Trust and Patience

 I had a bit of an epiphany the other day when I woke up. It was Hubby's last day off from work that he would have for about two weeks. I had gone to bed the previous night with a migraine and when I first woke up in the morning to get the kids up and off to school, I was not feeling so great. I still had the migraine and had some sinus issues as well (I think it was from allergies). So I asked Hubby to get the kids up and take them to school for me, which he did. I did have to call out to them that Koren didn't need to wear shorts or tennis shoes today because although he did have P.E. for that day, he would not be participating in it because of his eyes being dilated. Oralee had P.E. on the schedule as well and she DID need her tennis shoes, which I also had to make sure that Hubby knew. But for the most part, he got them all ready to go.


I came out to the living room to keep an eye on Jeriah while Hubby went to drop the other kids off at school and then Jeriah fell back asleep as well (I think he might be having allergy issues as well) and slept until 11:30 in the morning. And for a kid that does NOT nap, Hubby got extremely lucky. Because I also fell back asleep. I didn't wake up until noon though, when Hubby was putting Jeriah on the school bus.

I got up and realized that Hubby had spent his entire morning after the kids went to school, playing video games and just relaxing. Normally, this is something that would severely tick me off. But I really think that there is something happening within my whole thought process and perception thing. Maybe it has to do with the official decision of me being the one that is staying home now, maybe it has to do with me just trying to make a stronger effort to be a better housekeeper and wife, maybe it is a combination thereof. But my first reaction was not to be ticked off.

My reaction? Gratefulness. Yep, you read that right. I was grateful. Because although there were things that he could have very easily done, he didn't do them. He felt like he could take that morning and just relax and do something fun for him to do. (I'm guessing the fact that he let me sleep in helped a bit too, to be honest!) I took his actions to mean that he TRUSTED me to get it all done. He had faith that he could just take the morning for himself and enjoy it, because he knew that the work would get done. And that is what I took as a huge compliment.

Not too long ago, I got offended because I had told him that I would get around to doing something and then I got busy with the kids' activities and lessons and my work and volunteering and church activities and whatever else. And I didn't get around to doing whatever it was that Hubby had wanted me to do. So he did it himself. I was hurt. He didn't trust me to get it done. And I reacted in a hurt manner. I'm sure I told him that I was hurt that he didn't trust me to get it done. And he responded by saying that he had trusted that I would get it done and then had waited patiently for me to do it until he just did it for himself.

Patience. My husband has way more of it for me than I do for him (on a regular basis). When I want him to do something, I ask him. When he doesn't do it, I ask him again. When he still doesn't do it, I ask again. I have learned how to ask repeatedly without it sounding to him like, "Nag nag nag nag naaa-aaaggg" All I have to do is ask. Then when I have waited an appropriate length of time, I just say, "Honey, I don't know if maybe you got distracted or forgot, or if you were still planning to do it, but I was wondering if you were still planning to..." to which he will generally respond, "Oh, right! I'm sorry. I forgot. I will get that taken care of right away!" and sometimes he doesn't get it done right away and I will wait another appropriate length of time and say, "Honey, I don't want to bother you, but if you need me to do .... , I can do it. Just let me know," which usually is the point he will do whatever the task was. But it is all about timing and tone. He can tell in my tone if I am sincere in the way that I am asking or if I am sarcastic. We have been married for 11 years, he should definitely be able to pick up on that by now.

But there is very little that Hubby actually asks me to do for him. So when he asks me to do something specific, I try to make sure it gets put up towards the top of the priority list. On the other hand, it could be said that he doesn't have to ask for much because I already do most of what he would ask for. But you know what? To be honest, I don't think that is necessarily true. I mean, I do try to make sure that the home is a comfortable, relaxing, inviting place for him to come home to at the end of his workday and to not bombard him with my day or with requests when he walks through the door. But I think it is just that he trusts me more to just do "my job" here at home.

And before someone gets their panties in a bunch about the house being my job, let me assure you, I am happy with it. The home and the kids and my husband ARE my job. It is my job to focus on them and make sure that they are taken care of and loved and to make sure that they know that too. My husband's hard work allows me to be able to do this. So when he makes the odd request of me to do something, I will do it.

