Thursday, January 14, 2010

Please help Haiti!

The stories and pictures are heartbreaking. I find I have to shut off the tv and news occasionally. The horror the people there are dealing with...just no words. But you can help.

There are several organizations that have set up easy donation options. Here are two. As I find out more, I'll come back and post them.

Text haiti to 90999 to donate $10 to the Red Cross. They have already run out of medical supplies in country, and are working on bringing in more. They already had boots on the ground as Haiti was in need of so much help beforehand. It's overwhelming how much they need now.

Text disaster to 90999 to donate $10 to Compassion International. They have worked in Haiti for years. Before the earthquake, they served 65,000+ children and families around the country. They have the infrastructure and connections to help people in a great way.

Please pray for Haiti. Even if you can't afford to donate any money, prayer is the one thing everyone can do. Prayer can open the door to miracles!

One last note. So many people didn't care about what was going on in Haiti before this. Now, Haiti is in the forefront of everyone's minds. Let's not do our typical American short term memory loss/span of attention. Haiti will need help for a long time to come. Don't turn your back on them once the initial urgency of this wears off.

*****added 1/15/10*****

Evidently, the scammers are already out in full effect. Please be careful about what charities you donate to. I've also heard that a popular one being mentioned, Yele, run by musician Wyclef Jean, may be questionable. Use your own discretion when choosing.

Salvation Army is a great choice.

UNICEF is also a good choice.

Look for organizations that have already been working in Haiti before the earthquake hit. There's are several charity rating organizations that will tell you about different organizations.

There is a huge outpouring of help from the world community. I just pray that it keeps up after the inital clean up is done. Pray for Haiti and the people touched by this tragedy.

Friday, January 8, 2010

Why I love Sprint Customer Service, or How I killed another car

Yep, you read it here. I killed another one. Actually, I think I've had this car the longest out of all of them. This happened a couple weeks ago, but I need to say thanks to Sprint Customer Service. So, here's what happened.

Before we left to visit my parents, my cell phone broke and my old one was turned on for a few days while the replacement was shipped. We came back from visiting my parents in another state for Christmas, and I had a ton of driving to get done. The day after we came back, my husband picked up the cell phone while I ran around doing errands. I kid you not. It was during the two hours between the time he picked up the phone and I got home to get it from him that the car died. Really. My old cell phone had been turned off when John picked up the replacement one for all of two hours! THAT'S when my car died. It was only a mile and a half from the house, on the exit ramp from the highway. But, the windchill was subzero, and my asthma is triggered my extreme cold. I knew there was no way I could walk the way and still breathe.

I still had the old, now disconnected, cell phone on me. The only number I could dial was customer service for Sprint. The gentleman who answered my call dialed my husband's phone (he didn't hear it over his video game) and my mother's phone (she was out and didn't hear it ring) trying to let them know what happened. Neither one picked up. This gentleman stayed on the phone with me for 20 minutes while I tried to reach someone, anyone, to come help me. Finally, a woman stopped and gave me a ride home. I didn't know her but she was really sent from God. So was the Sprint operator. I regret I can't remember the name of the Sprint operator that helped me. I was so stressed out and upset. But thank you Sprint operator man!

Now, for those who know me, I killed my car this time by having a belt snap. So totally not my fault, but given my record, I'm still getting blamed. Eh, even I agree some of it is valid. I didn't think a broken belt could hurt the engine that much. But there are these things called impact (or something like that) engines and they tend to bend pistons or break them or do something really really bad when the belts break. Bottom line, it's dead. I'm driving the big gas guzzling truck. It's a blessing to have a running vehicle, but I drive a lot. We're hoping we can find someone to fix the car without costing an arm and a leg. I've also started looking for a job. But that's a post for another time.

