The Most Important Day?

A discussion on Facebook a couple days ago has got me thinking; Is your wedding day "the most important day in your life"?

The answer is "No."

Now, getting married is the second most important decision in your life, make no mistakes about that (choosing your relationship with God is most important), but the day itself isn't that important.

I have been involved in the planning and execution of many, many weddings over the years. In fact, I am currently called "The Church Wedding Organizer" if anyone wants to use the facility for their wedding, though this isn't really an official job, more a way to make sure the church property is used correctly and to help people make decisions than anything.

One thing I have seen:

Weddings seldom go perfectly.

The flowers go to the wrong church (my wedding, actually), the groom can't find a iron to make his uniform look right (military), the bride gets a run in her hose, the mom shows up drunk or mad or both, etc.

Weddings today are big productions and, as with all big productions, what can go wrong will go wrong.

But it doesn't really matter.

A wedding is simply the day marking a life change.So is are births, deaths, and moves.

In the long run, if your wedding is "The Most Important Day in Your Life" you need to change your life.

Much more important days:

the day your life-mate smiles and laughs,
the day you share an inside joke,
the days your babies are born,
the day you watch your love playing with your toddlers,
the day you see you love talking with your children like adult friends,
the day you make up from a "disagreement,"
the day you decide to move,
the day your own children get married,
the day you hold your first grandchild,
the day you your second grandchild,
etc,
the day you share the sunset with your love,
the day you kiss in the rain,
the day you realize they have a cold so you decide not to take the snappiness personally,
the day the car breaks down and you decide to have a picnic while waiting for a tow truck,
the day you buy your first house,
the day you sell your first house,
the days your parents die,
the day they remarry,
the day you gather with friends and family for the holidays, or church, or a party, or just 'cause, .....

No, your wedding is not the most important day of your life. Not even close. It's just a day to party with friends and family, and celebrating one of many life-changes you will have in your life.

So if (when) something goes wrong on that day, choose to smile and laugh at it, say "Meh," and go on. It's not nearly as important as days to come; not nearly as important as the marriage is.

They need to go.

Originally published on April 25, 2015\

I sat in my living room looking around me.



This came after a week of being frustrated and, I hate to admit it, yelling at my kids.

The house just shouldn't be this dirty. We have this many hands to help, and they DO all help.

But it just isn't enough.

Oh, if I spend two hours in the morning cleaning I can get my bedroom, bath, living room all clean and comfortable.

Or I can get the girl's room clean. (gave up on the older boys years ago)

Or I can get the store room, laundry and kitchen decent.


But I just can't do them all; not and teach my kids too, much less write (and I can't NOT write. God has been very clear about that.)

Then there is the nutritious food thing. That takes time, but our health desperately needs it right now.



While looking at my living room that morning the thought occurred to me "What would I actually need to take with me to survive?

I noticed just how much stuff was in that one room that were keepsakes (things to help me remember things I will never forget anyway, like the framed wedding invitation from our marriage 29 years ago).

...how much stuff was decorations (serve no purpose but to just look at them).

...how much stuff was projects that I/someone will get to someday (but never will, of course).


If I boxed up everything from those three categories and took them to storage, do you know how long it would take me, all by myself, to clean the room with just the things we actually use?

10 minutes.

Maybe.

And truth be told, my 7 year old could do a fair job of it by herself.



So my family is shakled to the house doing housework that never gets done for

• keepsakes
• 
  
• decorations
• 
  
• and projects to make us feel guilty

No more.


Now, I'm not all of a sudden tossing everything out the door.

First I prayed.

Then I surfed for some blogs and articles about minimalism/decluttering and subscribed.

and I am taking one shelf, cupboard, drawer, pile at a time, as the mood strikes me. Nothing systematic or organized.

Yesterday I put half a 15 gallon bag of stuff in the van to go to town (donate to the thrift store that benefits the abused women's shelter in town).

Today I have 5 bags sitting by the door to go out (OK, I cheated. I took all the misshapen pillows that have been serving as backs for the daybed/couch in the living and stuffed them into three of those bags. I only kept those that are still nice looking. There were so many they couldn't be made to look nice and were in the way most of the time anyway.)

Tomorrow I might not take anything out.

Within 2 days I could see a difference and cleaning already went faster.

Each burst of decluttering produces more benefits.

I'm getting projects done, too.