It's funny, as I was typing this, my husband came up to me and asked me to switch a couple of meals around on the menu because he wanted a particular meal this evening (I am writing this post ahead of the day it will be published) and also asked me to pick up some very specific items at the grocery store when I go shopping. And asked that I do something very specific in the house tomorrow (which I did let him know that it would not likely be able to be done tomorrow, but that the following day, I would have a chance to do it) and he will not ask about these things again. He just won't. He trusts that I will do these things and he has the patience to wait for me to get it done. I could learn a lesson or two from him on this matter.

(And darn it! I saved my blog as a bookmark on his phone. Now he gets to read all of this about himself! Just kidding. I love you honey!)

Exciting Change

I had mentioned in my Two Months in No Time Flat post that there were some very exciting new changes going on in our lives.

My husband has made the solid request that I stay at home.

In the course of our 11 year marriage, I have worked or gone to school nearly the whole time, minus end of pregnancy times. Sometimes, I had a "real" out of the home job, sometimes I had an out of the home job, but it was more of a self-employment kind of thing (CNA doing private duty, doing childcare in someone else's home, etc). Other times, it was an in-home job doing self-employment (marketing, sales, home childcare, etc) and then of course, some of it was spent in college. Most of the time, it was a combination of all of the above.

Late last year, I had switched from regular hours at my job as a private duty home health aide to a PRN schedule. But my PRN shifts were not very frequent. Then I got called on to do PRN for another family that I have been with for years and so then I was PRN at two different places. The only problem with this is that either they were both fine and didn't need me, or they both needed me at the same time. It was a real balancing act that was rather stressful for awhile there.

Meanwhile, Hubby had started a new job and was being cross-trained because the store manager (known as the general manager) wants Hubby to be an assistant manager in a certain area. So Hubby was working and getting more and more hours.

We worked hard to try to balance our schedules so that we were the ones home taking care of the children. There were times (some more frequent than others) where the kids would end up needing to spend time over at Hubby's parent's house. Which is fine. We love having them spend time with their grandparents but we also didn't want to rely so much on his parents for childcare.

Then, there came a slow spot in the PRN hours and during this time that I was home more, the children's behaviors and schedules improved, their grades and performance in school improved, the overall care of the house improved, I was able to focus much more on taking care of my home, my husband, my children and make them feel like they were really important, and not just something that I have to check off before rushing off to work. I know it may sound horrible, but sometimes, that's exactly what it felt like, and I'm sure that is what it felt like to them too.

Cephas began reading at or above grade level for the first time in four years, Koren began reading at or above grade level for the first time ever, Jeriah made such improvement that he was released from Special Education. Oralee, well, Oralee hasn't had much marked change but even still, with all of the other changes with the boys, we determined that it was due in large part to the time I was at home, able to focus on them and really help them to succeed.

We also determined that by making a few changes, we would be able to make ends meet on just Hubby's income. Now, there isn't a WHOLE lot of wiggle room, but we have enough for all of our bills and needs, savings, tithing as well as some leftover for fun stuff or to just simply take our family out for dinner (which isn't always cheap when you have a family of six!)

There was still the question, though, of should I continue with some minor part-time PRN hours, just to give us a little bit more wiggle room or savings or whatever. I wanted to make sure that I was also contributing to our household.

And then I got the call. One of the families wanted me to come back to regular hours. So Hubby and I sat down and discussed it. His answer? "No. I don't want you to go back. We don't need the extra money." First of all, NEVER before in our marriage have we been able to say that. We probably could have said that before, but I think our perspective has changed quite a bit recently.

I questioned him, wanting to make sure and listed out the benefits of having the extra money, to which he replied, "Yes, that is all true. But. The extra money won't volunteer in the kids' school. The extra money won't help our children to improve in their grades. The extra money won't give our household that added stability that having you home has had. The extra money won't make coming home each day to you feel quite as good as having you there to greet me does."

