January - is it over yet?

I did it again.  Made a bold statement and made it public.  You'd think that would help me live up to it!  But no.  Didn't happen.  My "No Shopping Month"  never really was that.  It was more of a "Buy only neccesities, and let hubby do the shopping" month.  After 34 years together (great years, too!), he still doesn't read my mind well.  He doesn't even really read the lists well.  So we laugh about it and go on.  Not, as in, go on letting him do the shopping.  But rather, as in, "I'll just run in and get the 4 items I need, and then you can pay for it and I will leave the store."  That was the first 2 times. 
Then it was, "I'll quickly run in and grab what's on my list".  He gets to stay in the car for that version.  That's what he prefers.  So that is how our "No shopping month" has evolved.  I make a list and check it a few times to make sure I really need the item.  Milk, yes.  Eggs, yes.  Fresh fruit & veggies, yes.  Wild rice, no.  I love wild rice.  It is healthy.  But I have the wild rice hubby bought (a few grains of wild rice mixed in regular rice.)  Not really what I wanted, but we should eat it first, or it will sit there for years.  And I bought sprouted brown rice to try back in December and haven't opened the bag. 
So the learning process continues.  What do we need.  What can we do without.  What are we willing to do without.  And on it goes.

No Shopping Month episode 1

I was pretty excited about my "No Shopping Month".  I have worded it in a variety of ways: "A Shopping Fast", "Staying out of stores for a month", etc.  I told my hubby he'd have to buy the essentials: milk, produce, etc, because I hoped not to enter a store for a month.  It seemed pretty cut and dried at the time.  Even a bit of an adventure.  What things can I do without?  And how much can I save doing this?

Then I went to work.  Someone is selling chocolates for a fundraiser.  I always try to help out in a fundraiser if I can.  The chocolates are even gluten-free. Conflicting thoughts. They are not in a store.  But it would be spending money.  They look yummy!  They sit on the counter in front of me.  All day.  Does it count?  It is still spending.  So far I have resisted temptation.

I didn't do quite as well at my hubby's workplace this morning.  I saw a $4 gadget that could come in very handy at work.  I told him I'd take it, gave him the $4 and he wrote down the part number to be able to put the sale into the computer later.  Good thing.  When I realized what I had just done (it's only the 5th of the month yet!!), I gave back the gadget, took my $4, and told him I'd take the one from home (that we never use) to work instead.  That is why I need to do this.  All those silly little purchases that are totally unnecessary.  They add up!

I had to stop at the mall on the way to work to drop off some registered mail at the drug store post office.  Wandering through the mall was interesting.  I saw a lady with a pretty scarf and thought back to my morning when I couldn't find a scarf to coordinate with both my top and the sweater I wanted to wear.  "I should just see if I could find one," was my first thought.  I can't believe I think about buying so much stuff so often!  There is so much temptation in the malls.  It is best that I stay out of them.  Next time I'll take it to my local post office here in my small town.

I could easily have spent a chunk on groceries already this month, but am hoping that this fast will not only reduce our spending, but also reduce what we end up discarding.  I buy more than we can eat.  I knew my hubby was picking up milk last night and tried to get him on his cell phone.  I wanted bananas and oranges.  Good things to have for snacks.  But he didn't hear his phone, and I didn't get my fruit.  I realized later that I still have a bowl full of apples... the last fruit to disappear in our house.  Not that we don't like them.  We just like them less than bananas and oranges.  So now I'm glad I couldn't get him on the cell.  We'll eat the apples, and then buy more fruit. 

I'm learning.  Nothing new here, just lessons I seem to need to learn and then relearn. 

A New Year

Live your life with arms wide open. 

Today is where your book begins. 

The rest is still unwritten.

Natasha Bedingfield 

I try not to make too many New Year's Resolutions because they generally don't work for me.  I get tired of any kind of routine as soon as it becomes routine!  But I can't help but think about what I want to accomplish in this new year; what things I'd like to change (generally about me), and how I want to grow.

