Small Success Thursday - Summer school comes to an end

Hello,
Here's hoping I can find the time to join the linky at Catholic Mom today.

My 15Yo finished his Freshman year on a Friday and started summer school the following Monday. He took Gym and Health so he can take band, a language and a second math. But transportation has been mostly on me. At least getting him to there and home. For the past 2 weeks gym has been at a different place around town and he needed picked up, gotten lunch and back to the high school for health class. We did get him a ride 2 days in exchange for buying the driver's lunch and my parents came down on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Having them move back to town has been such a blessing to me. I am grateful their health is still good and they are active. So my first success is that I survives and it doesn't seem to have affected my job.

Dinner has been put on the table at and from home the last 6 or 7 days. Hubby even planned and cooked 2 of those meals.

I have been sleeping better. I have no idea what was keeping me up prior to last week, but it seems to be conquered. Last night I stayed awake until almost 10 so I did not wake (for good) before the alarm.

Maggie

Small Success Thursday - Summer School edition

Hello,
We are almost through week 2 of the 3 week summer school session. Morning gym class is a various places around town, then my son needs to be picked up, lunch gotten and transported to the High school for Health class. Monday was a change in plans and I missed the email. Sigh. But we have been getting it done. I was really worried about Monday since it is on the other side of town. My son finally decides he figured out a classmate who drives and is in both classes and another classmate/bandmate who lives nearby that he might catch a ride to.

Meanwhile, at work, I have been busy. I am the master scheduler for the migration of email accounts. Talk about data overload. And teleconference after teleconference. So I have not been up to doing much when I sign up for the day.

So my successes,

1. Monday night I teed up Tuesday night's dinner. Since I work from the office Tuesdays (and Thursdays), I can rely on Hubby and son to get dinner on the table if they don't have to do too much heavy lifting. I had sloppy joes made up. a salad prepared.  
2. Made a batch of home baked cookies for the band picnic last night (no cooking dinner)
3. Mostly keeping my cool with bad directions to some gym class destinations and DS's driving. He's more confident behind the wheel but that is causing him to be a little less careful with things liek Right turns on red. Thank goodness for our Guardian Angels. 

Linking up with Catholic Mom to acknowledge those small accomplishments that tend to get lost in the minutia of day to day life. 

Why I remain Catholic -

The Anchoress has challenged any Catholic that has access to a platform to blog about why we stay Catholic in light of the recent pew study saying that Catholics are leaving in droves.

I am a cradle Catholic, educated in Catholic schools from Grade 4-High School. My older son was in Catholic Schools k-12. My Second son spent part of 4th - 8th in Public school as the Catholic school he was in was not the right place for him. He was and continues to e enthusiastic about his Catholic High School. Finding a Catholic spouse was important to me.

Not that we are perfect. far from it. We do attend Mass most weeks. We are not overly involved in the parish right now as our focus is more on the High School Band.

But I look at the church - the Roman Catholic organization, as a constant that I can count on in a chaotic, constantly changing society. I don;t always agree with everything, but I seek to understand the philosophy behind the teachings and am comforted by it. The church is not perfect, but it considers things and can change when necessary. There are parts of it that are dynamic and ground-breaking in spite of the public image. I actually like Pope Francis' current approach of shifting the focus of the first world church to more basic issues while not changing teachings. He also reminds us that I will always be welcome to come back into the fold not matter what.

Small Success Thursday - Pantry clean out

Happy Thursday. It's that time of the week where we reflect on the small things we do each week so as not to lose sight of the things we accomplish in our day to day lives.

I finally took the time to empty my lazy susan bottom cabinet and my pantry and an upper corner cupboard. The Toddler grandson likes to open the lazy susan and bring me the glass bottle of Olive Oil. I decided to find a new home. And my pantry has needed help for a while now. But I contemplated this project for weeks, but Sunday was the day. I emptied everything on the dining room table, discovered the upper shelf of the lazy susan was cracked. I was able to order a new one through Amazon and hubby installed it last night. True confessions, there are still items on the dining room table for which I need to find a home. Probably the cabinet above my fridge since it is colored sugar/sprinkles and other cake/cookie decorations.

