Report Cards

This has been a tough week for me. I threw out my back on Monday….badly…to the point that I couldn’t do almost anything. It is now day 4 and I am feeling about 75% than I did on Monday.

Yesterday was report card day here in Lincoln. I was quite scared to see what the kids have been up to. Not sure if I posted it here or not but first quarter was a disaster all the way around. Larissa failed 3 classes and barely passed the other 4. Nathan failed 3 classes, barely passed 3 and then got an A and a B. And even CJ was having issues. According to his teacher, he was hanging with the wrong crowd….in Kindergarden?!?!

So of course the kids have been on punishment and it has been an agonizing quarter. I was really scared to go home but made it clear that I didn’t want to hear from any of them that they didn’t have their report cards.

First I opened CJ’s and happy to see that he is doing good in school and no comments about the “wrong crowd” so I was pretty happy.

Second I opened Nathan’s and was….overall ok with the progress. 10 grades…three A’s, three B’s, two C’s and two F’s. All good except for the F’s obviously. We still have work to do but we are progressing and that I have to be happy about. I talked to him. We def need to get those two F’s up without letting the others fall and Nathan agreed. All the grades were brought up with the exception of those two bad grades. One he failed last quarter too so he stayed the same and the other he dropped but like I said, he has worked hard to get these grades up so a little reward is the future. He won’t be getting his laptop back fully because I want him to know that he still has to work harder and keep up the good work in order to get it all back.

Lastly I opened Larissa’s report card. Thank goodness I opened hers last. I honestly don’t think that she is aware that this is her Senior year and she will not graduate unless she passes. She failed four classes and barely passed three. One of the classes she failed is Exhibition which I was under the impression she had to pass in order to graduate. According to Larissa though, it’s not the class grade but the Exhibition project that she has yet to present that determines that. That makes absolutely no sense at all to me but I will find out more. As I was fumbling through the school website trying to see when they have parent/teacher conferences for…I got a voicemail from her school. The secretary for the Principal left me a message asking to set up a meeting regarding her graduation status. I was not the least bit surprised ! So I called back and set up a meeting. I am going in on Monday at 10:45. God help me !

Simply Said

It’s official. I am finally jumping in and getting my feet wet…so to speak. Those of you that are in NC and know me, know that I fell in love with Simply Said the moment I went to my first party at Tracy’s house. I had never heard of Simply Said but I am always down for a party so it didn’t matter. Michelle was the consultant that came to her house and Michelle has a personality that lights up a room. She is warm and genuine and that really shows through when she speaks. She talks about how the product sells itself and it really does.

I booked my own party to get me some free stuff and it was a hit. There are so many things that you can do with sayings and designs. I consider myself to be really creative but Simply Said allows you to be creative even if you are not. They do most of the work for you and you just have to figure out where to put it.

After going to a few more parties, all done by Michelle, I became intrigued. At the last party that I attended before moving back to RI, I spoke to Michelle about becoming a consultant. I was so interested but wasn’t sure how I would do since I really am not a sales person. She emphasized how much it sells itself. I decided to give it a shot once I got to RI after she told me that there were only two reps here in RI. I mean what is the worst thing that will happen, I will have all the great things for myself.

Well my transition took a little longer but lately, it has been heavy on my mind. And then I get an email from Michelle. What great timing. So we have been chatting and I am going to a training in MA on February 4th. I am so excited. I really think that this might be the thing for me. So be prepared to start booking some shows.

Here is the link so that you can all see what Simply Said is all about: www.simplysaiddesigns.com

Projects I Want to Tackle

After giving it some thought, I have come up with some things that I want to start tackling in our house for 2012. All of them are things that we can take with us to our home so nothing will be wasted.

Living Room
• Slip covers that actually fit
• Covers for pillows
• Painting for over couch
• Picture Rails
• Paint End Tables
• Area Rug
• Coffee Table?
Dining Room
• Paint Dining Room table *already started this*
• Recoat dining room chairs if I can
• Curtains for windows
• Find way to minimize clutter
Master Bedroom
• Pillows for bed
• Dresser
• Curtains
• Something big for above the bed
• Storage
Boys’ Room
• Curtains
• Dressers?
• Duvet Covers
• Pillows
• Bed skirts
• Personalizing each boys space
Bathroom
• Something above the toilet
• Towel holder
• New Rugs

Decluttering My Life...Stage 1...The House

As I posted yesterday, I had a new found energy. When I left work, I had to go pick up Nathan and Larissa. I still managed to make it home by 6pm due to the holiday. I made dinner, we ate and I got to cleaning. I wish I had taken pictures.