And so, the decision was made. I am now a stay-at-home mom. It has been quite the adjustment and I am still working hard to master the whole "stay-at-home" part of the term. :) But it has been wonderful. The best part? To know that what I am doing here has made THAT kind of a difference in not only my children and their schooling and overall demeanor but also in the way my husband now views our home. I think he actually considers it to be more of a sanctuary than he ever has before. It's not always perfect (actually, it never is) and quite often, there are still dishes needing to be done, laundry needing to be done, folded, put away or whatever. There are toys and messes here and there, but it's not about that to him (at least, not right now - it is something that I'm working on getting more attentive to), it's about the feeling of home. I think I'm doing something right at this point though!

Wedding Prep...

My brother-in-law is getting married next year to the most amazing woman. Dan and Jess have been dating for three or four years now and I am so excited for their upcoming wedding! I had been hoping for a couple of years that he'd just propose already and then last year (I believe) he finally did!

So, now we are on to wedding prep. I get to be a part of it, which is super cool to me. Hubby and I didn't have a wedding, so I missed out on all the fun festivities that Jess is planning. And my little Oralee is the flower girl. Tomorrow, we meet with a florist and a bakery and start shopping for flower girl dresses. Of course, we won't actually buy the dress until next year when they are getting married, because Oralee is only five right now and will likely change sizes by then.

I am just so far beyond excited about this whole thing! Jess is amazing and I love her to pieces! She is my sister, even though she hasn't yet become my sister-in-law. We don't hang out (we live about 50 miles apart and we don't travel each other's way very often) but we get along supremely well!

Next year, they are getting married on Koren's ninth birthday. He is ecstatic about it! I mean, how could he not be? He gets to be a part of a HUGE party on his birthday (it isn't his party, but he gets to go to it), he gets to dress up, he gets to stay up late, and he gets his first aunt! ♥ Love that boy!

Hubby has two younger brothers, I have one younger brother. We have no sisters. Jess is greatly needed! :)

And tomorrow, we shop! Can't wait! May even have some pictures to show for it.

Such Great News

I have already mentioned it briefly <a href="http://catalina-at-home-at-work-at-play.blogspot.com/2011/11/thirty-thankful-days-days-11-15.html">here</a> but recently Hubby has been offered more hours at work. This is great for us! My hours were pretty much set in stone, but I was on call all the time and often would bring (unpaid) work home with me. Recently, I have had some time off from work and during this time, Hubby had been working more hours and has had the time and opportunity to really put his best foot forward at work.

His boss pulled him aside and told him that he had asked around about Hubby and the feedback he had received was very good. Boss said that the only negative feedback that he received about Hubby was that he didn't work often enough (wasn't scheduled enough). So Boss asked him if he would be interested in more hours at work and even asked him what hours he would want to have if given a choice. Hubby said he would prefer to work Monday - Friday closing shifts. That way he would still have his Saturday evenings to spend with his friends and his Sunday evenings for time with our friends as a couple. I can always get out with my friends on Sunday evenings after we spend time with our other friends, if I want to.

Some other really nice things about this would be the increased money that Hubby would earn (he makes 50 cents more per hour when he closes) and the possibility of having a predictable schedule in an industry where predictable schedules are not always the norm. And I would be able to possibly stay home with the kids full-time or just work a few hours each week/on call hours.

I just really hope that the whole thing works out the way that I'm wanting it to. It would, of course, mean that I would be on my own from dinnertime to bedtime with the kids and that I would need to figure out how to coordinate our activity schedules to make that work out. But even still, it would be a small price to pay for the ability to do stay home. During the morning, Hubby would be sleeping and that would allow Jeriah and I time to spend together just the two of us. Then in the afternoon, while Jeriah is at school, that would give me time to spend alone with Hubby or to go in and volunteer during those hours. I would just have a lot of time to get things accomplished around the house if this came about.

Then, in the evenings, we would just follow our normal schedule (although it would be a little more routine simply because I would always be the one doing it - two people never have the same exact routine when left in charge) and I think that would benefit everyone greatly! I have a very Type A personality and am all about scheduling and planning and organizing and my kids also thrive best on a fairly structured schedule.

Well, I'm off. I just had to share this with all of you! Wish us luck!

Thirty Thankful Days - Day 8

Today is Day 8 and it is really easy to choose what I am thankful for today. If you read my post from 11:30 last night, you can probably guess. Today I am thankful for forgiveness. I am thankful that I have the ability to mess up, to be sorry and to be forgiven. I don't try to mess up. I'd love to never mess up. But the fact is, that I do mess up. But I am forgiven. And I'm grateful!

