This is only to check a font Four Friends

new year new alternator

I am so excited....I have a new alternator in my van, so I can drive again!

Troy came over and took out the alternator, we got a new one then he came back and reinstalled it. The battery had been drained so we had to get a new one, he went and did that this morning for me. I am so happy happy happy.

What I giggled about later was the fact that he is a candidate for Congress...he was getting ready for a campaign appearance, and yet here he was, getting greasy and dirty to help me put in a new alternator and battery. Gotta love it!

if you want to hear my whole thoughts on that aspect, check this out

http://nomorerecycledpoliticians.blogspot.com/2010/01/new-year-new-alternator.html

but that's the way i like it
~~pmv

End of a year, Beginning of a lifetime

Today is the last day of 2009. For the first time in years, my husband and I are not planning on hitting some big NYE bash, or even going to a small one. We plan on watching TV with a friend and maybe toasting with some sparkling juice.

This past year, I have had to learn some hard lessons.

Organization is a need, not an option- Being raised and trained by a woman who reused almost everything till it fell apart, I learned to save. Unfortunately, I am not as resourceful as my mother so my saved items just become clutter. This year was the tipping point & I have come to the realization that the old adage 'a place for everything and everything in it's place' is so important. I am learning that even if it isnt the perfect place, find one for each item and put it back there. Cause to be honest, I am tired of buying nail clippers, tweezers and new USB cords just because I cant find the old ones. Clutter and disorganization can cost you money.

The only way to insure you never can is to never try- This year saw my husband and I join with my best friend to try and unseat an entrenched career politician. If I had a dollar for every person who said "uh, yeah you can try but it will never happen", welp then our campaign account would be robust. It can't be done. I hear that so often. I have told myself that so often. You cant win against a political and financial giant. You can't expect to go from a nobody to a somebody in a year.

I defy that. This year I plan on showing people wrong on so many counts that they will start to question their own ideas of can and can't. The only way to insure you can never do 'X' is to never even take the first step.

Negativity is as contagious as Optimism & twice as hard to root out-
Joy is a word I love. It is so much more important than happiness. And if you have ever met someone who has real joy, it is impossible not to contract a huge case of the joys. The opposite of joy is gloom. They are both contagious. If you have a room of people and a joyous person starts making rounds, it will change the whole tenor of the room. Same is true for gloom. I used to consider myself a joyous person. but this past year has seen events happen that have just honestly zapped that joy and made my outlook become much more gloomy. I see now that my whole family, especially my son has picked up on this attitude and no matter how hard I try I find it twice as hard to turn us all toward the joy. So this year, I am going to put on a full scale attack and root out the gloom and negativity in my home, my family, my church, my social circle, and most importantly myself. And as we all know a hole needs something to fill it in, so I plan on shoveling joy into every nook and cranny.

Money doesn't grow on trees & a steady paycheck doesn't grant you right to be irresponsible- My husband and I are blessed to have a steady income, and yet, we have taken that and it's responsibility and blessings for granted. This year has shown us some harsh lessons that we will literally be paying for in the years to come. So my solemn pledge to the Giver of All is that I will appreciate what He gives me more & use it with the wisdom He has also given me. It is one thing to be irresponsible in your 20's with no kids, another all together to be so in your 30's with a child learning at your feet.

Friendships are like trees- This past year I made a concerted effort to water some friendships that had been withering. These were women with whom I had many things in common in years past. Lately, we have lost those common elements and I found us not sharing. I knew I could let them wither and die, or I could make the effort. Set aside the time to talk, schedule a lunch, text them a hello, or even just make sure you give them a good hug on a regular basis. These friendships then became like great oaks. They don't need as much care as a sapling, but when the winds come or the sun is beating down on you, they are the ones who provide the most help. I found also, that a yard with too many tiny trees, can choke out the growth of anything deeper. So I took stock and let some relationships wither and die, or cut them out completely. Just as you cant please everyone, you cant be friends with everyone and expect to have time to grow them all into large oaks, sturdy and strong.

So, I am going to take these insights and apply them next year. I don't make any resolution other than this, each day to try harder at being what God wants me to be. This may not be much in the end, but each step, no matter how small is one closer to the goal.

Thats just how I like it

~~V

Why can't I seem to keep up with this thing?

I want to write and have it out there for others to learn. I want to express myself in the written word. So why do I find it hard to do so here?

