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Saturday, September 29, 2007

Christian Ways to Reduce Stress

I got this in an email and I thought it was great, so rather than forwarding it and annoying someone, I thought I'd post it here.

CHRISTIAN WAYS TO REDUCE STRESS


Never borrow from the future. If you worry about what may happen tomorrow and it doesn't happen, you have worried in vain. Even if it does happen, you have to worry twice.

1. Pray

2. Go to bed on time.

3. Get up on time so you can start the day unrushed.

4. Say No to projects that won't fit into your time schedule, or that will compromise your mental health.

5. Delegate tasks to capable others.

6. Simplify and unclutter your life.

7. Less is more. (Although one is often not enough, two are often too many.)

8. Allow extra time to do things and to get to places.

9. Pace yourself. Spread out big changes and difficult projects over time; don't lump the hard things all together.

10. Take one day at a time.

11. Separate worries from concerns. If a situation is a concern, find out what God would have you do and let go of the anxiety. If you can't do anything about a situation, forget it.

12. Live within your budget; don't use credit cards for ordinary purchases.

13. Have backups; an extra car key in your wallet, an extra house key buried in the garden, extra stamps, etc.

14 K.M.S. (Keep Mouth Shut). This single piece of advice can prevent an enormous amount of trouble.

15. Do something for the Kid in You everyday.

16. Carry a Bible with you to read while waiting in line.

17. Get enough rest.

18. Eat right.

19. Get organized so everything has its place.

20. Listen to a tape while driving that can help improve your quality of life.

21. Write down thoughts and inspirations.

22. Every day, find time to be alone.

23. Having problems? Talk to God on the spot. Try to nip small problems in the bud. Don't wait until it's time to go to bed to try and pray.

24. Make friends with Godly people.

25. Keep a folder of favorite scriptures on hand.

26. Remember that the shortest bridge between despair and hope is often a good "Thank you Jesus."

27. Laugh.

28. Laugh some more!

29. Take your work seriously, but not yourself at all.

30. Develop a forgiving attitude (most people are doing the best they can).

31. Be kind to unkind people (they probably need it the most).

32. Sit on your ego.

33. Talk less; listen more.

34 Slow down.

35. Remind yourself that you are not the general manager of the universe.

36 . Every night before bed, think of one thing you're grateful for that you've never been grateful for before. GOD HAS A WAY OF TURNING THINGS AROUND FOR YOU. "If God is for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31)

Ten Years

Tonight I was thinking about what people ask you when you are planning for the future. Where do you see yourself in five or ten years?? Then I thought, what was I doing ten years ago?? What changes have happened in ten years?? Here's some of the stuff I remember from 1997.
Ten years ago I was a student (again). I was working toward my Bachelor's degree in Elementary Education. I lived in Coffeyville, Kansas and commuted to Bartlesville, OK to attend Bartlesville Wesleyan College (they've changed in 10 years, too. Now they're Oklahoma Wesleyan University). I lived with my parents and my miniature schnauzer, Heidi. My nephew, the first grand baby in my family was born. I bought him lots of cute baby clothes at Kmart where I was working part-time in the apparel department. I had check-ups every 3-6 months to make sure I didn't have any recurrence of my cancer. My brother and his family lived in Indiana. I didn't know anyone in Washington state and had never considered living anywhere that was very far from Kansas.
Ten years later, I am a teacher, not exactly the way I planned to teach. I did get my degree and my teaching certificate. At one point I was certified to teach in three different states! I'm homeschooling my son. I did teach preschool when I was pregnant with my son. I taught summer school for the Olympia School district (the only job I've ever gotten without even interviewing. I didn't even know I had the job until a teacher of an autistic child called to talk to me about having him in one of my classes. I had pneumonia at the time and pretty much told her she didn't know what she was talking about. She was right, I had been hired, they just forgot to tell ME). I also substitute taught in a vast array of classroom for a few years.
I now live in Washington state with my husband and my son and an Airedale named Lucy. Well, to be honest, I'm pretty sure her full name now is Lucy Goose and sometimes I refer to her as 'The Goose'.
My brother lives in Kansas again and his family consists of himself, his wife, his son, two daughters and two doggies. He was recently diagnosed with Meniere's disease, which can effect your hearing and equilibrium. Hopefully, his low-sodium diet will help get it under control.
So much has changed in the past 10 years that I don't think the 26 yr. old me would have ever believed it if someone had told her what the future would hold. I have met so many new people in ten years, it's incredible. I've said good-bye to a couple that I wished I could have kept around longer, Colin's grandma and mine. I'm just so happy that they both were able to meet my child. I've wept with friends over lost babies and rejoiced over the ones who arrived here safely. Babies are such a miracle. I know it's a cliche, but it's true. This amazing little person with tiny hands and feet, so helpless. I remember when Ian was born, I was so sick from that pregnancy. Colin's mom helped me quite a bit the first week. Then came the day she had to go to work. I remember thinking, what are people doing, leaving me alone with this baby?? What if I do something wrong? Shouldn't someone be here just in case? I think that was my mommy awakening, that moment when you realize, you're in charge of what is going to happen with this tiny person. God blessed you with this baby, now what am I going to do with this blessing??? Yeah, I'm not sure 26 yr. old me would recognize 36 yr. old me. How about you? Where were you ten years ago?? Have things changed for you? Have you laughed, grown, changed and lived life to it's fullest? I hope so.

