Priorities and Obligations

The last 2 months have been very trying for me. I discovered a really cool way to track my habits and how I prioritize my time, basically by putting the 5 things I want to do every day (or almost every day), and then marking whether I do them or not. I started this last month...and now it's October. Filling out the chart is depressing enough (I have to leave many bubbles empty), but now that I'm looking back on how I've spent my time, it's very humbling. My very first priority (spending time with God) is nowhere near where I want it to be. My time spent on my projects is severely lacking, and I STILL don't have our budget finished. The one thing that I've been pretty good about is exercising, and I probably have my wife to thank for much of that.

I'm not a big "new year's resolution" kind of person, but at some point, I'm hoping I get fed up enough with my slacking that I actually push myself to action here. Like someone once told me "it's not about having enough time to do something, it's if that something is important enough to you that it gets done."

C is for cookie

And apparently I like them a lot. I'm sitting here reading my email, when I notice the flab around my mid section. And I'm disgusted. Seriously, I've been working out (irregularly) for like 9 months, the last 2 of which have been pretty consistent. I feel great everywhere else, but I still have a squishy middle. I really want to get one of these so I can lift heavy, but I don't have that kind of cash laying around, and if I did, my wonderful wife would remind me of the 5 other things I should be spending that money on. So it's dumbbells and creativity for now. Also, I really need to lay off the cookies, and...soda. AGGHHHH! It hurts just thinking about it. I really am full on addicted. A couple weeks ago, I decided I was going to go a day without any soda, just to see how hard it was. Needless to say, the next day, soda was consumed. I know how awful it is for me...I guess I just need to try weaning myself off it. Which I have been doing the last couple weeks. None at dinner, small ones at lunch, and only in social settings. Been working so far. Except this last weekend, that was 4 days long for me, was 4 days of constant social time. LOL, didn't work so well there!

Like butter

Scraped over too much bread. It's not really all that bad, I've just been very busy, every day something is going on, somewhere to go, and I haven't been getting much sleep. I just feel like there is so much I want to do, there just isn't enough hours in the day! Maybe if I could stay home all day and not have to give 9 hours a day to a job like someone I know (you know who you are!).

I think my next big project for the house is going to be scraping all the dead grass off the front yard. I'm thinking I'd rather have dirt than dead grass, at least until I can patch up the sprinkler system and put some seed down! Also, for the first time ever, I'm actually considering PLANTING a tree instead of ripping one out. I think the front yard could use a nice big tree that's good for shade and climbing! Uh, you know, for...the kids...to climb. Yeah.

You keep saying that word

Air conditioning. It's a beautiful thing. Monday techs came out and spent about 5 hours fixing our beloved A/C. And lo and behold, it now works. INCONCEIVABLE!!!

In other news, today, Carrie went yaarrrrd sailing - er, make that "yard sale-ing" (YAARR! Hand over yer booty!!) While she was out, they (because women folk can't do anything alone) decided to hit the Goodwill store. And she found a TV desk-stand-place-thing for me there! SCORE. I must admit, I was a little saddened to have to dismantle my cardboard "entertainment center", but it was for the best. Now I just need a TV that's bigger than 12 inches (and maybe one with stereo sound!), and I'll be all set and ready PLAY!

Jerry would play, man!

No title necessary

I promised myself I wouldn't do this

It's hot. And I am complaining about it. Seriously. We've been living without A/C for like a month now, but it's really starting to get to me (did I mention that it's the middle of July and well over 100?). I asked Carrie not to complain about it when this whole thing started (because she was...all the time), and she's been a real champ about it since then. But today, I buckled. I can't help it! I'm so stressed out today because the kids haven't been sleeping, and when the kids get bent out of shape, it get's me bent out of shape. And I feel like I need to do something about it, like rip our warranty company a new one, but I don't know what else to do besides call them and leave voice messages that don't get returned. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

This too shall pass, right? At this rate, I think we have autumn to look forward to before we get relief.

Lazy sunday

Man, this past weekend has been pretty cool. I installed a temporary window AC unit downstairs on Friday, and oh man what a difference! We've actually been home for the past 2 days if that tells you anything. I will say that I cannot wait until our central unit is back up, but it's good to have the family home. Also, my dad took care of my car on Friday (thanks 1 million times dad!), so that's one less thing to worry about.

So yeah, I guess this time was just God reminding me that sometimes things don't go the way we want, but He'll bring us through them, it's not the end of the world, no matter how "bad" and "overwhelming" it seems in the moment. Just fix your eyes on Him, and He will see you through. And I have to mention that He has seen fit to see us through by using our family. Kevin and Brooke, mom and dad (on both sides!), you guys all rock, and we really did keep our sanity because of you all.