Making the Best of It

It's been an stressful week. Life in my world is a little upside down right now. While so much is still the same - my job, great kids, wonderful husband, same address, same cars, same clothes (you get the idea)... so much has changed.

The recession has hit our house in a big way. My husband, the main bread-winner in the house, has been asked to take a leave of absence from work. This is good and bad. Good because we still have benefits. Bad because we don't have his income. This is when an emergency fund comes in handy. And thankfully, we have one. I'm not sure how long we'll have to tap into it, but I'm fairly certain that we can get by fairly well for a while with the right lifestyle changes.

It's going to be an interesting journey. I've already been deluged with a wide range of emotions - anger, fear, encouragement, hope, thankfulness, uncertainty, bewilderment and sadness, just to name a few. But I keep reminding myself that God is in control and he wants me to turn to him. He desires to show me his love, kindness, goodness and caring. He is my heavenly Father and he will take care of me.

It's not going to be easy, but neither is it overwhelming. I have so much to be thankful for and I need to constantly keep reminding myself of that. Yes - sometimes it's difficult to keep the focus positive, especially when I'm in a state of mild panic. But my thoughts are within my control and they may need to be whipped into shape occasionally. That's doable. Not easy nor fun, but doable...and necessary. Here's to making the best of it. Life that is.

A Change of Focus

Okay, so I dropped the ball with 28 days of being thankful. It's not that I haven't been thinking about it. That project just sort of dropped down on my list when it got more difficult. I plan to revisit the idea in the near future. I'm going to read the book in it's entirety first and then come back to the implementation phase later.

For now my focus has shifted to couponing - in a big way. I've been reading blogs, clipping coupons, filing coupons, watching YouTube videos on how to make a coupon notebook, filling out rebate forms, matching coupons with sales and shopping for the best deals out there. Whew! It makes my tired just writing all that down. Imagine how exhausted I am when I actually do all that. It's all for a good cause - to stretch the grocery dollars a little further. You see, since my husband took a pay cut and the industry he's in is struggling to get work it seems wise to brush up on the skills needed to pinch those pennies. So I'm back at it.

Couponing is no longer optional. But I don't want to spend more time doing it than I need to, so I'm on a quest for the most time efficient way to get the job done. More to come in the days ahead.

Thankful - Day 18

I'm thankful for a wide variety of fabrics that allow me to make unique quilts. There are many great quilters whose blogs, classes, friendship and sharing I have learning from. For this I'm grateful. I have wonderful tools, such as a cool sewing machine, a spiffy bright light, cutters, rulers, fancy pins, special feet that keep me accurate and tons of books, magazines and websites to help inspire me with their creative pictures of wonderful quilts.

Thankful - Day 16 (the missing day)

I'm thankful for...

1. Misty - the cat
2. the Carnival is gone (it was in the field behind our house - very noisy, stinky and just plain icky)
3. my new bluetooth dongle (if you don't know, don't ask)

Thankful - Days 14 & 15 (or something like that)

I'm thankful for...

1. the realization that all blessings come from God
2. the hope of eternal life because of the debt paid on my behalf by Jesus when He died on the cross.
3. the Holy Spirit who prompts, guides, helps and comforts me.
4. that my husband is alive and well in this week when I've learned about the husbands of others I know who have died or been diagnosed with cancer.
   
5. my old bible...the one I got on my 16th birthday.
6. memories of loved ones that I seldom or never see any longer.
   

Thankful - Day 13

I'm thankful for...

1. Dish TV - a great distraction while folding laundry
   
2. Saturdays - time to catch up
3. Strawberry shortcake - not the doll, but the tasty stuff with the cute little round sweet spongy cakes and cool whip.
   

Thankful - Day 11

I'm thankful...

1. Corn beef and cabbage a few days early -yum!
2. quilt guild
3. my co-worker who shared her chocolate - another yum!

It's starting to look like it's all about the tummy and the taste buds. I need to focus on things other than food.