Soooo, has it really been this long?

Almost 2 months since my last posw. WOW, I really didn't think it had been THAT long. I'm trying to remember what I haven't posted about...

Jason's grandma died and him, his sisters and mom had to fly to California. It was a pretty crazy time. I had just gotten my bonus and then ended up paying for everyone's plane ticket. Now, I don't mind helping out, but most of that was bill money. One of my SIL was going to pay me back, of course DH paid me back, and then there's the situation with my other MIL and SIL who is not at fault. Here's what happened: Right when the death happened, I took it upon myself to help out by pricing some plane tickets. They were on average 800+ dollars...EACH. There was no way that was going to happen. So they decided to drive. My MIL's dad was sending her 500 dollars to help out with the trip. But then we found out the funeral was going to be for a later date and Jason said I should check on priceline.com. I thought I would offer the ridiculous amount of 175 dollars for the round-trip ticket and it got ACCEPTED! Wahooh! With taxes and everything it would be 220. Not bad for a last minute round trip ticket. Well, to make a long story short, my MIL was supposed to give me the 500 dollars to pay for her ticket and my other SIL's ticket (who is flat broke), and even part of another ticket. They said they would pay me back. .......fast foreward to after CA. MIL was sending me a check. I knew MIL's dad gave her a lot more money because she was telling my SIL about it and was crying about it, so I know it wasn't 20 dollars, it had to be more. SO, I get my check in the mail (which was supposed to be 500) and it said 212 dollars. WHAT??? Almost 300 dollars short. That would have been fine except I'm late on some bills and needed to get caught up. NOW I didn't get to pay them and there are late fines etc...I was so frustrated. So now I try not to dwell on it because it would just make me angry. I seriously don't mind helping out. If I had the money and didn't need it then it would have been fine but that wasn't the case. Anyways, I get paid in a week and there should be a bonus that will make up the difference, so I know thinkgs will be fine. I guess I'm more upset about the whole trust issue here. She said she was sending 500 dollars and she sent 212. Well, enough about that....

Work is going good. I'm trying to hold out for another position and I'm being told that it could be soon so fingers crossed!!

Well, speaking about work, I need to get to it if I want to make some Christmas $$$$$.

Jen

Wednesday..

Life is so busy right now!! My mom and dad came on Sunday night. They were supposed to stay until Thursday but ended up leaving Tuesday afternoon :(

Another thing is we started painting. Well, actually priming. We're doing Jada's room first and I am so excited. Our house is all panel and can seem so dark at times. So far the room doesn't look good but it's just had 1 coat of primer. We will do another coat and then put color on the wall.
:)
So that was Monday.
:)

So I had my midterm yesterday. I think it went good. :)

Ok, DH is home so I better get going....

Jen

My voice is GONE!

My throat started to hurt the other night and so I knew it was coming...I don't feel too bad, just a little tired and of course my throat still hurts, but I have no voice! I can squeak out a sound but it's not pretty. My dear husband who is so funny, is like "huh?, can you speak up please, I can't hear you!" haha. :)

Oh, I can't begin to say how tired I am right now. I have worked every day for the past two and a half weeks. I'm not complaining though because I should get a couple great paychecks. My goal is to actually get 10-20 hours of overtime. Wouldn't that just rock? I think I could actually get caught up and start saving for Christmas. I would love to have money put back for the Day after Thanksgiving sales. Last year I was only able to get a handful of things but this year hopefully I can get more. Two years ago we were out of money and Jason got a bonus check at the last minute. We ended up getting all the presents on Christmas eve. It was slim pickin but we survived and it was fun!

I can't wait for the Holidays. I actually want to start on some new recipes so if you have any, I'm trying to come up with some more things to make...

Ok, gotta get to work!!

Jen

Funny story about high school Jen

I went to high school in Memphis Tennessee...actually, a town called Bartlett. Anyways, when I was a senior in high school it was a requirement for everyone to do a big term paper at the end of the school year. Like always I waited until the last minute to do mine and had a couple sleepless nights. Now that I think back, that is when I became addicted to coffee...

So, I finally got the paper done, not my best work though, and I needed to type it out. It was due that day but for some reason the computer at my house was not working. Ugh, I had to type it at school. I typed all day long because it was a long-*ss report. When English class came around I still didn't have it done, but she said as long as I turn it in that day it wouldn't be counted late. I FINALLY got it finished but when I went to turn it in she wasn't there yet and I had to go to work. I was getting desperate because I knew it wasn't my best work and if I turned it in late then I would automatically go down 1 letter grade.

