Being Productive

If you've ever done one of those personality tests, you know there are 4 main personality types and each person is a blend of two of those.  The two I score highest in are both task-oriented while the two I score lowest in are the people-oriented personalities.  I LOVE getting stuff done!  So this weekend was great for me.

We had no where to go except church on Sunday so we were able to work, work, work!  Ahhhhhh.  I love it.

Saturday we worked in the front yard pulling weeds and trimming plants from the landscaping; straightened up part of the garage; mowed; and did a few loads of laundry.  I can't remember what else we did except play Scrabble.

Sunday I had a photo shoot with the kids.  Dowloaded those pics then started working on a photo book to send to the kids in Ethiopia whenever we're allowed to do that.

Monday was awesome.  I wanted to get our games cabinet cleaned out.  Here's the before...

...and after.

I needed to find space on the bookshelves for all the books I bought at the used curriculum sale.  Roddy did that for me.  See how they were just sitting in stacks before.

The girls and I worked in their room...

cleaning out bins and drawers of toys that have gotten mixed together.  We still have a lot more to do.

In the afternoon, I worked on cleaning up my garden.  It had become overgrown with weeds and pests. 

Rodents like this one have been eating my tomatoes and cantaloupes before we can pick them!

Worked on some of our adoption paperwork.  It is sooo overwhelming.  I had to get it organized so I made this notebook with dividing folders.

We have only four weeks left until school starts!  I've gotten a lot done but still have so much more I want to do before the majority of my energy is required for that. 

~Here is the stack of books I'm working on - some myself and some with the kids. 

~I also want to read my camera's manual and get a better handle on my picture taking.

~There is storage under our stairs that I would like to clean up. 

~I need to get a schedule planned for school. 

~I want to purge the closet room of clothes that are too small but still hanging up.

~The top drawer in my nightstand is a disaster.  Whenever the kids have their computer time, they look for paper in there to write down their time so they can remember when it is up.  And, well, this is the result. 

~I have stacks of papers to be shredded and removed from the guest room.

~I'd love to get some pictures enlarged and put up in the office/school room or in the hallway.

~And when all that is done, I'm sure I'll find more to do.

Hope your summer is productive or fun or whatever your personality type enjoys!

Exposed

I read a lot of blogs. Not all of them daily, but some - my favorites. I have often wondered of those writers whom I don't actually know what they are really like.

I'm an analyzer. I like to know why people are the way they are. If I know more about a person's temperamant, life experiences, even birth order, it helps me understand them better and I like to know what makes people tick!

So I thought maybe if you read this blog and don't know me, you might wonder the same things I have wondered about others. From time to time, I will share with you some things about me that might help you understand who I really am, why I write what I write and why I write how I write. These posts will all be titled: Exposed.

Expose means to make known, reveal or unmask. Which is something I need to do more of.

I'll start by saying I fear rejection and criticism. I'm sure after each of these posts I will completely doubt whether I should have exposed myself. I don't like vulnerability. And while some of you may read the posts and think that's what you consider being vulnerable? Trust me, for me it will be.

I am bold and confident in some ways. I don't mind what anyone thinks of my beliefs, convictions or the way I live my life (which is a result of my beliefs and convictions). What I fear is personal rejection. Not being liked for who I am. Not being accepted because of my imperfections. Even being rejected based on perceptions of who people think I am.

I would love to uncover all my sins and weaknesses, quirks, failures and ugliness and not care about what someone thinks of me, but at this point in my life that feels impossible!

I have just learned in the last couple years that God accepts and loves me unconditionally. That I don't have to be perfect for Him to see me as lovable. And that has been extremely freeing. One day I hope that I can care only about what He thinks of me. I think that would be ultimate freedom.

Until then, perhaps this will be my therapy. My own personal counseling group, consisting of me and a bunch of faces I can't see.

And just maybe exposing one piece at a time won't be so frightening.

Honest Scrap Award

I'm not really sure what it means, but I've been given the Honest Scrap Award! Just a fun little thing going around the blog-world.

