Things to do:

I am interrupting your regularly scheduled broadcast to bring you this special bulletin... meaning I will get back to the REST of vacation pictures next week!

I have been sick for the last 5 months. NOT every day, or all the time but a lot. If I haven't, then one of  my kids  have! It has really, really screwed up some of my plans. I am fighting with wanting to be FREE and just go with the flow.... and on the other side knowing things have to be different for us to succeed!

So here are my things to do!

vitamin regiment. I am starting the entire family on vitamins- yes, Family Team- (elderberry????) feel free to send me yours!

schedule.  Yes, because you all KNOW how good I am at it, but it must be done.  So wake up time is 6:30 and the day shall be as regimented as I can make it but still allow us to breath!

routine.  I have set in motion a few new routines, one being a NEW chore system.. YES, because you know how much I like change and failing previously aforementioned chore chart systems!

grocery and menu planning.  I was really good at this and have felt it slipping away from me, so this is just a matter of putting THIS hat back on!  I will make my list of 30 rotating meals and quit trying to be ingenious for a while and just put food on the table!  I will also be busting out some batch cooking.

budgeting.  Dave and I tried this new budget thing called MINT.com    UM... hello it tracks everything you spend to see where your money goes.  OUCH.  Um Double OUCH.  So we are back to envelopes.  :0)

lesson planning.  I actually had great lesson plans for this 6 weeks- I am pretty happy with it but need to critique a few things.  I also need to again be diligent to be purposeful in the schooling we do!  I am calling MONDAY the beginning of my new 6 weeks and moving on from there! Our new schedule will take us through April 1 and sabbatical week, then through May 20.  We shall see!  :0)

homemaking.  I have been lacking in this area with not feeling so hot.  I am going to try to not let it drop so far into NOT A PRIORITY category again.  I also have so many plans with decorating that I want to do, but it is time for SPRING CLEANING and another GREAT PURGE!


SO none of these things are NEW..... I am just using YOU guys as an excuse to remind ME what I need to do!  THANKS GUYS....

Fair Trade...

Best Buy has a trade in system. So just for kicks one day I decided to SEE what my current stupid, dumb, wish I had never bought, has great reviews for everyone else, needs to be reset every ten pictures I take camera would be worth.

Nikon Coolpix S630 12MP Digital Camera with 7x Optical Vibration Reduction (VR) Zoom and 2.7 inch LCD (Jet Black)
Buy new: $194.99

I bought this camera a year ago I guess  I dont really remember, I do know that I paid less than 194.99 for it because it was the last of that kind and I had a discount, but I dont remember the actual total.. I am cannot find a blog post about it which is weird but anyway.

So I put in all the information and THIS IS what Best Buy would offer me:

Trade-In Estimate
Point & Shoot Nikon 8.0 Megapixels and Above Megapixel

CAMERA CONDITION: GOOD

OPTICAL ZOOM: 7X Optical

CAMERA FOCUS TYPE: AUTO FOCUS

EXTERNAL MEDIA INCLUDED WITH CAMERA: No Memory CARD

FLASH: BUILT-IN FLASH

LCD DISPLAY BUILT IN: YES

ORIGINAL SOFTWARE INCLUDED: YES

BATTERY TYPE REQUIRED: Rechargeable Battery(s) - included

AC ADAPTER / CHARGER: INCLUDED

INSTRUCTIONS / OWNERS MANUAL: INCLUDED

ORIGINAL CABLES AND/OR DOCK: ALL ORIGINAL CABLES INCLUDED

PC CONNECTIVITY: USB and/or FIREWIRE

BLUETOOTH CAPABLE: NO

EXTERNAL TELEPHOTO CONVERTERS / LENSES: NONE

Estimated Trade-in Value


(includes a Prepaid shipping label) Gift Card Value: $32.00


Mail Check Value: $21.00



Really, I mean really... $32.00?

I think that is ridiculous.  I can understand it not being HALF of the value but really..$32.00!

So I will be keeping my dumb, irritating, doesnt work right, wont focus unless I bend over backwards camera and keep on!  THIS time when I buy a new not dumb, not another point and shoot, camera it will be the ONE I want.  I am willing to shell out the bucks.. And you might not understand that but  my camera is PRICELESS to me.  One day I will post why.  :)

But for now I will go with my non- perfect working, point and shoot,  I have to stop and reset it so that the camera understands it has to FOCUS on the object I put in front of it camera and take a picture of my kids!

BTW.. this is what CEO of Best Buy has to say about their new program.

"Buy Back is essentially "future-proofing" your technology. You purchase the technology you want today, and we'll buy it back at a set price when you're ready to upgrade to something new. You'll know upfront what your gear will be worth, and you can conveniently redeem your Buy Back at our stores and immediately receive a Best Buy Gift Card."

                                                                                                       ----Brian Dunn, CEO

REALLY, "future-proofing" your technology.  I'm going to make a big dent in the $1220.00 camera I want to purchase with $32.00!  :0)

death...

Morbid. Yes, I know.

