Has anyone else had strange footprints on their blog today???  Starting around 3:26 I got numerous international footprints ranging from the Russian Federation to Republic of Molodovia, most of which were international.   I ended up with over 100 footprints today.  That is very strange….has anyone else experienced this?? 

Since this was probably a search engine or something inventorying my site, I won’t freak out too much.  But since alot of the things viewed were picture of my children.  I have changed my privacy levels.   I am only allowing access to logged in Xanga users.   I apologize if that is not the best options.  Please let me know how you guess all set your privacy levels. 

Sorry for any inconvenience this may cause. 

Penny Ann has posted a challenge on her blog.  Each day you are to post one thing you did to save money that day.  I like the idea of this as it will allow me to think about saving and also see how others save!

Jan. 1st  – I had my Christmas money with me at Target.   I of course browsed the book selections and was tempted to buy one or two.   But instead I came home and reserved both books I wanted to read from the Library.   I make sure I keep a pen and notebook in my purse for this reason. 

I reserved on CD:   Lucky by Alice Sebold and Pillars of the Earth Ken Follett.   Always take advantage of reserving book online from your library.   I received a MP3 players a few years ago and rip the book to my player and I have hours of FREE listening.  This saves me alot of money every year.   Just by not buying the two books I wanted I saved over $20.00. 

January 2nd  – Picked Up my Book on Tape from the Library.  I will listen to the Yiddish Policemen’s Union by Michael Chabon for FREE!  

Made Supper for my family!   The last two weeks while I have been recooperating we have been eating convenience food, fast food or some sort of take out most days!   Now that I am walking so much better I am able to stand and make supper for my family.  I have a pork roast in the slow cooker for supper.   This saves me at least $6.00 as hubby could have picked up burgers off the 99 cents menu again.   YUCK!!

Penny Ann has posted a challenge on her blog.  Each day you are to post one thing you did to save money that day.  I like the idea of this as it will allow me to think about saving and also see how others save!

Jan. 1st  – I had my Christmas money with me at Target.   I of course browsed the book selections and was tempted to buy one or two.   But instead I came home and reserved both books I wanted to read from the Library.   I make sure I keep a pen and notebook in my purse for this reason. 

I reserved on CD:   Lucky by Alice Sebold and Pillars of the Earth Ken Follett.   Always take advantage of reserving book online from your library.   I received a MP3 players a few years ago and rip the book to my player and I have hours of FREE listening.  This saves me alot of money every year.   Just by not buying the two books I wanted I saved over $20.00. 

January 2nd  – Picked Up my Book on Tape from the Library.  I will listen to the Yiddish Policemen’s Union by Michael Chabon for FREE!  

Made Supper for my family!   The last two weeks while I have been recooperating we have been eating convenience food, fast food or some sort of take out most days!   Now that I am walking so much better I am able to stand and make supper for my family.  I have a pork roast in the slow cooker for supper.   This saves me at least $6.00 as hubby could have picked up burgers off the 99 cents menu again.   YUCK!!

Have anyone ever been to a Hearts At Home Conference??   A couple of my friends at church went to it last year and I would like to go this year.   I am just not too sure about going and the time away from my work and family.

I would like to subscribe to their magazine as well.  I know it is geared to SAHM, but I glean so much info from SAHM’S.  

Have anyone ever been to a Hearts At Home Conference??   A couple of my friends at church went to it last year and I would like to go this year.   I am just not too sure about going and the time away from my work and family.

I would like to subscribe to their magazine as well.  I know it is geared to SAHM, but I glean so much info from SAHM’S.  

MY PRIORITIES FOR 2008  

God, Husband, Children, Home

I will continue to have the same priorities, but I need to add myself to the list.  I really feel and see the results of not ever making myself a priority.  

GOD – SPIRITUAL LIFE

But those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.  – Isaiah 40:31

Goals for 2008: 

·         Time Daily with God’s Word

·         Continue my attendance of my Wed Night Disciple Group

PHYSICAL LIFE  (TAKE CARE OF SELF)

Medically I have had a fantastic year.  My asthma and weight are under great control.  I am very happy of my progress on those goals from last year.  I read 35 books last year, which was really good considering I didn’t finish a book in October or December. 

Goals for 2008: 

·         Make at least 30 minutes a day of me time – (reading)

·         Reading Goal – read 36 books next year and 12 off of my own shelves. 

·         Maintain my weight below my LIFETIME weight of 133.

·         Establish a better sleep pattern – up by 6:00 am each morning. 

