Weekly Wrap-Up: Mark found me a new meme.

Mark stumbled across a blog that he just had to love, starting with the name: Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers. Gotta love it! He also noticed that homeschooling momma blogger Kris is hosting a meme he thought would be perfect for me, called Weekly Wrap-Up.

The idea with Weekly Wrap-Up is to give a wrap-up of your week (no kidding), hopefully highlighting some "idea, resource or activity that was a big hit at your house this week." Between FlyLady (I've been doing a great job of keeping up the house and still spending time with the kids) and the fact that I can easily update Facebook from my cell phone wherever I am, I have been slacking on my blog. I don't want to give my blog up, though, because I loooooove having this record of my life. One day I hope to (delete half the posts and) pass it on to my kids to let them see what life was like when they were little. So I'm thinking it may be a good idea to add two weekly blog posts to my FlyLady routines: Wordless Wednesday and Weekly Wrap-Up.

So, here's a run down of my week. First off a quick update of things that are a little more than a week old. Remember how Aoghdan missed the fishing tournament when he got that dollar stuck in his throat? (Part One and Part Two) Well he got to go visit his Darlin' the next weekend and participate in another fishing tournament, and he won 1st place! And, yes, he was competing against adults as well as other kids! The winning fish was an 18" flounder, which is now in our freezer until we can buy some more flounder so it will be enough for a meal for our extra-sized family.

Secondly, I'd like to issue a warning that if you visit our home and use the master bathroom, be aware. It's now safety orange. You probably know that this is Mark's favorite color. A few months back Mark bought a huge, soft, fluffy, bright orange bath towel. It was such a great towel, in such a great color, that he soon bought two more. Then, when we were shopping at Garden Ridge the day that I got my table and chairs for the yard, Mark found a bright orange bath mat. This just kicked things into high gear, and when I found a pair of orange pajamas at Wal*Mart, I had to have them. (They're very cute! Capri pants and trimmed with a lacy design.) Finally Mark just grabbed a whole bunch of of orange wash cloths, hand towels, and a second bath mat. All we need now is an orange shower curtain, but that's become a point of contention. I'm thinking "happy" -- orange and white. Mark's thinking "punk" -- orange and black. (Is it just me, or does that sound more "Halloween" than "punk"?)

This week was pretty average. Anna's been on her ADD meds for three weeks now and I think I am seeing a difference. It's hard to tell because I have a tendency to only see what's in front of me right now without a good ability to compare to how things were last month. I have noticed that she seems to get in the most trouble ("trouble" meaning she stops paying attention and messes things up) in the evening, which means her meds have probably worn off. I know it seems wishy-washy, but I know she needs this help. Her follow-up appointment is on July 6th, and I'm looking forward to speaking to her doctor. We're also planning to get some therapy to help her break certain habits that make it harder for her to pay attention. For example, the other day she wanted to know the definition of a word, and I had her look it up. She needed more help, so I came over to look, and she immediately walked away and picked up the necklace she'd been working on before. This kind of thing is a habit for her; she needs to learn that in order to really pay attention to something, she has to specifically focus on that thing.

Aoghdan left for Tennessee today. He's been incredibly excited about it all week, counting down the days. This morning his Grandpa Bobby came and took him and Anna out to breakfast, then they brought Anna home and left for the airport. Aoghdan should be at his mom's by now. I miss him already.

Hmmm. I feel like stuff has happened this week that I can't remember. I guess not. Mostly I've just been FLYing. There ya go, there's my "big hit" for this week (well, this month!) FlyLady, if you don't know, is a system for developing good habits, mainly centered around keeping your house clean, but also for taking care of yourself, staying organized, etc. A newbie "Fly Baby" starts out with what's called the "Beginner Baby Steps," and today I did step 26. (There are 31, enough for one month.) It's a slow process, but unlike "quick fixes" it really helps you form good habits and make lasting changes.

In addition to creating daily routines that help me to manage my house a little bit every day, I have been focused on getting my disaster of a bedroom clean. I've been working on it a little bit every day for two weeks, and I am not done yet, but what really strikes me is that I can't remember the last time I actually cleaned my bedroom every day for two weeks! Every day Mark comes home from work, walks into the bedroom to empty his pockets, and lavishes praise on me for that day's work. It's AWESOME!

A big part of FlyLady is decluttering, and so far I've rid myself of two full carloads of stuff, including more than half a dozen garbage bags of clothes. That's just amazing, considering. See, Mark hates getting rid of things. (And I have to admit that more than once he's pulled us out of a computer jam by pulling the perfect part(s) out of a pile of "junk.") I'm the opposite -- I'd happily bag two or three bags of things that I absolutely cherish and walk away from everything else we own, including furniture -- but I'm very lazy about all the work involved in sorting and packing stuff and then actually dragging it down to the Goodwill (especially when they are actually open.) The great thing about FlyLady is that you get rid of a little bit at a time. Mark doesn't feel like I'm throwing out all of his belongings, and I don't get overwhelmed!

I think Mark's favorite change though is that I am now making dinner every night. You probably all know that I hate cooking. I love that Mark cooks, I love that he loves to cook, I love that he cooks a variety of interesting and traditional foods, and I love to eat his cooking. But he does work all day, and he had this dream of coming home to dinner all ready and on the table. (It makes sense that someone for whom cooking is so important would feel loved by me cooking for him.) The problem is that I feel completely incompetent in the kitchen. I get confused and flustered and feel like I can't do anything right. With FlyLady I started thinking about dinner far enough in advance that I get ahead of it. I thaw the meat the night before so I don't freak out about frozen chicken that I'm supposed to cook in 30 minutes. And every morning I check my email to make sure that Mark has sent me good instructions that I can understand. As long as I simply follow the recipe -- a written recipe, spoken instructions confuse me -- and move one step at a time, I can manage. And I have to say that it is really wonderful to serve the kiddos food that I cooked!

I guess that's really all for this week. I haven't taken any photos. :( We took a break from school while Anna got her meds sorted out, but we'll be back at it on Monday. I am so looking forward to seeing how school goes now. I guess I'll let you know!

How was your week? Put up your blog post and visit Weekly Wrap-Up for more info and Mr. Linky. You can also drop your link below so I can visit you!

1. Cheryl

2. You're next!

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