I finished another step in my Quilt squares. I am making Flying Geese. It involves cutting and sewing squares of 2 different fabrics, cutting each in half and putting 2 haves together and sewing again. Then cutting in half again and them trimming. I did the first sewing and cutting (and ironing) and am ready to put the squares together for the second time. I sew in spurts.

I got to use the long burner bar on my new stove, twice. Once I used my oblong "Rachel Ray" skillet and the second time I used a double-burner cast iron griddle/grill pan. I love it. I made pork chops on the grill and even got complimented on them by my non-pork lover family members.

So Join up with Catholic Mom to reflect on your accomplishments in the midst of the "lather, rise, repeat" nature of our lives.  

Small Success Thursday - May 28th

Happy Thursday from a short week.

Hubby is due back from a business trip late tonight. And it is not him who is waking me up about 3:30 AM every morning.

This weekend we managed to complete a project of coating our wood desk together without getting upset at each other. Now Tuesday morning I went upstairs to pack up my computer at the same time he was getting ready to leave. I barked at him when he teased me about not wanting to kiss him goodbye. And I have been doing so well....

I made some progress on the quilt I have in progress.

I asked for help in picking up the teen from school at his early dismissal. Of course my parents have to come down for 30 miles north, but they are willing to do it so I can go to the office twice this week.

Linking up with Catholic Mom.

Small Success Thursday - Last full week of School

This is my youngest's last week of classes. Next week he has exams (and early dismissals). However, neither of us gets a big break as he is taking summer school for Gym and Health so he can take Band and double up on math cases next year. I am looking forward to him being able to drive himself to the places he needs to go.

This week we got my older son, Daughter-in-law and Grandson moved. The new apartment was supposed to be ready Friday, but it was not. Fortunately we borrowed a trailer and were able to lock their stuff in there until the were assigned a new apartment on Monday. Of course Hubby sprained his wrist. The doctor at urgent care told him to allow his teenage/20 Yo sons to do the lifting.

I am amazed at how this current job, while high paced, is not stressing me out. It allows me to roll with the punches so much better. Case in Point this post where I reflect on a recent situation where Hubby and have often snipped at each other, but we were able to express our feelings calmrly and gently. LOL! I wish it could always be like this.

Linking up with Catholic Mom.

Wow, we got it right for once

I was reading an article and reflecting on my relationship with my husband. We have been married for over 22 years. During this time, we have both worked full time outside the home. Our division of chores tend to get divided close to the traditional line. But he does the yard work becaseu he is rather particular about it. He has a hard time turning it over to the teen age sons. (and the youngest takes advantage of it).  I cook more often because I enjoy it and I am a bit better about timing it so it all get's done at the same time. I'd say laundry is a shared task. He does most of the folding. I clean the bathrooms because I don't mind it as mush as him and I leave floors to him. but in general, he is happy to let me do a task when I start it.

That said, we had an incident the other night that we both handled well even though we did  not want to.  I was rushing around to get dinner on the table after a long day. Hubby comes in a sits in his recliner. I think "Really? I sure could use some help so we can all eat. I sooo want to sit and relax a bit too." Then I actually listened to the part of the brain that said "Getting dinner on the table is not his priority right now. But maybe if you asked him nicely, he'll come help."

So I said "Hey Honey, can you come and put together a salad while I work on the rest of dinner?"  So he eases out of his chair and comes in and starts to make the salad. After a few minutes he said "You know, when you first asked, I thought to myself "Really?""

Somewhere I found the grace to laugh and say "Yeah, I though the same thing as I was rushing around and you actually sat down. So tell me about your day."

This is not my typical posture. I admit to being a yeller. I don't like being wronged. I have to admit that this has a lot to do with my current job. I am enjoying my current job. I work form home half the time and feel like I can take care of my family by dropping off and picking up my son from school. No busing) and putting home-cooked meals on the table.

Our marriages are under so much pressure. I wish I could be more like this more often.

Small Success Thursday - May 14

We are coming up to the end of the school year. My teen son finished playing with the pit orchestra for the school spring musical, Tuesday was the band banquet. (He got the "Outstanding Freshman" award.) Tonight is a cookout and final band concert/recital. So it has been a busy week.

