Today...

6 days ago I posted about how my March goals were flying out the window...

I had no idea that less than 24 hours later I would be sitting in the ER of our local children's hospital with my daughter for her to receive fluids via IV as well as antibiotics for the UTI that was discovered while we were there.  Thankfully it was not a crazy emergency situation, but I realized on Wednesday morning that something was not "right" and a call to the pediatrician confirmed that we needed to go to the hospital.  I'm so, so, so thankful for the expertise that the doctors and nurses there have when it comes to working with children (and their parents!).  They were great.  We were all relieved when they said we could go home and didn't have to stay overnight.  By Thursday, we were already seeing significant improvements, although she continued to be very weak and tired.  Now, she is pretty much back to normal, aside from sleeping a little more than usual and eating to make up for lost time.  WOW...she has been SO hungry.

And, while I thought I had escaped the window of "contagion" by the time she was starting to improve, Friday night left me wondering, and by Saturday morning I was no longer wondering.  Yuck.  times a LOT.  I spent all day Saturday and the better part of Sunday in bed, and my sweet husband took care of daughter and the house, and tended to me.

So...those goals are just mocking me...mocking me, I tell you.

I did manage to read a book last week in the two afternoons that C took 3+ hour naps on the couch (waking only briefly to make sure I hadn't left her side...traumatic ER experiences do that to 3 year olds, apparently and understandably), and I'm about 50 pages away from finishing another...  not exactly the EIGHT I had hoped to finish for the month, but oh well.

C did get to participate in our church's annual Easter Egg Hunt last night which she has been looking forward to, and I enjoyed the quiet house for a little while.  Today I'm waging war on any remaining germs in hopes of keeping G from getting sick.  Laundry nazi, germ nazi...  I'm getting a reputation...

But, my body says it's not quite ready for "normal" yet, so I'm resting too.  I'm happy to stay inside away from the blustery snow flurries, and eat some homemade chicken noodle soup for lunch, graciously brought over by a sweet friend.  Another friend brought dinner over so I'm free from that responsibility tonight.  It is a blessing to be a part of the body of Christ, and this week has been another great reminder of that -- from prayers to kind words, phonecalls, meals offered/delivered, I am humbly grateful for these who have been the hands and feet of Jesus to us this week.

Here's to April....

(I'm not making any goals!)

March Madness...

So about those March goals....

I know that God is not a God that would "make fun" of His children...but I can't help but wonder when I was making my list of goals for the month and writing that last blog post including the reference to Proverbs 16:9 if He was smiling and saying..."Wait and see, child...  wait and see.  What I have for you is not YOUR plan, but it is much better."

Since my last post (15 days ago, if anyone is counting), I have not read ANYTHING on my reading list...  My reading goals for the month were already a bit lofty unattainable impossible ridiculous unrealistic.

I have managed to make it to the walking track with friends a few times, and that has been great -- as soon as the weather gets warm I love to be outside!  We have been able to play outside some too, which has been good for EVERYONE.

I started out pretty good with the 31 in 31 pinterest projects, but I'm falling behind some now...click on that link to see what I HAVE managed to try...

I did manage to get all my items tagged and dropped off at the consignment sale and am pleased with my profits from that.  My closets, however, are still not clean as I had hoped.

Spring cleaning........yeah, no.

The "someone else" section of my goals...I haven't been able to think about that just yet... but there are still 2 weeks left in the month!

Limit media for C -- what else CAN you do when you're too sick to get OFF the couch?  I definitely have NOT been limiting media.  We did manage to make it to the park and the children's museum and have plans to go again, so we might actually make that goal for the month.  The gorgeous Spring weather ends today and we're looking at a high of 44* by the end of the week...ideal weather for playing outside LOTS, yes? 

And, then there's the whole topic of the photo-a-day in March and blogging 3x a week....  let's NOT go there.

So, by this point (if you're still reading...hello...?) you're wondering what HAVE you been doing for the past 15 days?!?!?

Well, my friends...laundry.

LOTS of laundry.

Praise the Lord for these two blessings!

It started with washing everything for the consignment sale, because let's face it -- if you pull the clothes out of a storage bin and hang them up, they are not as likely to sell as they are when they look and smell fresh and pressed.  FACT.

Then it was washing bedding to get the guest room ready for my mom who came to visit for a few days, and our own laundry for the week.

Then I found out that we had been (unintentionally) exposed to head lice.  ick.  Taking all precautions, I washed EVERYONE's bedding (all of it!) everyday for 3 days in a row, plus all of our clothes as soon as we took them off, plus towels, stuffed animals, jackets, etc.  Laundry nazi?  Oh yes, that's me!

That fiasco was barely over (btw, it seems we have escaped the lice for this time! PTL!), and I thought I could stand to do some more laundry so I started washing all of the new things that I purchased at the consignment sale...  While switching out the loads, my daughter walks in to the laundry room and says timidly, "Mommy, I'm NOT going to throw up."  Quizzically, I started to ask, "Do you feel like you're........."  And then I didn't need to finish.  Who knew so much could come out of such a small body?!?  OH, and did I mention she had eaten Nutella earlier in the day?  How's that mental picture for ya?!?!