It is time to stop serving things and start serving my family. If that means things need to leave, than they need to leave.

Making Home with MrsBettyTracy: Covid 19

Making Home with MrsBettyTracy: Covid 19: I know there is a lot going around about this virus right now. And it is kind of weird that there was a serious epidemic in 1818-20, and aga...

Things Change

Life changes and grows. Some things get bigger and better, some die off to be replaced by new things.

I am a Stylist with Lilla Rose hair accessories. Have been since 2014. They are a quickly growing company and I am in the biggest branch in the company. My uplones have really invested in teaching their people, not just hair stuff, but making your own brand, your own "thing."

Now much of what they have been teaching I have heard from other sources over the last decade, but this time around I am getting the answers for what direction I need to take.

All that to say, I have started a new blog. My heart has always been towards teaching young mothers, so this is the direction I am going with this new blog. It will take a while to really get my feet under me, but it will be worth it.

So, I now proudly introduce:

Making Home with Mrs Betty Tracy

DIY All-Natural Makeup + Primer - Willow and Sage Magazine

https://willowandsage.com/diy-all-natural-make-up-primer/

The End of average

https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2016/02/16/465753501/standards-grades-and-tests-are-wildly-outdated-argues-end-of-average?fbclid=IwAR35UISB_2-JtcLiZ6i-_NAeHNAtj3oLu-LURqxfXgVl2WTDDJGLGsdXUQ8

Interesting. 

Homeschooler have known this for some time. 

I have heard of children who taught themselves to read at 3 or 4, but couldn't really understand addition until 10. I've also heard of kids who could do multiplication of fractions at 5, but couldn't really read until 9 or 10. By the time the child is a teenager, you can't tell which was which. I have one myself who was reading at 4 and another who just didn't "get it" until 9. Today, you can't tell which is which, or even which of my 8 oldest would be in running for either. 

Humans are each a unique creation of the Master Artist. We can't be lumped into one big group.

Of course, our schools were not designed for each child to achieve their best. That has never been the true goal. They were designed to produce an obedient workforce of consumers that can't think well enough to through off the manipulation of the elite. 

But that's not the goal we parent's have for our kids. Nor, honestly, the goal most teachers have for their students. They were lied to in college; told what they were being taught as "the right way" was the best for the kids. It's not. 

The only way we can possibly provide out kids with the best is to give each one a unique course of study designed just for them. 

Only through homeschooling (which includes private tutors, co-op classes, community or college classes, apprenticeships, etc) can we succeed in giving each child what they deserve.  

Picture the life you want, then remove everything that isn't in the picture.

When Stillness Calls Loudest—How to Minimize Noise

Christmas is the time to honor Jesus for coming to us to bring salvation. 

How does your season honor Him?

Or is it too full of stuff-and-junk to see the manger?

Exercise Is ADHD Medication

So, essentially, ADHD is "making little boys sit still and be quiet like little girls." Yes, I know girls have it too. I have a lot of symptoms of it myself. But its not like any of us in America get enough movement in our lives. And boys are affected by ADHD in far higher numbers. We need to quit acting like there is no biological difference between boys and girls and treat them how they need to be treated.

 

SIX THINGS I LOVE ABOUT BEING A HIGHLY SENSITIVE HOMESCHOOLER

I have often suspected that God prefers homeschooling more for the parents benefit than the child's.

When Stillness Calls Loudest—MInimizing Noise

Illness is getting better. Hope we are well by Christmas. 

Momminess

A couple of good articles today for moms.

First, goals for your homeschool for next year. Yes, I aim for these too.
3 Resolutions

What I Wish I Would Have Learned Before I Began Homeschooling – Part Three: Boundaries with Ourselves
Ouch
The Kingdom of Mom

"When you take the free will out of education,
that turns it into schooling."

-John Taylor Gatto 
Author, The Underground History of American Education

Two-Time State Teacher of the Year

*The World's Most Courageous Teacher*

My goals for the coming year (most I have already started to aim for):

• Draw something everyday.
• Play music everyday.
• Continue simplifying school so we can better focus on the big stuff

If I get that much formed into a habit, I will be doing good. I am looking into picking up a nice drawing journal to carry in my purse to help with the drawing one.