So, I went to work (shoe carnival) and got an idea. She said if it was turned in THAT DAY. So I got the phone book and looked her up. She was actually hard to find. I had to call a couple people and even talked to some of her relatives. I finally found her number and next to it was her address. Easy. After work I would run by her house and turn it in, before midnight, therefore technically turning it that day. I was getting off work late though, around 10:30 so I had to hurry.

When I finally left work I set off to find her house. It was late and I didn't want to wake her up though. It actually didn't take too long to find it. Oh, the term paper was in a plastic binder thing. I not only had to turn in the typed report but I also had to turn in a whole butt load of notecards. Hmmmm, what to do. All the lights are off and I don't want to knock on the door. So I positioned it against the garage door. She would have to see it that way. In the morning she would get it, I would not be docked a whole grade because I had turned it in the night before. Perfect.

After dropping it off I went home and went to bed. Then awoke a couple hours to the most horrible sound.....rain. Yes, it had rained. Not only rained but it stormed too. I prayed that maybe it magically didn't rain at her house.

So I get to school the next day a little late and as I'm walking to my first class people passing give me little comments like "Hey, sorry about your paper." "Woah, are you okay?" I'm a little confused at this point but I know it can't be good. It turns out that it did storm at my teacher's house and my report and note cards got blown out of the folder. All over her yard. And her neighbor's yard. She said neighbors were bringing her notecards all the next week. Great. I guess that's what happens when you procrastinate! I ended up getting a D I think...and now she has a story of "How NOT to turn in your term paper."

:)

Jen

Waiting

Now I'm just waiting for my rough draft to be returned by the teacher. I actually changed quite a bit of things before I turned it in. When I get it back I have someone that will look at it for me and give me more feedback. I really want a perfect score on this paper. Silly I know, I just really want to prove that I can do it and do it right! It's funny to be in school again. I can't wait until next semester. I think I'm going to take psychology 2. I already took psychology 1 when I started college the first time.

So it's the weekend and I will be working. I don't mind, I volunteered. The pay is good and I really need the money and I have to make up hours I didn't make during the week. I had a huge headache yesterday morning and so I took something for it, and it made me a zombie the rest of the day. I only got about 4 hours in yesterday. On October 1 I have myself as switching to full time. That means I will have to get at least 39 hours during the week. I hope I'm able to keep up, but it really shouldn't be a problem. I will be happy to finally have school finished and be able to start my career as a nurse.

Oh, I'm glad all the drama at COF is over. I didn't write too much about it here but my goodness. Anyways, it's over so no need to open up that can of worms again!

Jason and the kids and my SIL are going to the fair tonight. I may go too, it just depends. I think AF is going to start and if so then I am certainly NOT going. Last time was my first since having Jaylin and it was HORRIBLE. I'm not sure if it's because I had my tubes tied or what. I hope it calms down though.

Well, I better get going, I have a big day ahead.

Jen

Monday

So today should be a regular old Monday. I'm sitting here with my little kitten, he's so cute! I wish I could find the cable to my camera then I could post pictures.

So, some things are going on a COF and it has me really bothered. Actually, it's one person. I don't even know what to say. I think she just wants to create some drama. Oh well, I won't even bother with her :)

We went to church yesterday. It was good. I liked the sermon. On the way to church though Jason was being a little testy I don't know what his problem was. Also, on the way home from church he was just onry. He later apologised so that's good. After all that he took the kids and my SIL to the movies. It was so nice because I only had Jaylin and it was her nap time. I got a couple hours of just quiet!!

After that, I made dinner and put the kids to bed. Then my SIL and I went to WalMart to get groceries. When we got home I saw that I ended up with a couple of bags of someone elses groceries. There was nothing I could do though, it takes 30 minutes to get to WalMart from here and it was already after 10:00. There were 4 big blockes of motzerella cheese, one Mexican queso cheese and some chicken. Hmmm, I wonder what all that cheese was for? I'm going to have to look up some recipes that call for lots and lots of motzerella. Maybe I could make motzerella sticks....

Anyways, I guess it's time to go to work. :)

Bye!