Do you know what your plans are for your own funeral?

I do.

I want to be buried in the CHEAPEST casket you can possibly buy. SAVE the money for the huge spray of flowers on top.. something VERY simply will do! Have people send money in lieu of flowers or at least make sure to take the flowers somewhere they can be appreciated.... don't leave them at the graveside. NO cremation! I gotta know my bones are dust in the Earth!

No big fancy headstone-- just enough so that you can find me to come visit.

DO not bury me in some fancy dress or stupid thing like that! I mean jeans and a polo work for me in life.. they will work for me in death! A little make up is fine, but NO more than I would in life.

When I was younger my grandmother passed away (my dads mom)... and she was my favorite! I mean she made me feel loved and like I was apart of the family--- sometimes I wondered at that young age with my family... Amy adn Brian seemed to fit, but I didn't. Anyway, when she passed away it was a really big deal for me. I missed school for a whole week. I remember being at the funeral and my best friend Suzy Johnson's mom MADE me go look at her--- she said it was disrespectful if I didn't! So I did. I remember her hair was all extra curly and she had on so much makeup that I could barely recognize her. THIS traumatized me. I mean to this day I resent that I had to go look at her. Gotta let that go soon! :)

Anyway, there weren't many deaths that touched me again until I was a grown up adn my great grandmother died. I did go "see" her also, but it took a lot and she was less made up--- PLUS I knew she would have liked being all dolled up and people looking at her! I faired much better as an adult.

So those were the only two funerals I have EVER looked at the person.

Until my husband grandmother died a few years ago that is... and I took the kids (this was their first funeral ever) up to see her if they wanted to -- which weirdly enough they all did. It wasn't as traumatic for them as it was for me... I don't know why it hits some people the way it does.

So three. That's it. I have been to a FEW other funeral but choose to stay in the back. Or I choose to not go. Disrespectful or not... that is ME.

So when I die... don't come if you are freaked out by "looking" or come sit in the back! I won't care! :0)

I am trying to be lighthearted when really this is such a serious conversation. People you need to be prepared. We don't know when death is coming. You need to have a plan and you need to have things organized. You need to know what your spouse would like, and you need to know what the next step is.

I for one KNOW that when I die... I want to be surrounded by my family and my real friends-- anyone else, I don't really care. When I die.. I want more joy than sadness, but you cant make people be glad! When I die... I want stories about me, but NO rose colored glasses-- tell it like it was. If I die before my kids are grown.. I want you to tell them the things I would tell them.. I want you to help them become the person God wants them to be...I want you to help Dave because Lord will he need it.

I also want when I die...to die in summer. I think maybe, just maybe your grief lasts a shorter time when life is growing and the sun is shining.. i think it lasts longer in the bleak winter, when all is grey and life is scarce. So if I could choose- which I can't, I choose all of this and it is written down for all to see---FOREVER.

Forever.. even unto death.

The LORD is near to the brokenhearted
and saves the crushed in spirit.
Psalms 34:18

Good, Better or the Best.....

I do not often link back to other people's blogs for an entire post but today...I am!

I read the Keeper of the Home almost everyday. She is personally inspiring! I feel like so many of things I WANT to do she is already doing and might possibly help me to put those things into place in my own home life. I too want to not just be a mom, wife, school teacher...I want to be a keeper of the home. I feel those words line up directly with the Proverbs 31 women, whom I aspire to be! Trust when I say I am no where near that, but if there is a path than I am somewhere in the vicinity of the way to the path!

Anyhoo! I read her post today and it is part of a series about SIMPLICITY...

I am craving simplicity. I am almost desperate for it. There are many things I do in my life because I think I should or I think it is good. Well in in today's post she reminds me that...sometimes doing the good things dont leave room for the best thing. Hmmm.

I am not a quitter and I certainly DO NOT jump into situation lightly. I am just not that kind of person. I pray, think, talk it through, think some more...you get the picture. I am telling you that about myself so that you wont think I am just one of those women who start stuff and dont finish it. I detest those women--- not just the ones who quit something but the ones who do it again and again and again (without good reason). You know!

So to say the least I do not want to be one of those women so I usually finish whatever I start! Well I am doing the same this year, I have started with activities that are good or even great..but they are not the BEST for my family.

Needless to say I will not be doing this again! Well you know for a few months anyway!

I have at different points of my life thought I learned the lesson about saying NO, but I always seem to need to learn it again! I thought this year was different because I wasnt asked to participate in said activities, I volunteered---by myself after talking with dh and praying! So I thought I was doing the right thing.

No I want to make it clear that I am not burnt out. I did not take on too much! I just feel like I took on the wrong activities? If they were different activities that I felt were the best fit I might feel differently! But it is not burn out, it is a bad fit!

So after talking to dh, we have decided that in one area I would back down and do what I needed to do in order to keep my commitments and in another activity I would remain just as active and simply finish out the year. I am okay with this decision. I am good with that.

What remains to be seen though is when other opportunities arise... and they will, how do I know if they are good or the best???

Any thoughts????