Yesterday I Lost My Mind...

I generally avoid the gameroom in my house. I can successfully go upstairs, check my emails, put away clothes, clean the bathrooms and tuck the kids into bed without having to see it. It's all the way on the other side of the upstairs from the rest of the rooms. I KNOW it will be a disaster and it will put me in a grumpy mood so I just avoid it. Yesterday, I made the mistake of going in there and I flat out lost my mind!!! I'm talking about tossing toys around, hollering, stomping around and threatening to not let them even go in the gameroom, much less play in there!

Before you go getting all "perfect parenting" on me, let me tell you what made me lose my mind! Among all the food and dishes on the floor and the toys scattered around the room, I found that my 10 year old son, Nick, had used the tool kit he got for his birthday to completely disassemble his sister's play kitchen. There were screws spread all over the floor and parts and pieces from wall to wall. When I asked him why he decided to take the kitchen apart, he responded "I was bored." Let's just say that there will be NO MORE opportunities for boredom this summer! We have school packets to work on, chores to do, books to read, weeds to pull, etc... After I calmed down a bit, we began putting the kitchen back together. With no instructions, I had to rely on my son to remember where the pieces came from. We did a fairly decent job, but have LOTS of hardware left over! I hope that stinkin' kitchen doesn't fall apart the next time Brenna plays with it!

I'm so over Summer vacation...25 days and counting...

Broke

Like many Americans, the economy has hit our family hard. My husband is in the oil and gas industry and things have tanked for his business pretty badly over the last year. I went grocery shopping today and came home BROKE! I've been thinking since then about the meaning of the word "broke". I've determined that the word has come to mean something other than our bank account being depleted. Having no money doesn't necessarily make you poor. I'm not poor because I have a loving family and lots of friends who are kind and generous and love me in spite of my bank account. I am, however, broke! There are so many meanings of the word but lately, I've realized that struggling to keep our home going on considerably less income has made me feel like my spirit is "broke" and my attitude is "broke" and my relationships will be "broke" if I don't tend to them with all the care I can muster!

I started thinking about how long something has to be "broke" before it's fixed. I thought about when my microwave was "broke". I fixed that sucker as quickly as I could because it has become a necessary and valuable appliance in my home. However, I have two drawers that are "broke" and have been for a couple of months. I haven't been able to find the right drawers to replace them and so my cabinets have empty holes where the drawers should be.

What have I learned by pondering this word all day?? I understand that being "broke" is okay for a while...that I'll be un-broke in time. I also understand that feeling "broke" is an attitude! I can choose to feel good about the things that ARE good in my life. I'll admit, I will still feel "broke" (probably a lot) until our finances are in better shape. But hopefully, prayerfully, I'll remember that being "broke" doesn't mean I am poor!

Blogging 101: Blogging for Dummies

I've been curious about blogging for a while now! I learned today that a friend of mine blogs. It surprised me! I didn't expect that from her! Not that I thought she couldn't do it...I just didn't ever consider that she WOULD do it. After reading her blogs tonight, I thought about all the things that float around in my head and decided that maybe I could give this a try! So...here goes!



Tonight I watched TV. The end.




Just kidding!! Tonight, I watched The Bachelorette: After the Final Rose. I hate to admit that, each season, I get suckered into watching this show. I always tell myself that I'm not going to tune in and then I'll watch one episode and become hooked. I have a sixth (useless) sense about picking the winner. It's a gift and I can't let it go to waste! I'm always dissappointed when the relationship breaks up-usually very shortly after (or DURING) the After the Final Rose episode. Let's just say that I hope Gillian and Ed will last or I'm NOT watching another season!! (Yeah, right...who am I kidding!)

I'm gonna wrap up by saying that my dreamy bachelor is lying in bed with me sawing logs so loudly the neighbors can hear him! Life is good after that final rose!