Sunday I had my folks, eldest son, his wife and my grandson over for a Mother's day brunch. I kept it simple and everyone said it was delicious. Thankfully Hubby was able to install my new range since the delivery guys would not do it since they would have had to take a fitting off the gas pipe. Sigh. Another team came to pick up the old range yesterday, asked why they had to come back and just shook their heads and said the first team was wrong. Ah well, they can take care of it.

Yesterday was a day where mt plans were blown to smithereens due to a miscommunication. Hubby forgot to tell me he had to take  a day trip for work. I had made appointments to have his car in the shop for ac repairs and to have my old range picked up. I work form home on Wed., but I was counting on Hubby to take the teen to school. Luckily the mechanic is a walk-able mile from home. so I took the teen to school, drive to the shop and walked home. at lunchtime I walked back over to the shop and brought the van home. So I handled that with a fair amount of grace.

Linking up with Catholic Mom.

Small Success Thursday - Summertime weather

Good Morning folks,

Here is SW Ohio, we are supposed to reach 90 Degrees today. Very warm for us in May.

It is that time of the week to reflect on those little things we accomplish as Mom's when so much or our world is 'Lather, rinse, repeat."

Last week, Barb, aka Franciscan Mom requested pictures of my home office, so you will find that post just prior to this one.

We had to narrow down our project list. We started planning to remodel our powder room. We picked out and purchased tile for the 25 sq ft room. Then we took our Grandson on our deck and realized it is in such bad shape that he could get splinters. Then, on Saturday  afternoon my oven would not heat up. Fortunately, May and June are months I am not making a High school tuition payment. Hubby promises that the cost to refurbish the desk will be minimal and then he strongly requested we buy a new range. Ours has drip pans and grates that are in constant need for cleaning. Newer gas ranges have dishwasher=safe grates and no drip pans, making wiping up spills a bit easier. We also got one with a convection oven. It will be delivered tomorrow. The powder room will be on hold until we get bad weather.

The toddler Grandson likes to wear blankets as a cape. I still have a black cape I made for his Daddy. We brought it up and it is way too big. So I whipped up a smaller cape for him. As an aside, I had a funny observation, his Mamma calls it his "Prince M." Cape. His Mamma has a sister, no borhters. I am the Mom of boys. To use it was a 'Super Hero" cape.

Have a great week,

Linking up with Catholic Mom.

My Home Office

So Sitting seems to be the new Smoking as far as health goes. So I wanted to fashion a stand-up workstation. This is not my first time around the block with a stand up desk. In 2012 I had a job working from home where I got an Ikea tall table and made it my desk. That job turned out not to be a good fit. Working from home full time was not for me at that time, but I liked the standing desk. My next Contract was with a company who's newly remodeled office features desks that could easily be converted to standing by holding a level and lifting or pushing the table. I would flip between the two positions rather regularly.  And actually, with that contract, I worked from home occasionally due to inclement weather or or a need to be closer to home for some reason. Since my older son moved out, I have a dedicated office rather than the home's dining room. That makes a huge difference.

This contract I can go downtown to an office or work from home. I am currently working in the office 2 days and at home 3.  So the point of this post is to show my office. I cleaned it out and re-arranged it last week.

View from the door: A Trundle bed, the small closet, my workstation and a traditional desk. Hubby and my son will use the desk on occasion.

The bed with stuff that still needs a permanent home.

Bookshelf, TV/Printer stand and night stand.

 My stand up workstation.

The traditional desk, file cabinet, printer and Bookcase.

I still need to do some clean-up. I don;t know if I can make it Toddler-Friendly so our Grandson can sleep on the bottom trundle when he spends the night. Too many things for the 16 Month-old to get into.
And I detailed out my stand-up desks in my project blog.

Small Success Thursday - New job edition

Hello everone, 

I has been a few weeks since I participated. First it was a spring break trip to Chicago with the High school band, Then finishing up one job and starting another. If you have been following me, you may know that I am an IT Systems Administrator who has been doing Contract work for almost 4 years. I accepted a job that was not fun for me and the pay was low. So I was presented with an opportunity closer to my core skill set and it is going well. 

For my successes:

1. Hubby and I agreed on and purchased tile for our Powder room remodel. 
2. Decluttered and re-arranged my home office. I am working from there 3 days a week. 
3. Been teaching the 15 Year old to drive without killing him. 

Linking up with Catholic Mom

Small Success Thursday - Spring Break edition

My first post with the pretty new logo.

