March 2015 Flickr Upload

You can see the whole stream here as always, these are just my favorites!!

 013's artwork at the Honeywell Center.  It is the orange one on the bottom.  So cool!

 013 Placing in his Lucky 4 Miler just before his birthday.  Love that he loves running.

 Hanging out with 011 on his 6th grade Field Trip to Chicago.  Don't think I embarrassed him too much.  It was so awesome to see him with his friends.

 Our family tradition of getting a smashed penny everywhere we go...

 Becoming 014.  So awesome that he had friends there and that my brother and his family were able to make it.  And that Gadget could join us too.

Love seeing him smile and laugh.  He needs to do it more.

Don't Stop Believing

Hum, that is a hard one sometimes!  Working on the business plan was a bit of an eye opening experience.  I am a bit nervous, but I'm really hoping and praying tha I can make it work.

I worked on pictures yesterday, getting 014's birthday set done.  It should be up on Flickr soon.

Tuesday we had (yet another) funeral service so I worked in the AM to help prepare for it.  In addition to the normal Monday/Wednesday.  I don't mind though.  She was a sweet lady and had been there for a very long time.  She had a big, loving heart.

This is the second week I've had to mow the yard with a scarf on because it is so cold.  What is going on!?!?!?  Hopefully the warm comes back soon, I need to start cleaning out the flowerbeds and getting things looking tidy again.

This weekend I am hoping to get some reading done, and also to work on the Hooligan's pictures.  That would help me feel a little more accomplished.  I would love to also finish 011's book and start 014's but I'm not taking that with me.  And I'd like to get some new soap made.  Soon, I hope.  So much to do, so little time.

The organizing at church has gone very well.  I've found a good room to use as an archives, that has store-like shelves in it that I've been moving a few boxes and older equipment to.  I can't really make the call as to keep it or not, but we don't really need 3 cassette players down in the working part of the church, you know what I mean??!  Most of the drawers have been labeled, file folders labeled, and organized into hanging folders, and those labeled too.  Just a few left with Growing Grounds and board meeting minutes.  It feels good.

Well, I gotta run to breakfast, so I'll check in with you again soon!

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Eye of the Storm

Greetings all!  It is Tuesday, the 1 day the Weather Channel told me would have some sun, albeit a bit cold, this week, so that I could get the yard mowed.  Hum... not looking very sun like out there, hoping I can still get the yardwork done.  I didn't do it yesterday because it was supposed to rain all day but then it didn't rain until lunchtime.  Go figure!

Our GBA trip was a couple of weeks ago.  We look forward to it all year, and then it is over with so fast and then you miss it.  It is always a big flurry of activity.  And this year we had nearly 20 planes, so it was awesome!  I just get sent off to the Mentor Monitor some photos that Smitty will use in his article.  I'm totally stoked about that.  More on all of that when I get pictures edited and put up on Flickr.  It is always such an an amazing experience, and I'm so grateful I get to be a part of it.

In school, we are done with all the testing, I passed 100% the written, and had just a few points on the practical.  This month is all clinicals, so we will be working on the public.  They have people call in during the year, they get put on a list, and then that is what we use as our client list to call and schedule appointments.  It seems very rudimentary to me, but I guess there are people out there who don't know how to do it?  Anyway, the school charges them a small fee to help cover supplies and laundry and then if they tip, it gets sent to a charity.  I think it is a terrific way of building support from your community.

We have also had to write a resume.  That wasn't too hard, as I've always done a pretty good job keeping mine up to date.  Made some minor changes to make it fit what they would like.  And I removed a bit as it was not pertinent.  But it is still 2 full pages.  Not really sure how to trim it down, or if it needs to be trimmed.  Oh well, people will either like it or not, as they will either want me as an employee or not.  I do not have a lot of control over that, and have gotten to the point where it is not a big concern for me anymore.  I know who I am, what I can do and where I want to be.

We've also been tasked with a business plan, so I have been working on that.  That has been a very valuable exercise actually.  It has really helped me take some of the ideas that are swirling around in my head and given them some structure and somewhere else to LIVE.  Now I can use that space for something else.  We also have to do something that reminds me of a work-life balance essay.  But I'm waiting on some additional information as I'm not entirely sure we have all of it yet.

I invested in a chair for seated massage a couple months ago.  I've had the incredible opportunity to use it at the Senior Expo here at the YMCA a few weeks ago.  That was so much fun, they have such great stories!  Even ran into a couple of ladies who knew my dad and uncle.  I then also had the pleasure of working on the nursing staff at a local nursing home.  What an incredible group of people.  You all have such big, loving hearts, and are such great (Biblical) servants to those who are no longer able to care for themselves.  It is a rare find, and you are to be commended.

The community at large has been so supportive of me and my endeavors and I am so thankful.  I can't wait to get this going.

Working at church has been a great experience.  I have been busy cleaning out filing cabinets and trying to bring some order to chaos.  We have several very old filing cabinets, the kind that do not use hanging folders at all, that have needed some attention.  I was able to find the hanging file inserts that allow you to use hanging files, and have been busy putting them together, and getting the drawers cleaned out, assigned to a commission or activity, and then getting the correct information in there.  Next will come folder labeling!  I've also worked a bit on getting both desks more orderly, and working on the office shelves too.  I feel very blessed to be given this opportunity to serve.  I love organizing and sorting and helping and being in a place where I feel I can take ownership.  It in some ways is tailor-made for me!  Yesterday, there was an issue with the network, so I also got to troubleshoot and repair that and learned a bit more information about our equipment that I could get filed away.  And it is wonderful to be there and get the phone calls from people who need help and be able to get them connected with someone who can.  I love making a difference in someone's life.

