Well, first of all, I need to start with an apology. The first few words of my last post were, "I'm back". That post was over TWO MONTHS ago! So, for anyone who might have actually been hoping to see another post, I really am sorry!
Secondly, I want to say thank you to everyone who has messaged me on Facebook, left comments and even emailed me! I want you all to know how much I appreciate you and all the people who come here and read about my chaotic little life.
The last time I posted, I really did have high hopes. I had so many things I wanted to post about, and videos I wanted to do too! Scary! But well... I got distracted. And this time, it was mostly for the good.
For those who had been worrying, I did not slip down the rabbit hole again this time. I've actually been oddly optimistic about everything. Yes, my husband lost his job at the end of September, and was out of work all through Christmas, but we got through it, and even had a really great Christmas in fact. At the end of January, Christopher got a call for an interview, and he is now the Assistant Manager of a store 30 minutes away. I really wish he'd have found something closer, but the good thing about this store is that it doesn't have a store manager, and the guy who hired him said in a couple months, he'd likely promote Christopher to Store Manager! Store Managers for the new company make the same amount he was making as Asst Mgr at Kmart... so yay! We'll be back where we were as far as income, but in a MUCH better place. To be honest, Christopher losing his job was probably the best thing that's happened to us since he GOT the job at KMart... how weird is that? So, yeah, what distracted me from blogging, was my home and family and finances. I chose to concentrate on keeping things together here, even if it meant I totally slacked on my blog.
The last post showed you my planner at the time, and it was the beginning of a whole new world! I've spent the last 2 months watching YouTube video after video, joining FaceBook planner and organizing groups, following people in Instagram (I used to follow like 3 people), and just soaking in all of this new information and inspiration. I'm in a totally different planner now - but yet still kind of the same. I promise I'll show you what I mean soon. I have been journaling since September... at first just in my planner on the daily pages, and now in actual journal books. I'm putting my memories down on paper before I forget them - which I will. Like downloading my brain. Not all of it is worth remembering, like how I did 5 loads of laundry one day. But a lot of it IS worth remembering, even if it's little things... like when Zoe was feeling bad. I went back over my journal pages one month and noticed how often I noted she felt bad. So, now I'm keeping a closer eye on it. There's there's other things like when she got her hair cut, or when the brakes started acting up on the car and when we got them fixed etc.
My favorite journal right now (yeah I have more than one - probably why I've not been blogging since my blog was sort of my journal for the last few years) is my "fauxbonichi". Yeah I know, it sounds weird. It's a faux Hobonichi, which is a Japanese journal/planner. There's a grid paper book at Barnes and Noble that can be used in place of the actual Hobonichi since the real thing is only available from Japan and shipping and costs aren't the best thing for a tight budget. The B&N book is $10. So yeah, not too hard to do the math there. I'm going to be doing videos of flip-thrus of my fauxbonichi which I'll post here and on You Tube.
I've not been doing any YouTube yet because the camera on my phone sucks - and because I haven't really been alone in like 4 months. There was always someone here, and I just never felt comfortable filming with other people around. I did try one day and got interrupted several times. So, I gave up. BUT, not for long. I ordered a new camera from Amazon when we got the tax refund. It's nothing fancy, but it's high tech compared to our old camera that bit the dust and the piddly one on my phone. According to the USPS site, it will be here today!! I am stoked!
So all of this planning and journaling and even *gasp* ART I've been doing is basically a hobby, but it's one the benefits the family in the long run. It's tracking important things and keeping a record for the future, and also keeping me on track on a daily basis. But hobbies rarely come without *stuff*.. and yeah I have STUFF. Four photo boxes full or various things, another decorative box of just stamps and inks etc, and another box with leather working tools! Seriously! ... oh and baskets of washi tape! I love washi! So, I'll talk about stuff I have now and also when I get new stuff :) I recently got a lot of stuff at Tuesday Morning and considered doing a "haul" post, but I kept putting it off til I'd just decided to forget it and use the stuff. I'm going to try to stop doing that. No more putting things off. I even have a little cheapy 7" Android tablet I got to let me write my blog when I'm out of the house somewhere like sitting in a waiting room or maybe even at a coffee shop... that's not really going to happen unless I get my Explorer fixed.