I am on a spring break trip with 25 High school students. We have 17 band members, four Color Guard, one student form the guitar class and three chorus students. We are in Chicago. I am enjoying it. I am weirdly energized by the city. We are on our third day of boarding a bus at 9 Am in getting to our hotel around 10:30 PM. I guess my first success is that I said "yes" to assisting with this trip.

Secondly, I have submitted my resignation at my 6 week old contract job and will be taking a different one. The work on the first is not my favorite and the second one pays better and involves planning and executing.

I am keeping up with the Novena of Divine Mercy thanks to Pray More Novenas. Maybe because I feel this week I have the time to pray the entire Chaplet of Divine Mercy. I will be doing today's on the bus this morning.

Linking up with Catholic Mom.

Small Success Thursday (a day late) March 26

Wow, Fresh new logo. I like it.

I am a day late with my Small success.

My vocation of wife and Mom has always had an income-earning component. The first decade and a half of our marriage, I earned the bigger portion of the income. Then Hubby went back to school and since has been a rising star.  Since Fall of 2011, I have been playing the contractor game. (I work in IT).

All this to say that I started a new contract at the beginning of the month and it is kicking my rear-end. It is a hard push project and I am not liking it much. But I trudge on. Maybe next week i will have different news.

One morning I was deeply frustrated and lashed out at my husband when we were talking about dinner options. He called me on it and I was able to vocalize the things that were causing my stress. Besides an undesirable environment on the job, I am driving far and not able to pick my son up from school like I had been. I actually enjoyed being able to do those Mom-duties on my last assignment.

 My son got his driving learner's permit. We've been out driving almost every day. It is coll watching his confidence grow. But as I said with my older son, I never imagined I'd be the more patient parent in teaching my boys to drive.

Linking up with Catholic Mom. 

Small Success Thursday - Spring?

Hello everyone,
How's your week been? We have sping eather here in SW Ohio. The snow has melted. It sure does lift my spirits.

So last night Hubby an I went for a walk. Without Jackets. LOL It felt good.

I started my new contract. While the manager started out with firm, high expectations, almost scaring us, it is going well. My desk is not much of a desk at all, but I will manage. I like the two guys I am working closely with.

I am surviving my commute to work. I go south about 13 miles to drop my 15YO off at school and then North for 35 miles to the office. It takes about an hour. Hubby has been picking him up after band practice.

Linking up with Catholic Mom.

Small Success Thursday -

Happy Thursday.
Good news, I start on a new contract/project on Monday. I am going back to the company I was with until last June. Drawbacks is that the pay rate is lower and it is in the opposite direction of DS's school. But it is work at a place where I have some friends. The nature of the work will be a combination of Project management and technical (upgrading servers). I will be driving 50 miles each morning as I take DS to school and then turn around and go to work. But it will only be for about 2 months.

Meanwhile, my grandson was under the weather and his babysitter's daughter has been sick, so Grandma is taking him for the week. At 15 months and very agile, he was a whirling dervish. He needs constant supervision. I had such plans to clean, organize and sew. Ha! forget that, unless re-organizing means putting the plastic wear or cans he pulled out of the cabinets he has access to. LOL! But I remember having young children who were unable to go to daycare or sitters and yet Hubby and I both needed to go to work. I have the opportunity to help out, so I am pushing the frustration out of my mind. He was certainly feeling much better yesterday than Mon or Tues.

I did remember to go to the BMV and get the booklet for my 15 YO to study to take his written exam in a few weeks. Hopefully this job will give us the $$ to buy an appropriate vehicle for him to drive himself to and from school when he turns 16 in September.

Linking up with Catholic Mom.

Small success Thursday - post vacation edition

Hello everyone,
Had a lovely 3 day stay in the Bahamas. Had some flight challenges and we arrived home just before 2 AM so I am feeling a vacation hangover. I need to be working today and tomorrow as they are my last days on this contract. I got a message yesterday from my current consulting/contracting agency that there is an opportunity for 5-months with a company I worked with before. The work is my technical than I really like to do but the pay rate is 83% of what I am currently at. 83% pay is better than 0% pay and they said it would be temporary until something else came along more in my skill set. But I have checked in with another recruiter who seems to be no longer at that company. I have left messages with the people her phone and email are forwarded to.