Fast Fashion and Uniforms

I once realized I needed to clean out my closet. I have to do this occasionally because it gets where nothing more will fit in it. So, I took everything out and sorted it; everyday tops, dressy tops, tops for cold weather, and so on. So overwhelming! How do you pick which to get rid of?

I decided to start with the no brainers, the ones I knew without even thinking about it that I wanted to keep. These were the tops I wore every week-ish. My favorites. After taking those out of the stack and hanging them up, I turned back to my stack to decide what to get rid of.

This may have been the only time in my life when I did an honest double take. I turned back to the closet and counted the everyday tops I had just hung back up.

22

I had No-Brainer hung back up 22 everyday tops.

How many everyday tops does a woman with a working washer and dryer in the house need? My mom always said 8, "One for each day of the week, and one to wear while washing the other 7 (she had near 100 in her closet when she passed away)." Now, I may disagree a bit. I run the washer everyday, so theoretically, I could get away with 3-4.

But the point is, I had more than enough already. I gleefully turned back to the bed, picked out one ugly shirt (for painting), removed hangers, and donated well over 150 everyday tops!

And I have never missed one of them!

A couple years later, I read several articles about people choosing "uniforms." This is not dressing like nurses all the time, but picking one look to represent who you are and staying with that everyday. You don't have to think about what you are going to wear in the morning. One less decision to make. (Why Successful People Wear the Same Thing Every Day)

I decided I would go this route, so I removed all the tops that wouldn't match a simple black skirt or pants. This equaled exactly 1, lol. Then I bagan shopping for those simple black skirts and pants. When I had found enough of them (3 skirts) at my local thrift store, I donated all the rest of my skirts except one simple gray wool skirt for the very occasional use. When I needed shoes I looked for black ones.

This means from the waist down I wear black. My tops (and Hair clips :-) are where my wild colors are. I always know my clothes match and I look nice. So much less stress! AND my clothes now only take up about 3 feet of closet space, nice and loosely hung. Hubby simplified his clothes years before I did, and so now we are selling our dressers (we're keeping one for undies), and buying bookshelves and a couple nice chairs for our bedroom. Since we are both bookaholics, this will be a much better use of the space.

What could you do with the space if you reduced your clothes to just what you actually need?

Who Says We Need Changing Fashion, Anyway?

The Holidays and Life

"How does this honor Jesus?"

A rhetorical question I asked my dad the other day. We were discussing decorating for Christmas; dragging out all the boxes of clutter, the running around, and on and on. The fact is, it doesn't honor the One we Christians are supposed to be honoring if we are in slavery to the stress and perfectionism of the season. We are worshiping stuff, not the Savior.

Actually I've been becoming increasingly aware at how much SAtan has led modern Christians astray with materialism. How many people for example have told me "I can't afford a godly education for my kids" while living in a 2500 sq ft house and driving brand new cars and paying $200 phone bills every month?

Ah, yeah.

It is obvious what the real priorities are.

I've been reading a book named "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" Yes, I know this is an old book, but the advise is still good (though I disagree with his opinion of Robin Hood. A close reading will tell you that Mr Hood did NOT steal from the rich to give to the poor. He took money from government (and "church" which was part of the government at that time) officials who had cheated the people by levying exorbitant taxes and gave it back to the people. He didn't rob the rich he knew took care of their people and were fair to them. But that aside....) It makes me realize I need to put more energy into my own business instead of the direct sales company I'm with.

Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE the product! One of the training points is always "Wear the product!" to which I respond, "Why wouldn't I? Why are you selling it if it isn't always in your hair anyway?" Duh.

This is the only direct sales company that has ever tempted me, and I really joined to get the 30% discount for myself. they don't have any monthly requirements and the annual minimum is so tiny as to be irrelevant, so its a great deal for me.

This last year or two, though, I have been trying to grow it as a business. But you know what? I may actually make a bit of a profit by doing this, but the REAL profit has been the marketing they have taught me.

It is time to begin applying that to my books, my church, and my herbal salve I make (and will soon be offering for sale :-) )

I have become a devotee of Flylady. It is really helping my house and other areas of life, to be honest. She constantly preaches that perfectionism is evil. It is the biggest barrier to us getting anything done and the cause of most of our stress. She is right.

And for our homeschool: The Minimalist Homeschool We can't be perfect. We CAN'T teach it all (no one can, even the government schools). This author recommends we pick the 5 most important things for each child to focus on for this year and let the rest go. SO MUCH RELIEF!