I've concluded that, without getting too specific, I need to get in shape this year; physically, mentally, and spiritually.  I've gotten sloppy in all of the above.

I'm glad life is a journey, and that I'm not expected to have arrived yet.  One of my dearest mentors, Shirley, taught me that through her own life.  She lived out loud.  When she was in the wrong, she was so willing to admit it and ask for forgiveness.  She loved from the heart and was not judgmental.  I learned more from her than she'll ever know.

Weight loss was not one of my New Year's resolutions last year - I decided it was necessary after seeing our holiday pictures, and realizing I was becoming lazy and sluggish.  It may have only been 20 pounds that I needed to shed, but it seemed it was creeping higher all the time, and as long as I ate like I did, I would continue to add a few pounds here and there.  So I joined Weight Watchers online in September and diligently counted my points.  Much of it is common sense, but there were also many things to learn about eating more healthy.  By Christmas I had shed the 20 pounds and was pleased to be able to get a new wardrobe.

 

But now I need to shape up.  The tummy is still there - just smaller.  I won't get specific about how I'll shape up, because I'm not sure yet.  Running would be the cheapest way to do it - I wouldn't have to join a gym - at least until Winnipeg gets a real winter.  I've never thought I was a runner, but I have sisters who are and a daughter who is, so maybe I should give it a shot.  Swimming would be another option, and my husband would love it if I'd learn to swim and enjoy it.  That costs more, and I really dislike being cold, which happens when I swim, so I'm not sure I'd stick to it very long.  Maybe if we went together once/week, or invited the grandkids occasionally, I could learn to enjoy swimming pools.  Or join a gym.  That is costly, and in my past experience, I didn't like the gym much more than swimming pools.  Maybe I'll end up doing a bit of all of the above.  That would be alright too.  I do try to walk on my lunch breaks at work, and run the stairs more often than taking the elevator.  Maybe I'll have to swear off the elevator altogether for a bit, but 5 stories can be very tiring!!

I am very glad that life is a journey and I'm not required to have everything figured out at any point in my life, even spiritually.  That journey has been interesting, to say the least.  I do know a few things that have not changed.  Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.  God is love.  His first command for me is to Love the Lord my God with all my heart, mind and soul, and to love my neighbor as myself.  And in Micah 6:8, we are told: He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

Many other things are less clear. How do I live as a God-follower in this world?  How do I make sure my thoughts, desires and motives are in line with the God I claim to love?  How do I show that to a hurting world?  And how do I live that out with those I love who don't have the same faith that I have?  How do I talk about my faith and live it out without being offensive?   

Perhaps getting into shape spiritually means getting back to the basics.  Focusing on loving my God with all my heart, mind and soul and see where that journey takes me...  

And mentally: I fear my forgetfulness.  Alzheimers runs in my Dad's family.  And I believe my mother had it before she died.  So the fear is somewhat legitimate.  But the forgetfulness could also just be carelessness.  I've always been one who spoke without thinking and acted in the same way too often.  But I want to take more time to read this year - and read books that challenge me to grow in positive ways.

What else do I want for 2012?  Less focus on me, and more focus on others.  See where people are hurting and really care.  See people through God's eyes and love them with His love. If I can accomplish some of this, it will be a journey well worth the while.

Haley

Haley is not yet two and she talks in full sentences. If you know her, she's generally not difficult to understand, either.  But she does come up with the funniest things.
When she woke up for the 4th time in the night:
Me: What's the matter Haley?
Haley: I want to cry.
Me: Does it feel good to cry?
Haley: Yes
Me: Okay!
I put her down in the playpen rather than the 'big bed' where she had been sleeping, and she slept the rest of the night.
Maybe she just needed permission to cry!

This morning as I changed Annika's poopy diaper:
She has a green playdoh diaper!

