Midlife Musings

Oh, that sounds so officious, doesn’t it? I’ve decided to go ahead and update on my goals just once a month. I may have other posts through the month that I did this or that, but as far as a total run-down, once is enough. So, here’s what I did in January:

Crafting
Yes, I finished something. No, I didn’t spend money. Goal met so far. See craft and family blog for more on that.

Craft Trip
I’ve thought on this, and it is something that I want to do, but not until I can do it without stressing over the money. If I am able to pull it off, we’ll likely be going to Charleston.

Financial
In January, I brought the phone bill current, and paid some on the other bills I took responsibility for, with the exception of the loan from my mother. I’ll try to maintain that progress in February and add her in as well. (I also have to buy some books for school in Feb.)

School
This is going as planned, except that I have allowed myself to get distracted and so our group stuff has not happened. Also, I need to add some scouting stuff to our days and PDQ.

Family More, Internet Less
I was going so good on this for about a week, and then?? Hmmph. Seriously need to get back on track with it, though. Part of the problem here is that I let some depression kick my booty, and got out of the early rising habit, so I can’t get my work done before noon, so I am here longer, and then I just sit here.

Family Trip
Nothing on this yet, mostly due to financial issues.

Travel alone
Word on the internet street is that there will be a PostieCon 2008, and that it will be held in Orlando. This will likely be my alone travel, and hopefully, I’ll not fall into the same traps I did last year.

Time with Dh
We went to see Sweeney Todd this month, and had a good time. I’d like to go out again this month. I’ve also been making a concerted effort to send the kids to bed earlier and spend more time with him alone here at home. That’s real cheap alternative, since the only cost is…well, never you mind that.

Weight Loss
Woohoo, I’m down to 156/157.

Prayer
Ang. and I were praying every morning for a while. I guess that really hacked the devil off, because lately we’ve been forgetting to do that, though we find plenty of time to talk about everything else under the sun. We did see some awesome, awesome things come about as a direct result of that prayer time, so I’d like to get back to it.

Bible Reading
I also ditched the Bible in a year book, because I am so out of practice with KJV English that it was distracting me. I am using the NKJV Bible in a Year chart from Crosswalk.com.

Reading
I am still reading the wifing book, but I did not finish it and I don’t want to rush it, so I picked up Charlotte Mason Education and read it instead. It was thin and went quickly, and I’ll talk more about that on my family blog as well.

House Cleaning
To-Do list
Organizing
Slow and steady wins the race here. Kitchen done, bathroom purged but the floor still needs cleaning, and my bedroom is in progress. My current plan involves taking out non-essentials, and whatever I can’t find room to put back in needs to GO. The to-do list is not getting done, in spite of the fact that it’s a lot of computer work, and I sit here too much, but I will get there. I think I need to make an effort to do at least one of those things per day. There are 105 items on the list. Organizing is happening with the cleaning.

Christmas
Not even worried about it, yet.

Better Blogger
January 2007 visits: 1076
December 2007 visits: 1154
January 200 visits: 1541
I can live with that.

No fractional ownership here, I’ll claim it all. And we’ll talk about this more on the 29th of February.

Some of you may remember the RED campaign to raise awareness and funds for African AIDS victims, but today, I want to talk about a different red. Campbell’s red, heart disease red, red, red, red. Did you know that heart disease affects more women today than ever before? Our hard charging- go get it- fast paced lives are catching up with us. More and more we are becoming susceptible to those diseases that used to plague mostly men. And, oh by the way, we are still at risk for the ones that have always been “women’s diseases”. Nice, huh? I’ll skip the whole social commentary that goes with that, and get on to the point at hand: Campbell’s Go Red.

There’s an easy way that you can help. Toni Braxton is teaming with Campbell’s Go Red, and she’ll be kicking off American Heart Month in February, wearing the dress above that gets the most votes. How does that help anything, you ask? Well, Campbell’s is donating a dollar for each vote to the Go Red for Women movement.

And what does that mean to me? Well, one of the reasons I want to lose weight is because excess weight puts you at risk for heart disease. In fact, if your waist is over 35 inches, no matter how much you weigh, you are at higher risk. Sadly, I am in that category. But it’s getting better. I weigh 156/157 now, so I’ve lost 3 or 4 pounds since January 12. I’m kicking myself for not buying a digital scale, it’s hard for my 40 year old eyes to count those tick marks, and I know that doesn’t seem like much weight for three weeks worth of calorie counting, but it’s weight I’ve left behind for good, so I’m ok with that. Just 16 weeks to go, and by then, healthy eating will have become a lifestyle habit, a choice I make because I feel better when I do it.