Some of today's articles I've read:

How to Strengthen Your Brain to Avoid Concussion The authors son recently fell and had a concussion. I am finding her information interesting.

Have you ever thought about not giving gifts? We give to our kids, my parents, and one friend (occasionally we send a box of cookies to my brothers). But that's it. We do the standard Christmas cards, but its only about 25 cards total. 

Why aren't the rich happy?
“The sensation of ‘being well-off,’” she wrote to me in an email, “is not about fulfilling a childhood dream of buying a sailboat or something; feeling wealthy is about comparison with others in your reference group. So the question is not what individuals want to buy, but what they feel they must buy in order to keep up their status.”

What if home education could be really simple?

The Promised Land

This is how God says to take care of the poor

Re:

On Tue, Nov 6, 2018, 7:11 AM Betty Tracy <mrsbettytracy@gmail.com wrote:

So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father's one and only Son.
John 1:14 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/jhn.1.14.NLT

--

Mrs. Betty Tracy

Wife to Andy

Mom to 9

Secretary of the Internet for

Bread of Life Christian Fellowship

Independent Consultant for

Lilla Rose Hair Accessories

So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father's one and only Son.
John 1:14 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/jhn.1.14.NLT

/secular-education-is-an-oxymoron

Cogitations on endeavors

Did you know I have 9 blogs? Not counting the 4 I put together for the church to make the church's website, the one I set up for my kids to share writing on (which they don't use), or the one I set up to put family photos on to share with each other (which we haven't done.) Let's see, I have this one, as well as;

1. Ministry of Mom
2. Homeschool WWH
3. Proclaim Liberty (politics)
4. Bible Truth
5. A Bible Commentary one (which I write in daily, putting scripture into my own words as a part of my daily devotions.)
6. One on Health
7. One on Herbs
8. One where I talk about the hair accessories I sell.

I don't post on any of them but the Bible Commentary regularly. 

Why do I have so many? Well, I figure those who want to know about homeschooling don't really want to hear about politics, and those who want to know about herbs probably aren't interested in homschooling. 

But I'm not sure if that is really the best way to approach blogging. No one place really gets enough of my attention to be "me". 

So, maybe I should go to just one source for everything. If I do, it will likely be here. So, you all may be hearing more about hair, homeschool, life in general. I'm not promising, just thinking "out loud."

Skin Salve

I am working on a deal with an eFriend/distant relative for her to carry the skin salve I make.

I began making this salve shortly after starting to learn about herbs. It is based on salve offered by others, but my own recipe.

Have you ever heard Rhett and Link's "Rub Some Bacon On It"? A silly song extolling the virtues of bacon to cure whatever ails you.

I often feel like I am singing my own version of their song, "Rub Some Salve On It."

Rashes, cuts, scratches, burns, anything wrong with the skin, Rub Some Salve On It! It relieves pain and helps the skin heal faster. (This is done by providing the skin with the nutrients it needs to heal itself, instead of relying on the vitamin and mineral stores in the rest of the body.)

This last month we have found it works well on Chicken Pox, too.

Yes, Chicken Pox.

Personal Family information:

• Hubby- had CP as a child, been blahhh for a month now.
• Me- had CP while pregnant with child 2. Been blahh for a month now, especially bad today.
• DC 1- had CP at age 2, suffering with shingles this last month.
• DC 2- I was pregnant with him when I had it and he was vaxed at 1. Today he is in the worst day of CP, itchy, painful, but slathered in salve.
• DC 3- Vaxed. Been blahh for 2 months now, though continuing to work full time.
• DC 4- Vaxed. He had a couple of off days, but is fine. 
• DC 5- Vaxed. She's ok
• DC 6- Vaxed for CP. A few off days, but ok.
• DC 7- Not vaxed for CP. Had a full blown case a couple of weeks ago.
• DC 8- Not vaxed at all. Perfectly healthy. Not a pox in sight.
• DC 9- Not vaxed at all. The first one to have polka dots. 

So, 3 with pox, 1 vaxed and 2 not. Very interesting. 

But the point is, my salve and oatmeal/chamomile/calandula baths are the only things bringing relief. 

The distant cousin (our grandpas were brothers) who is interested in my salve makes her living making soaps and lotions with goats milk (from her own goats). She sells at arts and craft shows, as well as online.

