD; the humble shall hear of it and be glad. Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt His name together." Psalm 34:1-3

Card: Write a thank you card to your Pastor. Pastor's work tirelessly to serve their congregations for the Lord's glory and we often forget to voice them. Write a note of thanks and drop that in the offering. I guarantee your Pastor will be blessed.

Celebration: Just because Thanksgiving lands once a year doesn't mean we have to only celebrate once a year. Have a pre-thanksgiving celebration at dinner tonight. If you have a tradition of sharing what you are thankful for then do that tonight. Think about what your traditions are and use one tonight. Or make one of your family's favorite Thanksgiving dishes for part of your dinner. It will be a like a Thanksgiving preview!

Frazzle Free: If you write a family letter, start it tonight. Also, start signing cards. FF suggests 5 a night for this week. If you are making gifts then I suggest working on some of those tonight as well. Make sure you are managing your time properly to get these done. Look at what your deadline is to finish, figure out how much you need to do a night between now and then with the enough for a buffer.

Finally organizing. I have decided to work on my medicine cabinet...well its not really a medicine cabinet but its my mirror cabinet in my bathroom. Is that always only called a medicine cabinet? It is a mess so my goal is to get through 1/3 of it (it is a 3 doored version).

Pictures Finally!!!

2009-11-09T22:18:00.000-08:00

Week 6 of 52, Day 1 of 6
Days to next Tea TBA, Days to next dinner 18
Frazzle Free Christmas Week 4 of 8, Day 1 of 6
Thanksgiving Day 10 of 30

Here are the pictures I promised!!!

This is in my living room. I know they are slightly crooked. Thsi one took me the longest and it was still wrong. I was very sad about it!!!

This is in my room. Its one of my favorite verses!!! The pictures are cool pics with some of my other favorite verses. I am very blessed!!!

This is in my room. Its my El Sal wall. It is very cute :) I loves it!

This is in my bathroom. It is a family photo we took that took about 20 minutes just to get everyone in place. So we have one picture of us all smiling and the other of us all crazy! :)

This is in my bathroom. The one with the roses was a thank you gift from Kelly for one of our Women's Retreats. It has a verse about the Lord singing over us. Its beautiful. I love it!

This is my favorite picture of my cousin Julee and myself. We aren't so bright that it shows up on a picture, its just that I took a picture in a frame and the flash reflected off of the glass.

November 10: "The LORD lives! Blessed be my Rock! Let the God of my salvation be exalted. It is God who avenges me, and subdues the peoples under me; He delivers me from my enemies. you also lift me up above those who rise up against me; You have delivered me from teh violent man. Therefore I will give thanks to You, O LORD, among the Gentiles, and sing praises to Your name. Great deliverance He gives to His king, and shows mercy to His anointed, to David and his descendants forevermore." Psalm 18:46-50

Card: Write a card today to a friend. Thank them for their friendship.

Celebration: Write a praise song. If you aren't good with music or songs its ok. Quite a few songs don't rhyme and quite a few songs in the Bible simply recount the wonderful deeds God has done in our lives. Write your own personal one. If you don't have music to it, its ok.

Frazzle Free: One goal this week to to be pre-making or pre-baking different dishes that you can make early and frozen. So start today!

Start finalizing your gift list. This is the week to do it!

Thats it for today!

Back to organizing. I never finished the fridge. I need to do the fridge door. I will finish that tonight. Then tomorrow I will start a new project.

A Nice Day...umm...Week Off

2009-11-07T20:26:00.000-08:00

Week 5 of 52, Day 6 of 6
Days to next Tea TBA, Days to next dinner 20
Frazzle Free Christmas Week 3 of 8, Day 6 of 6
Thanksgiving Day 8 and 9 of 30

November 8: "Oh, give thnks to the LORD! Call upon His name; make known His deeds among the peoples! Sing to Him, sing psalms to Him; talk of all His wondrous works! Glory in His holy name; let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the LORD!" 1 Chronicles 16:8-10

Card: Today write a thank you card to an employee, housecleaner, babysitter...someone that you pay. Why? Because its nice to still get a thank you even when its for something you are hired to do.

Celebration: Do a search for the word thanks in Scripture and read through them.

November 9: "Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever, and say, "save us, O God of our salvaiton; gather us together, and deliver us from the Gentiles, to give thanks to Your holy name to triumph in Your praise."" 1 Chronicles 16:34-35

Card: Write a note to your grandparents (if they aren't living then consider writing them to your children's grandparents or someone that has been like a grandparent to you).

Celebration: Start a family history of Thanksgiving. Begin by writing down your favorite memories and traditions of Thanksgiving, then collect them from family memebers.

Frazzle Free: Finish up what you haven't finished this week. Take an inventory of your Christmas decor and add things to you buy list if something needs replaced.

Thats it and this is the end of my week off for cleaning. I have done some cleaning today but not my normal stuff. I am chillin'! So Monday I will hit it hard again.

Thanksgiving is coming soon!!!

2009-11-06T22:03:00.000-08:00

Week of 52, Day 5 of 6
Days to next Tea TBA, Days to next dinner
Frazzle Free Christmas Week 3 of 8, Day 5 of 6
Thanksgiving Day 7 of 30

November 7: "The LORD lives! Blessed by my Rock! Let God be exalted, the Rock of my salvation! It is God who avenges me, and subdues the people under me; He delivers me from my enemies, You also lift me up above those who rise against me; You have delivered me from the violent man. Therefore I will give thnks to You, O LORD, among the Gentiles, and sing praises to Your name." 2 Samuel 22:47-50

Thank You Card: Think about an elderly person in your life that blesses you and write them a thank you card. Too often we forget those in our life that are those that have paved the way for us. So write a thank you note to an elderly person in your life (we will do Grandparents another day so pick a non-relative).

Celebration: Take some time today to sit and enjoy the fall scenery. Maybe make it a picnic, pack some hot apple cider, a camera, and the family and go capture the sunset. Enjoy the season and the colors that God has created. If you have an iPod throw in your Thanksgiving playlist as a soundtrack!

Frazzle Free: If you are like me then you need to write cards tonight. Finalize your menu and add your ingredients to your buy list. If you have to go through your recipes and cupboards to make sure you have all the ingredients then do it! Today is the day to get it done!!! Start remembering where you put your Christmas decor from alst year. You will need to know for tomorrow's job.

Habitual Impracticality

2009-11-05T22:39:00.000-08:00

Week of 52, Day of 6
Days to next Tea , Days to next dinner
Frazzle Free Christmas Week 3 of 8, Day 4 of 6
Thanksgiving Day 6 of 30

Let me remind you of the name and purpose of this blog. The name is Habitual (consistent, practiced) Impracticality (void of all logic). The purpose is to record my habitual impracticality.

I have started writing out my Christmas cards. I have also started working on a Christmas present that will take quite a lot of work. There was a faster way around it but it would have cost me nearly $70 to do it the faster way. So, in that light, I am now writing 10 cards a night, working on this Christmas present every night, cleaning, organizing, celebrating Thanksgiving, and who knows what else. All in the evening when I get home, which is usually after 9.

I'm not crazy, honest.

November 6: "For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: 'Death is swallowed up in victory.' 'O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?' The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord." 1 Corinthians 15:53-58

Thank you card: Today write a thank you card to a previous mentor, someone that is not in your day to day or week to week life anymore but truly made a difference in your life. In light of today's Scripture encourage them that their labor invested in you was not in vain.

Celebration: To continue in the heart of today's Scripture we give thanks to God and then continue in the work that He has called us to. Today, as a way of Thanksgiving, do an act of service for someone outside of your normal service. The secular world calls these random acts of kindness. But let this one be anonymous in the sense that either it is not known you did it, or even allowing it to go unnoticed (i.e. taking out the garbage, perhaps no one realizes you did). Allow it to be before God's eyes and that be your purpose and aim.