Friday, September 28, 2007

Good News

I feel like a little bee, always saying the same thing...busy busy, busy, buzz. It has been a busy week again! Tuesday we had a soccer game, Wednesday we had errands and Awana, Thursday, homeschool sports and swimming lessons and today I watched my friend's three children for about 6 hrs. All this in addition to homeschool. Busy!
Colin had an interview on Wednesday morning and Thursday we found out he got the job. Hooray! He's still in the financial division at the LCB but he will now be a budget analyst. Today he found out that he will also still be the tax revenue specialist. Looks like he's gonna wear a couple of hats for his new job. He'll start on Oct. 16. I know he's excited. Congratulations, Colin!!!
Tomorrow we have another soccer game. Only two left. Ian sure has been having fun playing soccer. We'll be sure to sign him up again in the spring. I'll try to post some soccer pictures soon. I am hopeful that blogger has fixed the photo trouble. Keep looking and see if I get them posted.

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Christmas Present Flashback

Recently, Ian has been getting into a bit of trouble around the house. It all started with a gift that I bought on an after Christmas sale last December. I found three Hot Wheels toys that looked like either a van or a special vehicle that opened up and there was a place for a little car and a small track inside. I bought one for Ian and one for each of his cousins who are close in to Ian. Ian had seen them when I bought them and he begged me for the orange one, the one that was different from the rest. When his birthday rolled around, he was given the orange one and all was well in the world until his cousin's birthday rolled around in June and he was given one of the silver "vans". My once content child was struck by the wants. He wanted the silver van, no longer was the orange van worthy of his attention. It might have ended there except for the fact that the third cousin's birthday isn't until December. Which means his gift is in my closet. Ian decided that he needed to get in my closet and get down the silver van.
Ian has been repeatedly told to stay out of my closet. It happens to be where I usually keep Christmas presents. Thankfully, this year, not all his presents have been stored in my closet. Last Thursday, Ian had been in my closet and had gotten in trouble for his naughty visit to forage in gifts. What I did not realize was, he had also been getting into some of his Christmas gifts which were in bags on high shelves in my closet. I soon realized this last Thursday evening when Ian, being in a particularly ungrateful mood, dragged out one of his gifts, walked over and shoved it in my face and told me 'this isn't as nice as I thought it would be!' Needless to say, I'm not so sure he will be getting that toy this Christmas, it might be off to Toys for Tots! I must admit this does remind me of something I did when I was probably eight, although, I was much sneakier than Ian!
*******WARNING!!!!FLASHBACK IN PROGRESS*******************************
It was getting close to Christmas, only a few weeks away. We lived on a little farm and my parents had to take care of our animals. It was cold and dark so my little brother and I were left inside the warm house with the strictest of commands. Under no circumstances were we to go into my parents bedroom. Naturally, this made my desire to go into their bedroom unquenchable. So I did what curious, naughty little eight year old girls do, I snuck into their bedroom. It looked the same as always, except there was a great big box near their closet. I crept nearer and then I committed the ultimate naughtiness...I looked inside. Wow! A Barbie Doll! The one I wanted, too! All kinds of neat stuff. Stuff for my little brother, too. I called him in so he could see all this stuff. We pulled it out and later I put it back and we left the room and acted like we had never been in there. It worked perfectly all evening. No one suspected a thing. My brother and I went to bed. I was just dozing off when I heard a very unhappy voice say 'DeAnn Michelle Adamson!!!!!" Uh-oh. The full name, that means BIG trouble. I came out of my room and faced the inquisition. I listened to their questioning. Had I been in the box in the bedroom??? I did what any parent-fearing, punishment-hating child would do, I lied. Of course I hadn't been in any box. What box?? Of course, it probably didn't help my case any that just that evening I had suggested that I would love to have the same exact Barbie that was in the box. The truth came out and I was given a spanking, which I so rightfully deserved.
