Organizing my life...

I was never an organizer as a kid, except for school. I hated anything even remotely toward the "unschooling" side. Give me a list of what I needed to do, let me do it, and then let me be done. Mom researched all these great crafty ways to make school fun, etc, etc, and nope! Just a note card with a list of subjects, books, assignments, and I'd be happy. Boring, but it worked.

As I've gotten older, and thanks to a couple very messy roommates, I've learned the value of organization and cleanliness. Not OCD cleanliness - I'll admit to looking at a dust bunny for two days before picking it up - but reasonable cleanliness. As Auntie Leila would call it, a "reasonably clean house." I'll let you read her take rather than attempt my own. Hers is better.

I'm going to spew my opinions about organization, because, as singles, marrieds, married-with-kids, whatevers you may be, having organization in your life can really make you feel a lot better!

Sticky notes are my friend, but sometimes all I manage is a mental list of what has to be done.  Then, once the list is in my head, I can work it all out.  Like, attempt to have be all ready to start working by 8, work til 1, blog for 20 minutes (who are we kidding - half of that is definitely not blog related...I know), make a grocery list, buy said groceries, have them all put away and cleaned by 4, start dinner.  That's the basic.  But seriously, write it down somewhere if you have trouble, or if you have kids.  Kind of the same thing.

Put them somewhere you won't forget!

Then, squeeze in the little stuff.  Laundry can be fit into work hours, as it only takes a minute to change the loads.  If the Husband comes home for lunch, I can throw a soup on the stove and grab some cornbread from the freezer (never make mini batches for this very reason).  That also only takes a minutes and I can work while I do it.  Laundry can get folded after dinner and when things settle down.  Lunch cleanup can get skipped because it's just going to get done again right when I get back from the store; no need to double duty for a few crum-filled plates.

See what I mean?  Not so bad.  And for anyone who has kids, please don't worry about the little stuff.  No childless perfectly organized dressed and cleaned and showered women like me are looking down on you like I know you think we are :)  We're not.  We're in awe that you get even half your list done, because, let's face it.  I can't even make it though half of mine sometimes....and I only have me to worry about!

And do take them down when they aren't relevant.  

My mother's birthday was weeks ago.  Ah well.  Life goes on.

So make the list, and then when you accomplish something, scratch it out.  This way, when you get to the end of the day and think, "Did I do anything today at all?" you can remind yourself that yes, you did.  And you did it a pretty darn good job of it.  And (last one), if the laundry isn't done because you forgot when Kid 1 spilled milk all over the kitchen, or because something in work came up, just bump it to tomorrow's list.  It'll be okay.  As long as everyone has clothing for the next day, life will move on just fine.  Besides, kids and husbands don't always care if they wear the same clothes...

Well...that's all I have.  My life is only semi-organized, as proved by the length of this post.  But you know what, I like it and my husband likes it, and it's not causing anyone to sin, so why worry?  C'est la vie!

Phone tag...shoot me now!

I'm going to admit to something here.  I'm one of those weird people that hates making phone calls.  If it qualifies as a no big deal call (ie. I reallllllly need whatever I'm calling about, or it's a close friend/family) then I don't mind at all.  But everything else?  Hate it.

Photo courtesy of: http://www.reddit.com/r/AdviceAnimals/comments/1rcn6w/i_hate_the_phone/

So guess what.  I told our property manager that the heat wasn't working, and got a voicemail from the HVAC people.  This was Thursday.  I called them back, and they said they'd be out Friday morning.  Come Friday afternoon, I call (sigh) and ask when they were planning on arriving because...you know...I kind of had other stuff to do.

- "Oh! Well, we don't go out until we've spoken with the tenant so you're not on the schedule yet.  Let's see where we can fit you in here."
- sigh.  I told them Monday would be fine; after all, it's Texas and being cold isn't a problem likely to last long.
- "Okay, we have you scheduled in for Monday!" And we checked and double checked my name and address.

Drum roll...

I was right; the cold vanished and the weather was 95 degrees yesterday.  So, my poor overheated husband goes to switch on the AC before bed and yep.  You guessed it.  No AC.  No fan.  I think our little control board thingy is broken.

Are you seeing a pattern?  Monday is here.  Definitely here.  Noon has come and gone.  No call...no HVAC van.  80 degrees inside, which feels heavenly to me, but will not feel heavenly to my other half.  So, poor me mustered up all my nerve, thought through three different ways to ask what their schedule was for today (aka - Where the heck are you?!) because...you know...I kind of have other stuff to do.