HOME LIFE

 MARRIAGE

This is my beloved, and this is my friend.  – Song of Solomon 5:16

Goals for 2008:  Date Night Once a Month

 CHILDREN

Motherhood is a privilege, and our children our crowning glory. –  (1 Timothy 2:15) 

Be generous with praise – cautious with criticism.

Goals for 2008:  Continue Family Movie Night each Friday during the school year. 

I am very happy with how each of our children are doing.  Each one of them is making great progress on their areas of need.   I really don’t have a specific parenting goal this year.

HOMEMAKING

She watches over the ways of her household.  – Proverbs 31:27
 Every wise woman builds her house but the foolish pulls it down with her hands.  Proverbs 14:1

In 2007 I had a pretty good system and handle on this area of my life.   I need to put a little effort into getting back on track. 

Goals for 2008:

·         Complete Bedtime and Morning Routines each day

·         Dishes washed each night

·         Bake at least twice a month. 

FINANCIAL LIFE  – (FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY)

Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousnes, and all these things shall be added to you.  – Matthew 6:33

We have done very well with paying extra towards are debts in 2007.   I want to continue that with a long-term goal of living Debt Free. 

Goals for 2008

• Make and Take a Lunch everyday to work
• Continue Weekly Budget and Debt Repayment Program (Debtproofliving.com)
• DO NOT buy books – utilize the Ramsey and Dakota Cty Library systems

SOCIAL LIFE (FAMILY/FRIENDS)

A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.  – Proverbs 17:17

Do not forsake your own friend. – Proverbs 27:10

Goals for 2008

• Send Birthday cards to Family and Friends
• Write one letter a month.
• Blog at least weekly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That is a run down of my priorities for 2008.  Of course I would not be sucessful if I was to think I could accomplish each of these at the same time.  Later I will come up with my priorities that I want to focus on first this year. 

MY PRIORITIES FOR 2008  

God, Husband, Children, Home

I will continue to have the same priorities, but I need to add myself to the list.  I really feel and see the results of not ever making myself a priority.  

GOD – SPIRITUAL LIFE

But those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.  – Isaiah 40:31

Goals for 2008: 

·         Time Daily with God’s Word

·         Continue my attendance of my Wed Night Disciple Group

PHYSICAL LIFE  (TAKE CARE OF SELF)

Medically I have had a fantastic year.  My asthma and weight are under great control.  I am very happy of my progress on those goals from last year.  I read 35 books last year, which was really good considering I didn’t finish a book in October or December. 

Goals for 2008: 

·         Make at least 30 minutes a day of me time – (reading)

·         Reading Goal – read 36 books next year and 12 off of my own shelves. 

·         Maintain my weight below my LIFETIME weight of 133.

·         Establish a better sleep pattern – up by 6:00 am each morning. 

HOME LIFE

 MARRIAGE

This is my beloved, and this is my friend.  – Song of Solomon 5:16

Goals for 2008:  Date Night Once a Month

 CHILDREN

Motherhood is a privilege, and our children our crowning glory. –  (1 Timothy 2:15) 

Be generous with praise – cautious with criticism.

Goals for 2008:  Continue Family Movie Night each Friday during the school year. 

I am very happy with how each of our children are doing.  Each one of them is making great progress on their areas of need.   I really don’t have a specific parenting goal this year.

HOMEMAKING

She watches over the ways of her household.  – Proverbs 31:27
 Every wise woman builds her house but the foolish pulls it down with her hands.  Proverbs 14:1

In 2007 I had a pretty good system and handle on this area of my life.   I need to put a little effort into getting back on track. 

Goals for 2008:

·         Complete Bedtime and Morning Routines each day

·         Dishes washed each night

·         Bake at least twice a month. 

FINANCIAL LIFE  – (FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY)

Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousnes, and all these things shall be added to you.  – Matthew 6:33

We have done very well with paying extra towards are debts in 2007.   I want to continue that with a long-term goal of living Debt Free. 

Goals for 2008

• Make and Take a Lunch everyday to work
• Continue Weekly Budget and Debt Repayment Program (Debtproofliving.com)
• DO NOT buy books – utilize the Ramsey and Dakota Cty Library systems

SOCIAL LIFE (FAMILY/FRIENDS)

A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.  – Proverbs 17:17

Do not forsake your own friend. – Proverbs 27:10

Goals for 2008

• Send Birthday cards to Family and Friends
• Write one letter a month.
• Blog at least weekly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That is a run down of my priorities for 2008.  Of course I would not be sucessful if I was to think I could accomplish each of these at the same time.  Later I will come up with my priorities that I want to focus on first this year. 