*************************************************************************************
According to my mother, Santa didn't pay a visit to us that year. We only had presents from Mommy and Daddy and nothing under the tree Christmas morning, but I don't remember that part of it.
Back to Ian. He obviously saw more things than I realized. On Monday, I asked him if he would like to watch a Magic School Bus show for part of science. I told him I'd have to check and see if there were any on ON Demand, if there weren't, we'd have to look for something else. He piped up and said 'Or we could watch the DVD's you have in your, er, uh, never mind.' The missing word would be: closet. What a little stinker! Time for Mommy to get more devious with gifts. Maybe I should just wrap them when I get them, although, that never stopped me!

Sunday, September 23, 2007

Colin Can Talk To Anyone

I'm sure I've said this before but, Colin can talk to anyone. People also remember him, even when he can't remember them. We had the perfect example for both those topics today.
First to illustrate that Colin can and will talk to anyone. We went to the Territorial Stage Coach today. It was on a three day journey retracing the path that the pioneers took. Colin had been saying something about the Governor or the Gregoire's doing something with it, but I didn't pay much attention. Once we were there we roamed around and looked at the stagecoach and the few displays that were there. There really wasn't a whole lot going on when we were there. I figured more of the festivities happened Friday and Saturday. So we milled about and Colin talked to some different history buffs about his family history and the Yantis property, which is right near or was exactly where we were (depending on which historian you believe). Then Colin moved on to talk to another couple of guys. One was trying to sell some "Territorial Stagecoach wine" to the other guy. Colin stood around and talked to both of them for a bit and then spoke to the "wine seller" for a few minutes. Then it was time for us to head out. When we got back to the van I asked Colin if he knew who he had been talking to. He said 'no'. I told him, based on all the conversation (some of it Colin probably could not hear) I believed he had been talking to the husband of our Governor. I checked online when we got home and I was right. I knew Colin could talk to anyone!
The second illustration is for: people remember Colin even when he doesn't remember them. We went to Costco after our outing and while we were there, I took Ian around for a couple of samples while Colin paid for our shelves that we bought. Unfortunately, I found something else to buy so we had to go through the line twice. When we were walking out Colin asked me "Where do I know a Michael Smith from? He was in line with me and he knew me,but I don't remember him."
I knew that it was a MOPS connection so I told him that he met him at a MOPS event. That's my Colin, he's memorable!

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Homeschool Sports

Ian started his home school sports class Thursday. He had a great time. During free time he played a little basketball and then the whole group played two or three versions of tag. There were probably 25 or more kids ranging from K-6 grades. Ian can't wait to go back again!

Men's Bible Study

Colin started a men's Bible study this week. I am so excited. I have wanted him to have fellowship with other guys, but he just hasn't had the opportunity. He had such a good time last night getting acquainted with the guys that were there. The class was across the hall from my Bible study and I could hear Colin chatter and laugh. What a nice sound to hear, a happy husband.