Ever have a morning like that? This morning, I have had three personal pieces of bad news. By personal, I mean stuff that affects me directly, not stuff I read on CNN. You know what? Satan doesn’t have any new tricks at all. No, not one! He reads the same old books, he lays the same old traps, he hasn’t had a new trick since Job! And all too often we walk right in, slam the door shut behind us, and refuse to see the window God cut just to allow us an escape. I’ve been guilty of that in the past.

This morning, I am choosing not to do that. See, I read the same old book, too. The difference with me is that mine is the Bible and I believe it.

Dear Satan posing as Car Repair Guy: sorry, God inspired a friend to ask for help on my behalf a few days ago. I was a little dismayed at the time, but now I am glad. Because of my friends generosity, the water bill is covered, and the money I would have spent on that will still be available. Therefore, your bill is covered, in spite of the fact that you changed the amount.

Dear Satan masquerading as an email from my cousin: Nice try, but Papa is saved. He’s going to Glory when he goes. There is nothing I can do for him. You were able to steal what we should have had 35 years ago, but we’ll have eternity to fix that, if it’s even an issue there.

Dear Satan acting like a phone call from the orthodontist’s office: I have other options, and I am on the phone right now finding out what they are. God is faithful and not one of these children will need something that won’t be provided. Now, you go right back to the pit, and take this stupid musak with you!

Yesterday, I was at the bowling alley, lamenting the ball and shoes I left in Topeka, Kansas some 6 years ago. That bowling equipment is the only thing I have let go of in 40 years that I seriously regretted for more than 30 seconds. At the time I decided not to bring it, I was pregnant with my 6th child, and I was at that stage of pregnancy that just seems to drag on forever. If you are a mom, you know how that is: you’ve always been pregnant, you are always going to be pregnant, and pregnancy is just your permanent fate. Forever. World without end, Amen.

So, as I was explaining about the bowling ball, I did some quick multiplication and division. 9 months x 8 babies = 72 months. 72 months / 12 months = 6 years. I’ve been pregnant for 6 full years. That’s a long time to wear maternity clothes, yk? And I’ve nursed for even longer. Gallons and gallons and gallons of good milk have I made.

I’ve been thinking for several months now that God may be calling me on to other areas of work. And I was kinda confused by that, because I know for certain His clear direction for me had been to bear children and to leave the timing to him. I even wondered if I was mis-hearing, hearing what I selfishly wanted. That is, up until my husband looked at me and said, “you know I’ll be 70 when DaBaby is grown.” And I said, “umm, honey, it’s actually 75.” And he told me he didn’t want any more babies. And I totally understood where he was coming from with that, and I totally took it as confirmation from God that this chapter of my life was at an end.

And I think that the child I now call DaBaby will in fact be DaBaby forever. I never thought I would say that on this side of menopause.

yes, it’s true. Someone has lost their everlovin’ mind here, and I don’t know if it’s me or the VirginMobile website. I need to check something on my account, and I can’t get in. And since it will only tell me it can’t log me in when I ask it to email me a password … I don’t know which of us needs to be shot. I have tried a bazillion combinations, and it just hates me. Ok, two, but really, it’s all I can think of.

And which of these 14 secret questions did I pick??????? And, umm, what was the answer?

Yeah, I wrote it down. Somewhere.

oooh, that just sounds so risque, doesn’t it? You are just expecting me to pop off with something saucy, aren’t you? Well, no, that’s not gonna happen, at least not in this post, but I was poking around the Bits of Lace website today, and I noticed a couple of things that surprised me. Bits of Lace specializes in fine lingerie, carrying such brands as Marie Jo Bras and Prima Donna. They’ve been in business over thirty years, so they aren’t a fly by night operation, and being based in Charleston, South Carolina, they are practically local. I’m trying to say you can click the links without worrying about your eyeballs catching fire, and I think we all know that this cannot be said for every link labeled lingerie. In fact, I browsed the site throughly to make sure there wasn’t anything too racy there, and each time I thought I had found it, the screen said

This collection is not currently available online. Please feel free to contact us toll free at (800) 842-3990 or at support@bitsoflace.com. We would be happy to special order any items of interest, subject to availability.