Jen

Wednesday, Hump Day

Ok, so I have always thought that sounded a little bit dirty...

I can't find the cord to my camera, that means I can't download any pictures to my computer. I have no idea where it is, I have looked everywhere I can think of. It's really starting to bug me.

Today I am trying to get a lot of work done. One of my best friends and co-workers are on the same account at work. It's actually funny how we met. I had just gotten a job at MedQuist and needed some childcare for a month or so. Back then I had to train in the office. Anyways, Jewlee had an ad out in the paper for childcare. I gave her a call but then some family came into town so I didn't need anyone because they were going to do it. Weeks later though I had lost her number, so we almost didn't meet. But, she ended up calling me.

She had a home daycare thing going on and I was always very impressed with how good she was at her job. We got to talking though and it turned out that she was ready to do something different. She was asking about what I did and where I went to school and then just decided to do it. To make a long story short, now we work at the same place on the same account. Even though she still lives in Arizona and I'm here in Alabama she is one of my closest friends.

Wow, all that to get to this. We are "racing" this pay period. Whoever gets the most lines wins and the loser has to send them a Starbucks card. With that said, I need to get to work!! I could really use some Starbucks now...

For now though I will just have my coffee with sugar and French Vanilla cream and be happy!

Let's see if I can beat my old record for most lines in a day...or at least get to 2500...I'll let you know!!

Jen

Friday!!

So it's Friday. I, however, am going to work all weekend so It's not too much of a weekend. That's okay though because I'm saving up money. There are a few things that I really want to save up for:

- Ipod
- Recliner for Jason
- There are materials I want from Lowes to update my Kitchen. (we all know how much money that can take!!)
- School. I'm paying up front. No more student loans for this girl!
- An exercise bike or treadmill. Not too expensive.
- Christmas
- Savings

To name a few :)

Tomorrow is the Alabama football game. I have no idea who we are playing but I just love football season. Here you either go for Auburn (boo) or Alabama (roll tide!!). We just got a new coach so hopefully we will have a successful season. This is my favorite time of year. Soon it will be halloween then Thanksgiving. I love Thanksgiving. You don't have to worry about giving or receiving presents, it's about food and giving thanks for everything you have. And I have a lot to be thankful for.

I'm afraid my yard is becoming a typical Alabama yard. I hate to say it. We have about 2 acres, so nice and so different from our yard in Arizona. I drive a Kia sedona van. Not my dream vehicle if you ask me but it's nice, 2003. Jason drives a little honda that he baught for $50.00. Yes, fifty dollars. So you can imagine it's not beautiful. The poor thing is dented and just about to fall apart. He drives it to work though and it's great on gas. Next, we have a F-100 truck. I think it's nice, it's a 1970s model. It's black and nice. Kind of. It is broken down. Jason is saving to fix it up really nice. Right now though, the engine is out and it needs a new hood. Finally, this last week he decided he needed a running work truck. He found one and baught it for 700 dollars. It's an F250 and blue. (I'm pretty sure it is spray painted) So now we have one nice vehicle and three old ones. I fear our yard is going to look like a junk yard!! Well, it doesn't look THAT bad. If I had the $$ I would get him a different car and help him fix up his truck, and as long as I have the money let's just get him a nice work truck too!! (a girl can dream)

Maybe after I become a nurse. :)

Jen

Tuesday feels like Monday!

Doesn't it always feel like this on a Tuesday after a holiday?

This week I have a couple things I need to do. For one, it's important that I finish reading my textbook assignments for my English class. I'm not sure I will LOVE this class but I am glad to be taking it. It's my first step to finishing school. It's so embarrasing though. I went to college for 2 1/2 years and don't have too much to show for it. What did I do back then? I know, I played! I did really bad my first semester and then decided to do good the second and made the Deans list. So that means I failed English 101 and then passed English 102 with flying colors. If I only knew now back then... I really think some kids should not go to college straight out of high school. I know I should have waited until my maturity level was up a bit. You know you feel so "grown up" and free. If I were really as grown up as I thought, I would have gone to class more and studied. Oh well, you live and learn.

My class right now will be a series of essays. So I guess I need to write in my Blog more for practice. If I do good this semester maybe I'll take 2 classes next. We'll just have to see.