Frazzle Free: I purchased Christmas cards today! Due to my position in the church I have quite a few cards that I write. The Frazzle Free plan has us starting to fill out cards next week but I began tonight. They have us doing 5 cards a night for 5 days a week for 2 weeks and then finishing up the following week. I am adjusting that plan to fit my needs. One suggestion I would give is to decide when you want the cards fully addressed, stamped and ready to mail. Figure out how many cards you have, divide that by how many days until your goal date and thats how many you need to write a night. According to Frazzle Free you will have your cards finished by the end of November so if you need a good goal date, that one is not bad.

The rest of today is just finalizing Christmas plans and holiday menus. I am struggling with that one. I only cover one meal for the Christmas, that's breakfast, I know what I want to make but i haven't a clue how or what I will need. I need to get on that.

Finally, this weekend my goal is to post pictures!!! I will I will I prom....no I won't promise. I will try.

As for organizing. I am just going to do my normal weekly maintenance tomorrow and 15 minutes on something. I haven't decided what yet. Then Saturday I will work on finances.

Final Day

2009-11-04T16:06:00.000-08:00

Week of 52, Day of 6
Days to next Tea , Days to next dinner
Frazzle Free Christmas Week 3 of 8, Day 3 of 6
Thanksgiving Day 5 of 30

November 5: "Praise the LORD! Praise God in His sanctuary; Praise Him in His mighty firmament! Praise Him for His mighty acts; Praise Him according to His excellent greatness! Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet; Praise Him with the lute and the harp! Praise Him with the timbrel and dance; Praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes! Praise Him with loud cymbals; Praise Him with clashing cymbals! Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD!" Psalm 150

Thank you Card: Find a youth kid that needs encouragement. Write them a thank you for who they are. Most youth simply need affirmation. To pull out what you see that is good in them, write them a card and thank them for that good can make a whole world of difference to a young insecure soul. If you can't think of any put it to prayer. Ask God to open your eyes. If you need to pray for a few days and then write this card, do it. Just make sure you actually do it.

Celebration: Find a special Bible study or teaching CD on being Thankful and listen to it or go through it as a family.

Frazzle Free: Order or buy your Christmas Cards. Though, if you are like me and you have church tonight, you may have to do this tomorrow!!!

Buy or order any labels or stationary for a family letter if you do one.

Start working on your holiday menu. By now you should have a general idea of where you will be for the holidays and what you are expected to prepare so start adding these dishes to the menu.

Tomorrow back to normal. I am quite sad about it as I have enjoyed my week with this precious teen girl. I think I might have to take her home with me.

Praising the Lord

2009-11-03T22:51:00.000-08:00

Week of 52, Day of 6
Days to next Tea , Days to next dinner
Frazzle Free Christmas Week 3 of 8, Day 2 of 6
Thanksgiving Day 4 of 30

Difficult days call for praise measures. We are taking a challenge as a church to not complain in the month of November. But you cannot simply not complain, you must replace it with praise. Otherwise we will just build up into balls of frustration. Today was one of those days that I needed to remind myself quite often to praise. It was not so much that I wanted to complain, simply just heavy hearted. But I sang the Desert Song over and over "All of my life, in every season, You are still God, and I have a reason to worship."

So, on that note, lets look at our Thanksgiving Scripture:

November 4: "Bless the LORD, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits." Psalm 103:1-2

Thank you Card: Today let's thank a current mentor (we will thank past mentors later this month, maybe tomorrow). Someone that you admire, look up to, learn from. Someone you consider your mentor. If you don't have someone like that then perhaps you should pray about getting someone. It is always a good thing to have the person in your life that will be honest and correct you when needed, encourage you when you are in the right and help you through the confusing. Accountability.

Celebration: Make a hand turkey. I don't care how old, serious, or unartistic you are. This is a good reminder of how to laugh. Trace your hand. Draw a face on the thumb and color the rest of the fingers as feathers. There's your turkey hand. Simple simple. You can be more creative, cut it out, make bigger feathers, write stuff on each finger that you are thankful for. I don't care if you just throw it away, make it regardless. Sometimes we need to remember to be silly and laugh and have fun. So grab someone else and make a hand turkey!

Frazzle Free:

If you are making photo cards start looking through the pics you will want to use.

Stop at the Post Office or get your stamps online.

If you mail gifts pick up some boxes while you are there.

Continue Christmas plan discussions with family.

Thanks all! Goodnight!

Teenager Sitting

2009-11-02T21:47:00.000-08:00

Week 5 of 52, Day 1 of 6
Days to next Tea TBA, Days to next dinner TBA
Frazzle Free Christmas Week 3 of 8, Day 1 of 6
Thanksgiving Day 3 of 3

November 3: "Be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God, and the peace of God which passes all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7

Write a thank you note to your boss. If you have a difficult boss to be thankful for try something along the lines of "At a season such as this we begin to reflect on the things that we are blessed with. I appreciate the fact that you have allowed me to have a job and to work. It is a blessing to know that my family is provided for. Thank you."

And today to celebrate we are going to make a Thanksgiving playlist. Find all your favorite songs that help you be thankful and create a Thanksgiving playlist that will be your seasonal songs for the month. Keep adding to it throughout the month!

Frazzle free today is to begin considering where you will buy your Christmas cards. Also start discussing Christmas plans as well as continuing to add gifts to your gift list.

As for cleaning, this week I am housesitting, teenager sitting...basically I am a chauffeur this week for my friend's daughter. She is awesome! But that means no cleaning until Thursday night because I won't be home.

The dinner went amazingly. There was a moment when I was in the kitchen listening to the conversation and I was overwhelmingly blessed with the fact that I had all those people at my house. It was pretty funny though, at dinner time I went to pull out 9 plates and for the first time it occurred to me that I only had 8 place settings! It worked out because I had a place that I use as a serving platter that I ate off of. Never in my life of living on my own have I needed to have more than 8 place settings. In fact, I have never needed more than 5 at a time! It was a huge blessing to me!

Tomorrow is Turkey Day!

2009-10-31T11:59:00.000-07:00

Week 4 of 52, Day 6 of 6
Days to next Tea TBA, Days to next dinner 1
Frazzle Free Christmas Week 2 of 8, Day 6 of 6
Thanksgiving Day 1 of 30

Tomorrow is the beginning of our Thanksgiving day celebrations. I do not use the computer on Sundays so on Saturdays, like today, I will post two ideas. Every day will have 3 features, 1. a Scripture on thankfulness or praise. 2. An idea of a thank you card to write. 3. The celebration idea.

November 1: "Then a voice came from the throne saying, 'Praise our God, all you His servans and those who fear Him, both small and great!'" Revelation 19:5

As this is the beginning of our journey we will start today with writing a thank you card to your spouse. If you are not married but are in a relationship then write a thank you card to that person. If you are not in a relationship then write a card to a couple (make sure its to a couple in order to remain appropriate) that has been a Godly example of marriage to you. Thank them for the role that they have played in teaching you about Godly marriages.

Today's celebration is one of my personal favorite ideas. Take a tree (it could be an undecorated Christmas tree or a small leafless tree) and put it out. Every day your family can write something they are thankful for on a leaf and add it to the tree. Or have a calendar of blessings that you write it in the box of the day (this is what I do all year long actually). Or you could have a box or basket with papers and pens that you leave out for the season and write down the things you are thankful for. For any of these ideas don't forget to read through some of all of the entries on Thanksgiving day!