Here are the rules:

1. Must thank the person who gave you the award and list their blog and link it.

2. Share "10 Honest things" about yourself.

3. Present this award to 7 others whose blogs you find brilliant in content and/or design, or those who have encouraged you.

4. Tell those 7 people they've been awarded HONEST SCRAP and inform them of these guidelines in receiving the award.

So here we gooooooo.....

1. I would like to thank Tiffanie for this award. She's a wonderful friend; sweet, kind, generous and lots of fun to be around. I love lots of things about her, but what I love most is that she is no respecter of persons. She doesn't care who you are, where you're from, or what you look like. She will befriend anyone. If you're blessed to know her - even for a short time, you feel like you've known her your whole life. I could go on but I better get on with number 2, YIKES!

2. "10 Honest Things" about me (prepare yourself, this is long...):

a. I'm a book horder! I love books. I personally love reading Christian living books. I need lots of help, you know. But the hording mostly involves the kids' books. We recently had a used-book exchange. I have 4 - read it FOUR - Alice in Wonderland books, but I couldn't bring myself to give one up! I went to Goodwill to buy some for the exchange but ended up buying more for us.

b. I say "crap". And I don't think it makes me a bad person!

c. I want Kelly Ripa arms but I don't know if it will ever happen. Or my sister-in-laws arms! She's buff without trying.

d. I hated the word skinny in school. People/kids always pointed out how thin I was and wanted to put their fingers around my wrists to really see how thin they were. I only wore shorts in high school on half days. Which added up to maybe 3 times in four years. I didn't even say the word skinny until a few years ago. Now I don't care. You can call me skinny all you want!

e. I'm cheap. I trust God with our finances but money is connected to everything with me. If the kids aren't taking care of something, I'll say, "Do you know how much that costs?" or "You don't make enough money to replace that, so you better be careful with it."

I don't like shopping because I don't like spending money - except at Goodwill where I get my 39- and 59-cent books. But as cheap as I am, I don't mind giving money for those who need it because I know I'm giving it to Jesus.

f. I don't like wasting anything! Food, time and, of course, money! When I see plates of food being thrown away at parties, I get a sick feeling in my stomach. I wear the same clothes for years!! I just keep wearing them. When my sweaters start to get a little knotty, I use a razor and shave off the fuzz balls. Voila! Good as new! Same with the 2 pair of dress slacks that I bought almost 6 years ago.

g. I could stay in my house and never leave. I'm a hermit at heart. Which leads to my next honest thing...

h. I'm a terrible friend. I don't say this to be self-depricating. I love my friends and I have the most awesome friends anyone could ask for. But I am not a good friend. I'm terrible at calling. I think about them and think about calling but it's never at a good time - either for them or me. I think about getting together but am terrible at planning it. My friends are very patient with me.

i. I can say the alphabet backwards. I memorized it because I have sleep issues. When I was a kid I would count to 20 to fall asleep. Then I had to count backward from 20. Now I count backward from 1,000 or recite the alphabet backwards (which doesn't work). Sometimes I go through the alphabet and say the names or attributes of God that I can think of that start with each letter.

j. I organize my closet by color (mostly in rainbow order). I have pants by color, sleeveless and short-sleeved shirts by color, then long-sleeved shirts by color. I don't have that many dresses and skirts to organize, so they're just separated by skirts and dresses.

I didn't know there was any other way to do it. One day I went to iron one of Roddy's work shirts for him but couldn't find his red section. This was after being married over 10 years. Obviously, I am a terrible wife too and don't put his clothes away for him nor do I iron enough for him. Anyway, shortly after that, I did reorganize his closet by color - which makes it much more enjoyable for me to put his clothes away.

3. I don't have 7 people to award this to because some have already been awarded but here is my list. One is private, so I will list it without linking.

My Amazing Sister, Tammy

My Wonderful Sister-in-Law, Kara

My Ever-Thoughful Friend, Rebecca

My Canadian-Blogger Friend, Tyler

My Favorite Neighbor-Friend, Tina