Struggles

They happen in real life and I'm not about to hide them. As you all know already, Oralee got sick on Friday and had shown some improvement by Saturday and Sunday. Night time was still a major issue with her and I called her in on Monday because of the rough night she had on Sunday night.

And let me tell you, that child was UPSET that I called her in too! She raged at me about it. I know she was sick and wouldn't be able to focus in school and needed a day home to just be able to recoup, but man alive! She was angry. She was talking about how she had science class and how she doesn't like science class but she learns during it and how she was going to miss it. If you followed that one better than I did, kudos to you because she lost me on it. She doesn't like it, but she was upset that she was missing it? Yeah. I don't know.

She was also completely convinced that she is never going to be able to go back to school again. You know, because she missed one day. Yep, one day out of school and now she is a kindergarten drop-out. I know, I shouldn't jest, but seriously? The child is intense.

So today, we were home and I was still feeling under the weather myself. It seems that every single time I ingest something, I have sharp, hot, stabbing pains in my stomach that last for hours. It's bad. And I have been moody today. Like chewing out the whole entire world moody. I was hurting and people kept doing things that upset me. Which is true. People were doing things that upset me. But I also had a choice in how I handled it. And needless to say, I did not handle it well.

The only thing that I handled at least moderately well was dealing with my mother-in-law chewing me out for something that I had nothing to do with. She knows that I had nothing to do with it, had no knowledge of what happened, yet still felt it would benefit somehow to chew me out for 30 minutes (on a day I am not feeling well, mind you!). Actually, I hope it helped her to relieve some of her stress because she needed it. But even still, it wasn't something that I did, had any part in doing or even knew about and I still got to spend half an hour of my day on the phone listening to her yell about it.

And actually, maybe I should have said something more than what I did (which wasn't much) but I just don't know really how to handle that kind of situation. It has been my experience for many years that when someone has their mind made up about something and they are set in their way of thinking, it really doesn't do much good to try and convince them otherwise. But in not sticking up for myself, I don't know if that indicates somehow to her that I am at fault for what was upsetting her? I don't honestly know.

And even though, we are both grown adult women, she is somehow still like an authority over me. Maybe that's just the way that I was raised. My grandmother was still very much an authority over my mother and so I can see that somewhat being the way those kind of relationships are supposed to be. But at the same time, I am now (and have been for the past 12 years) the authority figure over my mother as well. That's a whole other story though.

So today, I am struggling. My mother-in-law is mad at me, I have been horribly moody to my own family, I have been sick and in pain for most of the day. I am depressed too. I feel like there are a lot of negative things happening right now and I don't know exactly what to do about it.

Oh - and my own younger brother called me yesterday and left me a voicemail message cussing me out for not doing my mom's yardwork. You know, since I'm just sitting around all day eating bon-bons and such. He was upset because he had to do her yardwork for her, which simply was not the case. But regardless, it seems that this weekend and Monday, the only thing I was successful at doing was igniting the anger of everyone around me.

I feel like I'm not enough. Like I am somehow failing EVERY single person in my life. And I know in my head that really, that's not the case, but sometimes the way you perceive something ends up being more powerful than reality.

However, I finally finished reading a great book today on my Kindle app (for the computer) although, I cannot even begin to tell you which book it was. I'd have to go through and try to figure that out based on the books that show they have been read completely through. But there was a quote in the book that I absolutely loved. "You are not truly sorry if you are still blaming someone else for your actions." Kathryn Cushman. A Promise to Remember (p. 267). Kindle Edition. Okay, so I decided that it was worth looking for. For some odd reason, it didn't show up as me having read through the whole book but I forgot that the app had an error and closed itself down so that is probably why. I plan to do a review of this book later on, but I just wanted to share this one line from there. Incredible line isn't it?

That fact that it hit home when I read it is part of the reason that I needed to share it with you though. No matter how I have been (or just perceive to have been) wronged by others, my bad attitude today was mine and mine alone. Granted, I shared it with just about everyone. But it was MINE.