November 2: "Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased." Hebrews 13:15-16

Today we are going to write a thank you card to a sibling or a sibling-in-law. If you do not have a siblings then pick someone who has been like a brother or sister to you and thank them. If you have multiple siblings we will not be revisiting this so you may want to write 2 cards a day until you have all your siblings covered. Make sure you aren't sarcastic in your thanks. Too often we forget to be genuine with our own family. If there are problems between you and your sibling(s) then be simple and short. Find one thing you appreciate about them and write that. It doesn't have to be a novel.

In light of the Scripture above lets go through our pantry and see what canned or boxed goods we could do without, or perhaps you would like to go through some clothes. Get rid of some stuff you have that is in good shape that someone else could be benefiting from. Keep in mind as you are wondering if you will ever need something, is it something someone else could be using now rather than waiting for you to possibly need it someday?

So thats it for Sunday and Monday Thanksgiving celebrations!

Frazzle Free today is to finish reservations, Christmas card list complete with updated addresses and plans for family activities (including reservations made and supplies on buy or grocery list).

Next week will be photos so if you need to make an appointment then do so for next week. If you do the photos by yourself pick out outfits now and decide where you will take the photograph.

Get prepared for next week by looking at the 8 Weeks to a Frazzle Free Christmas Plan and see what you will need to fulfill the items next week and gather them now. Also check your calendar for next week and keep those things in mind as well.

Phew, today for cleaning I will work on the fridge, finish the floors and then do a basic set up for tomorrow. I have to pull out some chairs from behind my washer. I also need to figure out how long the turkey will take to cook so I can decide if I need to go to first or second service tomorrow (the worship team has the week off). This will help me make sure my turkey is cooked by 5:30. Lastly I need to call Chris or Joe and ask them if they will carve the turkey and if they have carving knives. I do not and I haven't a clue how to carve a turkey!

See you Monday!!! I know I have been remiss in posting pics. I will try to get some posted Monday!

Day OFF!!! NICE!

2009-10-30T15:41:00.000-07:00

Week 4 of 52, Day 5 of 6
Days to next Tea , Days to next dinner 2
Frazzle Free Christmas Week 2 of 8, Day 5 of 6

So I have a day off of work. But not of cleaning :)

Frazzle Free today start finishing up things. Are your Christmas cards, stamps, and labels on your buy list? If not, now is the time to add them. Add supplies for your family activities that you will need to your buy list. Finish making appointments and reservations.

Today is my weekly maintenance and 15 minutes on my Fridge. My goal is the middle shelf today. Organize and clean. If I can do both shelves, great, then I will do the door tomorrow.

I'm watching 24 right now and just heard a phrase that makes me laugh.

"The nerve gas that was stolen is far more lethal than that one" I'm just curious, how can something be more lethal? Doesn't lethal mean its deadly? If thats the case then that means that something is more deadly than something else that's deadly? Silliness!!!

Ok its all done except floors. I will do those tomorrow with my normal pick up and 15 minutes. I should finish the fridge tomorrow too. This is Bri, signing off!

2009-10-29T22:49:00.000-07:00

Week 4 of 52, Day 4 of 6
Days to next Tea TBA, Days to next dinner 3!!! Julee are you panicking yet?!!! I'm making TURKEY!!!
Frazzle Free Christmas Week 2 of 8, Day 4 of 6

I am adding yet another item to my list of dailies...this is going to start October 31st and end the last day of November. Every night I will post an idea to do the next day to celebrate Thanksgiving more richly this year. Hopefully you will join me! If you have ideas, leave a comment and I may include it in one of my dailies!

Frazzle Free today is just continue continue continue. I ended up marking on my calendar to make one appointment in December because it just logistically does not make sense to do it now.

Tonight my 15 minute project was my refrigerator. I got my drawers clean out and cleaned. They look nice. My goal is to have the whole fridge mostly done by Saturday. Mostly meaning at least all the shelves. I don't mind leaving the drawer for Monday.

Ok! I'm done, thats it for tonight!

Resources

2009-10-29T08:58:00.000-07:00

As I am walking this journey I want to pass on any helpful resources that I may find. Currently I am reading this book and it is really very good. It is a Bible study all about simplifying your life. So it is the Spiritual side of organization. I am only on chapter 2 but already am looking forward to reading the rest.

Exhaustication

2009-10-28T23:17:00.000-07:00

Week 4 of 52, Day 3 of 6
Days to next Tea TBA, Days to next dinner 4
Frazzle Free Christmas Week 2 of 8, Day 3 of 6

This week has been packed and stressful. Any other time I would have been planning on working on Friday to get caught up, but at this point I need some rest. So Friday NOTHING! Saturday, a concert and I'm going home early and crashing. Then Sunday we aren't playing, the band is. 2nd service!!!

Frazzle Free today is continuation of what we've been doing this week, scheduling appointments, adding gift ideas, Christmas card list. For the last one make sure you have correct addresses and such so that you aren't doing that last minute when its time to mail.

Tonight I have to say I am brilliant. I had every plan on getting on here and saying that I am taking tonight off. Then I remembered that Wednesdays I clean the laundry room. I AM SO SMART! I am taking off my 15 minute project though. I have to. I just can't.

Goodnight! You are all so encouraging. Thank you for those that comment as well as those that comment in real life. I also just have this imaginary crowd in my head that cheer for me. So I guess thats a shout out to my imaginary friends :)

Or you could just go here

2009-10-27T23:10:00.000-07:00

I had fun writing that checklist as if I knew what I was talking about. Then I found this:

Monthly Checklist

Preparing for Baby

2009-10-27T22:50:00.000-07:00

This one is for Clarinda.

Since I know nothing about what it takes to prepare for a baby I am making this up :) Good luck with that!!!

1. Start a list of items you will need both for you and the baby (nursing pads, diapers, etc.). If you think that you will get some at a baby shower still right it down.
2. Begin an inventory of what you already have (especially since you already have children).
3. Once your inventory is done look over your list of needs. Cross off any that you already have, add items you need more of or don't have any.
4. Consider weather for the different sized outfits. Will the baby be born in the winter? Are all your 0-3 month clothes warm? When the baby is 6 months is it going to be summer but you only have warm stuff? Adjust your list accordingly.
5. If you have a baby shower, as soon as you can afterwards do a similar inventory as the above steps and adjust your needs list accordingly.
6. Begin to purchase the items that you will need immediately.
7. Decide where the baby will sleep and the baby clothes will go.
8. Begin prepping these areas.
9. If possible get your hospital bag started. If some items are needed prior to this then write them down and keep that list with your bag so you do not forget. Otherwise, as you remember items place them in the bag.
10. Go over your original list again, have you received or purchased everything that you will need for the first month? Once the baby is born you will be able to get other items but having everything for the first month will give you time to recoup.
11. Are there any responsibilities at work or church or similar things that you need to coordinate? Decide how much time you will need after the baby is born and start a list of what you will need to have covered and by whom.
12. Begin making phone calls to people who will be covering things for you. Make sure you mark on your list that you called and the result of your conversation (remember, you are prego and forget things easily! :)
13. Skim through each of these steps. Is everything wrapped up? Make sure you begin wrapping up any loose ends.
14. Grow baby.

So, its not a daily thing for 8 weeks but I tried :) maybe you can create a daily list to help other pregos. :) Blog it and someone will read it and be blessed. :)

So Tired of Waiting for YOOOOOUUUUUuuuu

2009-10-27T19:57:00.000-07:00

That song is in my head right now. Not sure why. Haha!

Week 4 of 52, Day 2 of 6
Days to next Tea TBA, Days to next dinner 5!!! YIKES!!! Crunch time!
Frazzle Free Christmas Week 2 of 8, Day 2 of 6

This morning I had a few moments so I actually have already started on the Frazzle Free stuff. Today was to begin making some of the appointments that from the list that was started yesterday. I have accomplished that with one Dr. appt. and I called my hair salon (Supercuts) and found out they don't do appointments. Stink! So I don't know how I am going to make sure I get Shari again without just calling and finding out when she works?