Can you believe this??  Yep, I am awake.  This is going to  be very difficult with I return to work tomorrow (Thursday).   I took melatonin early in the evening (8:30) and was asleep by 11:00.  A good start to the night.   At around 1:30 little man, Tom crawled in bed with me and woke me up.   He is a very very restless sleeper so I couldn’t stay alseep.  I finally got up and got him to go back to his bed, but couldn’t sleep.  I had list and lists running through my head.  So usually when that happens, I simply write down my thoughts on the handy notebook next to bed and I can sleep.  Not tonight……………..so here I am visiting all of you at 3:30 am!

Today (Yesterday)…..Tuesday!

We all had a very lazy morning.   I putz around until about 1:00 then I showered and got busy.  We took the tree down and our living room is back in order.   I was so ready to return to order!!    I love the feeling of putting up the tree as much as I love the feeling of taking it down.   In between taking down the tree, I ventured to the laundry room for the first time in 2 weeks.  I have had alot of trouble walking steps since the surgery.  I sorted laundry and got started on Mt. Washmore!   I hope by tomorrow to have finally conquered the Mt!   I also worked on filling my MP3 player as I need to get back to listening to books on there.  I added Tess of Uduberville by Thomas Hardy and Ursula Hegi’s The Worse Things I’ve Done.  

Hubby, Tommy and I headed out to Target for a few items we needed.  I was hoping to buy New Years Card to mail out since I had not written or sent Christmas Card this year.  I guess I will just write and send out a New Years letter.   I hope to work on that tomorrow while doing laundry.  I watched Jon and Kate Make 8 before going to bed. 

Since I downloaded Tess of U’duberville from Net Library, I started a new book to read before bed.  I started Lottery by Patricia Wood.  This is her first novel.  I love reading first time authors.  The book is about Perry a young man with a lower IQ who was raised by his Grandma and he wins $12 million in the Washington State Lottery. 

MONDAY – Yesterday

Tommy and I were home alone all day.  We had a leisurely morning, but both cleaned and dusted our bedrooms in the afternoon.   I really needed to dust our room.  I am hoping if I get back to dusting in there once a week, my hubby will not wake up sneezing each night.  So far we have not had an sneezing nights.  EDIT:  It is 4:10 am on Wednesday morning and hubby is up and sneezing.  Argh…..I guess it isn’t due to dust. 

We spent New Years Eve at home.  Just how I like it!  Tommy, hubby, Josh, Amy and I enjoyed a buffet of appetizers and watched a number of episodes of Scrubs.  My hubby loves this show and had gotten Season 5 at the library.  Once tired of Scrubs, we played a round of golf on the Wii.   Then as it was nearing midnight we filled our glasses with sparkling cider and watched the ball drop in Times Square.  Did anyone see Dick Clark – I was so surprised by him, I don’t recall seeing him last year.  

At midnight we toasted and then went outside and lighted our sparklers to welcome in the new year.  Tommy was sooooo excited about staying up until midnight.  I was surprised me made it.  I had  a hard time making it!

OUR WEEKEND….

The weekend was quiet.  I was hoping to go grocery shopping but I just can’t walk that much yet.  I had made a detailed shopping list for Aldi and Cub so my hubby did the shopping for me.  He actually did very well.  I had budgeted $140 for the two weeks for groceries and household items.  He came home with everything from the list and extra money.  Since he had done so well, we decided to treat ourselves to Buffalo Wild Wings and rented movie from the library.  We watched the new Pirate of the Caribbean movie.  WAY too scary for Tommy!  

The boys spent plenty of time all weekend playing the Wii.  Josh actually bought a new game already.  There are many games I would like to try, but don’t want to buy them unless we really like them.  So we signed up for gamefly.com.  It is like Netflix, but for video games.  They first month was discounted so we decided to give it a try.   I figure we will have it for three months or so, then cancel as that should allow the boys to try all the games they want. 

With the new year upon us I realized I hadn’t ordered my yearly calendar for the side of the fridge.  The only calendar I have found that has big enough squares for me is the Flylady calendar.  I love it!!!!   i have bought one ever year for the last 5 years. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Looks like it is time to call it a night.  I hope to be able to fall asleep shortly.  Tommy heads back to school tomorrow.  Hubby needs to take me to my appointment with my surgeon tomorrow morning.  I am hoping he will release me to drive so I can return to work.  I have been home for 2 weeks and ready to get back to regular life/work.  I just don’t feel like I am ready for the new year – I have so many things to complete from 2007 yet!!  

Have a great day!!!   Look for my Goals for 2008 post coming up soon!

