VACATION!!!!

So after not having any real time off to just chill with family or friends we are up north with my Dad. I will talk about this in a later post but in February my Mom passed and spending time with my Dad has become even more important to me.  Life is so precious.

My Daughter also turns 17 on Sunday and I have no idea where the times has gone.  So many things to plan and prepare for over the next year.  As we enjoy our vacation I am reminded of the importance of taking time for yourself.  I know easier said than done.  I rarely take time for myself, heck I don't even get alone time in the bathroom.  Either an animal is pushing its way in ahead of me or my Daughter finds this a good time to talk to me.

We were a little short on funds again this year and my Daughter's health has been all over the place so we did travel south as planned, but being here with my Dad and having time to just be in the moment is soooo worth just not being at home for a week.  I have had a crazy year and so much to do before winter gets here so it is nice to just take a break from dealing with that stuff, all of which I will get to as  I get back into the swing of my blogging.

Well not much else for today.  I just wanted to stick to my word of posting more often.  I will be posting more detailed things later that get you all caught up on what has kept me away.  Until next time.

Happy 4th of July

This is just a quick post.  I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy 4th of July.  I hope you had a great holiday weekend and maybe even got to spend time with family and friends.

I was up north with my parents and daughter.  It is one of my favorite times of the year.  We just forget about what is going on and spend time with each other.  I hope you had that same type of weekend.

Health Update

So Friday I went to the ER and found out I had another kidney stone.  I had symptoms for a few days but I am bad about getting checked out.  I always put other things ahead of my pain.  I know that I should listen to my body more but I just have things to do so if it isn't too bad I just keep going.  Well on Thursday night my body was really letting me know it had enough and by Friday morning it was telling me it was time to go, so after the water heater repair people finished I went in.

This is the second time I have had one and it is the worst.  It is the only thing I have found that beat childbirth and that is painful enough.  Although when you understand what is happening with a kidney stone you realize it is about the same principle of pushing a watermelon out a hole the size of a pea.  If you have never had to go through either of these there is really no way for you to understand this type of pain.  If you have done one or the other then you know the pain I am talking about.  If you are like me and have done both, well you deserve and award.

They gave me meds to help and decided this time it is small enough that they hope it will pass on its own.  While I am not looking forward to passing it I am hoping it does because I do not want to do surgery again.  The last one I had was so big that even after placing a stint it still would not pass so they had to surgically break it up so it could come out.  That was not fun and I have had lower back pain every morning in that spot since.

I go see the dr. for a check up in the morning and hopefully it will be good news.  I am hoping they tell me it is passing along well and should be out in a few more days.  Unfortunately between the meds and pain there was not enough energy to make posts so I am hoping to get caught back up soon.
Keep up the good work on paying down the debt and building your savings. You are doing great because you are trying.  We are in this together.

Just a Little Chat

So the holidays are upon us.  For me that means shopping for my daughter, parents and a few friends.  It is a time to just be with family and enjoy,  we can start to look forward to the next year as well.  It is a fun time of year.

Some people get all stressed out and are so caught up in the shopping they miss out on the joy of the season.  I like just slowing down and enjoying what is going on in my life.  My daughter gets so excited about Christmas still which is nice to see at her age.  We take time to pick out the gifts for everyone together.  She is very particular about what she wants to get people.  We help buy gifts for a needy child each year and she likes picking stuff out for them.  I think she would spend every last dollar I have on them if I would let her.  I feel blessed to have raised such a caring child.

As we get closer I want to slow down even more and enjoy the time.  It seems like each year it goes faster and faster, before I know it she will be 18 and graduating high school and off to college.  I want to enjoy every last second I can.  Even though this year has been so rough, when I stop to think there is still so much to be thankful for.

So as the holidays roll through take take the time to enjoy the people around you.  Slow down and just take it all in.  It is going to go by no matter what so why not just enjoy it.  You will not get time to do it again.

Another Year Older

So my birthday was Sunday and now I am a year older.  I am in my late 30's and so much has happened in my life.  This last year has been a complete roller coaster.  Though I have figured out that each year I worry less about the number my birthday brings.