My house is horrible. That's one thing I have got to do this week. I want to fix my house up and I really can not do that unless it is clean. I just don't understand how it can get like this so fast! I will literally have a clean kitchen one morning and by bedtime it's trashed. I'm sure it has nothing to do with having 4 children. ;)

Well, I must go make some coffee. The kids will be up soon and Jake needs a bath.

Have a great day!!!

Jen

Work

Work is going fine. They are going through a lot of changes lately and some are good and some are not so good. I am still up for the Production Supervisor job but I don't know how long that will be. They have put a hold on hiring for those jobs for now. They want to wait until all the changes have been put in place. But I am getting to do QA, usually a couple days a week. QA is where I basically check the other transcriptioninsts work and fill in their blanks. I like it because it isn't a production job, I get paid hourly. It's just nice to do.

I'm still doing school although there isn't much to do right now. Once September starts I'll be getting my assignments. I am really looking foreward to this, it's my way to prove that I CAN do it.

Well, I need to get to work now. I got called yesterday to see if I would be intersted in doing QA this weekend and although I worked all last week, I jump at the chance to do QA whenever I can!!!

Jen

Wow, it's been a while!

It really has huh? Hmm, where to start? Jake and Jada started school 2 weeks ago. I can't believe I now have 2 kids in school. The house seems so much more quiet and calm during the day. It's easier to keep the house cleaner while they are away. Jada is really enjoying Kindergarten. I knew she would. The poor thing was getting so bored at home so I know she was ready to do things! Jake likes first grade too. He really feels like a big kid now that he's a big first grader ;)

What else?... Oh, I went back to school. Actually it's an online class through the college in town. English. I don't really like the whole writing essays and stuff so I thought I would get that out of the way. It came with 3 text books, one of which is a novel that we have to read. I am happy to report that I read it all a week ago. I can be a procrastinator so this is a big deal for me. We don't have to have it read until the middle of September but I have it all done. Yeah me! My final goal is to go into nursing, but it's going to take a long time. That's okay though.

My aunt died almost 2 months ago and it was a real suprise. I really miss her, we were close. What is crazy is about a week before she died I was looking through some pictures and came across one of her. I thought to myself "I should call Aunt Elaine and see how she's doing." But I got busy and never got to make that call. Then she passed away. She was only 51. She will be missed, but I know she's in heaven now with my pawpaw and having a grand old time! She was an avid sewer and I got one of her sewing machines. My mom should bring it up soon. I don't know how to sew but I'm planning on teaching myself! I have visions of me making clothes and quilts!!!

Ok, I have GOT to get to work. I'll try not to forget about the blog any more though :)

Jen

Long week

Whew, what a week! I decided last Wednesday to get a dress or skirt for Easter. It's been about 2 years since wearing either so that's kind of a big deal for me. Off to the store we went but to no avail, Wal Mart had nothing. I didn't think they would honestly. The next night I took Jaylin and Jodie with me to shop some more. I went to Ross and they had nothing. I went to Old Navy and they had nothing. Then I went to Belk. This really nice sales associate helped me pick out an outfit and I thought it looked ok. She said it was really flattering. When I checked out the total for one skirt and one shirt was 48 dollars! Well, I don't usually buy clothes so I decided I would just get it.

On my way home I began to feel a bit of buyers remorse. When I got home I went up and tried the outfit on again and totally changed my mind. That shirt did NOT flatter me, it made me look downright chunky! I just had my fourth kid, there's not much that really is going to flatter me to be honest...I decide to return the outfit. I haven't yet but I will this week.

Saturday after an easter egg hunt at our church I took the kids with me to Goodys. I tried on a couple things but didn't really like any of them. All these dresses and skirts look so cute on other people but not really on me. Instead I buy a brand new pair of shoes and earrings and a necklace. I got a shirt from WalMart and wore it on Sunday with jeans, and the high heels and earrings. Not the necklace because it didn't look good with the whole thing. I am not much of an accessory person, I wish I was....Maybe someday I'll put together a really cute outfit on my own. Until then I rely on my friends, acquantiances and yes- the random person shopping within 2 feet of me. If I had a quarter for each time I stop someone to ask if this and that matches I would be able to afford that outfit from Belk!

:)

Jen

Wow, that was easy

So, I just got off the phone with Fisher Price and they are sending me a replacement, it's that easy. For some reason I thought it would be harder! Yeah!!