I also found a few more gift ideas from a magazine I was looking at (I'M NOT SAYING WHICH ONE MUAH HAHAHAHA).

Today we are also supposed to start our Christmas card list and that is all for today.

My 15 minute project tonight is to finish...FINALLY...the pictures. I only have two more spots. A couple in the bathroom and my bedroom. So hopefully this will be done and I won't have to dedicate anymore time to this. I'M SICK OF HAMMERS NAILS AND TAPE MEASURES!!! I'm a big of a freak when it comes to hanging things. I have graph paper, math, tape measures, nails and a hammer. And they still look crooked to me and annoy me!

Anyway, enjoy!

Its About Time!

2009-10-26T22:02:00.000-07:00

Week 4 of 52, Day 1 of 6
Days to next Tea TBA, Days to next dinner 6
Frazzle Free Christmas Week 2 of 8, Day 1 of 6

My dining room table is tucked into a corner between two large windows. Currently the wind is howling around my house. I wonder at the wisdom of my location, what if a tree trunk comes hurling through my window? Just wondering.

I am ready to begin a new week, fresh and excited to see more progress. I have had some discouraging days but there is something about starting Monday ready to see what the week will bring. So here we go!

Tonight is my bedroom, obvious this schedule is not going to change. Mondays will always be bedroom, tuesdays living room etc. etc. So I will quit posting it and focus only on the current 15 minute project. My 15 minute project tonight is going to be to finish the final wall that I just can't make a decision on. I would leave it and come back to it but I have been doing that since I moved in. That was the first wall I wanted to decorate and the last one I can ever decide on. So tonight in go the nails and who cares what hangs on them, but for cornbread's sake put something up there. Cornbread, why? Because its better than Pete...who is Pete anyway?

Frazzle free we are on week 2!!! Exciting!!!

Today's plan called for 2 things I would have never thought of. 1. Write down a list of appointments you will need to make for Thanksgiving/Christmas like hair appointments, doctors appointments, etc. This was really helpful as I would have forgotten and last minute thought, I NEED MY HAIR DONE!!! As I always do before the Christmas program. I am, hopefully correctly, assuming that later in the week I will be told to make the appointments. 2. If you take pictures for Christmas cards and need new outfits start buying now. If you don't need new outfits for the cards then don't worry about this yet. I thought that was a great idea. I don't do picture cards but it is something that I would have done last minute as a mom "WHAT ARE WE GOING TO WEAR???!!!" Notice how my panic times are all in caps. Its because I panic at the last possible moment because that is when I remember.

Ok, here I go, hanging pics!!! Yikes!

FINALLY finished that wall. I will post a pic another night but its after 11 p.m. now. Goodnight.

Bleeding Organization

2009-10-24T22:29:00.000-07:00

The nice part about getting more and more organized is that it begins to spill over into other areas of your life. My previous habits for my finances were this,

Keep a running total of what is in the bank in my head.
Possibly balance my checkbook monthly but more like quarterly.
Attempt a budget but give up when its too discouraging.

Granted I do not have debt other than my car payment, meaning I do have a credit card but I pay it off every month. But my methods did get me into some scrapes a couple times where I had less money that I remembered in my head or forgot a check I had written or something.

However, my organization in my house and with Christmas planning have begun to bleed into other areas of my life. Now, I currently run through my finances about every 2 weeks when I get paid. At the most once a month. Then after that I have a more accurate view of where I am. Plus I am doing very well with spending lately. I was doing horrible and struggling not to end up in a hole. I don't mean end up in the hole as in owing money on my card, I mean a hole as in digging myself deeper. Well I just had a shovel and the hole was only a foot deep. So I stepped out and am now filling it back in.

It is a huge relief to have a handle on my finances again. I was very good when I was younger but the more I started working on the church finances the less I wanted to when I got home. But I think I am finding a happy balance of torture and responsibility. Because financial stuff really is torture.

So all I have left to say is, "BLEEDING ORGANIZATION BATMAN!!!" I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself.

Argness!

2009-10-24T17:32:00.000-07:00

Week 3 of 52, Day 6 of 6
Days to next Tea TBA, Days to next dinner 8
Frazzle Free Christmas Week 1 of 8, Day 6 of 6

Tonight I am exhausted. Its a busy weekend and I don't know quite how I can keep it up but here I go. Kitchen, Laundry, 15 minutes on hanging things, and then I'm done.

Frazzle Free is wrapping up, setting a budget and looking at next week to make sure I have it all I need.

So here we go on the kitchen...I already did Frazzle Free!!!

Kitchen is cleaned...but the picture hanging isn't finished. I have one wall left and I just can't decide what I want there!!! ARG!

Work Day

2009-10-23T11:12:00.000-07:00

Week 3 of 52, Day 5 of 6
Days to next Tea 22?, Days to next dinner 9
Frazzle Free Christmas Week 1 of 8, Day 5 of 6

Chicken Florentine Crepes must taste fabulous because they sound so posh! As a matter of fact they do taste fabulous. Even when you ask for no cheese and have your hollandaise sauce on the side. Why is it that fancy sounding foods make us think that they are more gourmet? Why do we feel that Meatloaf compared to French Pate sounds like comparing old sneakers to polished dress shoes?

Projects for the day include cleaning the bathroom, I really need to clean my shower but I really really really don't want to. ugh. I hate doing that most of all. Perhaps next week??? Ok I said that last week. Maybe I should put it on my project 10 list and do it as a 15 minute thing...It shouldn't take too long right?

Secondly my project 10 for the day will be hanging things. Its high time I get this done. I was planning on doing this before the dinner anyway so here we go!!! If I get only the willow tree things hung then tomorrow I will work on more pictures. But SOMETHING WILL GET HUNG TODAY!!!

I am currently drying my darks from last night's washing and I will put those away as soon as they are finished. And today I have my weekly maintenance to do. All this in 2 hours before I need to go pick up Brittany. After that I will probably head to the church to get a little more caught up there. So not much time today.

Well I cannot hang the shelves because I need screws to do it and a screwdriver. But I started the process of hanging other stuff. So I got a couple things up, pulled out the rest of my pics and decided what I want up. It will take me about one more day to get them up and finish deciding where I want them.

So there we go!

On my weekly stuff I skipped vacuuming this week. I should but I just can't bring myself to care. I worked hard today though! Oh! I did clean my shower. See, I worked hard!

Roller Coasters

2009-10-22T21:38:00.000-07:00

Week 3 of 52, Day 4 of 6
Days to next Tea TBA, Days to next dinner 10
Frazzle Free Christmas Week 1 of 8, Day 4 of 6

Yesterday, or was it the day before? I was so excited at the progress I have been making. Which, granted is true, but today I feel like there is SO much to get done. I look around and think, "where did this mess come from if I am cleaning every day?" I must keep plugging away. After all I have a dinner here in 10 days!!! Yikes, what is a girl to do?

Tonight is the dining room to be cleaned and then 15 minutes on my living room bookshelf. I figured thats a good project next as my company will be seeing that.

Frazzle free is simple today...continue continue continue...so I am already done. I went over my calendar with my parents tonight. Tomorrow I will call my grandparents and invite them over for dinner the day after thanksgiving. Nothing fancy or all out but just a simple dinner. I think tomorrow I will send out Sara's tea invite. I keep forgetting and I need to get that done.

So here it goes.

Ok so my bookshelf still has too many knick-knacks...I will work on that a little more another day. I will have to decide what to keep and what to get rid of. But in the meantime, I have a neater looking bookshelf. I think I would like to try to get my willow tree shelves my dad gave me up before the dinner at my house. That will clear some of the clutter on that shelf and display my willow tree nicely!

