It's that time again

No, not New Year's Resolution time. Not time to get organized. Or diet. Or exercise.

It's time for me to give myself the lecture about protecting my time and being able to say no. This doesn't mean that I don't want to see or hear from my friends. Or do things with or for them. What it does mean is that suddenly I find my plate full of tasks that people are expecting me to do, in a certain time frame, but I am waiting on information, etc., from others to be able to do them. So I am getting behind and stressed. These are the kind of things I should say no to. I do not enjoy having responsibility for things that I am not in charge of.

So friends, if you notice I'm seeming rushed and stressed, it isn't you. And I'm not too busy; I'm just the wrong kind of busy.

New Year's resolutions

I was really happy to go back to last January and see that I had made no new Year's Resolutions.
Really, really happy.

Why? Because I could be relatively certain that I hadn't accomplished them. Not much has changed since last year.

Done for now

We finished today with the government class that I taught this fall. I enjoyed it, for the most part. I liked the subject matter and the kids were great. The only real problem was that I am lazy, and putting a class together takes work.

The enjoyment--and the benefit to my boys--outweighs the inconvenience to me sufficiently that I'll be doing at least one other class in the spring.

I'm feeling pretty free until Christmas. I have lots of cookies to make, and I am hoping to make a few gifts, but there are no major commitments until after the first of the year.

Messed up

Is anyone besides me still thrown off by the time change? I've never had trouble getting back on track before, but I think that the fact that the time change was followed by election day--which is a huge disruption in my sleep patterns--followed by two bouts with bugs, has really gotten me off track.

I usually wake up at 7:00 with no alarm clock. If I want to get up earlier or be sure I'll wake up I set it, but my wake up time has been very consistent for a long time. Since the time change it is 8:00 unless I set the alarm. (And this is really bizarre, because the time change went the other way.) I've been tired and draggy no matter how long I sleep. I've heard people complain about the time change time being hard for them and I've kind of pooh-poohed it, but I think I'm feeling it this time.

Or maybe I'm just staying up too late.

Oooh, my first album!

Found this over at Elephant's Child's place. Since I am supposed to be keeping my leg up I have some time to play. This looked like fun.

Directions:
1. The first article title on this page is the name of your band.
2. The last four words of the last quotation on this page is the title of your album.
3. The third picture on this page, no matter what it is, will be your cover artwork.
4. Take the artwork, your titles, and use a photo-editing program to paste them together.


I'm still trying to figure out who my first band is, but I really like their name. The software I'm using is pretty annoying, so I'm not entirely happy with the look.

I think I'll have to try another:

Love the title on that one!

Okay, I switched editing software and liked this one better:

I think that I would have listened to this group in college.

This is fun. I think I'll make some more.
But I'll only share if they're spectacular.

Update: I think each one I do is cooler than the one before.

Life is good

It's a cool fall day. My hubby is in town. Apple butter is simmering in the crock pot. Some nice fresh bread is rising.

I had a stressful week last week, but Sunday I went to church and got what my soul needed, and on Monday some medical tests turned out in the desired fashion and took care of that bit of stress.

Oh, sure, I'm still behind. I still have way more to do than I can realistically handle. But life is good.

Well, this was fun. Especially since I'm Elizabeth. I had to take a tiebreaker question that I am assuming made me Elizabeth instead of Emma.

You scored as Elizabeth Bennet, As one of Austen's most beloved characters, Elizabeth Bennet represents what most women would like to become: strong, independent, and loyal. Of course, she has her faults including a stubborn will of iron and a clinging to first impressions. Overall, Lizzie is bright and lovable...something to admire and aspire to. Emma Woodhouse 72% Elizabeth Bennet 72% Marianne Dashwood 63% Elinor Dashwood 56% Jane Bennet 53% Charlotte Lucas 28% Lady Catherine 25% Which Jane Austen Character are You? (For Females) Long Quiz!!! created with QuizFarm.com

No jury duty

I have been, in some strange way, looking forward to reporting for jury duty tomorrow morning. This evening I found out that I don't have to report after all. I was, at the same time, relieved and disappointed. I was relieved that I don't have to give up a day or more of my time, but I was disappointed that I don't get the chance to experience this particular slice of American life.

I managed to get my office and my desk cleaned and my bills paid while listening to the streaming video of the synodical convention. Tomorrow I think I'll clean my room, go through a couple of closets, and catch up on a couple of projects at my desk while I listen. I'm finding it fascinating, although not necessarily in a good way.

Homebody?

I was just reading the last bunch of posts here and had to laugh. The person writing this blog sounds like such a homebody.

I must be going through a phase.

Looking at the bright side

Of course, after a good night's sleep, I'm not feeling so whiny today.

I bought my new washer. It's a Kenmore and it's being delivered tomorrow. I hate to spend the money right now, but I will be glad to get rid of my problem-plagued Maytag Neptune. It will be a wonderful relief not to smell mold every time I walk by my laundry room.

My house is still a mess, and I do have 14 women coming to stay here next weekend, but--hey--I've got kids, right? That's what they're for! And I keep telling myself that if my house is less than perfect these wonderful ladies will still be my friends. Right?

I got an encouraging email from a friend this morning suggesting that I try to increase my exercise by 15 minutes a day. She said it helped her lose some weight that wasn't budging after 40 and she also just feels better. I know that I should exercise more; I just need to do it.

My garden is looking fantastic we're going to have lots of zucchini, tomatoes, and peppers. We should also have a nice bunch of turnips and some lovely salads. I still need to get a picture to post.

Out of sorts

I'm feeling generally cranky tonight.

It's hot.