Scrapping wise, I'm working on a little comb-bound book of 011's kindergarten homework.  So much fun to see the improvement over the years!  And then on to one for 014's kindergarten.  Wow, that will be an even bigger difference!  I can't wait, I love getting this stuff done!

Well, off to mow the grass before the rain comes in!

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Sorry I've been gone so long!  Between vacation, school, work, and track for 011 I'm not sure what happened to my time!  LOL  But if you don't mind a crosspost, here's a link to some pretty spring-inspired cards!

Thanks for checking it out!

Flickr Upload - February 2015

ell, I apparently did not take many pictures in February. Hopefully I will get back into the swing of things these next few months.  But most of this month did look like this first picture...  The rest you can find here...

 

 Snowblowing the driveway...  It was also a very pretty sunset.

 Homework time... this is starting to happen more often as they are getting into more involved material...

 Getting braces again... He's not happy.  But that's OK.

All bundled up with favorite snack and a TV show...

Frightful Weather Tuesday

Well, good morning!  Winter Storm Thor is dumping freezing rain on us, and quite a bit of snow to the north of us.  Of course this comes on the heels of Sparta which gave us 6" of snow.  Got to use the snow blower again, and that is always fun, but it left me a bit sore this time.  It does not usually do that.  Pandora kept me from 013's Science Olympiad in Goshen, IN this year.  011 and I attempted to get there, and got stranded at a very nice elderly lady's driveway and house for a couple of hours.  She was very sweet and wonderful, and gave us some shelter until it was safer to leave.  It was way too crazy beyond words.

So the school went right to cancelling, no 2 hour delay first.  That was odd.  But since 013 forgot to do his math homework, it saved his bacon.  Not sure what that will do to the band concert that is supposed to be Wednesday.  I guess we shall find out.
Our secretary at the church got a full-time job with benefits (yea!!!!  It has been a long time coming!) so I'll be filling in until they are able to find a replacement.  I am excited about the opportunity as it gives me a chance to serve, and it keeps me from being bored here at home!
My soaping is really starting to take off!  I'm very excited about that, and have lots of ideas that I want to try.  Thank you so much to everyone.  My crafting also continues to plug along.  That was certainly a big scare, when I lost my external drive.  I had my pictures backed up, but none of my artwork.  I know, dumb!  So I've been looking at RAID NASs on Amazon and think I have found one I like.  So once I get my tax refund, that will be the first thing I get.
Massage school is going well, we have learned so many fun things, I can't wait to get out there and start trying them!

Update from last time:

• Still preparing for the final
• Aced my MSA quiz
• March Menu done
• Freezer not nearly so jam-packed.  In fact, I ran out of lunches last week!  Don't worry, there are new ones in there now.
• Still slow going on the scrapping, but slowly plugging away
• Got a wonderful 100 song compilation for my iPod to use during massages.  Gadget got me a super-cool speaker to use with it so it sounds lovely!  Although 1 guy really likes 70s songs, so I put together a special playlist just for him.
• Last month's bill was not lower, darn-it!  I was really surprised.  But the good news is it is working so much better, so maybe I should just be happy that for the same amount of money I had a warm house, that stayed warm, and was set 2 degrees higher than last year!  We now keep it on 66 which is a tad bit more comfy.  We'll see about the bill for February that comes in March.  It is historically the big one.  If you don't keep track of this stuff, you really should.  Duke allows me to download my bills into CSV format, I then convert it to a regular XLSX format and do graphing and whatnot with it.  It allows me to keep track of the KW that we use, not just the $$ spent.  Trust me, it goes up every year, so if you are just tracking $$ it is not a good comparison, you need to be tracking usage.
• Other things I track?  Grocery spending and coupon saving, also in a spreadsheet.  I have historical data back to 2009.  It really helps you not spend so much, when you start to look at how much it is over the years.  And gas.  This is a new one that I started doing.  I have SpeedyRewards, and Kroger Points, so I try to track how much I save at each place.  Not every Speedway gives you the .10 credit, some just give you the points, so I've started using that info as well.  Wabash and Kokomo, and Auburn's Speedways do.  Marion and Battle Creek's do not.  And I have a Chase BP card, so I do get points on that occasionally, but there are fewer BPs near me now so I tend to not use that card much anymore, in favor of my Amazon card.  Also, Kroger is hard, I have to drive to Kokomo, Peru, Fort Wayne, or Huntington to get gas on that, so I tend to only go there 1x a month and use all the points in one go.  I am usually in one of those cities at some point during the month when I need gas so it works out.  And I use an app on my phone called Gas Buddy.  It will find all the stations around you and tell you the price.  You may think that there is not much variation, but I will tell you that the Speedway on the south side of Kokomo is typically 20 cents cheaper than the one on the north side.  Both of them give you the .10 discount, but you can guess which one I go to.  They are about 10 miles apart.  And between Alexandria (school) and home it can vary almost .40 per gallon so yea, it does pay, even with my tiny little gas tank!
• Massage practicing is starting to pick up and I've even had a few repeats, that is really cool!  I'm hoping once I am certified it will mean converting them to actual clients!

Well, that is about all, folks! Have a great, safe day!