I like that in a lingerie place, because I have looked at dainties in online stores that would make me hide the screen from my own husband. So, I guess lesson number one is: it’s possible to sell lingerie without embarrassing your clientèle.

The next thing I learned is that there is more to plus size lingerie than the silly stuff you find at Wal-Mart or the above mentioned online places. Now, I am all about what goes on in the marital bedroom staying in the marital bedroom. And I like nice underthings. But a bigger woman often needs to be a more discreet woman, if you get my drift. It is often far better for us to leave some stuff up to the imagination. That’s the kind of lingerie I found at Bits of Lace. Lesson number two: there’s way more to sexy than “show more skin”.

I also discovered that I’ve been shopping in the wrong section of the store since my third baby was born. She’s the one that pushed me into a C-cup, and that’s where I’ve been ever since, no matter whether I weighed 130-something or my current 160-ish. I had no idea that plus size started at a C-cup, especially since I consider that a “normal” boob size. Quit laughing, you don’t know my sister and you didn’t know my aunt or Grandmother, either. Unless you are my mom, in which case you are nodding, not laughing. Lesson number three: I need plus size lingerie, no matter what I weigh.

So, anyway. You know that I have changed my eating habits (yes, I know I should write a post on that) and I am losing weight. And you know that dieters sometimes like to buy themselves special treats to mark milestones. I think I might know just the place to go to pick up “a little something” now. I know for sure that the next time a little hot pink box appears in my house, I’ll be gently directing dh to Bits of Lace instead.

Last night, I did the bathroom cabinets. Yeah, I took a picture, but I’m not putting it here, LOL. You can find it on DigiCass. I’m pretty sure I need to go through again and throw away yet more stuff. Or at least organize it a bit better. I seem to have accumulated a bunch of partial bottles of shampoo and conditioner, plus 4 full bottles of infusium23. and 5 containers of gel. And then there is the stuff I actually use. I could have a hair party for the whole town with all the stuff I found crammed in those cabinets!

I think tonight I will start on the taxes. As always we are in a financial pickle, and since it takes a full three months to get a refund because of the extra paperwork we have to fill out, sooner would be better than later. Of course, the fact that more than one of the companies I have worked for have asked for my tax info this week (note that “this week” means on or after the date 1099s should have gone out!!!), I am not real confident that I’ll finish up before January 31st, which is my personal yearly goal. Lord, I do hope to one day be in a financial position that doesn’t require me waiting for the federal government to return their yearly stealings to keep my children clothed and housed. Amen.

If I don’t start the taxes tonight, I will work on my room, instead. It looks like the clothing department of the entire mall exploded in there, except that I don’t shop at the mall, except under dire emergency because it costs too much. It’s just that saying the ladies department of Wal-mart doesn’t pack as much of a mental image, yk?.

You know, Valentine’s Day is coming. And rumor has it that people get presents for Valentine’s day, particularly incredibly forbearing wives such as myself. Now, dh, he will not even think about Valentine’s Day until he hears me tell the children Happy Valentine’s Day, so I am taking it upon myself to make a short list of things I would like to have, and since pink is my favorite color, and what color could be better for Valentine’s Day, and I like themes ………. all my potential prizes will be PINK. Yes, I said prizes, not presents, because tomorrow, I am going to enter the Game O Love at Overstock.com. Oh yes I am. And because I am a selfish woman, I am not entering to win something for dh. No, I am not. It’s all about me, and it’s all about pink!

• I want this pink Augen Prizm MP3/4 player. It has all the features I had written down that I wanted in a player PLUS an electronic book function.
• This pink watch would brighten my day, too.
• I want this Canon Powershot and a pink case to put it in (You thought you caught me, didn’t you? HA! Or, I can use nail polish to paint the shutter button pink. I already have the nail polish, so that will make it easier for you.)
• Ooooh, this pink bedding set is absolutely GOR-JUS! I need it in Queen. Yes, I want allllllllllllllllllllll those pillows, too.

Now then, that’s my list and I’m stickin’ to it, as they say. You ought to go over and pick out a few things for yourself. Or your sweetheart, in case you aren’t as selfish as me

Overstock.com’s “Game O Love” will start tomorrow and run through Feb. 11th.
The post may be sponsored, but I can totally assure you that the pink wish list is my own!



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