My washing machine is on its way out. My house is a mess. I spent all afternoon at church working on financial stuff and didn't even get to what I went there to do.

I'm past forty and suddenly the strategies of watching what I eat that used to help take off an extra ten pounds relatively quickly have given me a three pound loss in five weeks.

I probably should just go to bed and read the latest Lincoln Child book. I know I'll feel better in the morning.

On the run

The past few days have been hectic, but fun.

This weekend we had a visit from our good friends from Wisconsin. Saturday evening Melynda and the Rebellious Pastor's Wife joined us all for a mostly-indoor cookout. The kids ran and played for hours, taking only a short break for food. We adults sat and talked, and talked, and talked.

Sunday after church we went out for Mexican food and then our Wisconsin friends headed onward on their trip to Canada. We then moved on to celebrate a couple of confirmations. (Read what Pastor Petersen has to say about confirmation here.)

After that we enjoyed the final Bach Collegium performance of the year. The performance was fantastic, but the pews were the most uncomfortable that I have ever endured!

After a day of constant running today, most of us leave at 6:00 am for a tour with Jonathan's choir. We'll traipse around Michigan for a couple of days visiting Frankenmuth and Greenfield Village, and hearing the kids sing at several Lutheran schools along the way.

Back from another planet

As Bethany mentioned yesterday, I went to the Vera Bradley Outlet Sale. It was quite an experience!

This event was going on the week we moved here five years ago, and I had heard about it from people in Illinois, but I didn't realize what a big deal it is until after we had moved here.

People fly here from out of state, because they figure that they'll save enough money to pay for their plane tickets. Women fill multiple garbage bags with purses totes, etc. The company had to set a $2000 limit on what individual customers can buy after shoppers on the final day last year didn't have merchandise to buy.

I was fortunate to have been given a ticket for the Tuesday afternoon portion of the sale, before the actual event begins in earnest, and was among the first few hundred people into the sale. Even at that early hour, there were women who were disgruntled that 200 women would enter the Expo Hall before them. Everything was either 25, 50, or 75% off the retail prices. It was amazing to watch women moving down the aisles at top speed grabbing the desired items and shoving them into bags.

I had a good time.

I have a few Vera Bradley pieces that I've received for gifts, but a Vera Bradley sale isn't where most people who know me would expect to find me. I didn't have a particular agenda, so I was able to take my time and look around. A lot of the fun was watching the women who were almost in a panic that they might not get the piece that they wanted. I did manage to find some great Christmas presents at 50 and 75% off.

I bought a black microfiber bag that I had been looking at. Since I got it for $15 I'll enjoy it a lot more than I ever would have if I'd paid $60 for it.

I'm trying to imagine getting as worked up about a sale as these women were. Maybe it's because I don't have the collector mentality, but I really can't think of anything that I'd be that excited about getting in to buy. (Okay, maybe if it were 75% off really good cookware.)

Maybe.

Almost like a vacation

This past week my wonderful wicked step-father went on a golf outing, so my mom got to come for a visit. She left yesterday morning, and, even though we were here the entire time, I feel like I just came back from vacation.

We did have a lot of fun. We went to the Naked Clay Cafe and painted pottery. We played Mexican train dominoes with a couple of friends from church. We went shopping. Twice. We went out for Mexican food for Jonathan's birthday. We watched the looong version of Pride and Prejudice.

I guess it was a bit like a vacation.

So today I've been washing windows and screens.

Socks

Where do they go? Why are there nine mate-less tan socks in a drawer in our room? Why does my husband spend time every morning digging through the drawer and muttering that he has no socks, even though I constantly buy him socks and the laundry hamper is empty?

No excuses. I've been busy, but not too busy. I just haven't felt like blogging.

Took my Godsons--four year old twins--to the Indy Childrens' Museum last week. That was an adventure! It was interesting to see two children of the same age and sex approach the museum very differently.

Over the weekend we saw yet another fabulous performance by the Bach Collegium and then had a fun dinner at Mad Anthony's with our parents.

Been doing a little cleaning at church since we're between janitors.

Tomorrow it's back to the Children's Museum with my oldest niece Kate. And then tomorrow night we will have the stations of the cross at church. I love Holy Week!

My latest crisis

In the grand scheme of things this isn't a big deal, but my web site is gone. Apparently my hosting deal ran out and I didn't know. Sometime in the last couple of days my site ceased to be. For now my indianajane.com address is redirecting here.

I need to figure out exactly how I'm going to use my site when I rebuild it. I have some ideas and plans tumbling around in my head, but no clear direction yet. I am sad to have lost some bits of writing that were on there, but I'll just have to write them again better.

So if you're one of the three or four people that actually looked at it once in a while, it's not there anymore.

To gray or not to gray

Polly's reply to my last post made me think about something.

I have stopped coloring my hair. It has been five months since I last used semi-permanent coloring and I think that what I have now is pretty close to my natural color. I've definitely got some gray, but I don't think it looks bad. I've been noticing how few gray-haired women I see when I am out running around. Is this a baby boomer thing?

My day of rest

This has been a really stressful week, and next week isn't looking a whole lot better. So for today I am escaping to the wonderful world of photographs and beautiful papers.

Gone scrapbookin'.

Bunko

Yesterday was a good day. (Every time I write those words I almost break into song. Anyone know what song?

Anyway. Yesterday was a good day. Wonderful Divine Service. Lots of fun the rest of the day. All topped off by bunko with the Redeemer Ladies. We talked and laughed so much that we hardly played the game. Thanks to Julie for hosting!

This picture isn't from last night; it's from one of our first bunko nights last year, but it captures the spirit.