So the guys gave me the whole month to be a "bum" and settle into being home.  Which is nice.  It means I can get myself oriented and organized and ready to tackle the rest of life.  So I started in on getting my Planners together--Household and Homeschool and Emergency Prep.  I've made some pretty serious progress too, in between episodes of Atlantis and trying to beat Manling #1 at Castleville.  

I realized as I was going through my computer and flash drive that I've got SO much stuff I didn't even remember downloading.  But it's nice to know I don't have to reinvent the wheel to get myself together.

I've also started making Lists of things that need doing--by Day or by Activity, as it works out.  There's a lot of Paperwork, so I'll probably break some of that down into individual days or rotate weeks or something.  Likewise the Scout Lists.  

One item I can't wait to get back on my Lists is the Scrapbook Time for Mom.  I haven't even looked at my scrapbooking stuff since March.  That was in reference to the Eagle Scout book...and it didn't get finished.  It's all piled up on the ledge in the upstairs hallway--don't ask, I have no idea why!!  (Especially when you realize my scrapbooking table is in the basement.  *eyeroll*  Yeah....) 

I need to get through the school stuff for after the holidays too.  But since most of that is already in The Box, it shouldn't take more than an afternoon to finish up.  

Now...since I'm on Day 11 of my Bum Time...we interrupt this post to bring you another Episode of Stargate Atlantis...Season Four!  YAY.

I have decided.  

*pause*

I have decided (which is more than half the battle, y'know?)...AHEM.

I have decided:

a)  I will make the Lord my focus each day, and I will walk in the path He's set before my feet.  I will do this INTENTIONALLY.

b)  I will be the mother and wife I want to be.  If not now, then when?  Better to do it now.

c)   I will be more organized in 2012.

d)  I will post each night before bed as recap.

e)  I will get my Lists in order and keep them.

f)  I will start to catch up all of the projects I have started and not finished.

g)  I will clean the house from top to bottom, and I will be the Keeper of THIS House.

h)  I will get our Emergency Prep Plans back under control, and then I will implement them.  No more putting things off....not in these times.  

To further all these aims, I am using the rest of December as "Prep Month".  I need to get my planners updated and organized.  I've been woefully under-organized the last four years.  That must stop.  

Funny how once you make the Plan to Start, the adrenaline starts to flow.  One wouldn't equate the start of a race for instance with a (re)start of Homemaking.  But I suppose it's all the same to your brain chemistry.  It's an eagerly anticipated event, something to be sought after and waited for (however impatiently).  

And I've waited a LONG TIME to reach this point.  

I am home.  Thank God.

Things I'd LIKE to do with this Blog

When I started this blog, it was supposed to be my "adult blog".  The blog where I kept all the notes about homeschooling and homesteading and just being me.

*sigh*

I have not been as proactive in that move as I would have hoped I could be.  In all fairness, it's been a rough year so far.  We've been up to our ears in Life--Eagle Scout and Webelos Crossover ceremonies, homeschooling, basement tide pools, and trying to figure out why this whole mess isn't working anymore.

While I can't stop Life from happening, I do know partially why it's not working so well now:  a mother was meant to be home with her kids and her husband, taking care of her home and making four bare walls into a place of comfort and shelter.  I'm so tired of being a "working mom."  

After a long long overdue chat with my husband, I have managed to make him see that all of the things he's constantly complaining about at home are things that I SHOULD be taking care of in that time between finishing up school with the boys in the afternoon and when he gets up in the evening.  Housework and meal planning and school prep for the next day.  Hours and hours of things that don't get done because I'm Not Here.  

I've also finally convinced him that we are never going to "keep up with the Joneses" and thankgod for that!  I don't WANT to feel like I need to have everything that everyone else has.  I want to just have what we have and work with that.  I don't need to have all the new fancy gadgets or expensive clothes and stuff that the rest of America flaunts (like we are entitled to it).  I'm tired of trying to keep track of the stuff that clutters our house as it is.  I've been slowly trying to weed through everything and regain some control over what we do have and need.

So from here on out, I'm going to try and use my Blog to that advantage:  to chronicle my quest to find my quiet center at Home...and my transition out of The Job. 

*sigh*

Did you hear that scream?  My boss.   She's not going to like this....