Can you believe this??  Yep, I am awake.  This is going to  be very difficult with I return to work tomorrow (Thursday).   I took melatonin early in the evening (8:30) and was asleep by 11:00.  A good start to the night.   At around 1:30 little man, Tom crawled in bed with me and woke me up.   He is a very very restless sleeper so I couldn’t stay alseep.  I finally got up and got him to go back to his bed, but couldn’t sleep.  I had list and lists running through my head.  So usually when that happens, I simply write down my thoughts on the handy notebook next to bed and I can sleep.  Not tonight……………..so here I am visiting all of you at 3:30 am!

Today (Yesterday)…..Tuesday!

We all had a very lazy morning.   I putz around until about 1:00 then I showered and got busy.  We took the tree down and our living room is back in order.   I was so ready to return to order!!    I love the feeling of putting up the tree as much as I love the feeling of taking it down.   In between taking down the tree, I ventured to the laundry room for the first time in 2 weeks.  I have had alot of trouble walking steps since the surgery.  I sorted laundry and got started on Mt. Washmore!   I hope by tomorrow to have finally conquered the Mt!   I also worked on filling my MP3 player as I need to get back to listening to books on there.  I added Tess of Uduberville by Thomas Hardy and Ursula Hegi’s The Worse Things I’ve Done.  

Hubby, Tommy and I headed out to Target for a few items we needed.  I was hoping to buy New Years Card to mail out since I had not written or sent Christmas Card this year.  I guess I will just write and send out a New Years letter.   I hope to work on that tomorrow while doing laundry.  I watched Jon and Kate Make 8 before going to bed. 

Since I downloaded Tess of U’duberville from Net Library, I started a new book to read before bed.  I started Lottery by Patricia Wood.  This is her first novel.  I love reading first time authors.  The book is about Perry a young man with a lower IQ who was raised by his Grandma and he wins $12 million in the Washington State Lottery. 

MONDAY – Yesterday

Tommy and I were home alone all day.  We had a leisurely morning, but both cleaned and dusted our bedrooms in the afternoon.   I really needed to dust our room.  I am hoping if I get back to dusting in there once a week, my hubby will not wake up sneezing each night.  So far we have not had an sneezing nights.  EDIT:  It is 4:10 am on Wednesday morning and hubby is up and sneezing.  Argh…..I guess it isn’t due to dust. 

We spent New Years Eve at home.  Just how I like it!  Tommy, hubby, Josh, Amy and I enjoyed a buffet of appetizers and watched a number of episodes of Scrubs.  My hubby loves this show and had gotten Season 5 at the library.  Once tired of Scrubs, we played a round of golf on the Wii.   Then as it was nearing midnight we filled our glasses with sparkling cider and watched the ball drop in Times Square.  Did anyone see Dick Clark – I was so surprised by him, I don’t recall seeing him last year.  

At midnight we toasted and then went outside and lighted our sparklers to welcome in the new year.  Tommy was sooooo excited about staying up until midnight.  I was surprised me made it.  I had  a hard time making it!

OUR WEEKEND….

The weekend was quiet.  I was hoping to go grocery shopping but I just can’t walk that much yet.  I had made a detailed shopping list for Aldi and Cub so my hubby did the shopping for me.  He actually did very well.  I had budgeted $140 for the two weeks for groceries and household items.  He came home with everything from the list and extra money.  Since he had done so well, we decided to treat ourselves to Buffalo Wild Wings and rented movie from the library.  We watched the new Pirate of the Caribbean movie.  WAY too scary for Tommy!  

The boys spent plenty of time all weekend playing the Wii.  Josh actually bought a new game already.  There are many games I would like to try, but don’t want to buy them unless we really like them.  So we signed up for gamefly.com.  It is like Netflix, but for video games.  They first month was discounted so we decided to give it a try.   I figure we will have it for three months or so, then cancel as that should allow the boys to try all the games they want. 

With the new year upon us I realized I hadn’t ordered my yearly calendar for the side of the fridge.  The only calendar I have found that has big enough squares for me is the Flylady calendar.  I love it!!!!   i have bought one ever year for the last 5 years. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Looks like it is time to call it a night.  I hope to be able to fall asleep shortly.  Tommy heads back to school tomorrow.  Hubby needs to take me to my appointment with my surgeon tomorrow morning.  I am hoping he will release me to drive so I can return to work.  I have been home for 2 weeks and ready to get back to regular life/work.  I just don’t feel like I am ready for the new year – I have so many things to complete from 2007 yet!!  

Have a great day!!!   Look for my Goals for 2008 post coming up soon!