scatter brain....

My life is so scattered. I really need to real it in, but not too far or I'll be bored. There is a fine line there.
On top of the routine (or NOT-SO-ROUTINE) job of raising 6 kids and taking care of the domicile in which they and I live, I have a part-time job with another 16-ish teenagers there. I am contracted to work 16 hours per week with/for these precious teenagers, whom I adore. There are very few weeks that I keep it to 16 hours or less. There is alot of planning that goes into making these kids put their moral compasses to work. It is very rewarding, overall.
On top of that, I do a bit of volunteer work for all the Episcopalian teens of NH. There are several retreats, overnights, lock-ins that go along with these jobs... and lots of paperwork, insurance things to keep in mind, Safer Church items, etc.
Did I mention that I am also trying to raise 6 well-adjusted kids? Well, as I type this, my youngest screamed because she wasn't able to eat the gum out of the trash. My 13-year old has a tutor coming over any minute, my 15-year old hasn't called and he is 3 hours late getting home (I should probably look into that sooner rather than later), my 8-year old is at Girl Scouts learning to read her moral compass, and my 16-year old and I just dropped spaghetti and meatball dinner off at the local soup kitchen for dinner to feed the 80 or so that visit there every night (the dinner was prepared by the youth group). NOW, I need to consider dinner for the people who I have here.... and plan the final parts of the Youth Retreat this weekend, and figure out how to fit 7 people in a sedan, legally.
In addition, I was up for about 2 1/2 hours last night (2am-4:30am) and my brain just wouldn't stop thinking about things! I hate that.
Now on that note, I read about a major aftershock in Haiti. *sigh* This time, 35 miles north of Port-Au-Prince. Which means, whatever buildings didn't crumble last week, probably did yesterday. The poor children down there.... the orphanges.... the new orphans....I can't even seem to wrap my brain around it all. And of course, the feeling that we can't do anything to help, and even if we could, the bottle necks of help down there are too tight and we couldn't get in.
OK.... my life is ok. I have food, water and a roof. Keep it simple, stupid... right?

KJ

blabber....

Ok...... Back in track with my Weight Watchers program. Seriously, I could NOT keep up the momentum without my WW Thursday girls, Kim, Deb, Dawn, Raven, Linda K, Joan and Alan and ESPECIALLY PAM! Pam is the leader and she rocks the house! Love her to pieces.
I am doing well. I bought a new cookbook by Hungry Girl and it's mostly awesome. I DIDN'T enjoy adding pumpkin to my oatmeal so now I just don't do that. I am not sure pumpkin and oatmeal should go together. I love both individually but together? eh-eh.
I rocked some deals at Shaw's this week. FOUR free toothbrushes (GUM brand) and lots of other fabulous deals on things I use alot so I scored alot for the stockpile. I need to go back again because I received a few more coupons that I will "play" this week for my favorite yogurt, free tissues and free pasta. The pasta is great because this Sunday the youth group will be making spaghetti/meatball dinner for the Friendly Kitchen (the local soup kitchen in Concord) and dinner is made for about 75 people every night. That just helps with the bottom line cost wise for me! :)
I am very proud of my friend, Corey this week! She ran the Walt Disney Marathon on Sunday and finished! I was tired just thinking about running to the bathroom, much less for 26 miles! YAY, Corey!
My sister inlaw is ENGAGED! That is good news and it's about freakin' time!! :)

Time to sort coupons and get a snack ready for the savages. They'll be home soon....

I lied...

OK.... I forgot to blog the following day but cut me some slack! New Routines are hard!!!
So, here I am. Back to the Weight Watchers grind. I used my Borders gift card that I got for Christmas and bought myself a couple of books; One of them is called Hungry Girl. Now, there is a Hungry Girl website that I have not visited yet because I have had my nose buried in this cookbook. It's awesome. Low points, Low calorie, low fat, lots of flavor and EASY TO PREPARE!! Also, the things that I have made so far, the family actually ENJOYS!!! That is a win win!
So, Thursday is weigh-in day for me at WW. I LOVE my meetings. I LOVE my leader, Pam. I LOVE my friends there. However, yesterday's weigh-in was +4.4lbs! I don't LOVE that. THAT IS THE WRONG DIRECTION! I can't blame anyone (except maybe my mom!). All the crap food that has been brought over in the past month has been SO tempting and just sits there and I can't waste it. But, now I am sick of the crap food. I tossed out full, unopened boxes of candy and cookies a couple of days ago. I kept one large unopened box of Granite State Candies that I will bring with me to a party tonight. And, I think they are soft-centered candies which are not my favs so I am not tempted. (Unless there is a caramel filled one in there.... then I will umm.... no no no.... I won't. not worth it. I'd rather have a glass of wine.) I will be losing weight before I head to Orlando in March.
Now, I am also a coupon queen. Yesterday I messed up a couple of deals but was too overwhelmed with my life to fix them so I'll just let it roll. However, I did score 4 boxes of free tissues and 20 more boxes of tissues at .49/each. Why so many?? Well, we are a family of 8 and it's winter.... I have a college daughter who needs to bring a stockpile of stuff back with her next week... and the school district in Concord apparently doesn't budget in facial tissue so I sent several boxes that way. I also sent a few boxes to my neighbor who was home with a sniffly 3 year old and challenged me. She was kidding but hell, I was running out of storage for all the tissues. :)
Today is the day that I will fix the Little's (my 4 and 8 year old girls) closet and organize their room a bit better.
So, I swear I am will be a better blogger. Not sure why. I guess it helps to get this stuff out of my head.
Now, I have a 4 year old crawling all over me so I guess my time here is done. :)

Kel

NEW YEAR! NEW BLOG!

Ok..... not really a "new" blog. It's the same old blog: I am just going to TRY to be more purposeful in my blogging. I am not sure WHY, I just am. :)

So, another holiday season has come and gone. It was not as crazy and insane as past seasons, I must admit. EVEN with the addition of another child. I had my wrapping done more than one week BEFORE Christmas! I had made a few make-ahead meals and froze them so that I could enjoy the holidays and in the event that I had a potluck to head off too, I just pulled something from the freezer and popped it in the over (thanks for the tip, Robin!). I think I will do this more often. That is, when I am making something for dinner (soup, casseroles, sauces, etc) I will make double or triple the amount and freeze it for future use.

Also, I am getting back on the Weight Watchers train that I have seemingly fallen off of! I LOVE Weight Watchers. I LOVE my meetings. The best leader, the best group of people but seriously, I have gained weight this year instead of losing. MOST of it in the past 4 weeks but still....

I am in the midst of making plans to head to Orlando in March for a Supermom Weekend. The one other mom that I know in real life, I haven't seen in 20 years but I don't care. I am going and I am going to sit by the pool and do nothing for 3 days. :) Nirvana. Oh... I think I am the official Margarita holder for my friend, Corey, but other than that, I am doing nothing. :)
I am also in the middle of planning several mission trips/retreats for the youth group. I am the Minister to High School Youth at St. Paul's Church and also the co-chair for the NH Episcopal Diocese Youth and Young Adults so alot of planning needs to happen now that it is January!

Today is Monday. The kids are all back in school. It is quiet. I should be cleaning. I will. Eventually. That's what Mondays are for; cleaning and laundry. Not that I don't do those things every freakin' day.... Mondays are just the days that all the kids go away and I can clean without a mess being made right behind me so it stays clean for 5 minutes. So, I am off to do that.

Appointment later to see if the 8 year old broke her finger or not. I PROMISE TO BLOG TOMORROW!

Kellie