Time for Me to FLY

For those of you who are not familiar with FLYLady, FLY is and acronym for Finally Loving Yourself. One thing that I have learned over the years is that in order to find true contentment in life you really have to love yourself. I don't mean that you are to be conceited. What I am talking about is doing what you need to do to take care of you. Pray, eat well, sleep well, and keep a positive line of thought going at all times. That way when things come up that are challenging, tedious or that you just have to deal with...you will be able. You have to be at a point where you can see your purpose and live it.

I find that when I do not take care of myself, physically or spiritually, there is no way that I can be truly content. I walk through the day out of balance, cynical, and in many ways simply lost. To get back into balance I must invest the time to refocus. I can only do one thing at a time well. I must remember that my well being has to be intact before I can do anything outside of myself. Once I regain the balance, I am on a roll and can be a loving wife and a good friend at the drop of a hat, nurture my children as every mother should and do service for many as needs arise. There is no question about who I am or why I exist. When I FLY I am free to soar toward Heaven. And in my flight I am never alone.

Countdown to Easter

Daniel with the baskets on Easter morning 2007

Although I don't have the religious connection to the Easter holiday, as I believe on the first day of every week we are requested to remember our Savior and His sacrifice freely given for our lives, I do like the family gathering and some of the fun kid traditions that my parents shared with my siblings and I. We in turn are sharing these same traditions with our children.

I am using a website to help break down the preparation into five weeks. It is found on CEO's site; Easter Countdown. For me this is actually a countdown to my Spring Break as well, as Celebration Week is my Spring Break. If you have kids at home, or are planning a family dinner, egg hunt or egg decorating get together, you will want to check out it.

Kevin and Raymond preparing eggs to dunk. April 7, 2007

Danny dunking egg during annual egg decorating get together.

Perils of Progress

It is Thomas Edison’s fault that I don’t get enough sleep. You know that nifty invention, the light bulb, which blazes a brilliantly bright light in some rooms of my home, and in others, the bulbs set off a soft warm glow. And regardless of the degree of brightness created, the lights are kept on well after the sun goes down, and I don’t get the ten hours of sleep that my body craves.

I guess there are many others that could get some blame as well, like the individuals who brought about television and then the 24 hours of programming, on hundreds of stations, that now go with said piece of electronic genius.

You would think with the invention of time savors like the clothes washer, dryer, having refrigeration, a gas stove and oven and assorted electrical appliances to aid in food preparation and preservation that I should have ample time to get some Zs. Time should also be provided by the aide of the dishwasher, vacuum cleaner, swiffer mop, and more that save so much time in cleaning.

And yet, I average about 7 hours of occasionally disrupted dozing on weekdays. If I am especially fortunate I will get nearer to eight hours sleeping in on a weekend morning. Oh, Mr. Edison, what have you done to me? And what is my sleep number?