Worship

2009-10-21T23:15:00.000-07:00

Week 3 of 52, Day 3 of 6
Days to next Tea TBA, Days to next dinner 11
Frazzle Free Christmas Week 1 of 8, Day 3 of 6

Even in the midst of the storm, even when we don't feel like it, we are to do what we are called to do. Watched an awesome video of one of the Hillsong worship leaders who had gone through a major tragedy days before singing Desert Song for an album. She said that even though she didn't fell like it she knew she needed to do what God had called her to do, worship.

Verse 1:
This is my prayer in the desert
And all that's within me feels dry
This is my prayer in the hunger in me
My God is a God who provides

Verse 2:
And this is my prayer in the fire
In weakness or trial or pain
There is a faith proved
Of more worth than gold
So refine me Lord through the flames

Chorus:
And I will bring praise
I will bring praise
No weapon forged against me shall remain

I will rejoice
I will declare
God is my victory and He is here

Verse 3:
And this is my prayer in the battle
And triumph is still on it's way
I am a conqueror and co-heir with Christ
So firm on His promise I'll stand

Bridge:
All of my life
In every season
You are still God
I have a reason to sing
I have a reason to worship

Verse 4:
This is my prayer in the harvest
When favor and providence flow
I know I'm filled to be emptied again
The seed I've received I will sow

So tonight I clean the Laundry room, I'm taking the night off for my 15 minute project because it is 11:30!!!, and continue everything from yesterday in frazzle free plus start my "to buy" list which is all the non grocery holiday items that you need...like tape and wrapping paper.

Feeling It!

2009-10-20T21:15:00.000-07:00

Week 3 of 52, Day 2 of 6
Days to next Tea TBA, Days to next dinner 12
Frazzle Free Christmas Week 1 of 8, Day 2 of 6

**I have decided to take my weight goals off of here because I am following that on a private blog and I want to keep it there.

Tonight I spoke at our ladies night out on Holiday Time Management. Usually I am not very nervous because I often speak to our ladies and I am fairly used to it. Generally I just get a little shaky while I am speaking. For some reason all day today I was quite nervous! I was almost sick to my stomach. But, praise God, I was able to stick to my notes and don't feel like I forgot anything! I explain the Frazzle Free Christmas program as well as some other ideas. Pastor Pat prayed for me before I left and Kelly is always a huge support for me. So that helped a lot.

So, tonight I already picked up my bedroom again because I had a major wardrobe crisis this morning, (that was when I started feeling nervous) and my room was a mess!!! So that is cleaned again. Now I am going to work on my living room and then 15 minutes under the sink again. If I don't finish the sink cabinet tonight I think I am going to take a break and come back to it in about a week to try to get more inspired.

I'm done. I am really feeling good about my system. 3rd week and its working well for me. The living room didn't get dusted but I probably didn't need to this week. I finished the under the sink! Praise God!!! Lastly my frazzle free day: I was to start my gift list, which I had going already since I'm ahead. Continue to update my family calendar, which I already have going, so I just need to keep it up. Lastly I was to continue my Family Thanksgiving plans...I emailed my family on an idea I am toying with so we will see!!!

God bless you all, I am feeling good tonight at where I am at. God is definitely helping me through this time!!!

Frazzle Free Plans Begin

2009-10-19T22:12:00.000-07:00

Week 3 of 52, Day 1 of 6
Days to next Tea TBA, Days to next dinner 13
Lbs to lose this *week 1, Total lost so far 0
*My weight loss week is Thursday through Wednesday

Why is it that when we are gone our houses become more disorganized? I have found that every trip I go on, even if I work hard to have my house nice before I go, I come back and am behind on everything. So here are a few tips I have learned and please post a comment if you know some more:

1. Place your bathroom bag in the bathroom and then as you use the items put them away.
2. Immediately place dirty clothes in the hamper (you don't want to smell up your suitcase).
3. Immediately put away any clean unused clothes.
4. Within the first 24 hours make sure you are completely unpacked.
5. Start right back into your cleaning schedule.

Other than that I haven't a clue. Which is why my house is a wreck after I was gone only overnight on Friday-Saturday.

8 Weeks to a Frazzle Free Christmas begins today! I'm so excited!!! Today it is just beginning plans of things that I have already began...so I am on track!!!

Today's cleaning schedule is cleaning the bedroom and working 15 minutes on the bathroom cabinet under the sink. I cleaned the bedroom, no big deal. But the cabinet, I organized it and in the end had to stick a bunch of stuff back in to be worked on more tomorrow. I don't know how to make more space in that area or where to store some stuff somewhere else. I could get rid of some but I use a lot of the stuff under there. I have a dilemma.

In the area of weight, I have been eating very sporadically good. My goal right now is simply keeping dairy and soy out of my diet as I am allergic and not eating them was a natural weight loss program for me. But it has been difficult. This morning I was out to breakfast at a meeting and I ordered a crepe thinking it didn't have any diary or soy that I could see, it came and had a creamy sauce drizzled over the top. So I said, "well what can you do," and ate it anyway. But that has been happening more often than not lately so I need to get serious again. I should have scraped it off...but I didn't.

2009-10-15T20:15:00.000-07:00

Week 2 of 52, Day 4 of 6
Days to next Tea TBA, Days to next dinner 17
Lbs to lose this *week 1, Total lost so far 0
*My weight loss week is Thursday through Wednesday

I'm leaving you all!!! Just tomorrow and Saturday. Well I will be back Saturday night but I don't know how late so I may not be able to post. However, today I was able to get some of tomorrow's weekly maintenance done and I am going to shoot for some more tonight. But, regardless, I do have today's normal chores.

Here's what I did this morning:
1. Emptied wastebaskets
5. Eliminated an annoying pile (I had a pile of give away stuff by my front door, so I got it into my car trunk so all I have to do is drive by the thrift store.

I'm really tired and need to pack so tonight all I did was my dishes. I will start fresh on Monday.

Goodnight!

Midweek Funk

2009-10-14T22:37:00.000-07:00

Week 2 of 52, Day 3 of 6
Days to next Tea TBA, Days to next dinner 18
Lbs to lose this *week 1/2, Total lost so far 0
*My weight loss week is Thursday through Wednesday

Holiday time saving tip: Buy your Christmas cards by the first week of November, figure out how many you have to send and divide it by 30. The answer is how many you will need to do every night, 5 nights a week, to have them all done and ready to be mailed 2 weeks before Christmas. Not bad eh?

Due to the fact that it is Wednesday I am not writing much more. Tonights job is the Laundry room, I decided that because Wednesdays I get home so late (i.e. it is 10:30 and I am just now home). Secondly I am supposed to work 15 minutes on...what was it again? Oh thats right, I didn't know. I think I am going to work on trying to get the rest of my scrapbooking stuff thats in the living room, into the drawers in the closet. Yeah...that sounds good. That will free up a bin for something else.

I will post pics another time. I'm exhausted.

Annoying Cupboards

2009-10-13T20:45:00.000-07:00

Week 2 of 52, Day 2 of 6
Days to next Tea TBA, Days to next dinner 19
Lbs to lose this *week 1/2, Total lost so far 0
*My weight loss week is Thursday through Wednesday

Oh my goodness it is so wonderful to come home to a clean house, clean kitchen, clean everything. I mean, my house wasn't full of grime or anything but I always had clutter. There was always something to be done. It is so much more relaxing!

Ok, tonight I have the following:
Cleaning the Living Room, including dusting, ugh
and 15 minutes working on my baking cupboard. I want to do that next because this season I bake a lot and every time I open it I am annoyed! So, that is my next project. I think I have a picture. I will make sure I post at least a before. I may do an after, but I may wait a couple days depending on how many nights it takes. Hopefully just one.

Here we go.