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Just a quick note

I forgot to tell you all that I may not post on Mondays. We don't watch any TV on Mondays, or use the computers much for non-business items. We also don't use our phones after dinner. Instead we play board games or have a family devotion. This week, both children had sports practices after school. It's J Term, which is a week of fun classes for the kids at school, and Mikey signed up for half day gym classes. So, he's in gym class for over two hours, then has practice for an hour and a half. By the time we got home and had dinner last night, both kids were wiped out and went to bed early. We also don't get home until 6:20 or 6:30. I can see now our crockpot is going to get a workout. There is no practice or any type of after school activity on Wednesdays so the families can go to church. I'm looking forward to that. I don't know what/if church we will go to tomorrow. Michael is really tired and needs some rest. I think we might watch the movie that's based on Dinner with A Perfect Stranger. We really loved that book, and Michael wants to have a party with non-dairy versions of the food. Yep, that's my boy. He loves to eat. lol

I'm really enjoying my Bible reading. Yes, reading through the Bible in 90 days is intensive, but wow! For example, isn't it ironic that Abraham and Issac both lied about their wives being their sisters, then Jacob was deceived concerning two sisters? Maybe it's just the odd way I tend to connect things, but that just really struck me. And yet, they are in the bloodline of Jesus! We can mess up, and still God will use us mightily. I know that's a great comfort to me. I mess up on a daily basis. Sorry if you thought I was perfect. I'm far from it. FAR from it. I'm just happy He sees me as worthy to even keep around.

Well, I'm off to bed now. Tomorrow is a slower day, and I'm looking forward to that. Thursday is another crazy day, including Katelyn's 16th birthday and a game she's cheering for. We're going to celebrate on Saturday instead, I think. It's up in the air as we try to coordinate schedules with family. I'll be taking pizza and dessert to Katelyn and her friends on Thursday at school. I've promised to try to not embarrass her unless I show up with pizza. hehehe I'll be embarrassing her. It's my job as a parent. Now, just how am I going to do that. I think I'd have to sleep with one eye open if I showed up as a clown. Maybe baby pictures posted around the school....

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Freezing my toes off!

Yep, it is officially cold. Very very cold. I'm readay for a little warmth now I don't mind winter, but sub-zero wind chills are too much. The woodstove version of heat wars is going on. Put another log on, too many logs are on, let the logs burn down, the logs have burned down too far. and all the while, I'm still cold!

The Bible reading is still going well. It's more intensive than I thought it would be. Going through it in 90 days is quite a challenge. But, I know that it is going to be so fruitful. It already is. And the whole point of trying something new is to stretch yourself past the point of comfort to see what you can accomplish. I love reading the Word!

Today was a quiet day. I had a few errands to run, and we're getting ready for the start of school tomorrow. And sports. YEAH! It's going to be a busy time here, but that's the way we like it. So, let the insanity begin! Oh, did I mention that Katelyn turns 16 this week? She's counting down the days, and I'm trying to forget that she is growing up. She's become such a beautiful composed young lady. It seems like just yesterday that her father and I were married, and this girl on the verge of womanhood. Now, she's almost grown! I'm not ready. lol

I'm going to finish watching Masterpiece Theatre and head to bed. I want to just burrow under my blankets and not come out until the mercury rises above 25deg!

What a busy day!

We're finishing up the downstairs area from all the flood damage. The floors are being done, and we just have the walls to finish. John is still working on the floors this late at night, and I'll be running to the store tomorrow for more supplies. But, it looks great and he is working so hard! I've been busy working on the upstairs. I have to reorganize just about everything. I need to set up our spaces to work for us. They haven't been, and stay messy. So, it's time to organize, purge, and clean.

Today's reading for the Bible in 90 Days is Genesis 17-28. This is already so much fun! I love reading about the geneology of our faith. Imagine, the people I'm reading about right now are in the bloodline of Christ, and all of us! Have you ever stopped to realize that? Yes, you can claim direct lines to Noah and Adam. I think that's so cool. Imagine that family tree!

Well, it's short and sweet today. It's already past midnight and I'm very tired. I need to sleep. I've battled insomnia a lot lately and am thankful for fatigue tonight. I need the sleep. So many people I know have had sleep issues lately. I don't know what's going on with that, but we are all very very tired people! lol

Night all!