I traded her some soap for some slave a while back and she loves it! Now she wants to carry it for her customers too :-)

So, coming soon, Sugar Plum's Family Farm Skin Salve! (or whatever she decides to call it)
(created by Tracy Enterprises :-) )

Other $ News

I was able to get a booth space at Dayton's Oodles of Noodles event at the last minute. Like, the Friday before the Saturday event.

We had a great time and made a tiny profit. I really need to have about twice as much stock in order to make a real profit, but that can only come in time. I did meet some neat people:

One lady greeted me with "I want a Peacock!" (one of our most popular clips.) I got her her peacock!

Another who fell in love with Rosie, but needed one 2 sizes smaller than the one I had in stock. She bought it anyway and promised she would buy the right size later. She hasn't yet, but I saw her walk by several times with Rosie in her hair. 

A woman who fell in love with the ugliest clip I had (bought in a bundle of clips at Black Friday. I would never have picked this one out by itself). But in her hair it was stunning! Wow!

And many others :-)

Polka Dots for everyone

9 Thou will make a court for the tabernacle. For the south side the wall will be curtains of fine twined linen of an hundred and fifty feet long for one side.

10 And the twenty support pillars and their twenty bases will be of brass. The hooks of the pillars and their pegs will be of silver.

The "fence posts" are to be held together with brass and silver.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Today's Bible Study-
Exodus 27- The Alter and the Court

Romans 7

Today's work in Romans 

From

18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 

19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. 

20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, 

21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 

To

18 For I know that the things we suffer right now are not comparable to the glory which He will reveal to us later.

19 All of creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the children of God. 

20 For the creation was put under the curse, lost its purpose, not because it wanted to, but because of Him who has also given hope, 

21 Because the creation itself also will be delivered from the slavery of decay to the same glorious liberty of the children of God. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today's Hymn

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
? recorded steps yesterday. Didn't wear the phone/

Well, a lot has happened for not actually doing anything.

We were supposed to leave for our camping trip Friday night, but Friday morning Joshua (who had been running a fever for the last couple days) woke up with polka dots. Chicken Pox.

So much for camping.

A little research says there is a chance Hubby and I are carriers (since we have had CP before and it's latent in our systems, just waiting to be activated), and there is no way in the world we want to spread this to the church, so we stayed home yesterday. 5 of our kids who are in no way showing symptoms went. My oldest who is just now feeling back on her feet from Shingles and my 7th child (Jackie-13yo) stayed home. Jackie had a headache and just didn't feel good.

The the car the kids took only had 5 seats anyway. (#2, Jim 23yo, was off training to fight wild fires)

Well, last night Jackie came to me with a large, painful lump behind her ear. By the time I was done researching that, she had about three pox started (painful lumps behind the ear signify swollen lymph nodes, meaning she "has a cold.") So, 2 down with Polka Dots, and Hubby was running a fever yesterday. Looks like it's going to be an "interesting week."

And what about the CP vaccination?

When I first became a parent I was very much for vaxing for anything possible. I also realized that as a stay at home mom I was the true "first responder" for any and all accidents or illnesses. So I set about educating myself on how to take care of any minor illnesses or injuries.

The more research I did, the more I ran across anti-vax information.

And the more anti-vax info I read, the more convinced I became that vaccines weren't all they were said to be. The science just isn't actually there, like we are told it is.

What with all the allergies we have to deal with (already messed up immune systems), and all the possible negative side affects of the vaxes, I decided to quit vaccinating my kids. By that time the oldest 5 were fully vaxed, the next 2 were partially vaxed, and the youngest two have had none.

(Most of these diseases there are vaxes for are actually very mild illnesses in the grand scheme of things, especially in healthy, well nourished, children. They really are just "the polka dotted flu." Oh, the child is miserable, of course. But I would much rather my child be miserable for a couple of weeks than have type 1 diabetes, more severe allergies than they already do, asthma, or any of the other "modern" diseases that have been on the upswing only since vaxes were introduced; MS, Lupus, Fibro myalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, cancer [we now know for a fact the original Polio vaccine was contaminated with a virus that caused cancer. Polio is, in healthy children who are not given aspirin, a month long bad cough. It was the bad interaction between aspirin and Polio that caused the need for the iron lungs, not Polio alone. My mother and her brother who dies of cancer 20 months of so before she did, both received this vaccine], Autism [a major scientist from the 2004 "vaxes don't cause Autism" study was recorded on hidden video admitting that they lied. The study actually showed a 300% increase in Autism in association with the MMR vaccine.], or many others [did you know there is some evidence that obesity and heart disease are both caused by viruses? Meaning the immune system is malfunctioning not kicking these bugs out.]. All of these diseases are in some way malfunctions of the immune system.)