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

A Reprieve

I just found out this morning that Ian's tumbling class will be on Tuesday afternoons. Hooray! That means we won't kill him with exercise on Thursdays. Ian heard the message from his tumbling teacher before I did. He was ready to go today (it starts in two weeks). At least that's a good sign that he's ready to go back!
Today we're going to run to the produce stand and pick up the things I need to make green tomato relish. Tonight, Ian has a soccer game in Elma. What a busy boy!

Monday, September 17, 2007

The Sleepover

We had one of Ian's cousins over for the weekend. The boys had a blast! They watched The Indian in the Cupboard, played with Legos, played with every toy Ian owns (I think they were all on my living room floor). Saturday morning we took them both to Ian's soccer game, but Ian's cousin only stayed awake for part of the game, he slept most of the game in Ian's grandma's van a few feet away from the game. They came home and played more. Ian got so tired he couldn't stand himself and I had to put Ian down for a nap, much to his displeasure.
Sunday we took both the boys to church and then they came back to play some more. They got to play until about 4:45 when Colin took Ian and his cousin back to the cousin's home.
So they played Friday night, Saturday and Sunday and Ian complained that it wasn't long enough and that he missed his cousin. He got up last night after we put him to bed and was so sad. He told me he couldn't go to sleep because his cousin wasn't there to talk to. I ended up giving him some warm milk and honey with a touch of vanilla and after that, he slept like a baby!

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Just Call Him "The Exercise Kid"

Ian has a busy schedule this fall (so do I, taking him to these fun things we've signed up to do). Right now he's in soccer, swimming lessons and AWANA. Starting next week we're going to add a home school sports class on Thursdays afternoon. Which means I will drive to the Y in Hoquiam twice on Thursdays for a while.
I signed Ian up for the home school sports class tonight after his swimming lesson at the Y. His swimming lessons are supposed to be T/TH but right now Tuesdays are a little iffy because it's the same night he has his soccer games. As long as he learns something at swimming lessons (even if it's only one night for a few weeks), I'm happy to take him.
On the way home from the swimming lesson I had a realization. What I realized is that I forgot to consider that tumbling should be starting again in a few weeks. Can you guess what day tumbling is on? Thursday. So potentially for a few weeks my son could be at home school sports from 1:30-2:30, tumbling from 4-5 and swimming lessons from 6:50-7:25. I think he will sleep like a baby on Thursday nights!

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

The First Soccer Game

Well we had the first soccer game last night. I think the other team would have won if they kept score. Thankfully, they don't keep score. It's more about learning how to play the game this year.
Colin tried to yell "helpful" advice from the sidelines. It really isn't helpful because it can distract Ian from what he's doing.
Ian has to work on keeping his eye on the ball. A couple of times he was running after the ball and then he stopped watching the ball and kept running. He was doing a great job running but the ball was nowhere near where he was running.
Ian scored a goal for the other team. He wasn't trying to, he was trying to kick the ball away, but it went in the goal instead. He was pretty excited about it anyway, because he made a goal. Silly boy, he even gave his coach a high five after he scored the wrong goal!

Saturday, September 8, 2007

The Yard Sale

Well, we finally had a long awaited yard sale. I say long awaited because it's really kind of our "moving " sale, but we've been here almost a year now.
We had the sale both Friday and Saturday and my friend, Dottie brought her stuff and joined us. The weather turned out to be just perfect for a yard sale and we didn't have much competition, due to planning on my part. Past experience has taught me a thing or two about yard sales. I have learned that people love yard sales, but most people have a yard sale in the late spring or summer. If you wait until after school starts or a bit later, most your competition has already had their yard sale, but people still want to yard sale. That means they flock to yours. That means money for you.
We had a lot of people in our garage this weekend. Which reminds me of the other thing I have learned from experience with yard sales. People WANT to spend money at your yard sale, so make sure you have something for them to buy. I usually have hot dogs and homemade cookies, pop and chips for sale. You'd be surprised how many people can't find any of my stuff they want to buy, but they'll buy a snack from me!
Ian did his usual job of trying to sell to everyone who came to the sale on Friday. Saturday, Dottie brought two of her children, so he was busy.
I think Colin spent half of our profit on stuff the neighbor brought over to sell at our sale. He bought a weed eater and a horrible orange recliner, which he is in trouble for buying. If I had wanted a horrible orange recliner, we could have had one for free from his parents. I suppose now I must hunt for a not so horrible recliner to replace the horrible one. Ugh! A new quest.