It may not look much different but it is much more organized. I was able to get all the necessary stuff on the lower shelves in a more logical fashion. Then, to top it off I was able to clean each shelf. And I am finished. So tomorrow I need to pick another area that is bugging me, which I forget now. But I have a lot. See you soon!

Week 2!!!

2009-10-12T11:24:00.000-07:00

Week 2 of 52, Day 1 of 6
Days to next: Tea TBA, Days to next dinner 20
Lbs to lose this *week 1/2, Total lost so far 0
*My weight loss week is Thursday to Wednesday

I just can't believe I have made it through the week and my first guest! What a wonderful surprising honor this is. I would like to thank Marcia Ramsland for writing the book that inspired this whole thing. I would like to thank (sniff, sniff), oh I'm sorry, I'm just so happy, I would like to thank my mother for taking me to see the movie Julie & Julia, for teaching me how to make goals and reach them, and for encouraging me in this endeavor. I would like to thank my father for teaching me about hard work and self discipline, for (sniff, sniff)(waves hand on face), oh what an honor!!! for seeing potential in me where I don't always see it. Oh, the music, but I have so many more to thank. Thank you to everyone who left comments and encouraged me in this endeavor and...(music overtakes the audio).

I'm sorry, I couldn't resisit a little silliness. I am very excited about this week as it will be all improvements from here. Everything is picked up and clean so my weekly work will be just making it better and cleaner.

Todays goals:
Clean bedroom (meaning pick up, and dust, floors will still be done on Friday)
15 Minutes on...this is where I am struggling. Technically I should continue on my closet but I am so tired of my closet. But I need to finish an area to help keep the momentum going. I don't want a bunch of half finished projects. So I suppose today's goal will be to start going through the other half and organizing but also assessing, there is at least one thing I know I want out of there and given away. Perhaps there are a few more. Or at least some things I can get out by putting them on my wall (i.e. sconces).

In addition today I really do need to clean my fish tank and possibly my frog tank. I have the day off so this would be ideal. I was going to do the fish tank Friday but never ended up with the time. So today it is!

Here I go...

Well, today was interesting. I think now I am done in my closet until I can get an inspiration. It is one of those things, it is better, but I don't quite know how to have my music stuff in a way that is either out or easily accessible. So we will work on that.

I will have to think about what has been annoying me the most for my next 15 minute project. My room feels so much better though! And I did get a couple of other areas cleaned up as you can see.

Precious friends and some good food!

2009-10-10T11:11:00.000-07:00

Week 1 of 52, Day 6 of 6
Days to next Tea 0!!!, Days to next dinner 22
Lbs to lose this week 1/2, Total lost so far 0

Today was the day of the tea! Oh it was such a joy! I was so blessed. Tonya is a dear and prayed over me before she left. I was a little bummed that I talked SO much. I try to make the teas about them, but some friends are just precious and Tonya and I have so much to share with each other that I couldn't help myself. Some of that I need to work on and some of that is that she and I need to spend more time together. But we had a lovely time visiting and sharing the Lord with each other. AND MY HOUSE IS CLEAN! Now I am going to go do the little bit of dishes we left so I can enjoy the rest of my weekend.

This is the spread on the table. As you can see I have everything ready for the tea. There was already hot water in the pot, some cookies for dunking, limes, candy sticks (those were because I didn't have anything to put in the middle container), plus a plate with teas on it. The tray has a drawer with teas in it as well.

This was the fruit spread on my counter. I just loved the containers and had to do something with them!

These were the tomato sandwiches I made. Oh my they were yummy. In fact I am going to have another right now!

And lastly this was the whole look that was on my counter in my kitchen. I made SO much food but it was fun!

Multimedia message

2009-10-09T20:40:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to show you a picture of one of the tarts. Isn't it cute?!!!

Making Progress!!!

2009-10-09T10:10:00.000-07:00

Week 1 of 52, Day 5 of 6
Days to next Tea 1, Days to next dinner 23
Lbs to lose this week 1/2, Total lost so far 0

Did you know you can download a Teatimer? It counts down for however long you set it for and when it is done you know your tea is done. Thank God because my whistling tea kettle is always wrong! Of course my computer would know better than my whistling tea kettle!!!

In my organizing last night I came across an envelope that said, "Auntie." I had no recollection of what it was so I opened it. Turns out to be a thank you card to my Aunt Bev for her Christmas present to me last year!

Today is my big working day and I am struggling with getting started. It would be nice to curl up in bed right now and watch a movie. But, we have 1 day until Tonya comes. 1 day! I must be energized and move!

The following list is my weekly maintenance list, it is basically the things that if you do these your house will seem cleaner. For example, the suggestion from Marcia Ramsland, is that if your trashes are empty it does make a room feel cleaner. I agree.

1. Empty Wastebaskets
2. Change Bed Linens
3. Vacuum
4. Floors
5. Eliminate an annoying Pile (today's will be the magazines by my couch!)
6. Complete 1 Project (this is my 15 minutes, which today is sorting bins in my closet to be more accessable. I can't get to my wrapping paper!!! YIKES!!!)
7. Errands

In addition to that I want to do a deep cleaning of the bathroom, clean the fish tank, finish my darks, Wash my rugs, start my lights (tonight before bed), pick up the kitchen and pull out my harvest stuff. YIKES

I am meeting with the girl that I mentor and so today while I am out my errands are:
1. Go to post office buy stamps, mail letter, mail book
2. Go to store and buy: Meat, Tomatoes, Butter alternative
3. Pay gas bill

Then I will come home and bake, clean up the kitchen and be done for the day. If I don't get my decorating done until tonight that is ok too.

So, T minus 3 hours until I need to pick up Brittany. See you soon!

I went longer than 15 minutes because I was in the middle of a cool project. I got my folding chairs out of my closet, my bins reorganized so the ones I need will be easily accessible and the summer ones are up top. Then I rearranged where some of my shelves were being stored and got my scrapbooking stuff under my wrapping paper so its easier to get to the wrapping paper. I'm so excited!!!

(Quite a few hours later)

Currently there are 2 tarts cooking in the oven. The house cleaning is done. All I need to do now is clean up my baking mess, put out the harvest decor and get the last few touches ready so in the morning all I need to do is make the tomato sandwiches. But I realized if I waited to post this when I was done I would never end up post it. So see you tomorrow!!!

2 Days to my first guest? Seriously?

2009-10-08T21:30:00.000-07:00

Week 1of 52, Day 4 of 6
Days to next Tea 2, Days to next dinner 24
Lbs to lose this week 1/2, Total lost so far 0

Tonight is picking up the dining room and 15 minutes on another drawer, plus I need to get my darks in the washing machine. Tonight I am going to begin with the work. So here we go...

It seems the more organized I get the more I see that needs done. In a way its encouraging because I am getting things in their proper places or getting rid of thing, but on the other hand it is looking more and more like an endless job.

I finished the drawers in the closet. Removed the shoes I placed in there yesterday and changed it to scrapbooking supplies. I have spots for my scrapbooking stuff but they were overflowing. Now they are not. In fact, I may be able to empty a bin. Because of that I was able to empty one of the original areas I started with a few weeks ago. It was a basket that I tried to empty but couldn't quite figure out what to do with the stuff. I am really excited that I am not just moving junk from place to place.

Tip I learned today: Its ok to make some areas just look better until you are in a place to make better decisions about keeping or moving the stuff in that area.

Well, I am zonked. I have a long list ahead of me tomorrow. I need to get my harvest decor out, do my weekly maintenance, plus some deep cleaning and then start baking for Saturday.

See you tomorrow!

Plugging Away

2009-10-07T16:38:00.000-07:00

Week 1, Day 3, Days Until Next Guest 3

This journey, I pray, will have similar results as it did for Julie, from Julia & Julie. Christ changed my life, gave me purpose, and is my hope. But this journey I pray will help me be relaxed and able to live in the moment a bit more.