There are days when I can’t stand to look at things, all things….toys, clothes, knick knacks and just about anything. I am de-cluttering my life this year, starting with my house. I went right up to the boys room where it’s always the worst room. Toys, clothes and papers everywhere. They manage to turn that house upside down the day after it is cleaned. I think that is mainly to do with the fact that they just have too much. I have been doing my best to not add to that. I have been throwing out all broken toys, donating all old toys they no longer play with and just keep things simple. The last time I did an overhaul on their room, I got rid of a lot. Then I started throwing what I found throughout the house into a gray storage container. Now that was the first problem. That box was filled to the max ! I went through it and found slippers that no longer fit, toys that were no longer played with, broken pieces to toys that had already been thrown out and garbage. Really? So I grabbed a big black trash bag so that nobody would see what I was taking out of the room. Just as I was leaving the boys room though, the bottom of the bag ripped and out came all the stuff just as CJ reached the top of the stairs. He immediately wanted to know where I was taking everything and why I was putting it in a bag. I told him that I was cleaning for out upcoming move (in 4 ½ months…yes I am still counting) and I needed to start putting things away that he might not need until the move. I was surprised when that answer was good enough for him. He went back downstairs to play and I proceeded to get it all bagged up and out of the room again. I also took that darn gray bin out of the room so that nothing else ends up in it…lol.

Then I went downstairs and worked on the living room. There were still leftover Christmas presents and from everyone being sick all weekend long, the living room was horrible and I couldn’t stand to look at it any longer. I started giving the kids things for their rooms one by one. It is not done yet but it certainly looks a lot better and I won’t be embarrassed to have anyone walk in now.

I guess I should add in that last weekend I cleaned the basement. That is Jose’s territory and I try to stay away from it but when I see it getting out of hand, I have to step in! My heart broke yesterday when I got home from work and saw the mess. Jose will clean it but not the way I need it to be cleaned. He does an ok job in an emergency but he really cleans like a guy. I usually can’t find anything when he is done and things are piled up and shoved in places they don’t belong…lol. I have to give him credit for trying but I wish he would learn how to do it right already !

Tonight I will finish the living room and move onto the kitchen.

The Power of Prayer and Faith

For the first time in a long time, I feel good. I wouldn’t have said the same thing a couple of days ago. I left work on Friday sick as a dog. Spent Friday night and Saturday hugging a toilet with the 48 hour bug that I managed to get from my 5 year old. A few thoughts were running through my head while I was making the mad dashes from bed to bathroom those two days. Most importantly though, like most people, I resorted to prayer.

I started out by apologizing to God for having him absent in my life recently. I have always had such a strong faith and I still do but my communication with God has been lacking. Ok, the truth is that is has barely been there. There has been so much going on that I feel like it has taken all of my energy to really just keep my head above water…emotionally anyways. With the restriction of not being able to do anything, my mind and heart reached out for the one person I know is always there….God. Why has this journey been so hard? Why I can’t seem to get things in order? Why don’t things feel right? Why have I been sick since we got here? So many questions, so much doubt. That is it! Doubt! Why am I doubting what God is giving me? Why am I not trusting that this is all happening for a reason? So after those 24 hours of what seemed like the worst thing I have ever experienced, I realized it. God couldn’t help me because I wasn’t making room for Him in my life.

I know that some of you who might not share the same faith are thinking that I am totally nuts. Think what you may but let me just tell you. I went to bed tired, stressed and overwhelmed on Saturday night praying for God’s help and making room for Him in my life and I woke up Sunday morning a new woman. I was over the bug. I could keep food down finally. That wasn’t all though. I had this new found energy. This new found spring in my step. I felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I felt like I could do anything. I felt like my old self again. I did my grocery shopping. I started all the decorations and fun stuff for Diana’s lunch on Sunday and really enjoyed myself. CJ helped me with a lot of it and I didn’t even get frustrated with him once. It was truly a miracle. I am back after months of struggling.

Last night before going to bed, I made sure to have my daily communication with God. I made sure to thank Him for everything wonderful in life, for giving me the strength that I was lacking. I talked to Him about my godparents and my mom and when I was done, I felt so much better and drifted off into a deep sleep. Again, I work up refreshed today ready to take on the world. Today is a good day!

Monkey Bread

CJ and I made Monkey Bread. Have you ever had Monkey Bread? I am not that into sweets but let me tell you, Monkey Bread has a special place in my heart. I must perfect making little ones though because I love the juicy top parts and get bored with more dried out pieces that are near the bottom.

Here is a picture of our beautiful treat !

Isn't she beautiful? Yes, I realize how crazy I am.

A Straggler

I know that Christmas has passed. My tree has been down for a while and everything is away but I wanted to share a picture that I had on my phone and never had a chance to share. This is what Christmas is all about to me.