Thursday, September 6, 2007

Zucchini

Today I am making zucchini bread. It's in the oven right now. Two loaves. The trouble is, I think I have enough zucchini for 10 loaves. People are compelled to give me zucchini. Last week Colin's grandma and his mom gave me zucchini. The zucchini his mom gave me could give a watermelon a run for its money in size! This week some very kind neighbors gave me a couple more zucchini. Wow! I've only grated the watermelon sized zucchini so far. I'm afraid of just how much zucchini I am going to have once I grate the rest!I know I can freeze it, but sometimes I don't like the results and I don't have much room in my freezer. Maybe I'll just start adding it to everything I make. Zucchini chocolate chip cookies, zucchini hamburgers, zucchini pizza (actually, I do have a recipe for that, maybe now is the time to try it). I guess I'll just have to be creative!

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

God is So Cool

God is always cool, but today He did something to demonstrate His coolness to Ian and me.
Ian and I have been reading a devotion book that I bought at Family Christian bookstore. We read a devotion at bedtime every night, even if we read another story. We're getting close to the end of the book and I was wondering what I was going to read to Ian next. I hadn't found another devotional that I wanted to use yet.
Last night we read a devotion about God giving us what we desire as long as it is in line with His will.
Today I was on my computer and I looked at the toolbar of bookmarked sites and saw Our Daily Bread, a devotional for adults that I bookmarked for myself. Suddenly, I wondered if they had online devotions for kids on the internet and then I wondered, how would I know if they were appropriate and followed our beliefs? Well, I typed it in and it pulled up quite a few options. Among the options I saw Keys for Kids. I remembered my parents talking about those and using them for some kids classes they taught. So I looked there and guess what?! Not only can I read them online or Ian can listen to an audio version of them, they will mail me a bimonthly printed version for free!!
How exciting! I was able to tell Ian that God had given me a desire of my heart because it was in line with what is pleasing to God.

Soccer Mom

It's official. I am a soccer mom. That's right, a soccer mom driving a minivan. I am a stereotype right now. I can't believe it has happened to me. One day I was a normal mom doing normal things and then, bam! I'm a soccer mom. Ian loves it! We have our last practice tonight, games start on Saturday (which I will miss as we are having a yard sale that morning, Colin will take Ian to the game).
I think September is going to prove to be a very busy month. Everything is starting back up. Tonight we're signing Ian up for Awana, next week he starts swimming lessons and sometime soon, tumbling will start again, too. I am so glad that soccer games end the first Tuesday in October. Maybe life will be normal after that. Who am I kidding? Life can never be normal again once you've become a SOCCER MOM!!!!!

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

Canning

Well, I made corn relish today. It's very yummy. If you've never had corn relish or even heard of it, you are missing out. It's really good on hot dogs. Just ask Ian. He had a whole bunch of it with his hot dogs for dinner tonight. I think I should have let mine boil longer or something, it's a little runny, but I'll just strain it when I use it.
I think I've only had corn relish two or three times in my life. It was always homemade, but for sale somewhere. It's my mom's fault that I like it. She's the one that bought some at a little street farmer's market in Emporia, where I grew up. That was some tasty stuff (and I think it wasn't as runny as mine, oh well, live and learn!)