It doesn't matter that my mother-in-law was blaming me for something that I had nothing to do with. Or that my brother left me a message on me out on the phone for something that I honestly had not had time to take care of. Or that Hubby did not make sure that Cephas had violin after school on Friday yet specifically told me that he had sent him back in to get it. Or that because of said missing violin that BOTH Cephas and Koren missed their music lessons this evening. Or that housework wasn't getting done today because I was literally barely able to move from the couch today. (Seriously - I have had ONE bathroom trip ALL day long! I even ate my ONE meal laying on the couch.) Or that Hubby didn't seem inspired to help out as much I thought he should have. No matter what happens, I have a choice in how I perceive it and how I respond to it.

Today, I struggled. I took everything as a personal attack (some were but still...) and I responded in a poor manner. Those were both my choice to make. I didn't make the right one. But I am now. I was rude, short-tempered and moody. Today I struggled but I know that my family forgives me. They know I am truly sorry. I don't blame them. It wasn't them. It was me. Things like those listed in the previous paragraph happen quite frequently. Generally, they don't affect me the way it did today. But there's always tomorrow and it will be better. But for today, I am sorry.

Thirty Thankful Days - Day 6

Okay, in all honesty, this one may sound kind of weird but today, I am thankful for my Hubby's friends and for their ongoing plans for Saturday nights. I know that it is good for the two of us to have some of our own friends, our own interests. Not so many years ago, I thought that we had to do everything together and the only friends we should have are the ones that we have together. It wasn't healthy nor right, but all I wanted was for everything to be even and equal. Yet today, I am so thankful that they are not all equal and even. I am thankful that we have our own friends and our own interests. I am thankful for the way these things allow us to grow and experience other things. It is truly wonderful.

So today, I say thank you to Ratt, Tiny, Squish, Rolo and Nate for being such awesome friends to my Hubby and for having your usual Saturday night plans every week. You guys rejuvenate my Hubby and he looks forward to his time with you guys all week long!

Intentional Acts of Kindness - Days 1-6

I decided to list these acts of kindness out once a week on Sundays, so here goes:

Tuesday, November 1st, 2011
I went over to my mom's house and took her out to do some grocery shopping. It was later in the evening and I was tired, but I did it anyhow. I actually ended up having a pretty nice evening with her. She also asked me to check on a few things for her in her house, which I also did.

Wednesday, November 2nd, 2011
We had our home visit with Jeriah's teacher today and Hubby was SO tired. I had been up much of the night helping my mom with things and getting other things ready for the kids for school, so I was tired as well. Regardless, once we got home, I had him go lay down and I stayed up to get Jeriah off to school before laying down and taking a nap myself. That was extremely hard to do.

Thursday, November 3rd, 2011
On this particular evening, we went out to the mall for a little bit and while there, I picked up a few items to put into a box for a donation to our local mission.

Friday, November 4th, 2011
I was home taking care of a sick child most of this particular day. I did let kids watch a movie on this day after they had their homework and chores done.

Saturday, November 5th, 2011
I was battling the sickness that Oralee had on this day and as such, I let the kids do a minimum amount of chores and they also had more screen time than they normally would have. I know that this doesn't particularly count, but we didn't go anywhere or do anything and I barely made it off the couch this day, so I think it counts. Plus, kindness begins at home, right?

Sunday, November 6, 2011
Well, this one is honestly tied to Saturday as well, but here it is. Even though, I was battling the sickness that I inherited from Oralee (who was better by the way), I encouraged Hubby to stick with his plans to spend time with his friends. They have standing plans to get together on Saturday evenings. Generally speaking, they get done around midnight and Hubby is almost always home by 1am. On this particular night/morning, Hubby didn't get home until around 3am, which would have been 4am had it not been for the time change. Anyhow, even though he was out three hours later than I expected him to be, I didn't get mad at him for it. I knew that he had missed seeing his friends and was enjoying himself. He hadn't seen them the last few weeks because of his work schedule.

Also, while he was gone, I was able to talk to an old friend of ours. As it turns out, this particular friend really needed someone to just listen to him, which I did. This friend of ours is really facing some personal challenges right now and I hope that by being there for him to talk to and lean on, I was able to help him in some small way.