Today was overwhelming. So much so that the tenseness in my back started creeping down my arms and making me uncomfortable. So much so that I wanted to cry all day. So much so that I checked with my Pastor and worship leader and was given the night off to just try to chill. Everything got done but it was in the midst of a lot happening.

The nice part is that its all good stuff. Nothing really bad happening. Also, I handled it emotionally a whole lot better than I would have a year ago.

So, I am home early, I am going go pick up the Laundry Room now and spend 15 minutes on one drawer that is in my closet. If I can get these drawers emptied and fill them with something else it will help the state of my closet immensely!

After that will be dinner and chilaxin'!

Oh and I was thinking about changing the top countdowns. I generally have just the next guest but the dinners are kind of a big deal and I was thinking I probably should countdown for both. And since its a 52 week goal I should show that in there too. To top it off tomorrow morning I will start a new goal (remember the title of this blog, it HAS to be impractical so since this is all working so well I must try for more) of trying to lose 1/2 lb a week so that by February 28th I will have lost 10 lbs. So here's the new layout:

Week 1 of 52, Day 3 of 6
Days to next Tea 3, Days to next dinner 25
Lbs to lose this week 1/2, Total lost so far 0

The 1 drawer was not a 15 minute project so I was able to finish that and a plastic bin on top of the drawer. I emptied them both. Then refilled the drawer with shoes and the bin with craft supplies. Its a very small dent but it is progress.

Oh! And my Holiday planning 3 ring binder is put together! I'm so excited!!!

Wonderful Surprises, Convicting Visits and Christmas

2009-10-06T19:59:00.000-07:00

Week 1, Day 2, Days Until Next Guest 4

I was sitting quietly at my desk today when I saw, out of the corner of my eye, someone entered the church. I went on working thinking they would come around the corner to my door. Instead, I heard Pastor Pat, who was hanging a picture down the hallway, say, "Oh my gosh! Come here brother and let me kiss your head!" I was trying to figure out who it was when he called, "Bri come here! You will want to see this!" So, out I came.

6 months ago we said farewell to a soldier in our body who was deploying to Afghanistan for a year. He is a precious brother in the Lord. He was able to get a short leave to come home and rest. Most of the soldiers that are there have some time off but Del is on 24/7 pretty much. He has quite a bit of responsibility and because of that he has no days off and works 14 hour days. Then nights, because of where they are stationed, are often interrupted with medical emergencies and shootings etc.

As we stood there in the hallway and chatted for at least an hour I couldn't help but be convicted. You would have to meet Del to fully understand, but he is one of the most patient, loving, humble guys I know. He is out in the middle of a war and sharing the love of God with everyone he meets. It is amazing. He exudes Jesus.

For those of you thinking this already, no he's not single, he's engaged. I'm not interested in him like that. He and his fiance are precious to me.

So, this has been my day so far. Seeing a soldier who left me more encouraged than we left him.

Now it is time to get to work. On today's list of goals is putting away the groceries I just bought, picking up the Living Room and working on the second stack of papers. I showed a before picture of my room yesterday and not an after because there wasn't much to show. Today's picture has two things of papers. Yesterdays project was the cloth bin with the receipts. Today's is a box with some more papers and some miscellaneous stuff that got thrown in there when I moved.......over a year ago. Yikes! So no after picture today either because the bin was relocated to hold some other stuff and the box will be empty. Here it goes!

Well, its done. Not the greatest of jobs but its done. Ugh.

In the midst of this I am organizing in other areas. Today I bought a 3 ring binder and some dividers specifically for holiday planning. I will set up my book and explain more later. But in the meantime, check out this site: 8 weeks to a frazzle free Christmas

And So It Begins...

2009-10-05T22:02:00.000-07:00

Week 1, Day 1, Days Until Next Guest 5

It is tea drinking weather. The type of weather that if you get a chill in your bones the only things that drives it away is a hot cup of peppermint tea with a dash of honey. Is that what I'm doing tonight? No, unfortunately this is the night that I have long awaited. Preparing for this night took a lot of reading, planning, deciding more impractical habits to create, coming up with large scale goals, dreaming of a clean house with guests over all the time.

In spite of the fact that I didn't officially start until today I still have been accomplishing quite a bit. I pick up after myself constantly. Take care of my mail as soon as I bring it in the house. Today, today was amazing, today I even cleaned out a drawer at work. WORK! Work is not on my goal list, do I really need to remind you of that? My dream is that at the end of this year I will have an organized life, not just an organized house.

And so it begins.

Today's goals: Pick up bedroom and work 15 minutes shredding or filing paperwork. I started here for the moral support. So now I must go accomplish these two tasks. It does not sound like much but we will build up to bigger and better things. Plus Friday is my deep cleaning day. So, stay right there, I will be right back.

Well its done. Now for that tea...

Side tracked

2009-10-02T09:37:00.000-07:00

Week B, Day ???, Days Until Next Guest 8

Sidetracked is a good word for how I feel this week. I didn't plan on accomplishing much at home, not being home, but I still feel this way. Monday and Tuesday nights were sidetracked baking Kelly's birthday present. Then today I was going to go get some deep cleaning done and I need to work.

So, I have 8 days to clean and put out fall stuff for my next guest. The good news is that I got her an inexpensive present. I am very excited about that.

Tomorrow I will be meal planning and shopping for what I will make. Then on Monday the schedule begins. This time for sure.

Hostess tip: Find a small inexpensive gift for your guest. Such as a small plant, a mug, or a little something that reminded you of them. Generally if it is something that they can use while they are at your house it is even better. It is a nice way for them to remember their time with you.

2009-09-29T21:48:00.000-07:00

Week B, Day 2, Days Until Next Guest TBA (still rescheduling)

So I got mixed up yesterday and thought it was the first official day but my first official day is next Monday. Silly me.

Unfortunately no cleaning tonight. I just got home from Kelly's surprise Birthday party and have to pack for my next kid sitting job.

On a good note though I have become much better at picking up after myself and taking care of things immediately. For example. Right now I just got my mail and, rather than setting it someone to take care of it, I am at my computer about to take care of it (two computer things).

So, for tonight thats it. Just updating. I will try to come Friday and still do my weekly maintenance even though I am not here all week, I can do some more deep cleaning perhaps.

Day 1 of my first week!

2009-09-29T00:05:00.000-07:00

Week B, Day 1, Days Until Next Guest TBA (We are working on rescheduling)

Ok today is a true test of how I will do. Its midnight and I just finished working on Kelly's birthday present. I can't explain that until later in case she reads this. So, I am going to go do my daily chores and then report back!

Ok I picked up my bedroom and tried to do 15 minutes but hit a point where I don't know what to do to finish that area. That and I am exhausted. So we will see how this works. I think I need to start a new area tomorrow and then go back to that later.

I will check back tomorrow!

Pre-schedule

2009-09-25T11:27:00.000-07:00

Week A, Day 2, Days Until Next Guest 22

Organizing is like taking drugs. A lot of people won't do it, but those who do are addicted.

I have Fridays off at work and so while the kids are in school stopped by my house to feed my pets. I decided, since I was here, I should follow my list as if I were here all week. What would I be doing on Fridays?

3 things:
Daily Maintenance (picking up an area a day)
Weekly Maintenance:
1. Empty Wastebaskets
2. Change Bed Linens
3. Vacuum
4. Sweep
5. Eliminate an annoying pile
6. Do your 15 minutes of organization

I didn't get into as much deep cleaning today as I normally would (for instance my floors need a good mopping, but they only got swept today). But Next week I will do the same and get a little more done since I won't be here all week so it should stay pretty much the same.

During my 15 minutes I was working on the baskets on my hope chest and cleaned one out enough to put some DVDs in there! I was very excited. It looks nice!!!