Voicemail.

And the worst part?  I am going to have to keep calling them!  With a husband who works in sales and calls people all day, he has no qualms about calling at regular intervals until he gets a response.  Nor does he see a reason why I should have a problem with that, because, let's be honest, I shouldn't.  But I do.  And now I'm dreading having to keep calling these silly people.

First world problems, right?  But hey, it's a good growing experience, and I'd take being hot over being cold any day!


Edited to add - he's here!  Praise the Lord!  I didn't have to call again.

Enjoying life like a kid, and thrifting clothes

I saw these sneaky little things swimming along in the river today and you know, I don't think I've ever seen so many turtles all together before!  Certainly not in the wild (if the middle of the city even counts as wild). It was so neat! They were all along the river, just doing their thing and not in the least concerned about all the foot traffic going back and forth.

I think the Husband thought I was silly for taking the pictures but life is exciting! Nature is exciting! There's just so much to see, and adults tend to forget about that. When we're little, we can stare in awe at the worm in the ground or the birds flying, but how often do we remember to stop and smell the roses? Or take in all the amazing beauty around us? This is a very important part of having a happy life, so if you don't take a deep breath of fresh air and appreciate all the little smells and sounds around you while you're breathing deeply, start. It really does make a difference! 

I saw this guy too. See him down there, hiding?  Hopefully he didn't lose a leg or something to the turtles...

On a completely different topic, I need to find a good thrift shop. I hear about all these other women who get amazing deals at the thrift store but aside from thredup, which doesn't exactly count, I don't have much luck. Plato's Closet sometimes had decent things, but it requires dedicated picking through the piles of teenybopper clothes...bleh. Indiana over at Adored Austin mentioned a grownup version of Plato's Closet, but unfortunately there aren't any here.  Maybe later on some enterprising individual will start one, because I'd sure love to check it out.

So, I am going to try to come up with some good places and tips for finding quality items amogst the vast and daunting thrift store racks. If you have tips to share, I'd be most grateful! 

Happy Sunday!

Fascinating video

This is so interesting, I had to pass it along. Watching this makes me realize how vital a strong and faithful family unit is to kids as they grow up, and also how important it is that we accept gay people. Love the sinner, hate the sin.  Anyway, interesting video...i wish more things like this would come out so we can start trying to help people heal instead of just telling them they're wrong (which, if they're striving for truth and goodness, they probably know already).

Blackstone Films: The Third Way

Not that this needs to be said, but let's keep any and all comments kind. Not that I expect any since it's a beautiful day and everyone should be outside and enjoying it, not reading blogs like me haha.

This is the mourning dove that sings outside my window.  So cute!

Happy Saturday-ing!

Friday fun!

What is better than fresh bread and the start of the weekend? Not much!

Trying a new recipe here that is supposed to be just like that brown bread at the Cheesecake Factory...I've made so many substitutions, however, I'm not sure if this quite qualifies any more. Regardless, it's hard to make anything that's filled with wheat, honey, and yeast go too wrong! 

I'm going to try to make one of the loaves round to serve with fondue for dinner. Yummmmmmm

See my poor little sourdough starter in the back?  It has staunchly refused to provide me with any kind of decent loaf for months. Works at my parent's house, but not mine. No idea why.  Mom is coming next week to scrutinize my sourdough bread making to see if I'm inadvertently killing my loaves. The Husband and I are very hopeful because we both agree that her sourdough is THE BEST everyday bread. Ever. (So is mine when i make it at her house! Just not here...). Mysteries mysteries. 

{pretty, happy, funny, real} - Life chugging along...

Linking up with Like Mother, Like Daughter for a {phfr} day!

There isn't much happening today, except that it's nearly summer in Texas and I'm cold.  Imagine that!  The one day when we'd like some heat, the heater isn't working and our property manager is (typically) MIA.  But, on the flipside, we slept amazingly last night all bundled up and cozy in the cooler air.  It was great!

{Pretty}

I realize this is a weed, but for some reason, I have an affinity for flowering weeds.  They are so perky and so determined in their perkiness that it's hard not to like them.  Not being a great gardener in any sense of the word, weeds and I are never in competition which allows us to have a pleasantly platonic relationship.  Dandelions are one of my favorites, but we don't seem to have as many here in Texas as when I was growing up in the far north of just-south-of-the-Mason-Dixon-line.  Isn't this just the cutest little thing?  It's only as big as a pencil eraser.