I think because I am tired by the time I have time and while I can think it out in the car on the way home from soccer or a women's group meeting, I have to still type it up when I get home.

So maybe I should start doing it in the morning.

~~PMV

I can not quite get into the habit of blogging on here as regularly as I want.  So bear with me in transitional part of my life.  Perhaps one day you will see daily posts.  Till then, be patient.

I am writing today to put some things down that I want to remember.  

One, last night my son told me he is 40% sure that he is 25% robot.  He of course is sure he gets this from his father's side because his father is adopted.  He then went on to explain that since he knows nothing about his geological grandparents, that must be where he got  it from.  My giggling stopped long enough to ask if he meant biological and of course he did.  I explained that geology was about rocks and the earth, so unless his father had mountains as parents...it was unlikely that he had geological grandparents.

Now as I sit here getting ready to work on campaign items (my best friend is running for Congress) my son is in the kitchen playing play-doh bowling. We are not at home, but at campaign headquarters(the stanley house) and he has spent the day with their 15 year old son Austin.  It is beautiful to watch my own little village raise my son.  With the grace of God we have found amazing people to be mentors to us and to him.  To be the siblings he does not have, to be the Godly aunts and uncles he needs.  It is an amazing beauty to see it become....

.....just how I like it...

....in God's loving arms.

at least it waited till now

I am sitting here with a head full of snot and a cough that would rattle your soul.
but...at least it waited till now.

Last week was so full, it was insane. As some of you know, i run a organic/raw foods buying club. i go to several local farms to get raw milk and dairy products, gluten free organic baked goods, and organic produce. of course the day i was to go to the farms was the day over 6inches of rain fell in our area. Do you know how you get to most farms? Down a dirt road.

dirt + water = mud
so really they were down mud roads.
Wow, it was an adventure.

The next day i had to play catch up with my deliveries and then that night was my son's end of year program. We homeschool, but use Classical Conversations curriculum and are part of a local CC program. They meet once a week for group projects and to go over the basic outline of what the kids will learn over the next week. It was a great group and i am so glad i found it. it was such a blessing to our family. So, anyway, Friday was the end of year program when the kids can show off their work and what they memorized. i ran the show off part of the program. Then the husband of the director made a slideshow. i cried! They used some songs that were just so touching...the first one was by Jack Johnson. I have heard of him before, and this song has made me want to look into his stuff. THis is the album the song is from. It is the 7th song. Now listen to that song and imagine pictures of your child and their friends playing on a playground, and doing lab experiments and such, and tell me you wouldn't tear up just a bit.

So then Saturday was our work day at church and then i rushed out to Riverside to be part of the opening day at the Riverside Arts Market. Which was amazing and i highly recommend you go. It is weekly, on Saturday from 10-4pm. Bring a bottle or two of water, wear your walking shoes and either pack a lunch or bring money to buy some. It is a beautiful experience right there on the river.

Then i woke up Sunday ready for another very busy day, and wham....this bug going around hit me.

So Sunday and Monday i was forced to take it down a notch and rest. i guess it was time to chill a bit.
Guess, i will go rest a bit more...since i am again feeling a bit woozy.
till next time when i am hopefully feeling
....just how i like it....
~~v

Absent minded Blogger

I know I know, months without a post, how can I call myself a blogger. But today I resolve to amend that and henceforth not commit the sin again.

So, what is up in our house
we just returned from a 10day vacation to Texas and points along the way
I had fun, but learned that I am starting to grow away from my family.
dont get me wrong. I love my family, but my sisters and I have such different lifestyles and they tend to be a bit judgmental about mine. My mother is one of my best friends, but there is a reason you leave your family and build a new one. I am finding that my family unit, the one I am forming, is such a different organism than the one I grew up in, or the one that my sister is creating.
Chaos and calm can not exist in the same universe. I always thought I was chaos, but as I am getting older, I am finding that was more the influence of my mom, dad and sisters. I prefer calm. I want order. I want plans, I thrive knowing what to do and when and where I am expected to be.
My line lately has been "tell me what you want, when you want it and where I should be". No longer am I happy with the idea of just living life by accident. That is what got us in the house we are not thrilled with, a financial situation that is less than stellar, and me 200lbs overweight.

So while the trip and sight seeing were great, I think I learned much more than historical facts on this vacation.
And I think it will help me make life....just how I like it...
~~v