Oh, and I went downstairs to feed Jaylin this morning and found my rocker/glider chair is broken. Well, I got good use out of it. It was from Wal-Mart so I think it did great lasting as long as it did. I got it when Jodie was born. I guess this is my sign that I was right to think about getting Jason a new "daddy's chair" for our 7 year anniversary. Maybe I'll get 2!! This time I'm going to get a nice rocker recliner chair. Lazyboy maybe? I'm not sure what kind to get- I guess I'll just have to go shopping! Oh dear ;)

Jen

OH GREAT!

Crap, crap, crap!! The swing broke around 1:00 last night. The mobile will work and so will the music, but it just won't swing. I'll be calling Fisher Price today and see about a replacement. The thing isn't even 4 months old for crying out loud! Well, maybe Jaylin will learn to sleep in the pack n play now....

My journal had been about my journey with the Flylady and I'm still doing that, just not going so much into detail. I feel like I've gotten a little behind but I'll get caught up soon- I just have so much do do right now it seems. I would love to finish getting the bathroom all organized, along with both living rooms and my bedroom. I SO want all this paneling gone from my house. I want drywall that's painted. It would be a whole new house. I think if it was just me I would have had it done already. Not to make him sound bad or anything, but Jason just doesn't get in a hurry about things like that. He started a project before Christmas of '05 and I was a little worried that it would just sit there. Now, Spring of '07,......it's just sitting there. It can make a woman go mad!! Good thing he's so handsome! :)

Work is going pretty good, I'm actually running late this morning thanks to the whole swing ordeal. That baby takes her naps and everything in that thing- I'll update once I talk to Fisher Price, hopefully they will help me out as Jaylin practically lives in that thing!!!

OK- Gotta start work. I did a whole budget where I have to bring home a certain amount of $$$ and anything over that goes into my spending budget. Since I'm paid on production, if I produce a lot more then I get more money and therefore I get curtains!!!! (and an IPOD), (and new pots and pans), (and drywall???)..we'll see.

Jen

Flylady up to day 12-15

I'm still doing good. Sink is still shining and I'm trying to keep up the decluttering although I'm a little behind on that because of work and other things. Jodie was sick on Wednesday and it looks like Jada is sick today. Hopefully no one else gets this little bug...

As a review:
day 12- Delete all e-mails I have saved up from the Flylady. Easy for me, I delete them after I read.
day 13- Do one of Kelly's missions. Every day she has a specific mission to be completed. Obviously I have to read it and do it. So far I have read it, maybe today I'll get to do one!
day 14- Do what I've been doing
day 15- Make bed every day in the morning from now on. Shouldn't be too hard. Just get up and make it. :)

Yesterday Jake made a comment about the sink always being clean. Yeah!!! I'm trying to do this right and not get too ahead of myself but it looks like it's working and before long I'll have a clean house all the time without making myself crazy.

Back to work!--

Jen

Flylady day 9, 10, 11

Wow, what a weekend. My parents are here and that was a pretty good visit although I have to say I was ready for them to go home!! They do help keep the kitchen clean and they always do laundry but for some reason whenever the leave the house seems more cluttered than ever. There are also little annoyances I tend to have with my mother, but I won't go into that right now :)

Flylady...Going good! Slowed down over the busy weekend (Jake's first baseball game of the season) but I still did okay. The sink is shining so I did pretty good!

Day 9- 2 minute hot spot.

Day 10- Add a 5 minute room rescue and 15 minutes of decluttering. I haven't done the decluttering thing yet but I think I'm going to do the file cabinet, it needs it BAD!

Day 11 (today)- Write in the control journal an "inspirational page." With things like I can do it! and so forth.

Ok, back to work. I want to get as much done so I can get some $$$ to fix up this house! :)

Jen

Flylady day 7 and 8

Things are going good so far. My mom and dad are here for a visit and that's going fine. One thing the Flylady says is not to be a perfectionist. You don't have to have things perfect all the time. It will drive you crazy and you won't be able to get everything done. It can hinder you at times. I find that is true. Before my parents came I didn't have much time to sweep and mop. Usually that is a big deal around here. We move all the chairs and high chairs into the other room along with the trash can and sweep everything up. This may mean sweeping it a couple times to make sure we get everything. Then you mop and put everything back. It is tedious and takes time and I like to get it looking perfect. (for 5 minutes until something is spilled on it AGAIN!) Instead of doing that I swept real quick. I did a good job, but I probably didn't pick up everything as I didn't move the chairs all out of the way. I then did a fast mop by spraying Mr Clean and then mopping the floor with a wet mop. This took all of 5 minutes. It looked good too. Wow, even though it wasnt "perfect" it worked. My dad even said, hmmm, the floor looks real good. :) :) It's starting to work already!!

