Back to Work & the Lessons I am Learning

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Thank you for visiting again! 

I am back to work away from home full-time. I have had the experience of working single without a family, working full-time away from the home with a family, being a homemaker for 3 years, and now I am back to work full-time again with a family.

The past week was my first full week away from home. Our youngest son is in pre-school while the two older children attend an aftercare program. Prior to going to work I made a schedule of how I expected the week to go, cooked a large meal on Sunday, and arranged clothing for the kids for the week. My Sunday was exhausting.

It was challenging coming home this week. Work was not exhausting but just going to get the kids from pre-school and aftercare, giving the kids baths, having dinner, and spending time with them was exhausting after work. On my schedule I had planned on completing at least some chores daily but that did not happen and I was stuck with chores Friday night – Saturday morning. This weekend I plan on writing out what did/did not work for the week and revising my schedule.

Some of the tips I have learned while being a homemaker was:

1.       Schedule, everything may not go as planned but it’s good to have a schedule, a map, or direction. As the saying goes, failing to plan is like planning to fail.

2.       Meal Plan. Before I was a homemaker I remember the countless days I would come home from work and my husband and I would take turns winging a dinner. I have learned that this not only sabotages a food budget but you spend more money at the grocery store than planned and go to the grocery store more often. Can you say Financial Peace!

3.       Be Flexible-- be okay knowing that everything may not go as planned and don’t flip out because it doesn’t go as planned.

4.       Nourish your spirit-- at least have your own quiet time, for me this is 4:30 a.m. or it could be at 9 p.m. when the kids are asleep.

5.       Take care of your body-- now that I am working I am finding out that I need to modify my work-out schedule. I believe that when you get into a workout schedule it makes your body feel good and it’s a great stress reliever. I am considering purchasing the 10-minute trainer DVD’s from Beachbody or modifying some of the work-out DVD’s I already have down to 20-minutes in the morning. Another way to get exercise during the day would be to take a brisk walk during lunch or take the steps if you can at work.

6.       Be Proactive—leaving the dishes in the sink at night before you go to bed may seem like a good idea if you’re tired but waking up to a dirty kitchen in the morning then going off to work can add more stress to your day when you come home. On Sunday I made two batches of pancakes and froze them for breakfast during the week. Think about the end result of whatever you do.

Come back again. This week I am going to post my schedule! Thank you for coming by! I love you and have a great week!

New Year, New Home Order!

I wanted to share this link with you. It’s from a ministry called Above Rubies. I was introduced to the Above Rubies ministry through attending a local Homemaker’s ministry meeting at a church. The article is titled “Order in the Home.” Sounds daunting almost like an article reminding you of how bad you are for keeping a dirty home and how ill-mannered your children are. GOOD NEWS, it’s not. I found this article very encouraging, flexible (adjustable to your family), full of wisdom with great suggestions and examples we can all relate to as parents whether you work from home, even if you are a dad, out of the home, or are a homemaker. What I liked most about the article was pointing out the different seasons we face. “Do you have younger children? Do the basics!” And also, “Start training early.” I read it from time to time just to see where I am and for encouragement. If you want to change your home for the New Year or you are a new mom and need some help and encouragement and just to know and understand you are not alone I implore you to read it.

I Missed You!

Within two weeks we’ve experienced 2 deaths in our family, my husband’s uncle then his father. My husband is from Alabama so we’ve had to take travel to both Tennessee and Alabama. Keep us in your prayers as we try to find some normalcy. 

If I am posting this message that means we’re getting back to the groove of things!

Happy New Year!!!

Usually I don’t make New Year’s resolutions but for 2013 I plan on challenging myself to genuinely love others instead of just loving my own immediate family.

Saturday I went to a funeral in Tennessee. My husband’s uncle died. I don’t like funerals. The Pastor at the church where the funeral was held gave a sermon and one statement stood out to me, particularly, “no one was a stranger.”

My husband explained to me how his uncle started his own successful 20-year-old cleaning business. First, my husband’s uncle began bartending and genuinely developing contacts and friendships with the patrons to then owning 3 cleaning businesses in 2 different states. The woman he married already had two children and he was a father to them as if naturally they were his very own.

When I met my husband’s uncle 2 years ago, he treated me as if he had known me for years. His hospitality was genuine and he was very generous and outgoing. I didn’t know he was living with cancer for 10 years already when I met him.