{Happy}

My grandmother gave this cookbook to my mom when she got married and moved away, and my mom did the same for me.  I love looking back at the recipes that have notes, dated, from both of them.  Some are comments about the recipe, but most are little snippets about what was happening in their day when they were cooking.  I've added some of my own.  Here, the note in red is my mom's, and is dated in February 1989.  I was four months old.  The note in black is mine from just last week.

This also happens to be a delightfully addictive peanut butter cookie recipe, especially if you add a bag of chocolate chips to it.  Heavenly.  Thank you Fanny Farmer!

{Funny}

Why is a bad picture of half-eaten brownies funny?  Well, it was suggested at my last doctor appointment that I change my diet.  (I am still contemplating this idea...while eating brownies.)  She recommended that I cut out refined sugar, as much as possible.  That's all well and good, but I'm still craving chocolaty goodness in a way that only we women can understand, if you know what I mean, so I decided to make "healthy" brownies.  I subbed out the 1.5 cups of sugar with a few tbs of brown sugar, a cup of molasses, and a cup of flour.  Probably could have skipped the flour as these were cakey instead of fudgy, but whatever.  They were also overcooked, a chronic bad habit of mine.  

I discovered, however, that molasses in large quantities - don't ask how large, I refuse to tell! - can have the side-effect of....how shall we say...relieving any possible stopped-up-ness one might have had.  Yes, your thoughts right now are correct.  I'm not sure if the Husband noticed or not, so maybe it was just me; hope so, since he's out on calls all day!  Haha

Word to the wise: just eat the sugar...

{Real}

See that weed?  The one that's nearly as tall as a large toddler?  I've been staring at it and planning to weed-whack it for weeks now, but unfortunately our hand-me-down lawnmower refuses to turn on for me.  The weed-whacker feels the same and also will not start.  I'm biding my time until the Husband is home to beat them into submission, at which point mankind will triumph over the weeds that are attempting to take over my corner of the world!  

That's all for today; dinner needs to be made so that work can be done.  My articles to edit came in yesterday, so I'm going to attempt to finish them before the weekend.  Fingers crossed :)

Why NFP is Good for Girls, Regardless of "Mrs" Status.

This title may be a bit odd to some, who think of NFP as the "Catholic contraception."  It's not, and I have another post on that later. Suffice it to say  that it is nearly impossible to use NFP selfishly. Can't you just hear your husband, "Honey, I need a break from all this sex. Let's just skip half of each month for the next year, okay?  It'll be fun!"  Yeeeaaahhhh not. Anyway - onwards.

(Obligatory picture; otherwise blogspot puts strange and random icons on my posts.  

This is a honeymoon pic; it's the first chapel built on Aruba.)

There are, obviously, a gazillion kinds, but I'm talking about the more detailed kinds here. Billings, Creighton, Sympto-thermal, etc.  Rhythm Method ain't cutting it these days.  We are in the 21st century, ya know.

I learned Creighton, so that's what I'm going to go by here.  However, the others are probably just as good, as are some of the methods aimed directly at teens, such as the TeenSTAR method that Dr. Hanna Klaus is promoting here in the USA.  Creighton just has the most medically advanced aspect at this point, due to Dr Hilgers work in Omaha, and I picked it due to a niggling suspicion I'd be wanting that medical help at some point.  But I digress.

(Warning here!  This may be a bit...mmm...TMI for some folks.  

I"ll keep it technical and what I consider non-graphic, 

but...

warning provided, just in case.)

We women know that our bodies are complicated.  Really complicated.  How else could the majority of men be so well trained to know that "women's issues/girl troubles/that time/etc" were terms of inexplicable and utter respect.  These terms require immediate submission to whatever request proceeds them.  "It's that time honey, I feel awful.  I need to curl up and die for the next hour.  Can you do the groceries?"  What man will answer (will dare to answer!) anything but, "Yes dear, of course."  Smart men!  Don't we love 'em?

Let me preface this by saying that I am not arguing that every woman chart for every day of her fertile life.  That would be a little extreme.  But doing it for a year or so during the mid-teens, and picking up again in engagement, perhaps.  

So, what's the reason for a teen to do it?  One, to learn respect for her body.  It's hard to take for granted something that is so complex, and there's no way to get in tune with it like following and tracking the patterns.  Two, to learn what is normal and what is not.  This is crazy, ladies.  There is so much that happens to us that is considered "normal" because no one talks about it, that isn't!  For example, PMS.  Totally normal, but not when it starts more than a week out from good ol' Aunt Flow.  Whoda thunk it?  Super heavy or super light periods - not normal either!  Never being dry during the cycle - you guessed it.  Not normal either.  And, biggie here girls - extremely painful cramps.  Call-off-work-when-advil-doesn't-cut-it cramps.  Not normal.  Wouldn't it be nice to get these things fixed (or at least know that they may need fixing before marriage/kids)?  A year of charting, or less, and a couple simple doc appointments could fix that.  Lastly, the TeenSTAR abstinence program is quite successful.  Can't beat that!

