Insight? Anyone?

Recent events have revolved around keeping myself on track. I have come to the conclusion that I expect myself to do everything and do it well. Prioritizing and setting small goals will give me better success. In my blogs, my purpose has been to define what I am doing, show progress, growth, and accomplish goals successfully.

Goals.
1. Save money. This is becoming more and more successful.
2. Write. This goes up and down. How do I fix this? My dear friend Maia gave me the advice that I will choose. She said it is better to write a paragraph than not write at all. Although I have been writing my blog, which is great practice and therapy, and also helps me organize who I am, I have not been working as I should on my novel. So, a paragraph at a time it is! Thanks Maia!
3. Read. I read to be a better writer. It is research in a way. I began re-reading the Half Blood Prince, recently, since I just saw the movie. I am not reading as much as I would like, but at least I can read a few pages here and there. So I count this one as a success in progress. I also read my bible which is what grounds me and convicts me to be the person I was meant to be.
4. Balance. I will achieve this as I get to work more on my writing. Why is it that the one thing that I feel could be my life's work, is the one thing I find hardest to accomplish? It should be where I focus and where most of my effort goes? In my reflection, I feel when it is time, it will happen. The rest will fall into place. Hence the balance!

Madi and I are taking a small summer home school break right now. We worked all summer. She is reading well and has a keen interest in science, which I happen to love teaching her. But we needed a summer too! We are going on vacation in 2 weeks to Boston. We will be flying! We have a calendar up and Madison is in charge of keeping our family's schedule on track! She is very good at it!

Last week, as I reported, I spent $52.00 on groceries. I found that with my creative food planning I do not need very much this week. I decided to make my trip today to the store. You must check out Walmart! I got Pringles for $1, peaches were on sale for .78/lb, yogurt .38...lots of stuff on BIG time sale. Walked out with all I need for the week for $24. I also have some coupons from target for $1 off apples that are $1/lb, .50 off bananas at .57/lb and .50 off Starkist at .69/can. That should make for a pretty good trip. Look here for some good ideas. If you are interested in home schooling or even supplementing at home, there is a free year subscription to a home school site that aids in curriculum, materials, and planning here.

Some of you have asked me to give you an idea of what I plan for food for the week. Here is what this week looks like:

Monday
Breakfast: home made blueberry pancakes
snack: nutri-grain bar
lunch: left over hamburgers/chicken/baked beans for Mike at work, grilled cheese and apple
snack: cottage cheese/blueberries
dinner: Mike at work remaining left overs, me left over chicken cutlets and green beans for me

Tuesday
Breakfast: bacon/eggs/toast
snack: peaches/cottage cheese
Lunch: Lentil soup
snack: yogurt/fruit
Dinner: Pot roast/salad

Wednesday
Breakfast: Cereal/fruit
snack: fruit/cereal bar
lunch: pot roast
snack: peanut butter/crackers
dinner: Pork chops/salad

Thursday
Breakfast: Pancakes (home made is cheaper...I calculated it=) fruit
snack: chips and cheese
Lunch: Left over lentil soup
snack: apples/peanut butter
Dinner: Mix of pot roast/pork chops all left over salad

Friday
Breakfast: Waffles (Kashi whole grain) fruit
snack: cheese blueberries
Lunch: Tuna Fish/ tomatoes
Snack: hard boiled egg
Dinner: ribs/ veggies


Hope this gives you an idea of how I work my meals. I try very hard to utilize all of the food I make. We can change up and not have the same meal everyday, however, it is really helpful to not cook every night and I can get Mike's lunch ready after I clean up dinner, right into containers and ready for the morning.

Here are some moments...the ones that truly make up our lives...

-Mackenzie sitting up with a huge smile. So proud of herself.
-A wonderful afternoon in the pool, just me and Madi
-"Girlie time" with Madison. She packed a little bag of things for us to do.
-Sitting at the dinner table, praying before dinner, Madi chose Nana to pray for and a moment later, Nana showed up at the door for a visit!

True progress shows evidence of lessons learned.
-Mike and I getting to swim alone for a few minutes Sunday afternoon.

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