I am more happy with spending time with my family.  For the last 3 years I have used my birthday weekend to go with my daughter and my parents to Uncle John's Cider Mill.  I am in Michigan in case you didn't know and it is a very popular place during the fall.  They have a pumpkin patch and make their own cider and donuts.  When we get there we take the ride to the patch to get started.

We stroll through looking for the perfect pumpkins, then we load them in the car and head into the mill and get cider and donuts.  We pick out a table and eat and drink for a moment.  Before we go we hit the gift shop to see what new stuff they have that year.  It is a small trip but one I enjoy.  Why do I enjoy such a simple birthday?  Because it is with people I care so much about.

Sure I could have a huge party and invite a ton of people, but would it mean as much?  Would it create the great family memories that I now have.  Not at all.  My daughter will soon be grown herself and the childhood memories will be just that, memories.  She will have things of her own to do and ultimately have less time for these types of things.  I want to do things that make me happy.  Having my little quiet birthday does just that.  One year older and another year of joy.

Lazy Cold Day

It is turning into fall here.  It is cold outside and I officially have the heat on.  Plus it is raining so it i even colder.  Today I basically lazy.  The girl and I did do some cleaning but not enough to really count.  I ordered another blanket so the animals can stop stealing mine.  It is a #victoriasecret sherpa so it is very warm.

I really have no plans for this weekend.  She goes with her dad tomorrow so I have no idea what I want to do.  Probably going to be lazy again until it is time to go get her.  I really should be more productive but I really do not feel like it.  I have so much work to do around here.  Does the cold weather do this to anyone else?

It is like it just drains a person of all life.  I need to find a way to get going because my daughter has made a huge mess of my house and it is not going to clean itself.  The desire to sleep is so strong though.  Hopefully tomorrow I will be more motivated or at least fake it enough to get some stuff done.  I have a ton of clothes to go through and some already bagged up to donate.  I just need to get it done.

Well wish me luck hopefully I can get going.

Just Because

So this weekend has been very relaxing.  My daughter and I decided to visit my parents for the holiday weekend.  My mom's birthday is Monday and it is not often we get to just come up here for the weekend.  So we decided to use our free time this time to see family.  My parents moved two hours away so it can be challenging to see them some times.  We all have different schedules and then this time of year with the weather it makes it more challenging.

It is crazy how fast time goes and then you realize it has been more than a month since you have visited some one.  I realized it has been over a month since I last saw one of my friends and I actually drive by their house every week for other stuff.  It is crazy how time goes by so fast and we are so worried about getting things done all the time, we don't actually have time to enjoy life.

It seems more as the time goes by I get more used to not seeing people.  It is sad that we put more value on what we are getting done than the people in our lives.  It seems that being with the people we care about the most should be our bigger priority.  We get so caught up in getting a pay check or what we have to do around the house that we push the rest to the side.  I mean really, if you don't do the dishes today what is the harm they will still be there tomorrow and most people now have a dishwasher so it isn't like it is an all day chore like before.

It amazes that with ll this stuff we have to make our lives easier, we have actually complicated it more.  We are jam packing more things to do each day.  We make it almost impossible to just sit and enjoy life as it is.  Just spend time with our family.  Enjoy our time with the people we care about the most.  When you think about it when those people are gone are the dishes going to be that important?  The day of their funeral are you going to not go because there are dishes to do, or are you just going say heck with the dishes I am going.  So why wait until their life is over to see them.  Why not have today be the day that the dishes can wait and you go spend time with important people now.

A Quick Update

So I have taken a couple days off as I was busy and I was not really sure what to write.  So here is a quick update on my weight loss journey.  I am off to a rocky start to be honest.  I have not been eating to healthy and still haven't gone to the gym.  We have been very busy and I just have not felt like it.  Not to mention I fell and have bruises every where so I am completely sore.

