Changes

Dear Friends,

I'm taking a bit of a break from my furious house cleaning and organization to sit down and talk to you all.  Why?  Because I love to talk to friends.  And because I'm sure you love to read what I have to say, trivial or not!  ;-)  haha!

So lately my husband and I have been working on our home.  Wish I had some before and after photos to show off.  Sorry to say, I didn't think to take any. Does it count that the before and after look is in my head?  At any rate, we have made considerable progress, enough that it is quite easy to visually see a difference in practically every room of our entire house!  That gets me excited!

In the meantime, however, I unfortunately took up a bad sinus infection which seems to be exacerbated by all the dust we've been stirring up, however great or little. (before you worry about me, please be assured that I did go see the doctor right off so I'm on medication for the infection, but so far it doesn't seem to have made too much of a difference, I'm sorry to admit! I hope it does soon!) Oh well. The sacrifices one makes to have an organized, clean home!  Just hoping for a face that feels normal again in the near future . . .

One of the reasons I've had to work with more furiously than before is because I recently found out I have a list of allergies that can provoke something referred to as contact dermatitis.  Perhaps some of you know what that is?  I had the most thorough testing available done to be certain of what I truly could or could not use on my skin, skin I already knew was more sensitive than some.  Turns out I was allergic to more than I thought, unfortunately!  Thus I have had to go through every single personal care product (trust me, the list is soooooo much longer than you can imagine when I say "personal care"!) and literally throw away or give away pretty much every single item in my stash.  No, I am not kidding.  Let's just say that out of the shelves in my bathroom, my products if put all together would take up a container of approximately 12"x12".  Easy to move, anyone?!?  That's the positive side of the picture, I guess?!?  I have three grocery bags of things to toss and another 1.5 bags of items to give away.

Has this been trying?  Yes, in a word.  As you may recall, I also started taking physical therapy a few months ago.  I just realized I never mentioned it again after I first said it was another obstacle to overcome.  Therapy went well, now I just have to keep it up for the rest of my days.  Do I sound discouraged?  I feel that way sometimes.  Do I sound like I'm complaining?  I certainly do my best not to . . . . because I realize that, although these obstacles I face are anything but common to the majority of folks out there, and I have had to face a few more unique situations than others my age, it is my life.  My life is what I make of it, and most of all, what I choose to let God make of it.  Is it easy?  Rarely ever.  I'm being honest here. It has been anything but easy, especially over the last several years of my life.  But somehow, even on the hardest days, God gives me grace.  He holds my heart, my life, my body in His hands.  I have to remind myself of this truth sometimes.  But it gives me just enough strength to make it through each day, and to face whatever may come . . . . including annihilation of my bathroom storage and pain through physical therapy!

Books and Summer Go Together Like Hand and Glove

Hello Friends!

Let me start by saying how very much I have missed you all in the blog-o-sphere over the past week and then some!  It seems as if I just haven't had the time to make any blog posts of my own.  Which I will tell you, does bug me.  I have had the chance to stop in, albeit briefly, at a couple of the blogs I follow.  Literally a couple.  And literally only a couple posts on those couple blogs.  So . . . is there such a thing as "blog deprivation"?  Because I think I've suffered from the same for the past 10 days at least!  haha

Though I haven't had much time outside of my full time summer job and all the other things I have to try to get around to that are just a part of life and keeping a house, etc. I have had a bit of time to read over my lunch breaks at work.  You might notice I posted a review on one short book I recently finished, "A Place Called Blessing."  Well, I also recently finished. . . . *drumroll* "Mockingjay"!  Yes, I have officially completed the riveting Hunger Games trilogy!  I think I actually finished the aforementioned novel days ago, maybe almost a week, just haven't had the time to write about it.  But it was excellent!  Took me a little longer to get into it than books 1 and 2, but by longer I mean nothing more than the first chapter or so.  And I loved the book!  It was engaging and my, how the plot thickened and took some unexpected turns and the ending was awesome but also might find a few of you who choose to read the trilogy at a loss for words!  I don't know.  Depends on how good you are at guesstimating how a novel with so many twists and turns and such raw emotion and courageous rebellion might turn out in the end!  haha  Have I piqued your interest, yet?  I would be running to the local bookstore or library now if it were me reading this short and compelling review!  ;-)

Other than some reading, like I said, I have been busy working outside the home.  Also working on some things to help me with home organization and homemaking skills.  Yes, yes, I am a work in progress.  I am pretty certain I shall always be a work in progress, and not the least where homemaking is concerned! My husband and I are working on a chore chart this very weekend.  Visual aides can be a major . . . well, aide!  Somehow having a "list" or chart for household duties makes sense.  We are going to attempt it.  Hardcore here people.  Chore chart experience 101!

So, here are my questions for you all today: what have you experimented with in homemaking, housekeeping, organization, etc. that was really a "flop" for you?  And what have you tested that was a success?  I love to hear other people's ideas because it helps me to re-evaluate and improve my own!  And as you probably all know, the person next to you may not think of organization in the same light and their way of keeping up with life and all the messes it throws into our path could be entirely oppositional to your own, yet work just as well!  Please, dish it out! I love comments from you all!  And have an amazing week!