Some things I want to do this coming week:
(MON) Take my mom out to run errands
(TUE) Take a load of donation items to the local mission
(WED) Check on the possibility of serving the community somehow
(THU) Taking part in a volunteer advisory committee for our school system
(FRI) Volunteer at the kids' school (outside of my normal hours)
(SAT) Take the kids out to a park to pick up litter
(SUN) Volunteer in the church nursery

You can click the picture above to be taken to the linky where all these Intentional Acts of Kindness are taking place!

Bathroom/Laundry Room Storage

Every so often, I get a wild itch to just change something up. Either the thing is just not working as well as it could be, it isn't aesthetically pleasing or for whatever reason, it just bugs me. Well, this is what happened with our bathroom recently.

Our bathroom has the oddest layout I have ever seen. It looks something like this:

You can click on it to make it bigger if you want. It's just a very basic layout of out bathroom. You can see how the room is long and narrow. We didn't design this space, that is just the way it was when we bought the place and we are doing our best to make the best of it. The one area in question that was bothering me to no end was the area to the right of the toilet (when facing the far end of the bathroom). I had two sets of storage drawers in that spot. Two sets with drawers apiece to be exact. In white frames, clear drawers. The cabinet next to the drawers is black. Two of the drawers were actually broken and needed to be thrown out.

There drawers are where I store our extra toiletries and supplies. Extra toothpaste, toothbrushes, body wash, shampoos, conditioners, feminine products, etc. All of that stuff is stored in these drawers. But the problem wasn't really with the drawers themselves. It was with the stuff that would end up getting piled up on top of the drawers. It was driving me crazy. That and the fact that we didn't have any place to store dirty laundry.

So on one of our WalMart trips, I picked up one of those cheapy PVC piping plastic laundry dividers ($10) and brought it home to assemble it. My thought was that it could maybe go on the other side of the toilet, between the toilet and the wall where the furnace is. Except it was bigger than I thought it was. So, thus began the reorganization of the bathroom.

First step was to remove the drawers. Second step was to clear out the black cabinet. That was where I had originally had all the products but I cannot reach much past the front of two of the shelves so for storage purposes, it was okay, but I needed to figure out a different plan for those things. That was when I moved them into the drawers and put the drawers next to the toilet.

But now, I wanted the drawers out but I wanted the products to stay so I had to figure something out. On a whim, I took one of the drawers to see if it would fit into the cabinet on the shelf. It did! Then I had to see if two of the drawers would fit on the top shelf and on the main shelf (only one drawer fit on the middle shelf). And two drawers did fit!

So I had six white-framed drawers that I could divide up to put into the cabinet to keep the toiletries divided and organized and put away. But I also knew that I had a set of five black-framed storage drawers in our bedroom where I keep the kids' PJs... I am guessing you can see where this is going.

I had Hubby empty out the five drawers and bring them in to me. I transferred all of the products from the six drawers into the divided-up five drawers and put those drawers in the cabinet. It is beautiful and it works incredibly well. On the top shelf, in the top drawer, I have all of Hubby's shampoos and conditioners and body washes. In the bottom drawer on the top shelf, I have my feminine products. Next to the shelves is a gap that is the perfect size for the extra rolls of paper towels that we have on hand.

On the middle shelf, which can only hold drawer, I have our oral care supplies stored. Next to the drawer is the same gap as the upper shelf and that is where I have stored extra rolls of toilet paper.

On the lower shelf, there are two drawers. One is mine for lotions and cremes and body washes, etc and the other one is for shampoos and conditioners. The gap next to the drawers on this shelf is where I keep a basket of smaller items that are partially used. This is the basket that we go to first before opening something new.

I then put the laundry sorter where the drawers had been and loaded the sorter up with laundry that was on the floor of the bathroom in various places and moved the white-framed drawers to the front room. I wasn't sure exactly what to do with those, so we let them hang out in that room overnight.

