Sick, Sicker, Even Sicker, Sickest

It has been a long week. Tuesday night, Luke got the stomach flu. He got sick in his bed three times. Thursday afternoon, Erica got it. She got sick on the living room floor and while sitting on my lap. Thursday night, Alex and Matt got it. Alex got sick in his bed, then spent the rest of the night on the couch with the infamous green dishpan. Matt was able to make it to the bathroom, but spent most of the night camped out there. So, if you're counting, 4 out of 6 of us have been hit. Julia and I are hanging in there and praying we've been spared. Not so lucky for Dad - he got it yesterday, but is on the road to recovery now.

So sticking with my 'appreciate' theme, here is the silver lining:

1. This bug was fast and furious - it only stuck around about 24 hours or less for each sickee.
2. Dad scored that awesome carpet cleaner for us - it made one clean up job lots easier.
3. My kids were at home when they got it - not so lucky for the little girl in church today. Oh my.
4. The obvious - so far I haven't gotten it. And, even better, Julia hasn't.
5. I have an awesome washing machine that kept chugging along.

Fingers crossed, knock on wood - I sure hope we've seen the last of this for a LONG time.

MER

16 Things About Me

Well, it's the blogging thing to do, so here it is.

1 - I am into cooking, and I take it seriously. Most weeks, I create a menu plan and do my grocery shopping over the weekend so I have all my supplies. I love AllRecipes.com - it's a key part of my planning, and I usually get inspired to try a couple new recipes every week. A really well-executed week means we have planned leftovers for lunches, lots of good 'grinding' food and extra pucks for Julia and a least a couple of meals that everyone loves. A less stellar week means lots of PB&J sandwiches, some make-ahead dinners out of my freezer back-up and a trip (or two or three) to Cousins drive-thru.
2 - I've started wearing scarves again (not as in outdoor gear, but as in fashion). I have quite a few that were tucked in a drawer and unworn for years. Last week, another blogger posted some scarf-tying techniques, and I was inspired to dive into my stash. I've been able to put together a couple of outfits that wouldn't work without a scarf to pull it all together. I even got to wear a brand new pair of pants that I got on clearance, but didn't have anything to go with them until I did the scarf thing. Fashion at my fingertips.
3 - I love our redone bedroom. It's been a couple of months since we finished it, and I still get an "Ahhh" feeling every time I walk in there. The colors turned out perfect, and it is such a serene, relaxing space. Thinking about it gets my itching to do another re-do project. Basement, hallway, kitchen...what to tackle next!?
4 - Work is exciting right now. New ownership, Christine as the new VP of Marketing, new projects, new opportunities. It's been a long time since I've had work on the brain at home, but it's been good to stretch my mind with all of this "new".
5 - I love the mail. I can hear the mailtruck when it does the other side of Woodview Court, and I know it will be 45 minutes until delivery at our house. I practically dance out the door as soon as the mail arrives. This obsession is directly related to number 6.
6 - I am addicted to magazines. I have about 7 magazine subscriptions, and I regularly check magazines out from the library. Just can't get enough of them.
7 - As long as we're on the topic, I also LOVE to read. I take the kids to the library at least once a week, and I use the online searching/hold system to keep my reading queue filled so I am never without a good book to read. Luckily I am a super fast reader, so I can crank through a good book in an evening. Right now I am totally into vampire books - it started with the Twilight series, it moved to Sookie Stackhouse (done with all 8 of those), and now I'm into the Undead and ... (Unwed, Unemployed, etc) series.
8 - I have always worn my hair fairly short. It hit shoulder length for a while in the late 90's, but it's never been longer than that, and it's now a lot shorter. Since becoming a mom, my rule is that my hair has to be 'done' with no more styling than a quick blow dry. That works for me.
9 - I wear glasses all the time. I used to wear contacts most of the time, but that gave way to the ease of glasses nearly 10 years ago (yes, right about the time Alex arrived...no coincidence there). I tend to go for funky glasses now. One of my best splurges EVER was a pair of Juicy prescription sunglasses. They are brown and pink with a bit of bling and I just LOVE them.
10 - I take a lot of pictures. We got our first digital camera about 6 years ago, and I take thousands of pictures every year (the last couple of years, it's been around 10,000/year). One of my personal to-do's is to learn to take better pictures. I have a new Canon Rebel XTI (almost a year old now), and I still use the Auto setting for nearly all of my photos. It's time to take it to the next level.
11 - I love to play with color, and I'm not afraid of bold colors on the wall. I LOVE the orange wall in our Great Room. Before it was orange, it was a blend of deep red and dark blue (stipple painted). I love having a statement wall as the first thing people see when they come into our home. I think it says "Bold Personalities Live Here."
12 - I am fascinated by the sibling/family dynamics of our kids. It completely amazes me that 4 kids with the same DNA building blocks can turn out so different. And, it is amazing to see how those four personalities interact with one another. And, I must add it makes me so proud at a gut level that these children are mine.
13 - I am a multi-tasker. I usually have a lot of irons in the fire. I think this might be because my attention span keeps getting shorter and shorter. It might also be that my ambitions are greater than my waking hours. So many interesting things to do, so little free time to do it.
14 - My next creative project to learn is beading. I've already started accumulating the beads and some tools (and, no surprise, checked out some books from the library). Next step - gather everything I need and make my first creation from scratch.
15 - Movies don't have to be all that good for me to enjoy them. Matt and I go out so infrequently that just the time out in a quiet theater and comfy chair contents me.
16 - I think I have a fairly large amount of patience, but when it runs out, watch out. I can tolerate quite a bit of chaos and big voices and scattered toys and busy schedules, but when I reach the end of my rope, just back away.

Appreciate

I have to admit, I've pretty much abandoned making New Year's Resolutions. Somehow it seems that the busyness of the holidays leaves me without enough energy to think about a master plan to improve my life over the upcoming year. So, by the time I get my head around the fact that it is a new year, it's mid-January and the momentum is gone.

This year is different. Oh sure, I went through the first week ignoring the whole resolution thing. I toyed with the idea of doing a 365 photo project. I glanced over the 'word of the year' posts on the blogs of 'famous scrapbooking women'. I watched bits and pieces of Oprah's Best Life series. But, I didn't summon up enough hutzpa to actually do anything until today. And, really, it just kind of hit me unexpectedly.

The word hit me and just stuck. That word is appreciate. As in appreciate my blessings. As in show appreciation for those I love. As in appreciate what I have rather than regretting what I don't. But, I guess it's really not enough to just have a word. I need a plan.

So, here's the plan. This last week has been sending me bits and pieces of information that I've synthesized (oh, I love that word) into my big plan. At the root of it all, I want to appreciate the gifts I've gotten from God. So, I've been reading all kinds of books waiting for something to resonate. And, I found Beth Moore's "Believing God". Just picked it up from the library tonight (and, that library is near to the top of my appreciation list!). I've only started, and the ideas are still sinking in, but this book is going to be a big part of my plan. Read a blog by Leo Babauta that said change a habit rather than making resolutions. He says it only takes 10 minutes a day to create change. That's going to be the ticket. I'm going to work Beth's spiritual challenges into a plan that takes 10 minutes a day (okay, maybe a bit more), and I'm going to get closer to understanding God's plans and gifts and wonders for me.

I know, it's a little loosey goosey right now, but I can feel it in my heart that this plan is the thing I'm meant to do. I'm going to get stronger and kinder and happier...it's going to be good. This is not an idea that I can let just fade away. So, more details for this grand master plan and my progress to follow. Eventually...