Thrivin', not survivin'! A three month check up....

The last post of 2010 was a pledge to get out of "surviving" mode and into "thriving" mode. I've made great strides in accomplishing this. To wit:
-Taking action on hard, but necessary, decisions about finances. (Thank you Andy Andrews.)
-Enjoying my extra jobs because: A)They are fun! and B)The money is going toward vacation!
-Accepting that I can only be at one place at one time, especially at work.
-Reaching my 40 pound weight loss goal. Ten more to be at WW Lifetime goal.
-Working out, but not as much as I'd like....
-Brave enough to say, "Wife / Mommy needs a time out!"
-Reaping the benefits of aforementioned "time out": more civil, organized, healthy, "with it!" Wife / Mommy.
-Regularly taking my rhodiola. Gotta love those adaptagens!
-Loving life and life is good! Having a "Gratitude Attitude" really helps me get through the rough moments in life.

So there you have it. Three months of thriving: smiling, accepting, loving, forgiving, adapting....me!

While I have a long way to go in this personal growth journey, I know that I am starting to be the person I want to be. I may not be perfect, but that's OK. I'm me.

If any of you have any tidbits of advice to pass on, I'm all ears!

Until next time....thrive away!

365 / 365: The End

New PJ's, new glasses, new outlook.

Everyone has the "fresh start" approach on New Year's. So do I. And I'll have that approach on Jan. 2, and Jan. 3, and Jan. 4..... I'll take everyday God gives me and make the best of it!

Looking back on the year in blogging, I found many times I was in "survival" mode: as a wife, mother, CCPS employee, human being. Maybe I need to go into "thriving" mode instead. Look at opportunities God is presenting to me. Keep a gracious heart wide open to allow these opportunities to enter my life. Think of myself as a top-notch wife, mother, employee and human being. Who knows? Maybe it'll happen.....

Done surviving, onto thriving!

Sounds good, doesn't it?

This officially concludes my Blog 365 project. Aside from the one day during B's funeral, I managed to complete one year of blogging, complete with pictures. I am extremely grateful to those of you who read it, either on the site or on FB, and even more grateful to those of you who took time to comment. I don't know if this improved my writing, but I know there were days it improved my perspective on life. That's the important thing, isn't it?

Until next time....Happy New Year!!

364 / 365: Partners

Two whole weeks together. They have fought, hugged, fought again, read to each other, argued, played together, beat each other up, walked arm-in-arm in the store, bickered over video games, etc.

Did I say they fought?

This was a long stretch for these two. During the school day, they have a buffer of being in different classrooms. Vacation? Not so much. Thus, when they are together, they have to be separated and when they are apart, they want to be together.

Today, they ganged up on mom and dad, leaving us with no choice but to give them time outs and threaten to "Return Christmas". This squelched their boorish behavior and they managed to redeem themselves through good public behavior and patience as hubby and I did some grocery shopping.

While I hope they stay close, I do hope they don't become partners....in crime!

Until next time....fight away!

363 / 365: Oh boy....

Scale went up...motivation went down. Until today.

Ate a little less, went to the gym, meeting with a trainer tomorrow afternoon, and really studying the new WW program.

Have to get back on track. My health depends on it.

Until next time...control away!

362 / 365: A Spectacular Stuff n Fluff!!

The boys and I spend an afternoon at the B Ranch. A fun time was had by all!!

It all evolved in a matter of days. To clean out my inventory, I posted a "clearance sale" on my FB page. LB offered to have an actual "Stuff n Fluff" party at her house, sending out invites via FB. By the end of today's event, I sold 30 bears and all my accessories.

While the afternoon was indeed profitable, more important "stuff" happened. I got to see many of my former colleagues. We were able to talk about work in short, sometime comedic spurts. I was able to see their children, many my former students, and trying to figure out how they grew up so fast, so smart, and so beautiful, when I haven't aged a bit..... JOR and SRR got out of the house and played with kindred spirits both young and old. If all the children's energy was harnessed, the B ranch would have power for at least eight months!! It was amazing chaos!

Until next time....stuff away!

361 / 365: Nook Narcolepsy...a Haiku

Nook narcolepsy
Reading, sleeping than repeat
I love vacation!

Until next time...read away!

360 / 365: Death by Virus

That is MY death by COMPUTER virus!

It started innocently enough. I was feeling lazy and didn't feel like booting up my computer, so I used Hubby's laptop to piddle around the 'net while cooking dinner. I was on the usual sites: Weather Channel, e-mail, news, etc. Nothing risque or dangerous.

Suddenly, things went south....fast. The mouse decided to stop working and a voice reminiscent of a game show declared, "Congratulations, you won!" The computer declared this every 10 minutes. Clueless, I had to tell Hubby. I was now south....of the border. At least I wish I was.

While he didn't yell, you could tell who he was blaming for this debacle. The looks, the cold shoulder, the snide remarks, all labeled me the resident hacker.

Time for me it to go to work. I Googled the issue and the results gave me some ideas. I then posted the problem on Facebook (along with a caveat to watch for the funeral notice) and got some better suggestions. I went straight to work and tried every spyware, malware and anti-virus known to Geek-Kind. Eventually, the virus was quarantined and I destroyed it happily, even celebrating with a glass of vino.

All is now well at the Ranch. Hubby's computer is working better than before the virus and I'm still in the land of the living. Happy Boxing Day!!

Until next time....protect away!