We have almost 2 weeks of laundry piled up. Our new washer is scheduled to be delivered this afternoon. It is lovely to have to buy a new washing machine when the second income is in question.

So for my successes:

• hubby and I actually took time for a vacation. Something we both desperately needed.  We went with another couple. Hubby has dealt with him in business matters and his wife and I got along very well. Hubby becomes a lump when it is just he and I.
• My Daughter in law, who took on the task for driving the 15 year-old everywhere said she knows why I cannot wait until he gets his license. She also said he was a great help and on his very best behavior. 
• I am working my job contacts, trying really hard not to panic.Financially, we will survive. All hope is not lost and if I do not have work for a week or so, I have plenty of projects to work on around the house.   

Linking up with Catholic Mom. 

Small Success Thursday - Snow edition

Hello everyone,

Here in SW Ohio we started winter with some snow in Late November, then it had been pretty mild until this week. School has been called off and I don't expect him to go tomorrow due to dangerous wind chills.

1. I got our taxes complete and sent off. In spite of this being the first year without my oldest as my deduction, we still got a bit of a refund. Hubby asked if we put it towards new windows on our second floor. Unfortunately, We paid to fix our oldest son's car and signed the younger up for summer PE and Health to help squeeze band into his schedule and the youngest needed some new items of clothing. God gives us just enough. 
2. So in the last week I have been talking to people here at the office - I should say "Networking". This office has mostly contractors and so my resume has been sent off to most. I talked to a recruiter yesterday and then my current company contact me with a possible opportunity.
3.  Gearing up for a mini-vacation with Hubby. We have both been under a lot of stress around our jobs. We need this. 
4. Linking up with Catholic Mom

Small Success Thursday - Not feeling very successful...

Hi Folks,
I feel rather unaccomplished, so I need this reminder.

1. I got my son to school, home from school, to Bass lesson and to his training sessions this week all on time and intact.

2. The family has had plenty of food to eat and clean clothes to wear.

3. I have had quite a few people ask for my resume or give me some leads to follow.  And while things will be tight without my income, our needs will be met with the roof over our heads, food on the table and gas in the cars with Hubby's income.

And in spite of wanting to, I have not resorted to shoving chocolate cake in my face. But my 13 Month old grandson did when Dad was not looking:

  It makes me laugh. His Mamma is not so sure about his habits of climbing and making messes.

Linking up with Catholic Mom

Small Success Thursday - Feb 2

Hey, it is Thursday, the day I blog...
I have a husband and son whoa e disappointed that the big snows have missed our area. We had less than an inch last night. I think that brings the Cincinnati area up to 3 inches for the season. But for my successes:

1. Went for my annual physical/Doctor's visit last Friday. I even told her about my recent back pain so she sent me for an x-ray. Result - Arthritis in my back. So now I go for Physical Therapy. (at a $60 a pop co-pay).

2. Went and picked up my 1 year old Grandson Friday evening as he was awake most of the night and then napped most of the afternoon. LOL! First stop, Famous footwear for a new pair of shoes. He outgrew his old ones and Mom was inclined to keep him in footie pajamas. He even kept them on.

3. And no small success, but I have an interview scheduled for Monday with a new local hospital. So if you would say a prayer for inspirational answers to my interview questions, I'd appreciate it.

Linking up with Catholic Mom.

Small Success Thursday - Jan 29

Happy Thursday.
I keep hoping that because I am venting my job frustrations to my online friends that I am able to keep my real life focus on my family. But one day last week Hubby said "You seems to be having outbursts of anger? Is something bothering you?" While I maintained a calm voice, I did say 'Well Duh, my job..." He said "oh Yeah. But you have time..."

Countdown to unemployment is now at 4 weeks. Possibilities are coming into my inbox, but the ones that arrive seem to end up in a black hole of nothingness. What an exercise in patience and relying upon God this is for me. My Resume has been submitted for three jobs this week.

This weekend I did embellish some burp cloths for my cousin's baby shower coming up soon. Sitting at my sewing machine can be rather calming.

I decided to spend some free time reading up on a new technology. Since this is on my resume, a deeper dive into the parts I have less experience with would be good. I am also thinking about taking the certification test.

Linking up with Catholic Mom