So how the population in the house stands is:

• Hubby, #1, and I have all had CP (me when I was pregnant with #2. Talk about about miserable!)
• #1 has now had Shingles (official medical sites say you only get this once, but eyewitnesses say otherwise :-(    )
• #2-5 vaxed against CP, but #3 was very sick with a fever about 5 weeks ago. CP without the spots? Do the vaccines really just keep the primary symptom from displaying? How do you tell the difference between spotless CP and the flu? (I have read eye witnesses who have had times of unvaxed family members getting a "childhood" disease and the vaxed members having the exact same symptoms but without the signature symptom, i.e. spots)
• #6-7 partially vaxed, #7 polka dotted.
• #8 mildly sick about 4 weeks ago, including a fever, but going strong right now. Spotless CP or just the flue?
• #9 acting like his fever is gone this morning (and it was last night, so it evidently hasn't come back). The spots are going away. 

So, how many will get polka dotted? How many will get the "flu"? How many will not get sick at all? 

And what about #2? I was 5 weeks pregnant with him when I had them, so did he get CP before he was born? Plus, he was vaxed for them. So where does he stand? 

We shall see!

Meanwhile, today is #6 (Jennifer-15yo) birthday! Yeah! We always take a day off school for a birthday. So maybe I can catch up on some stuff.

To Do:

• Take Jennifer out for her birthday
• all the normal chores
• finish setting up the newsletters for the blogs I am doing
• do a detailed inventory of my Lilla Rose stuff. (I have decided that I need to go back to a detailed inventory to better protect myself from accusations of credit card fraud)
• switch my son's phone
• finish prepping the beds for planting
• list things with craigslist

Tuh Done (what I've finished for the week):

• Pull music for worship service
• water my trees
• make the puppy gates
• Set up loyalty cards for BeST Clips 

5 Habits That Changed My Life In 2018

NO MORE FRIENDS, NO MORE WALKS, NO MORE HAPPINESS

The Bible says to abstain from the very appearance of evil. This is not a "What will the neighbors think?" kind of command, but, abstaining fro the appearance of evil usually keeps you out of the temptation to fall into evil. Don't know why this author didn't use this scripture, but otherwise, good article. 

When The Stuff You Own Keeps You From Your Dreams

Flylady often blames our mothers for why we don't dust, but I disagree. My mother never made me dust, much less "dust the right way," (move everything off, wipe the shelf down, put everything back after cleaning it). I think "dusting the right way" is just unpleasant work (like cleaning a toilet). No one enjoys it by the nature of being human. I do agree using the feather duster is fun, though. It makes the job much better. Oh, it doesn't get all the dust and what it does get a good deal is just wiped off the shelf onto the floor. But, duuhhh, dust first, then vacuum up what you knocked off. So much nicer. Not perfect, but nicer.

For my Daily routines, see the sidebar.

Monthly Habit we are building:

Moving for 10 minutes a day

I try to walk around the block everyday we have school. That takes 25 minutes (half of it is up hill, so slow). I need to find a way to get my moving in on non-school days.

Weekly zone focus:  

Master Bedroom
(You know, my "moods to clean" run about a week behind Flylady's schedule. I think the week of reading about doing a zone makes me want to tackle it. I may just set my zones to be a week behind hers and work with it instead of trying to focus on what she says.)
(This is the zone we are tackling all our monthly and less often chores in this week)

Today's Meals:

• SOS
• Jenn and I are going out to lunch
• Roast

FlyLady Daily Mission

• Clean under the Master Bed (I have drawers under mine and I happen to know none of them need cleaning. We have only had this bed a couple months, so nothing has been in there very long. I will open each one to refresh my memory on what's in there, but I doubt I need to actually do anything.)