Okay.  Second scenario.  You want to have kids, millions of them, and you have no desire to ever postpone them.  Your future husband wants the same.  Great.  I applaud you, I really do.  But what happens when you're pregnant, your husband loses his job, and then your other kid gets sick.  Really sick.  Now, you have a newborn, you're living off savings while hubby is away interviewing all the time, and you've got gobs of worries and medical bills for sick child.  I know - it's not a nice thought.  That might be a good time to postpone having #3 since, as we mentioned above, you're Fertile Myrtle and pop 'em out 18 months apart max.  

Stop throwing stones at me!  Let me finish :)  If you want to keep having kids and you truly feel that God is calling you to continue despite outside circumstance, then go for it.  Leaps of faith happen.  I'm no advocate for testing faith, but leaping in faith is a beautiful thing.  

Either way, wouldn't you like already knowing how to postpone, should you need to do that?  Because you realize that the highly successful/highly scientific methods often require a month or so of abstinence while you learn the basics.  Not great for your marriage, in the above situation.  It'd be nice to have the knowledge and skills already, so that, if you ever need them, they are available.   This is why I'm an advocate for learning an NFP method during engagement.  The churches that allow this to be skipped are doing a huge disservice. Because really, what do you have to lose by learning? Nothing. Just like algebra; it's good to learn even if you don't think you'll ever use it again. Abstinence during engagement is healthy, it will help your fiance learn and respect what's going on inside you, and prepare you both for coming together in marriage.

Second scenario point five.  (2.5, if you didn't get that.)  You're married, trying for kids....and.....nothing.  Keep trying, more peeing on sticks......nada.  Guess what you're going to get told when you go to your secular doctor?  "You need to try for at least a year before you're considered infertile."  Just what a wanna-be mom wants to hear.  You can't blame the doctors; this stuff isn't taught in standard medical school and most doctors don't go to the extra training seeking it.  See the end of this post for some resources if you're trying to find an NFP only, ie. no contraceptive prescribing, doctor.   

Let's keep going with scenario 2.5.  What if you'd been charting your whole engagement, and you'd noticed some of those funny signs mentioned earlier.  Your periods were a little funky, kinda spotted brown endlessly, but hey, it's light and ignorable, so who cares.  Plus, they were super painful and you always had to call off work, but again, aren't everyone's?  Then, you started charting and your instructor suggested that you have a trained doctor check you and your chart out.  Lo and Behold - you have minor endometriosis and your progesterone is low enough that you'd be at risk of miscarriage without support. It's a good thing you caught the endometriosis early since it can cause infertility and requires surgery to remove (which may or may not return your fertility), and for the progesterone, now you can take your little progesterone supplement pills and make it all the way through a happy and healthy nine months. 

Because, isn't that how we all want it to go?  First marriage, then two little pink lines and nine months of excitement - repeated as many times as desired - leading to a full house and happy family. 

If we take the time to get our annuals, isn't it worth doing this too?  Life has enough heartache and suffering...there isn't much reason to go looking for more.  And don't tell me it's a tiny minority who has problems because unfortunately, it ain't. Yours truly knows of what she speaks and is part of that not-minority.  

Anyway, enough ranting. I feel like the women's health aspect is a huge element to NFP that gets overlooked, and shouldn't.  I'll do more on this another week, but since I just had my first doc appointment for all this (after being told to do it a year ago...yeah i know. What can I say?  I was busy twirling through the marshmallow fields of upcoming matrimony and not in the medical mindset) it was on my mind. 

Info stuff:

OneMoreSoul.com - website that, among other things, lists doctors who are typically Christian and do not proscribe contraceptives. Some of them are very highly trained in various NFP programs (usually on how to use it to help infertility), others less. But none of them will push you to get a tubal after baby #4.  I have several doctor friends on here; they're all big fans. 

FertilityCare.org - this is the main Creighton website for finding a trained doctor or instructor. The instructors use a sliding scale by the way, so it's always affordable. 

NaproTechnology.org - the website for Creighton NFP as a medical tool for infertility, hormonal issues, endometriosis, PCOS, etc. Kinda interesting.