New Year's Eve

We had the grandkids today.  All day.  This afternoon when I put Haley down for a nap, I thought that if I had to use one word to describe her, it would be obedient.  She really didn't want to nap, but the nap was overdue, so as I lay beside her in the big bed, I asked her to close her eyes and go to sleep.  Dutifully, she closed her eyes, and I watched her.  For 10 or 15 minutes (or maybe more), she lay there with her eyes closed, and if it weren't for all her fidgeting, I would have thought her asleep.  In fact, I was ready to chalk up the fidgeting to an inherited trait from her mother, when her hands finally fell to her side, and I could tell she really was asleep.  Finally.

But my little angel isn't perfect.  Her demands for Josiah to give her things because "I want it!" weren't very polite, and I knew it was again bedtime.  This time it wasn't as easy.  We started getting her ready for bed at 7:30, and now, at 9:30, we've won the battle.  Her stall tactics have been perfected!  The nighttime bottle took a very long time. Reading books while having a bottle is the way they do it, so we do too.  But I only managed to read a handful of books before I had to get Josiah's bottle ready, so Einar took over rocking Haley.  There were a few interesting conversations, including a teary one asking to go home to Daddy & Mommy's house.  I'm glad that her home is her favorite place to be, and also glad that it didn't take long to move on to other things.  Josiah was down just as Annika started fussing, so I moved on to Annika, did the routine, and put her to bed.  Then Josiah was back up, and took a few minutes of rocking and he was back asleep.  Haley still wasn't sleeping. 

So I went to sit with her.  I told her I wanted her to sleep.  She said no, she didn't want to sleep.  She wanted to cry.  I said if she cried, maybe Bestemor would cry too.  Would she like that?  No, she didn't think she'd like that.  She decided she wanted to go home to her house and cry there.   So I offered to sing to her, and apparently that was preferable even to crying.  She's sleeping now - finally - and I'm not surprised that the kids sometimes look exhausted!  And yes, I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat.

From MorMor's Journal: Moving

I want to combine my blogs into one so that I can manage them better.  Since this one was unique - about my children's growing up years, I have renamed each blog entry with "From MorMor's Journal" and then the previous blog title.  That way they remain unique while mixed in with my other entries.  My current blog is http://www.debsandlandsjournal.blogspot.com.  I do also have a food blog since we've gone gluten-free, and that one has been even more sporadic than the others, but maybe I'll do better in 2012!!  That address is: http://glutenfreenow.wordpress.com/.

Grandchildren and Joy

I spoke to my daughter and granddaughter today. Seems Haley has an obsession with the song, "Wise Man Built His House on a Rock". I seem to remember a similar obsession in her mom. Actually, I wouldn't remember that, except that I have it on tape. Our conversation on the tape goes something like this.

Me (After singing the song once): Shall we sing another song?

Her: "Wise man built on a rock"

Me: "We sang that already. Can we sing a different one?"

Her: "No.' Wise man built on a rock!'"

Me: "How about 'Jesus Loves Me'?"

Her: "No. 'Wise man built on a rock'!"

Ah, yes. Now its a similar story with Haley. I asked her what she was singing this morning. She said, "Built House on a Rock!" She sounded pleased with herself. As she well should be. She's a singer, and knows her words and she's not yet two.

Annika Pearl with her great auntie Eunice Pearl

Annika also gives me joy each time I see her, but she's not chatting on the phone yet. That'll come.

I met my other daughter and grandson this morning at a factory outlet, where my daughter wanted to try on some clothes. There were only three customers there this morning: us.

Josiah is not heavy and for the first while I carried him around while he played with the bluetooth device I wear around my neck.

Josiah the lion.  He's got a good roar... watch out!

Then we were in a smaller, more contained area, and I thought he could run a bit. His laughter is infectious. He ran between rows of clothing and laughed out loud. Once in a while he peeked out from behind jackets and trousers and laugh some more. Then he'd stop for a bit, put the bluetooth device to his ear, and 'talk' on it as if it was his phone. (He's been known to use matchbook cars as his phone as well.) And then he'd run some more and laugh out loud. Even the staff couldn't keep from smiling!

My grandchildren are very high on the list of things that bring me joy these days. But so do my kids. And my husband. And my family and friends.