Tami's assignments (Tami is a homeschooling mom of 6 who is a partner of FlyLady):

• Monday - Declutter Bathroom Counters and Wipe Down

  27 Fling Boogie anywhere in the house (I'm hoping to get to the storage)

  
  

  Tuesday - Shine the Tub or Shower

  Hot Spot Fire Drill - Declutter those Flat Surfaces

  
  

  Wednesday - Declutter Items from the Medicine Cabinet

  Declutter 1 other area

  
  

  Thursday - Check Bathroom Supplies

  Declutter 1 other area

  
  

  Friday - Mop the Bathroom

  Declutter 1 other area

  
  

  Set your timers and then take a break when it goes off!

   My version that fits my house
• 
  

"Do it Now."

"To take the first step in faith, you don't have to see the whole staircase: just take the first step." - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This applies to a clean house, too.

"Anything worth doing is worth doing Imperfectly" - Flylady

"Baby Steps."

"You can do anything for 15 minutes." 

"You are not behind. Just jump in where you are."

"Your house didn't get this way overnight. It won't get under control in a day. It takes time."

How about you? What's on your list today?

Do you use a feather duster? Do you like it? 

Have a great day!

I highly recommend Flylady.com

Post settings Labels Published on 5/3/18, 8:27 AM Pacific Daylight Time Permalink Location Options

Just in time for Mother's Day!

Oh, you forgot it was Mother's Day tomorrow? No problem! I now offer eGift Cards! Send it to mom today. It will be right on time!

https://squareup.com/gift/JVJE8QYB448KR/order

Today's Study and Plans

Exodus 22:5 If a man turns his animals loose in someone else's field to eat it, he shall give the owner of the field the best of his own crops as payment. 

6 If a wildfire burns up someone's crops, whether in the field or already harvested, whoever started the fire has to pay for the loss.

Destruction of property is not tolerated, whether accidental or on purpose. The one who causes the loss, fixes it.

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Today's Bible Study-


Exodus 22b- Destruction of property, Witchcraft


Romans 6

Today's work in Romans 

From
7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. 

8 But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead. 
to

7 So then, is the Law sin? Of course not! No, I wouldn't have known what sin was if it wasn't for the Law. I wouldn't have known what lust was, except that the Law said, "Thou shall not covet."

8 But sin took advantage of the Law by producing in me every kind of coveting. For without the Law, sin has no power. 
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Today's Hymn  Sweet By and By

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5399 recorded steps yesterday.

To Do:

• Mount Never Rest (laundry) 
• Pull music for worship service
• finish getting the books closed for the month
• finish setting up the newsletters for the blogs I am doing
• switch my son's phone
• order new eye drops
• fix my display purse
• weekly home blessing
•  monthly printing
• pay church bills

Tuh Done (what I've finished for the week):

• Got two of the newsletters ready to go.
• got stuff posted to fb
• 
  

Imagine Life Without This"The blessing and the curse of the human brain is that it’s good at adapting—to the good and the bad. Once it adapts, we’re used to what we have. Rather than being in awe of being alive, of having food, water, and shelter, we take them as givens. And then we want more."

For my Daily routines, see the sidebar.

Monthly Habit we are building:

Moving for 10 minutes a day

I try to walk around the block everyday we have school. That takes 25 minutes (half of it is up hill, so slow). I need to find a way to get my moving in on non-school days.

Starting Baby Steps
Flylady is taking this month to go over the beginning steps to refresh our habits.

Weekly zone focus:  

Entry way
(This is the zone we are tackling all our monthly and less often chores in this week)

Today's Meals:

• SOS
• SOS
• Polska Keilbasa

FlyLady Daily Mission

• Clean and declutter the entryway

Tami's assignments (Tami is a homeschooling mom of 6 who is a partner of FlyLady):

• Monday - Declutter & Dust the Living Room

  Tuesday - Declutter the Entryway

  Wednesday - Declutter Items from the Front Porch

  Thursday - Declutter in the Dining Room

  Friday - Declutter/Detail Clean Anywhere in Zone 1 or 5

"To take the first step in faith, you don't have to see the whole staircase: just take the first step." - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This applies to a clean house, too.

"Anything worth doing is worth doing Imperfectly" - Flylady

"Baby Steps."

"You can do anything for 15 minutes." 

"You are not behind. Just jump in where you are."

"Your house didn't get this way overnight. It won't get under control in a day. It takes time."

How about you? What's on your list today?

Do you use a feather duster? Do you like it? 

Have a great day!

I highly recommend Flylady.com