That's another idea for a post too... our finances. Not whining about them, but celebrating how we finally have our $*&t together! It's nothing new, many of you likely already do it, but we're doing the cash envelope system. I'm not totally following Dave Ramsey. I do have one of his books and have read some of his stuff, but mostly, I have watched videos of people who are following his plan, and am taking little bits from them all, and finally it's all "clicking" in my head. I tried doing the cash envelope system once, but my heart and brain weren't really into it. I didn't "get it" I think. But now I do. I finally understand how it all works, and how to make it work. I have envelopes for so so many things. One place called them "Micro Accounts" but they're also known as sinking funds. I'll be glad to talk about them and our budget and our plans! Yes my husband and I have a plan! The last 4 months he's been home, we had a lot of time to talk and he had a lot of time to see what it takes to make the household run. He even totally took over the kitchen including meal planning and grocery list making and grocery shopping! It was great! But it's back on me now that he's working all week with an hour commute each day. And until he gets promoted *knock on wood* we still have to live on the much smaller hourly wage he's getting now which is only a little more than he was getting on Unemployment. So, tight budget still and each dollar has to have a job.
Okay, it's way past my bedtime, and I'm 100% sure I am just rambling now, and have been for most of this post. Sorry! Just wanted to let people know I was alive and well and better than ever really. Lots of stuff coming soon, and hopefully videos if I can figure out all this techy stuff. I'll not just talk/video about my planners and stuff. I can do stuff around the house too if people want to see that. I'm not crazy about filming myself, but we'll see how it goes. And it won't all be videos. I'll still be blogging, so stick around and watch for more posts from me soon! I mean it this time!
Thanks again to everyone for reading and coming by my blog!
Patty
Secondly, I want to say thank you to everyone who has messaged me on Facebook, left comments and even emailed me! I want you all to know how much I appreciate you and all the people who come here and read about my chaotic little life.
The last time I posted, I really did have high hopes. I had so many things I wanted to post about, and videos I wanted to do too! Scary! But well... I got distracted. And this time, it was mostly for the good.
For those who had been worrying, I did not slip down the rabbit hole again this time. I've actually been oddly optimistic about everything. Yes, my husband lost his job at the end of September, and was out of work all through Christmas, but we got through it, and even had a really great Christmas in fact. At the end of January, Christopher got a call for an interview, and he is now the Assistant Manager of a store 30 minutes away. I really wish he'd have found something closer, but the good thing about this store is that it doesn't have a store manager, and the guy who hired him said in a couple months, he'd likely promote Christopher to Store Manager! Store Managers for the new company make the same amount he was making as Asst Mgr at Kmart... so yay! We'll be back where we were as far as income, but in a MUCH better place. To be honest, Christopher losing his job was probably the best thing that's happened to us since he GOT the job at KMart... how weird is that? So, yeah, what distracted me from blogging, was my home and family and finances. I chose to concentrate on keeping things together here, even if it meant I totally slacked on my blog.
The last post showed you my planner at the time, and it was the beginning of a whole new world! I've spent the last 2 months watching YouTube video after video, joining FaceBook planner and organizing groups, following people in Instagram (I used to follow like 3 people), and just soaking in all of this new information and inspiration. I'm in a totally different planner now - but yet still kind of the same. I promise I'll show you what I mean soon. I have been journaling since September... at first just in my planner on the daily pages, and now in actual journal books. I'm putting my memories down on paper before I forget them - which I will. Like downloading my brain. Not all of it is worth remembering, like how I did 5 loads of laundry one day. But a lot of it IS worth remembering, even if it's little things... like when Zoe was feeling bad. I went back over my journal pages one month and noticed how often I noted she felt bad. So, now I'm keeping a closer eye on it. There's there's other things like when she got her hair cut, or when the brakes started acting up on the car and when we got them fixed etc.
