Things I plan to be better about in 2011......

Oh goodness. 

This could be a long list.....because I always have a lot I need to be better about. 

Well, let's see. 

• I definitely need to be better about reading my Bible and having quiet time. 

I always start off good in January, but then I'm not as consistent as I need to be...until of course the kids are stressing me out and I start quoting Ephesians 6:1 to the family in my calm, loving voice (NOT), "Children, OBEY your parents in the Lord, for this is right."

Oh stop laughing and thinking critical thoughts.....you probably do the same thing and you're just too embarrassed to let everyone know it.  No point in me trying to hide it...the neighbors probably hear me hollerin' it anyway!

• Sigh.  I'm going to try to be better about not finding the weight I lose at the beginning of the year.  

I mean, really....what is it with that?  When I lose other things....sometimes I never find them.  But by God...let me lose a few pounds, and lo & and behold they show up like nobody's business.  I've battled it my whole life it feels like.....  Anyway....I said I'm going to try to be better about it.....which doesn't box me into unrealistic expectations.  

• I'm going to try to blog more often. 

I don't think I did terrible for being a newbie this year...considering what a long year this has been with a pipe busting and flooding Karissa's room and then her suffering an injury leading to a yucky diagnosis.  But I would like to be better about blogging more often. 

• I need to be better prepared for the next morning...the night before. 

I know, I know.....four kids and a substitute teaching job....one would think I would be all organized and on top of things.  Not so much.   I have gotten very lax about the kids getting their things ready the night before and it always ends up in a, "I have no idea where your belt is....I don't wear it" sort of session in the morning.  Or a "check in the dryer and see if there are any school pants in there!" kind of conversation.  And then there's the ole', "I'm sorry there's no milk for cereal....grab a granola bar!" for the 5th day in a row routine. 

So yea.  I'm thinkin' I probably have a lot of room for improvement in that department. 

• And I have got to get back to what I know is best for the budget, and plan my meals better. 

This is something that I am usually really good about, and then the holidays show up and it all goes crazy.  I spend way too much money at the local grocery store, when with better planning and ad-matching I can get a lot more for less at Wal-Mart.  It's just about making the time to do it.  Making a list of the meals for that week...figuring out what I have vs. what I need....and then shopping for it.  These $30 trips to the local store KILL the grocery money budget. 

So what about you?  What things do you want to be better about in the new year?  Leave me a comment below!  Share with me!!! 

Oh. There's one more thing. 

•  I plan to be better about letting my readers know how much I appreciate them....because I do.

I love ya'!

I'm just sayin'.

You know that feeling you get.......

when you enjoyed the holidays a little more than you should have and your pants aren't fitting like they did back in October?

Or how about the suitcase that refuses to close because you are taking way more home from vacation then you came with. 

There's just that sense of determination. 

You WILL get that zipper shut.  No matter what it takes. 

Yea.  I can sympathize. 

Really.  Well. 

You see....as a really snazzy, knock-your-socks-off kind of present for my husband & myself....I bought some new sheets for our bed. 

Boring.  I know.  But when you've been married as long as we have....practical gifts take on a whole new meaning.  I get tired of having to wash the sheets as soon as I take them off just so that we have clean ones to sleep on that night.  And no....we aren't dirt poor...we just don't have multiple sets of sheets.  And really....that's not the point of this story anyway. 

So.  Back to the riveting Christmas present to us from me. 

And may I just add, that the whole purchase of sheets can be a rather daunting task.  It's the whole thread count thing....200?  Nah....400?  Hmmm.....ooooooo wait...there's a 700 thread count.  And then what I want to know is....who's the poor soul having to count all those threads ??? 

I was KIDDING. 

But seriously?  It is a wee bit confusing. 

So I finally make my investment purchase of sheets (those things are SO stinkin' expensive), and I come home so proud that I finally settled on 700 threads per square inch or whatever.....wrap them up and anxiously await Christmas morning when I can rip those babies out of the package....and get them nicely on our bed before we sleep tonight. 

However........no matter which way I turned the fitted sheet (which is another gripe of mine.....HOW do you know which corner goes where???), it wouldn't fit on my bed. 

We turned it...turned it again....nothing.  That sheet was not going on my king size mattress. 

And I felt pretty confident that as long as it had taken me to make a decision in the store that day, that there was no way that I could have possibly come home with the wrong size sheets.  No. Way. 

Ahem. 

I was sadly mistaken. 

I had purchased a queen size set of sheets for our king size bed. 

And just in case you're wondering if it's possible to fit those perfectly folded sheets back into the teensy tiny package that they came in? Let me just tell you....where there is a will....there's a way.

I will spare you the details of how it took two of us squeezing, folding, shoving, pushing to get them in there. 

But they're in. 

And they look just as good as when I bought them. 

 

Don't you think??

Well....I mean....you might have to overlook the broken zipper and all.....

I'm just sayin'.