This is the conversation that Hubby and I had that night about the drawers:
Me: You know, we could put those drawers in the front closet and use them to store the kids' shoes in there.
Hubby: Yeah, we could do that.
Me: Or we could use it to store winter stuff like mittens and gloves and hats and stuff.
Hubby: Yeah, I think that would work.
Me: Or we could put the drawers in the boys' room so that they can use it to store their toys.
Hubby: That would make sense, since they seem to be wanting to be more organized these days.
Me: Or I could give it to Oralee for her room. The boys already have some storage tubs in their room.
Hubby: Yeah, you could do that.
Me: Or we could have them in the living room and store the boys' music stuff in them near the keyboard.
Hubby; Whatever you'd like to do, I'm sure it will be fine.
Me: Ooooh! I bet we could put them in the dining room next to my desk so that the kids can put their special papers from school in them to go through at the end of the year and decide what they really want to keep from school.
Hubby: Well, whatever you decide, I am sure will look fine. Just let me know if you need me to move anything else. I'm going to go watch some T.V.

That is a pretty typical conversation at our house when it comes to organizing and rearranging or whatever. Hubby is 100% supportive and will move things around for me. He just prefers that I am 100% sure where I want everything to go before he starts moving things around. This was a lesson he learned the hard way.

In the end, the white-framed drawers ended up under my desk, where they are out of the way, yet accessible and look neat and orderly.

Oh - wait, this was about the bathroom/laundry room storage though. So here is a picture of what the end result was:

I know it doesn't really look all that different, but it is a huge difference! What you cannot see from my aerial view drawing is the pile of stuff that cannot end up stored on top of the shelves. The cabinet is now fully functional. I can store things in the drawers, which actually go all the way to the back of the cabinet. I can reach everything and not worry about things getting knocked over and spilling in the cabinet. It will only spill in the drawer or the basket that I am using to store the items.

I also now have a place to sort and store our dirty laundry without it being on the floor in front of the washer. Extra bonus there! Plus, the cart is on casters, so if I were so inclined, I could even roll it over to the washer, but I have yet to do that. I just grab an armful from the sorter and walk over to the washer with them.

Well, thanks for reading. I am sure it wasn't the most riveting piece you have ever read, but it was a great thing to get done around here!

Thirty Thankful Days - Day 3

Today we went out to look for a new winter coat for me. I haven't had a winter coat for the past two or three winters because I have a very difficult time spending money on myself. But today, we decided that I was going to get a new coat because I needed one.

I had checked at WalMart and they didn't have anything in my size so I knew that was not an option. Their coats were around $50 so that was my rough base for a winter coat. I knew that JcPenney has decent coat prices so that is where I wanted to look. We met up with some friends who were shopping at the mall (for her) for clothes and we decided to just shop together. We went to Bath & Body Works (for her) and I picked up a $1 bottle of lotion for Oralee (in strawberry!) to give to her for Christmas and with it, I received a little flyer booklet that had coupons in it! (Yay for that!)

Then we went to Lane Bryant (for her) and while there, I decided to get a bra fitting. It's been awhile and I have actually been in need of some new ones. When I was measured, the sales lady measured me at a cup size that was 2-3 sizes larger than what I generally wear. But we went ahead and looked for some bras in my "normal" size and found them. I tried several on and ended up finding two of which I liked the fit and shape and support. They were also having a sale with 40% off AND they were also offering gift certificates for 1/2 of my purchase price along with the sale. So (for example) I buy 2 bras at $41.50 apiece (roughly) and there is the 40% off, making each one around $25.00. New total is $50.00 plus tax (around here, that would make it $53.50) and then you get a gift certificate for $25.00. Not too shabby, eh? It's like buy one, get one free. Or something like that.

Then we went over to JcPenny. I knew exactly what I wanted to get, knew the price I was willing to spend and bee-lined it for the coat section. That's the way I shop. I found what I wanted almost immediately. It was a black and purple 4-in-1 coat and it was seriously on sale. A little bit more than WalMart but this one a) fit me and b) I had a coupon at home that I could bring in within a week and they would give me back the difference in my cost, which would knock it down to roughly the same price as WalMart anyhow.

Actually, here is the link to their site. LOVE this jacket! Catalina's new coat. Isn't that great? Love it! There is actually more purple in the coat I believe and the purple isn't as dark as it shows in the picture on the site. I am so happy with it! I cannot believe I actually have a winter coat! So exciting!

And today, I am thankful for a few things. I am thankful for the ability to buy a coat and new bras. I am thankful for a wonderful husband who encouraged me to do so, even though I was questioning whether or not I should get them. It is so so so hard for me to buy stuff for myself!

