Simplifying My Life

My youngest turns one today, so we had her birthday party this past Saturday. My oldest's birthday parties were always very extravagant, very over the top. She would receive so many presents. We are always appreciative of what people have to offer, but her and I did share a room for nine years, and it was alway cluttered with stuff! When we finally moved out and would later rummage through the stuff we left at my parents' house to discover there were quite a few things that went unused. It's not that we didn't appreciate the gift or the giver, there was just so much that it was unintentionally overlooked for years. It may sound selfish, but I worked so hard to get rid of so much that I didn't want that overwhelming feeling that comes after a birthday party to return again. I also knew that my baby wouldn't remember this party and I wondered how many presents she would end up playing with in the end. My husband and I decided to have a no gift party. We inst...

Ever get told that whenever you need something, someone will always be there for you? But when it comes time to depend on someone and you want help, you can't turn to anyone because you know deep down they really aren't going to care very much? Or you feel like you're just bothering them?  That's where I'm at, so you're not alone.

It feels like the world is ending. I go back to work in three days and I'm going to miss my baby so much.  Right now we're sleeping on an inflatable mattress. We're also making other changes to get out of debt in nine months. One of those changes is not having cable. One of my good friends told me she can't wait 'till I get cable again. I'd rather not have cable and would rather sleep without a good mattress, just to have more time.  I know I sound like I'm coming from a place of privilege, but I've already been on the other side. I had my oldest a month before I graduated high school so I juggled parenting, work, and school trying to make it.  I hope all the decluttering I've done will mean more time for my baby when I get home.  I hope I make it through the next few days ): 

This time last year, I was planning for every day that I would be on maternity leave. My due date was August 25, so I would only be with my kids for two weeks before I would be gone. I worked tirelessly, uploading lessons to  tes.com , so all the substitute would have to do was hit "play" on the slideshows. I got copies made, planned on speaking with my substitute weekly (which I did), and thought I would also connect with the students somehow if I read their journals and wrote them back, along with their personal narrative essays. I was going to take only two months off so that it would be like I was never absent. I ended up not going back . Prior to all of this, I asked other teachers what they did while on leave. Almost all said that they provided lesson plans and graded EVERYTHING while on leave. I also heard a horrifying story of a teacher mom who was getting phone calls while her baby was in NICU because the substitute couldn't find a binder with copies that...

So I am doing a lot better with getting rid of stuff, but I am staring at my daughter's room, seeing tons of stuffed animals lying around. My 13 year old could not part with them herself, so she gave the ones she didn't want to keep, but didn't want to donate, to her 11 month old sister. Now these little guys are occupying the baby's room, and these are animals she has no attachment to. Am I the only one who has such a hard time giving stuffed animals away? I feel like they are real beings who have feelings. There's this Dumbo my sister gave to my oldest. I haven't talked with my sister in two years. My oldest doesn't want this little guy. You think that would be enough to get rid of it easily. But I look at this guy and think,"I love Dumbo! He's so cute!" I NEED to get stronger and get rid of all of these little guys who are taking over the baby's room, but I need to overcome the obstacle I'm placing in front of myself! I ...

This is a personification example I can use with my students when I return to work in August.  But really, this week sucked. *I got phished by someone pretending to be my bank. *I was bitten over thirty times by a mysterious bug. I thought I had hives because there were so many bites. I went to the urgent care because I inched so much I felt like my body was on fire. The nurse practitioner confirmed that they were bug bites. *Then with my lovely coordination, I spilled my coffee all over my phone. Thankfully, she survived though there is some permanent screen damage in the right hand corner. I'm still paying on this bad boy, so she needs to be used for one more year! When I get a new phone, I'm going to follow Dave Ramsey's advice and pay for it in full upfront instead of adding it to my monthly phone bill. Back to the best week ever-*the highlight was when our Rottweiler shit in his crate, then spread that lovely shit all over the floor when I took him outside...

I've only shared a bank account with my husband for about two months now, so I'm still getting used to his bank. In the past, I've heard him said that sometimes his bank will stop his card from working if they suspect that his account has been misused. He then has to verify that it was him who made the purchase, then they release the hold. This has happened at least five times since we've been together, so when I received an "alert" that I needed to verify my card because of a suspicious purchase, I thought nothing of it. It arrived on my phone through text and had a link. The site had our bank's logo, totally seemed legit. I gave all of my information, yes including my social, and received a message that I was cleared to use my card again. I text my husband that his bank was annoying and told him what happened. He suggested I called the bank to make sure it was them. I thought, it HAS to be them, that site was official. Well, IT WAS NOT FROM THEM. My ...