I really do want to get some improvement going I just need to get the motivation.  I will get there I am not discourage yet.  I am however extremely tired so this will be my post for today.  On a side note almost everyone has gotten their power restored from the storm.  I have learned some new things, my next house will have a fire place or some type of alternate heat source and I need to not rely on power so much because I could be with out it.  Maybe I will invest in solar power energy for my next house too.  Have a great Sunday Tomorrow and I will be back with more tidbits to share.

Holiday Busy

With the holidays here it has been so busy.  I have been making to do lists and really trying to stay organized so I keep on task.  It is not easy when you have to fit in your child's scheduler either.  We are doing pretty good though.  I have all of my Christmas shopping done.  I just have to wrap them.  I am very excited about the gifts I found for my daughter this year.  I found some great deals early on.  I got an $80 item for $35 by watching sales and having some killer coupons and such.  It is going to be so fun watching her open them. 

That has been one of my time consuming events.  Going from store to store to get things I need on my list at a good price takes a good chunk of time.  You have to go with a plan to really optimize your time.  I have my list for each store and stay on track to those specific items.  This really saves time instead of just wondering to look for things.  Know what you want from each place and go.  If you get of track then you will waste precious time. 

The next problem I have is I had to have all my gifts for others now.  My daughter has to go to her Dads on the 20th so that cut time short to have our celebrations with other families.  We have one each day starting tomorrow through Thursday.  So I work then go to the parties each day.  So Friday will be a day to finally relax.  That will be different I don't even know what I will do with the time.  I am sooo busy that it will be crazy to have nothing to do.

There is also the work schedule.  It is all over the place and then sometimes Saturday so I have to work my time around that too.  I am happy to have a job but sometimes the hours make it hard to get stuff done this time of year.  Luckily one helpful thing is there is a Walgreens right in the same parking lot so I have been able to utilize them for some things as well, which has been nice. 

I can hardly wait until Christmas day when we get to relax and just enjoy each other.  It will be so nice to just hang with my parents and my daughter and enjoy each others company.  Which frankly is what it is really about.  I just cant help myself during the holidays

So what is your struggle during the holidays and how do you handle them.

New Look

So today I got a new hair cut.  Nice and short for this hot weather.  My Dad paid for it at the local hair salon up here.  It is different than I thought it would be but it is still nice.  It is different from what I normally get done.  I think next time I might go shorter in the back.  It is different from what I have had in awhile. If you are Up North in MI you can visit the salon.  It is called Teasers and is downtown.

Now we are just sitting doing nothing and relaxing.  This is our final night up here so we are just enjoying the quiet and taking in the freshness of the north.  It is so peaceful up here.  It is so laid back and easy going.  The only thing that is not good is today is sooo hot that you can not be outside very long.  That is hard when it is so nice up here.

Tomorrow we will make the 2 hour drive back to our regular routine.  It will be happy and sad at the same time.  We will miss my parents and the easy days, but we will be going home to our dogs and friends and all our stuff in general. 

That is really the hard part of going any where for vacation.  It is nice but then you start missing your own stuff and other things you are used to at home.  Unfortunately when you get home you start wishing you were on vacation again.  It is a viscous no win situation.

Vacation Is Going On

So I am officially on my vacation.  I get this week off.  I am spending most of it with my family then me and my daughter will be going back home to do house work and get ready for a yard sale the following week.  We are working on getting our home more organized and efficient.

We are currently in Up North, MI.  It is sooo peaceful here.  It is nice to just do nothing and be where life is still so simple. No worries or busyness to get in the way.  Just simple living at it's finest.  I have been enjoying up here since Friday when I got out of work.  It has been so good to get away.

My daughter enjoys being up here because she gets to spend time with her Grandparents and I like that she gets outside and just does kid stuff.  There is no crazy world influence pushing her to be too grown up or to get her in trouble.  I enjoy seeing her just be a kid.

The world is so busy today that some times even children get caught up in it.  They are moved around from this to that and school for part of the year.  Then they have friends pulling them on either side.  It is good for them to just have time to relax and experience a relaxed day.

I am still up dating the blog and will be for a while so please let me know anything that would make it better or just leave comments in general.