Friday, January 1, 2010

Happy New Year! Goals for 2010

Hello! How are you all doing? Me, well, we've had an interesting end of the year. We've had flu, allergic reactions, and all sorts of stuff going on. I decided around the beginning of December that I needed to just regroup and concentrate on family for a bit. I picked January 1 to be my reemergence from my self-imposed exile. So, here I am. I'd like to be able to commit to posting every day on my blogs. But, honestly, my schedule is truly packed all ready. We'll see how that works out. We are now a two sport family. Katelyn has cheerleading and Michael is on the basketball team. Practices are at two different times in two different locations. I'll be living in the car most afternoons. So, what's a girl to do? I'm planning my days around this time in the car so I can use that time to read and do Bible study. Hopefully, I'll be able to use that time to work on some of my other goals for the year. Notice I say goals, and not resolutions. I think goals are much more attainable and quantifiable than just some vague resolutions.

Here are my goals for the year. I've broken them down into the 7 areas of life that we all have. I also have a couple unnamed goals, that I cannot share until I have actually started them.

Spiritual Goals:
1. Read through the Bible in 90 days
2. Consistant Bible study, either through books or tape series
3. Prayer every day, and not just when something is going wrong.
4. Be more open about my faith and share
5. Church every Sunday (we're looking for a church home right now)
6. Write that books God's put on my heart - I can't give details yet. This is one of the unnamed goals (what they are about and all that).

Physical Goals:
1. Lose weight! Have a healthy BMI of 20-22
2. Follow THM eating plan. No dairy, no red meat, no processed sugar, just whole healthy foods. For more information, visit www.marilu.com
3. Exercise 5 times a week
4. Complete a marathon
5. Get asthma back under control without any of the icky meds that make me sick in other ways.
6. Look more feminine. The whole jeans and t-shirts thing is getting tired. I want my hubby to look at me and say WOW!
7. Get my Hidradenitis Suppurativa under control and help spread word and knowledge about this rare and painful disease.

Family & Home Goals:
1. Make sure my husband knows how much I love and value him. He is a hard working incredible man of God. Plus, he puts up with my craziness and makes me laugh. lol This includes date nights, fixing meals he likes and are healthy for him, and lots of other little things.
2. Be a good parent to my children. Not a friend, but a parent. Be there for them, support them, make sure they are growing in their faith and will grow up to be Godly adults. Use chore lists, family nights, model the behavior I would like them to follow...
3. Keep the house straight all the time
4. Family dinner every night Sunday - Thursday.
5. Decide about redecorating and get moving
6. Keep in touch with my extended family and friends better. Not just emails, but letters and phone calls too.

Business Goals:
1. Get a job to meet some short term goals we have right now.
2. Continue to grow my business
3. Keep track of every penny spent
4. Revise business plan
5. Revise website
6. Work more with the organizations I belong to.

Friendship Goals:
1. Become more involved with church women's groups.
2. Keep in better touch with my friends and spend time with them.
3. Host teas at my house from time to time.

Mental Goals:
1. Read through classics and not just Jane Austin over and over (yes, I love her work!)
2. The unnamed goal. I promise, I will share later. I've been dreaming about it and God has given me a way to start working on this goal soon.
3. Work on organization. Use my planner and Blackberry to keep up my efforts.

Ministry Goals:
1. There is a group I know that I'm supposed to be involved in. I need to get working on doing so.
2. Being more involved in church fits in here as well. But also, involvement with non-Christian charities is important.
3. Blogging more consistently. I'll share more about this later, once I work out all the details.

I think that's enough for now, don't you? I pray everyone has a great night. I'm going to be starting my reading through the Bible in 90 Days challenge tonight. I couldn't find the Bible at my local store, so I will do the reading in my own Bible with the schedule. Today is Genesis 1-16. I'm going to order the Bible online though. I just can't wait! I know that there are many people doing a challenge with this starting today. I'll have to link up with them, maybe tomorrow. May I just say I love my Bible reading?! I can't wait to see what fruit a concentrated reading like this will bear.

Chele