I'm Still Here

Though, quite barely at times. Lately, I've been just going through the motions, trying to keep up with things while clearing out closets, toys, and clothes. With a household of seven people, it's really overwhelming - and that's before throwing in the closets & organizing! And pretty close to impossible to do all at once. I can't wait till it's all done. I can't wait to get my kitchen closet back! I think that is the goal for today.

It's hard to believe the holidays have arrived. With Thanksgiving just two days away, that means Christmas is only about 4 weeks away. We are nowhere near ready! I haven't even brought up a single strand of lights from the basement. Maybe that will be our Thanksgiving Day project. Decorating. And if you have any ideas about how to string some lights on our house, let me know. I haven't figured a way to do it that wouldn't look cheesy, or cause us to risk life & limb climbing a ladder more than two stories high...

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Well, I got the kitchen closet pretty much all cleared out. Now I just have to reorganize it. I've missed that closet, and it's nice to have it back. My craft supplies (yes, I do own crafty things), a few games, a couple boxes of who knows what, pencils/crayons/erasers/papers, and 2 broken bean bags (don't ask. Really, don't ask. I have no clue why they were put in the closet instead of the trash) were doing a great job of filling up my closet floor. Now, I only two closets left in the house to go through - our bedroom closet, and the main level bathroom closet. Then I have 3 drawers of papers and miscellaneous stuff to go through. I think that's it, as far as closets & junk drawers go.
But in the meantime, it's time to watch Chuck on Hulu with my hubby.

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The previous was typed yesterday.

I'm finding it quite irritating that I forget to hit publish when I'm finished typing. It has happened a couple times in the past week, but I just delete it. Not today! I am clicking publish today.

It's also been happening with my texts, too. Dad, if you all of a sudden don't get a reply from me, it's quite probable that I replied, but forgot to hit send. Then whenever I do realize I forgot to hit send, it's too late for it to make any sense. :P

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The other day, we noticed Sniper got a haircut of sorts...

Can you take a wild guess which of my children decided to play hair salon with the cat? Ironically, it's the one child who has never cut her own hair (or even had a sibling cut her hair). How in the world Elise thought to cut Sniper's whiskers, I'll never know. I probably don't want to know.

:)

Since I haven't done the daily thankful thing that everyone seems to be doing, I'm going to list my 30 things here.

1. Jesus

2. Robert

3. My kids

4. My family

5. My friends (who are more like family)

6. A home big enough for our big family

7. Our cars

8. Our gifts/talents

9. Our freedom

10. Food in our tummies

11. Clothes on our back

12. Shoes on our feet

13. Indoor heat

14. Long, hot showers

15. Cozy slippers

16. Warm blankets

17.Hugs & kisses

18. The ability to do whatever needs do get done. Whether or not I want to do them is another story.

19. The scent of freshly cleaned laundry.

20. Having a local grocery store - as expensive as it may be, it's saving me a trip to Carroll today.

21. Netflix & Hulu

22. Our health

23. Memories

24. Being born in this time. As much as people seem to think the world is the worst it's ever been, it's not. Wars, killings, fears, and the like have been around for a LONG time. Just read the history books and the Bible. But I'm grateful for this time period mainly for the fact that we don't have to wash clothes by hand, heat water over a fire to pour into a metal tub for bathing, kill & prepare our own meat, use a candle for light instead of scent, etc.

25. Coke ;)

26. Internet, phones, and the good ol' pen & paper - allowing me to stay connected to loved ones.

27. Summer

28. The beauty, creativity, and usefulness of God's creation - especially the tiniest details we don't even see.

29. Humor & the ability to laugh at it.

30. The fact that only God's opinion of me holds any merit.

Besides the first five or six, these weren't written in any particular order. I just typed out what popped into my head. I did this exercise once a long time ago in my journal, except I tried to think of 100 things to be thankful for. I think I must have had a hard time toward the end, because I was thankful for salt & pepper shakers. But really, we are to be thankful in all things - the good, the bad, and the seemingly meaningless things. After all, without those shakers or grinders, seasoning our plates tomorrow could be quite a pain!

Hope your Thanksgiving is happy!