My favorite journal right now (yeah I have more than one - probably why I've not been blogging since my blog was sort of my journal for the last few years) is my "fauxbonichi". Yeah I know, it sounds weird. It's a faux Hobonichi, which is a Japanese journal/planner. There's a grid paper book at Barnes and Noble that can be used in place of the actual Hobonichi since the real thing is only available from Japan and shipping and costs aren't the best thing for a tight budget. The B&N book is $10. So yeah, not too hard to do the math there. I'm going to be doing videos of flip-thrus of my fauxbonichi which I'll post here and on You Tube.
I've not been doing any YouTube yet because the camera on my phone sucks - and because I haven't really been alone in like 4 months. There was always someone here, and I just never felt comfortable filming with other people around. I did try one day and got interrupted several times. So, I gave up. BUT, not for long. I ordered a new camera from Amazon when we got the tax refund. It's nothing fancy, but it's high tech compared to our old camera that bit the dust and the piddly one on my phone. According to the USPS site, it will be here today!! I am stoked!
So all of this planning and journaling and even *gasp* ART I've been doing is basically a hobby, but it's one the benefits the family in the long run. It's tracking important things and keeping a record for the future, and also keeping me on track on a daily basis. But hobbies rarely come without *stuff*.. and yeah I have STUFF. Four photo boxes full or various things, another decorative box of just stamps and inks etc, and another box with leather working tools! Seriously! ... oh and baskets of washi tape! I love washi! So, I'll talk about stuff I have now and also when I get new stuff :) I recently got a lot of stuff at Tuesday Morning and considered doing a "haul" post, but I kept putting it off til I'd just decided to forget it and use the stuff. I'm going to try to stop doing that. No more putting things off. I even have a little cheapy 7" Android tablet I got to let me write my blog when I'm out of the house somewhere like sitting in a waiting room or maybe even at a coffee shop... that's not really going to happen unless I get my Explorer fixed.
That's another idea for a post too... our finances. Not whining about them, but celebrating how we finally have our $*&t together! It's nothing new, many of you likely already do it, but we're doing the cash envelope system. I'm not totally following Dave Ramsey. I do have one of his books and have read some of his stuff, but mostly, I have watched videos of people who are following his plan, and am taking little bits from them all, and finally it's all "clicking" in my head. I tried doing the cash envelope system once, but my heart and brain weren't really into it. I didn't "get it" I think. But now I do. I finally understand how it all works, and how to make it work. I have envelopes for so so many things. One place called them "Micro Accounts" but they're also known as sinking funds. I'll be glad to talk about them and our budget and our plans! Yes my husband and I have a plan! The last 4 months he's been home, we had a lot of time to talk and he had a lot of time to see what it takes to make the household run. He even totally took over the kitchen including meal planning and grocery list making and grocery shopping! It was great! But it's back on me now that he's working all week with an hour commute each day. And until he gets promoted *knock on wood* we still have to live on the much smaller hourly wage he's getting now which is only a little more than he was getting on Unemployment. So, tight budget still and each dollar has to have a job.
Okay, it's way past my bedtime, and I'm 100% sure I am just rambling now, and have been for most of this post. Sorry! Just wanted to let people know I was alive and well and better than ever really. Lots of stuff coming soon, and hopefully videos if I can figure out all this techy stuff. I'll not just talk/video about my planners and stuff. I can do stuff around the house too if people want to see that. I'm not crazy about filming myself, but we'll see how it goes. And it won't all be videos. I'll still be blogging, so stick around and watch for more posts from me soon! I mean it this time!
Thanks again to everyone for reading and coming by my blog!
Patty