Day 7 was a day to add to my list of "to do" things. Before bed I pick out my clothes for the next day. Easy enough, and it eliminates me having to think in the morning. I like that.

Day 8 I have to get out a foulder and put paper in it. This is the beginning of my control journal. Actually I'm cheating a bit because my mom is helping me get a Fly Lady control journal. :) I'm excited about that. That's it for now!!

Ohh, ohh, today I did a 2 minute hot spot clean up. My whole desk is cluttered, bad. What good is 2 minutes? Well- I got one whole side of the desk cleaned up! I know it sounds silly, but even with that little part cleared out, I already feel better. Just one step closer to that wonderful feeling of having a truly clean house. :)

Jen

Fly Lady day 5 and 6

Yesterday was day 5. It was to recognize the negative voices when you hear them and changing the words to be nice to you. Then she wanted me to write them down. I can find myself having the attitude that I can't have a clean house and nothing will ever change. I wrote down that yes I will have a clean house and yes I can do it. Wow, this kind of seems silly, but I'll give it a go- especially if it makes my life a little easier!

Today is day 6. Now we are getting started with the "good" stuff. Today we learn about hot spots. A hot spot is a place where things tend to get built up. Mine is my kitchen counter, desk, beside my bed, file cabinet, fireplace mantle, etc...wow, I have a LOT of hot spots!! I am supposed to take a timer and set it for 2 minutes and just pick up. When the timer goes off then stop. You would be suprised how much clutter you can clear out in just 2 minutes. Now throughou the day us Flybabies get many many e-mails. One e-mail is a reminder about your hot spots and tell you to take 2 or 5 minutes and get them cleared out. Wow, after a couple times clearing they will be clutter free. Then keeping it up every day- I can see how such a small trivial thing can lead to a more organized home.

Tata!!

Jen

Fly Lady Day 3 and 4

Ok, I'm not mad any more and I **might** have been overreacting a little bit. It was a stressful day and I did get the building cleaned out with the help from my darling son and no thanks to the big humungous carpenter bees. They scare the crap out of me even though they don't sting. They are really intimidating. The were seriously ganging up on me and trying to buzz me out of there...it almost worked.

Fly lady- Yesterday was day 3. The instructions were to just do what I have been doing, that is keeping the sink shiny and getting dressed all the way first thing in the morning. I did that, pretty much...I didn't get a shower until later, but it was lazy Sunday so it's ok.

Today is day 4. The instructions are to do everything I have been doing and to put a post-it note on my mirror and above my sink as little reminders to keep it up. So far it's going good. Although DH is making fun of me because I want the sink dry at all times now. To him it's just a sink and they get wet. I understand that, but it can be dried out after you use it right?

My goal is to go all the way through the 31 steps of Flylady and get this house in order. I want to do this without telling DH what I'm doing and it make enough of a difference that he says something on his own about how nice the house is looking. We'll see!

Jen

Fly Lady Day 2

Well, yesterday went good. I shined my sink and now I find that I'm anal about keeping it dry and shiny ;)

Day 2 - www.flylady.com We'll see how this goes- hopefully good because I want my house to be nice and clean and stress free...Yeah right-

I deleted this post because it was kind of mean towards my dear husband. :)

Jen

Fly Lady Day 1, take 2!

Well it didn't even work out yesterday. I gut busy with work and didn't get to start the whole shining the sink process until 9:30. I was tired and to shine the sink properly you have to fill the sink with hot water and bleach and let it set for an hour. Needless to say, the sink did NOT get shined last night! So, I'm doing day 1 today and the sink is soaking as I type.

Ok, I have to get to work now as in about 2 hours my niece will be coming to play. Jada and Jodie should have fun with that. She's spending the night and it's their first little sleepover :) I'm thinking tents and sleeping bags downstairs...I have a feeling we are going to be tired tomorrow!! No problem though, this is what having kids is all about ;)
Jen

Fly Lady Day 1

Ok, ok, I said I was going to be better about writing in my blog..:) I'll do better I promise.