Monday, September 3, 2007

Childhood Differences

The other day I was thinking about the things I did as a child and it struck me just how different some of Ian's childhood experiences are compared to mine.
For example, when I was a little girl, I believed in Santa Claus, the Easter bunny, the tooth fairy, all the typical make-believe holiday and non holiday characters of childhood. With Ian, we decided that the truth was better and so as a result, he has known since he was old enough to know that mommy and daddy pretend to be these make-believe characters. In fact, I know of one instance where the "tooth fairy" just gave Ian the money and took the tooth, because he wouldn't go to sleep or stay in bed, he was too excited.
The truth approach has worked well for us except when we have cousins who staunchly believe the make-believe and Ian tries to enlighten them on the subject.
Ian has also never truly gone trick or treating. He's gone to his great grandparents house, but mostly he's gone to our church's alternative harvest party. Both Colin and I went trick or treating every year (well I went every year, I think Colin did). So we've never had the need to check Ian's candy for anything scary. And unlike me, he's only allowed some candy. My Halloween candy was always gone within the first day or two. With Ian, we end up throwing some of it out because it gets old (think: still having Halloween candy around at Easter).
Ian has never gone to public school. We home school him. I was in public school my entire school life K-12. Colin spend part of his school life in public school. Ian may some day attend public school, I don't know the future, but at this point, he's not.
Ian is growing up as an only child. Both Colin and I grew up with a younger brother. I don't know what kind of difference this makes, but I know it makes some difference. He's never had to wait for our attention or go to a sibling's activity. At least he has lots of cousins around. I had a brother, but I never had lots of cousins around to play with.
Ian goes to Awana. Colin went to Awana, but I never did. By the time we started attending a church that had Awana, I was too old for the programs they had. I'm really glad for this difference between my childhood and Ian's. I love that he works at memorizing God's word. He's been going since he was three and I hope to keep him in Awana for a long time. It's good for his mind, his soul and his social skills.
Obviously, Ian will never be a Brownie or a Girl Scout like I was. I don't know if he'll be in 4-H, he might. I was in 4-H for a few years and so was my brother, we learned new skills through 4-H.
Of course, Ian isn't growing up in Kansas like I did. He doesn't get to experience the amazingly hot summers and go swimming in the city pool (very few cities out here have a city pool). He doesn't get to go for drives out in the flint hills with his parents. He isn't growing up on a farm. He doesn't ride a school bus. He does live near the ocean. He does play sports and take swimming lessons. He goes to Sunday School and church. He has two parents who love him very much, just like Colin and I had growing up. Hopefully, when he looks back on his childhood, it will be as wonderful to him as my childhood was to me.

Saturday, September 1, 2007

This week and Football Surprises

Perhaps you've noticed that I haven't blogged this week, perhaps you haven't. Either way, I haven't blogged since last weekend. I think it was a slight depression caused by the fact that any photo I tried to upload onto my blog makes everyone look short and fat, including my ultra slim son. Hopefully, blogger will get it fixed soon.
I was busy this week. I had my last official day of "nannying" on Monday. We officially started school on Tuesday. Wednesday we went into town. I had my allergy shot and then met with a couple of ladies who had catalog parties for me. Then we had lunch and ran some errands.
Ian and I went to Target to get a new printer for $27. Great deal, right?? Yessiree bob, a great deal that did not include the black ink cartridge. Whoops. I missed that detail. We also bought a couple canned goods that somehow managed to disappear. I have no idea where they are. I can't even find the receipt to check if I paid for the items or if they got mixed into the items belonging to the person behind me in line.
After our errands we headed down to visit some cousins and grandma and go swimming.
We never did go swimming. Ian was too busy playing Rescue Heroes to go swimming.
Thursday I worked on submitting the orders I had picked up the day before and Ian worked on school. He did a great job with phonics, but math was like pulling teeth.
Friday we took Ian to his first football game. It was at the high school here in town. Our team did lousy the whole game. By the 4th quarter our team had 6 points and the other team had 20. It was down to 5 min. left when Colin asked if we wanted to go and avoid traffic. We all agreed. It was time to get Ian home and put him to bed. Keep in mind our team had been very uncoordinated. Fumbling the ball, false starts, etc.
Colin checked the score later after we were home, maybe 11:30 at night. Our team won! They went into overtime. The final score was 28-20. I told Colin you'd have to be psychic to predict that outcome. It sure didn't seem possible!