I probably won't post tomorrow as I don't see me having internet access again until Monday. See you then!

A New Chapter

2009-09-24T09:34:00.000-07:00

I have hit upon it! Struck gold! Inspiration came and spun me about! I have my goal for the year. Seems a little strange to start something like this now so close to the new year, but why wait and lose momentum?! For those of you who actually possibly maybe enjoy my random ramblings, you will still get some of that here. It is still Habitual Impracticality after all.

I have been on this organizing and cleaning kick. Not because my house is a total disaster but it is cluttered. I don't care for clutter. I don't find it relaxing and I don't like to invite people over. So here is the ultimate goal. Get my house to the point of being able to invite people over at the drop of a hat. In order to get there, I will have 52 weeks to accomplish 12 dinners, 12 teas, and 4 overnighters.

So here's the plan, every two weeks I will alternate between having someone over for tea or dinner. In the in between time I will have to seriously prepare for the two week appointment so that I am ready. The overnighters will be once a quarter since I have a lot of little ladies and at least one teen that has wanted to spend the night. That would probably end up being a tea and dinner and overnighter all in one. How will I be ready you ask?

15 minutes a night 5 nights a week working on organizing a problem area. Current problem area is the clutter on my hope chest in my bedroom, next will be my bedroom closet. (Pics will be posted).

6 days a week clean one area in my house (I have six areas: Living Room, Dining Room, Kitchen, Laundry Room, Bathroom, and Bedroom). This doesn't have to be spotless but at least picked up. Though, the deeper cleaning should be done because I will be planning to have someone over.

Fridays and Saturdays is laundry, but this is not a concern of mine for having someone over. It is just more organization possibilities.

This week I am still kid sitting. Next week I will be kid sitting again and so the following week, October 5, will be the beginning of cleaning. Which means that I must invite someone over for tea on the 16th or 17th of October. That will be the end of my first two weeks.

By the end of the year I hope to be relaxed more, due to less clutter, and my house will hopefully be more hospitable. I have always dreamed of having my home be an open door for people just to stop by. This is an awesome goal as it involved helping me get organized, working on my baking skills (I love baking), practicing meal planning (I definitely need more practice there) and keeping my schedule organized in a planner. I do think if I can stick this out I will have a very successful year all around!

My first goal, since I'm not home to clean, is to invite Tonya over for tea. I need a looming deadline!!!

This has been Week A (we aren't at week 1 yet) Day 1.

Why Sleep When You Can Stay Awake

2009-09-22T20:01:00.000-07:00

I may not be able to post over the next few days. I might try to get in early at work but I'm not sure. I may not have internet access in the evenings. If you would like to know why then you can check it out at my Other Blog and then you will know. Next week I should be fine and have full access.

Day 18, Post 18

I have been watching the TV Series 24. I'm on season 3, currently from 5 a.m. to 6 a.m. For those of you who don't know it follows the lives of several CTU (Counter Terrorist Unit) agents. Season 1 was about one crisis and it occurs in real time. Meaning every minute that passes is a real minute. So you don't see flashbacks or skip ahead or anything.

My question is how often you have stayed awake for a full 24 hours in the past 10 years? And have you found that it has gotten harder as you get older?

I ask that because each season there is one or two people that get no sleep for the entire 24 hours. Not a hard stretch, especially considering their jobs. But to do this once a year every year...now I start to wonder. These people aren't getting any younger. At what point to they just crack?

So my question for the day is (I guess I'm on a theme of asking a question every day right now) when was the last time you were awake for 24 hours give or take a few hours and why?

My last time was about 9 months to a year ago. I got a call from a friend at about 2 a.m. I had only been asleep for about 2 hours. She needed to talk, she was going through a crisis. We met up and talked until about 6 a.m. From that point I had only a few hours before I had to be somewhere. So I went home and showered, then went about my day. Didn't get home until late. So I was awake for about 37 hours minus about a 2 hour nap. I didn't do so well with it. I was slurring by the end.

Ok, your turn!!!

Heirlooms Are Just Your Ancestors Junk?

2009-09-21T23:08:00.000-07:00

Day 17, Post 17

What is the oldest thing you own? I have several books that are quite old. Printed in the 1800's. I may even have a few older than that.

That is one way to answer. But another would be something you have had forever. For example, I have a book that I got when I was very young called "The Monster At The End Of This Book." It is so old the cover is coming off. I have the entire book memorized.

Or it could be something that is old and an heirloom because its been in the family. I have my mother's class ring. Not quite an heirloom yet but perhaps when I pass it down to my daughter it will be.

Stuff is funny isn't it? We have stuff that is precious to us for about a week and then we wonder what we saw in that item. Then we have other items that we would be devastated to lose because Great Great Great Great Great Aunt Betsy owned it. Well who knows, perhaps Great Great Great Great Great Aunt Betsy kept meaning to get rid of that because it was just more stuff in her house. Or perhaps she loved it and cherished it and that's why she passed it down.

Every item has a story to tell. Whether it be that she hated that vase and couldn't ever get rid of it because her mother in law gave it to her for a wedding present. Or that the vase was her first anniversary gift from her husband and it was her favorite because they had so little money and he scraped a few pennies together to buy it. Or simply, it was just a vase she liked, but she always had fresh flowers in it and the vase reminds you of her (well...not if she is your great great great great great aunt, but you know what I mean).

So tell me about some of your old items. Tell me their stories. If you are the first in your family to own it, why do you keep it? If you are the 12th generation what do you know about it?

I Have The Advantage

2009-09-19T20:05:00.000-07:00

Day 16, Post 16
Things you can do when you live alone:
1. Drink out of the bottle/carton.
2. Eat Ice Cream out of the carton, then put it back in the freezer.
3. Walk around in whatever you like or not in whatever you don't like.
4. Sing at the top of your lungs.
5. Pray out loud.
6. Eat the same thing 3 meals in a row.
7. Stay up late doing nothing.
8. Keep control of the remote.
9. Live like a neat freak or a slob.
10. Talk to yourself/objects/people not in the room/pets.

An Ode To Food

2009-09-18T16:59:00.000-07:00

Day 15, Post 15
Lemon Pepper Grilled Tilapia served over a bed of Baby Spinach Green lightly cooked in a Lemon Pepper Olive Oil. It was fantastic.

Food is a very powerful manipulator of our emotions. You can have the worst day of your life, come home and sit down to an amazing meal and it changes your whole outlook. Food brings comfort when you are down. It can relax you after a stressful day. If can warm you when you are cold.

There is nothing like satisfying a craving that you have had for days or weeks. Or sitting down to a hot cup of soup on a bone-chilling winter day.

Food enjoyed in moderation, healthy foods that taste good, can bring you such a spring in your step and a smile to your face.

Food is a wonderful blessing from God.

The Perfect Day

2009-09-17T23:17:00.000-07:00

Day 14, Post 14

Tomorrow I hope it rains. I would like for it to be about 60 degrees outside as well please. I don't want a torrential downpour, but a steady stream that allows that soothing background sound would be nice. Then I would like a nice hot cup of tea and a fire in a fireplace. Then a good mystery novel would be nice.

Please have it hear by the morning so that I wake up to the sound of rain. Thank you,
Briana

Blah Blah Blah

2009-09-16T23:00:00.000-07:00

Day 13, Post 13

I have found a really impractical goal for myself for tomorrow. I am going to try to not talk unless spoken to. This will work for everything but work related stuff. There was a meeting tonight that I pretty much dominated. I have always hated this side of myself. I hate that I am known as a talker, its embarrassing and humiliating to me. I have tried to talk less. Learned to keep my mouth shut more but I still am over the top. Its very depressing. Then when I do finally do good someone thinks something is wrong or I am mad because I'm not talking.

Please don't tease me about this one. Its not funny to me. I will cry.