So in the quest of getting my house more organized I decided to try Flylady again. It has never worked before because I would try to do all the steps at one time and get too overwhelmed. Well, I'm going to follow the "rules" this time and see how far it gets me. There are 31 baby steps so I guess today will be the first day for me. Step 1 on www.flylady.com. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to list the actual step so anyone can reference it directly. Seems like a little thing..but I'm going to do it.

Here's to the first day and first baby step to organization for my house!

Jen

Happy Birthday to me!

Well, this weekend was pretty good. Jason had to work on Saturday so I did too. Sunday morning we woke up and just stayed in bed talking and of course Jaylin ate a lot. We ended up not getting ready for church soon enough so we didn't go. We did sit in bed and watch a movie and some TV and were just really lazy! Later in the afternoon we had to go to town for an eye appointment for Jason and then we ate Mexican food! It was sooooo good. After that I went grocery shopping while Jason stayed in the van with the kids. It was nice to go in there alone. We then went home and I cleaned the kitchen and we cleaned up the house a bit and before long it was bedtime!

This morning has been pretty regular except it's my birthday :). Today I am 28 years old. Wow, I'm 28 and I have 4 kids. Crazy huh? We will still be young by the time the kids finish high school, although Ican't imagine them being that big. My goal for the week is to work on the house at least 2 hours a day, except for Wednesday (my day "off") when I will try for 4. I'll set an alarm and whenever I do dishes or laundry or clean anything it will count down my time. My thinking is things will get really cleaned up this week. That's my goal. Not too much else to add right now. I've been lazy and talking on the phone and not doing too much work so I need to get to it!!

Jen

Friday!!

Yeah, it's Friday!! Too bad Jason has to work tomorrow. My poor baby has a doctor's appointment today and I'm so sad because she has to get shots and the heel prick test. NOT fun. I wish I could take her place.

Well, she is still sleeping in the swing, that thing is a Godsend.

Not much to talk about right now. I just got a new boss at work because my old one quit last week. This will be the third one in a couple of months. This one sounds very nice and upbeat. The only thing is I think she's a real stickler for working your "scheduled" hours and that's hard with an infant. I can't schedule when she eats so they are going to have to work around that for me. I have got to ask for a raise. I have only gotten one and I have been working there almost 4 years. It's crazy really, but I like the account I'm on so I can't complain too much...

Yesterday started out great!! Then the hungry little girl put a little kink in my plan and I ended up feeding her FOREVER in the afternoon. It is really starting to make me want to switch to bottles, seriously.

OK, I have got to get to work so I can be somewhat productive today. This afternoon after the doctor's appointment I will run by Wal-Mart and get food for dinner tonight and then come back home and work. And eat beef jerky.

:) Jen

God bless the swing!

Last night I fed Jaylin from both sides and then gave her a bottle. Then I gave her some gas drops and put her in her swing at 11:30 and laid down on the couch. I woke up at 5:00 to her still sleeping! Wahooh!! I don't care if it's in her swing- she slept from 11:30-5:00 and that means I did too! Eventually it will be nice if she doesn't have to be in her swing to sleep all night but if that's what it takes then that's what I'm going to do. Tomorrow she has a doctor's apopintment and is going to be getting shots. I'm so sad for her- poor baby :( Oh well, it has to be done.

Today is the first day of my new goal for myself at work. I'll have to come back later and say how much I actually did, but I am going to **TRY** to get up to 3000 lines a day. I used to only do 1000, then the system changed at work which allowed me to go faster. Then I did 2000+ lines a day. I have gotten up to 3000 a couple times but I'm going to try to make it a daily thing. Then maybe we can get rid of some debt in our lives, wouldn't that be nice?

Ok- Gotta get started on those 3000 lines!

Jen

Four

That's the hours of sleep I got last night. God sure knew what he was doing when he made babies so cute!! Poor Jaylin just could NOT get to sleep last night. I nursed her until it hurt and finally gave in and gave her a bottle. She still would not go to sleep so I got desperate. I put her in her swing, got a pillow and a blanket and slept on the couch while she was swinging. I put her down around 12:00 and she slept until 4:00. That was a nice stretch of sleep :). At 4:00 she woke up and I took us to bed and fed her. She usually falls asleep doing that but she was moving around a lot. Then the alarm went off and I was talking to Jason and playing with Jaylin. When it was time for me to get up and help Jake get ready for school, that little stinker promptly fell asleep, and is still sleeping now!