Yay.  MORE laundry.  And, being the germophobe that I am and trying to keep the parents from getting the plague, the washing of the bedding began AGAIN.  (I'm starting to understand why I regularly put new sheets on my Christmas list...)

At present, C is recovering from the virus and I'm encouraging her to eat and drink just about anything that she will.  She's a pretty weak girl at this point, but she's starting to perk back up.  The parents have no symptoms of anything...  Oh, and my washing machine and dryer are enjoying a much needed respite.

I did manage to get my sewing area setup (still have a few changes/additions to make) before I started the laundromat, so here are a few pictures of that...

This is on one side of our bedroom.

Container storage for now...will adjust as my collection of sewing gadgets increases.

Hope to get large popsicle sticks to wrap the ribbon around for storage eventually.  That's my Great-Aunt, btw.

Every morning I wake up and dream of creating something with all of this...if I only had the time.

For my 31 in 31 Pinterest Projects, I gave myself 2 stipulations -- I could only count new pins, as in things I had not previously tried, and they could not be all recipes.  Here's one of the non-recipe projects I completed this month...

The top was the first one I made, so you can see the progression and improvements.

And, I have started my spring decorating....

Hey!  It's something, right?!?

I'm mid-project for a pinterest craft for Spring decor, so I will get back to it, but I wanted you all to know that I am still alive and that I hadn't gotten buried under all those March goals....  or March Madness...  :)

March Goals...

It is a beautiful morning...it's deceiving to look outside, because the sun is shining, the sky is bright, and it looks like a beautiful day to be outside...but it's currently 30* out there...  Later today it will be nice to be out...

Y'all.  It's MARCH!  Seriously, WHERE did January and February go?!?  The slowest months of the year are GONE and boy did they fly by!  March is definitely coming "in like a lion" for me, as I'm full of inspiration, energy, and excitement.  Spring fever much?  

I decided to switch to monthly goals instead of weekly to see if I like that any better or differently.  And, let me tell you -- I have some LOFTY goals for March.  This is a continual reminder...

source

As a planner, I struggle constantly to give up MY plans for GOD'S plans.  I'm continually learning how to balance the tension that is planning and living an "orderly" life, and letting go of those plans that I made to fulfill God's calling to me when it is different.  It's easy for me to get very discouraged and feel like a failure when I don't get EVERYTHING crossed off of my list.  But at the same time, it is good for me to have some direction and structure to keep me focused.  So...balance...

Here's the recap of my goals for the end of last week...

Reading
+ Complete 5 days of Luke study

+ Read Chapter 1 & answer study guide questions for A Woman's Wisdom

+ Read Chapter 2 & watch video/read blogpost for Desperate

+ Read Intro and Chapter 1 of Jesus + Nothing = Everything

+ Read Chapter 3 of Leadership for Women in the Church

+ Finish The Secrets of People Who Never Get Sick

+ Look through Joy the Baker cookbook

Health & Well Being

+ Eat Clean

+ Drink Water

+ Move More

Home Project Completion

+ Make list of basic sewing supplies needed and supplies for a few projects

+ Make list of goals for March, including 31 Pinterest Projects in 31 Days (blog post coming soon!)

Organization

+ Planning for next week and for month of March

+ Make menu for next 2 weeks, grocery list, and coupons/deals list

For Someone Else

+ Childcare for Community family

+ Visit church member shut-in

For G & C

+ call to see about places/prices for professional framing for G's diploma

+ coffee date with G

+ research swim lessons & new carseat for C

+ play board game, play outside, and make fish craft with C

Blog

+ 3 posts

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March Goals

Reading (complete the following)
+ A Woman's Wisdom
+ Jesus+Nothing=Everything
+ Cultivating a Heart for Motherhood
+ Getting to NO
+ Proverbs 31 Women
+ Beyond Ordinary
+ Sacred Influence
+ Desperate

Health & Well Being
+ Eat Clean, WATER WATER WATER
+ Walk 2x weekly with friends
+ Walk 2x weekly on own
+ Play/work outside (garden ready, landscaping, clean off fence, etc)

Home Projects
+ 31 Pinterest projects in 31 Days
+ All items ready and tagged for consignment sale = clean closets!! :)
+ Sewing area set-up + dedicated sewing time 1x per week

Organization/Cleaning
+ Clean ceiling fans and light fixtures
+ Spring Cleaning - at least 1 item per weekday

Someone Else
+ Visit shut-in from church
+ Make meals for church freezer
+ Coffee/playdate with at least 2 friends

Family
+ G -- 2 dates, birthday planning, read/pray together
+ C -- pinterest crafts, limit media, play outside LOTS, park 2x, library, children's museum 2x, read lots and lots of books!

Blog
+ 3 posts per week...topics to include:

menu plans

book reviews

pinterest projects

recipes

photo-a-day

garden planning

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Alrighty then....time to get off this computer and GET BUSY!  Looking forward to a great month!  Hope you are too! :)