And those are a couple of the things that I am thankful for today!

Communication

Generally, I think that my husband and I have stellar communication skills. But this past week, it has been a real trial. I think it comes from a few different sources. First of all, we have had a lot going on and haven't spent as much time making sure that we are being as effective as necessary in our communications with one another. Secondly, Hubby has been in pain with some dental issues and has been on some pretty strong pain meds. Thirdly, I have been really short-changed on sleep this week. Not because of any one reason, but because that's what happens to me every so often.

You see, I generally sleep all the way through the night. I don't get up for drinks or restroom or anything. If I do wake up, I stay in bed. Once I have to physically get up, I'm done for the night. I just cannot fall back asleep. It interrupts my sleep cycle in a most vicious way. This has been the case for most of my life. Add to that the fact that I am both a night owl and an early bird and well, it all adds up to sleep deprivation.

Occasionally, I can grab a short afternoon nap while Jeriah is at school with the bigger kids but this week, it has been so hit and miss. Part of it is that I lay down but cannot fall asleep for the first two hours, which gives me about 30 minutes to nap before needing to go pick up the kids and then I'm worried that I'll oversleep so I automatically wake up about every 5 minutes.

Okay, so with all of that being said, I know that I need to work harder to try and get better rest at night and see what I can do to sleep through the night again. I may even take some Benadryl tonight just to get myself to fall asleep a little bit more quickly. You know, jump start my sleep cycle.

And as far as communication goes, I know that with the pain meds that Hubby is on, I cannot have the expectation that he will be able to listen and understand what I am saying. And I need to not take it to heart when he doesn't. It's a difficult thing for me, because our communication is so easy most of the time. I am just used to the way it normally is. This is just a short season. Soon, he will be better and our communication will be back to normal as well.

Until then, I'm going to work on being more understanding, try to minimize trivial conversation and let him rest as much as possible. I think that is the best thing that I can do right now. By doing those things, it will allow him to rest and hopefully get to feeling better and will minimize the number of opportunities that I have to allow my feelings to be hurt.

Could you keep his healing and my emotions and my ability to sleep in your prayers this week? I'd greatly appreciate it! In the meantime, I have a LONG list of things to do while Hubby is laid up. Guess this is as good a time as any to get all that stuff done!

(Linking up to: Home Sanctuary and this week's Company Girl Coffee.)

Sometimes It All Goes As Planned

And other times, it just doesn't. Like the plans I had for the kitchen.Yeah, not so much. I had high aspirations for that room. However, I am okay with it not getting done and this is why:

We worked together to rearrange our bedroom.

It was time spent one-on-one with my wonderful Hubby. We were able to put our room - our little sanctuary - first. It was a small way to show each other that we were putting US first. I mean, in the end, we still ended up doing some of what needed to be done in the kitchen, but we took care of our special space first. We made our room and us a priority.

It's a very basic principle that often gets lost, I think. We tend to get caught up in the kids and their activities and the busy and the to-do list and work and and and...and we neglect us. Not because we mean to, not because we want to, but because we both understand. Which is also great. But sometimes, we need to just stop. Be still. Put our spouse back into the spot where they are supposed to be.

So that is what we did. We spent time rearranging our bedroom and thoroughly cleaning it from top to bottom. We did this while the kids were at school and then we laid there and just talked. We held hands. It was a wonderful time to reconnect.

I love my husband so much! I take him for granted though. I'm working on changing that. And this one day, in this small way, I showed him that I value him. I value us. I value our special time and our special place. I think we both needed that. Oh - and one other thing - I did it without even thinking and without bringing up the work that also needed to be done.

It was a blessing to him. It was a blessing to me. I think that once a week (maybe on Wednesdays, when I am off from work) I am going to spend some time focused on our bedroom. I had initially hoped to get some of the other house maintenance done on that day. And that still holds true. But the main focus on that particular day will be our sanctuary. It's also the only day that we both have off from work while the kids are in school and don't have any other things planned.

And do you know what else? Sometimes it all goes as planned (by us) and sometimes it all goes as it is supposed to. Just a little food for thought.

(Linking up to: Home Sanctuary and this week's Company Girl Coffee.)