I'm wondering if she just isn't filling up good when I nurse her. I will feed her 30-45 minutes and then 1 hour later she's hungry again. I feel like I'm feeding her all the time! It's so hard to get things done right now and I'm torn about what to do about it. I wish I could feed her and then get a 3 or even 2 1/2 hour stretch in between so I can work and get things done around the house. As it is I'm feeding her...getting a little bit done and then it's time for her to eat again. I'm not complaining but I just wish I could figure out how to fix this. Personally, I would like to start to switch to bottles. I know it's more expensive but how many things can one person do? I work for crying out loud! It would be SO NICE to give Jason the bottle and ask him to feed her while I get something like dinner done. I want to eat with my family and not have to go into hiding to feed Jaylin when we have company. My freakin boobs hurt!

Ok, I'm over that now- I just had to get it out.

Today is my day off but I'm going to have to get some work done as I didn't get as much done yesterday as I would have liked. (Please reference the above paragraph) I need to clean the girls' room and do laundry. I would also like to get the whole house vacuumed and the kitchen tidied up. The kitchen will probably take 10 minutes as it isn't really "dirty." My desk really needs to be cleaned up so I guess I'll be doing that too! Is it bed time yet?

Ahhhh, I love my life. I really do :)

Jen

Motivation

I have none, which is bad because I could use it right now.

1- Work- Umm, we have bills which will not get paid if I don't do good at work. I'm trying to get motivated but it's been hard. Ever since having Jaylin it's been hard. She's a good baby but a little demanding. That's ok- I know she's my last one so I'm not stressing out about it. It just makes it hard to get things done around here.

2- My house. Laundry, cleaning, organizing. I need organization in my life! I am living in chaos and my husband would not believe me but I just want order in my house. I am slacking so bad. I guess for me it's an all or nothing type of thing. Either the house will be all perfect or just a disaster. Right now it's the second one...

3- Bills. I need a budget. Seriously- I think it would make my life easier. The thought of coming up with this big huge budget just makes me tired though. I have bills that are not getting paid because I keep putting them off. The sad part is the fact that we have money to pay (most) of them, I just procrastinate. I had to get the phone turned back on last week because I forgot about the bill. We can blame it on post-partum brain right?

4- My Christian life. This has been put on the back burner. Horrible I know, there's so much on my plate right now and this should be the first thing I try to get into but I just don't. I go to Church on Sunday mornings but beyond that- nothing. I actually had to hunt for my Bible last week. I found it, finally. Don't think I read it. My first goal was to find it and then...I guess I should have at least opened it up huh?

5- Diet and exercise. Enough said.

Well, reading over my list I'm more tired than when I started! I think I'll jog downstairs and throw a load of laundry in and put a load away, start work and pay a bill. Ugh- this is going to be hard. :)

Jen

My thoughts...

This is my new blog, I thought I would just start all over as the other one has been long forgotten.

Where to start...I'm Jen. My husband Jason and I have been married 7 years in May. In these 7 short years we have had 4 children. Jake is 6, Jada is 4, Jodie is 2 and Jaylin is a little over 1 month old. Jaylin is our last and although I know it was the right decision I still cried when I came home from the hospital and folded up all the maternity clothes for the last time. They are going to my SIL Raquel who is pregnant with their 3rd child. I like our big family, sometimes crazy, but we are a good bunch.

We live in Columbiana Alabama and love it. I think we will be here forever, maybe. I love to read, read other people's blogs, and cook. I love having different kitchen things and I try to actually use them. My goal is to have as many spices as I can in my spice cabinet and know what each of them is for. I would love to redo our kitchen and expand it. Actually, I would love to redo the whole house. God bless the person who invented wood paneling, I just want it out of my house forever. We will start doing this a little at a time. We will also eventually add on to our house, but that will be years away probably!

I LOVE bacon pizza from Pappa Johns, although it's been over a year since I had one. I used to love spaghetti but the last couple times I had it I got heartburn real bad, so I don't eat too much of that any more. I'm working on losing weight, baby fat from this last pregnancy. I'm sure there's more but I can't think of anything else.

The reason for this blog is to just write down my thoughts, sometimes random, sometimes crazy, but that's just me!