Joys In My Life

Not the proverbial "Man" that wants to keep us down, but my man.  I've been pretty quiet about it on social media, but Tom had to move to Boulder, Colorado for work and I stayed behind with the three kids.  He had to move because his company decided they wanted to move certain central roles in the organization to corporate headquarters there.  He's been super lucky for about 14 years he's been working from home for the same company.  I guess paybacks are a bitch.  We decided not to move the whole family as our daughter is a senior in high school at an amazing school that is giving her two years of college level (AP) Calculus, she's already had AP Chemistry last year and has two AP Physics classes this year. She is applying to schools for engineering and has a bright future ahead of her with law school when she's done with her undergraduate work.  One might ask why not find another job locally... did I mention we have a daughter going off to college an

It takes regular doses of content to stay motivated.  I don't think I'm the only one, but I can get so bogged down with the mundane:  work, bills, the to do list; I forget how powerful I can be.  Places I go for motivation can be podcasts (I'm an active podcast listener.  Will have a whole post on favorite podcasts soon!), books or websites.  When it comes to books, I've been using Libby by Overdrive and my library card to borrow books for free.  It really feeds my frugal spirit to be able to drop my Kindle Unlimited subscription as the electronic books from the library/Libby make popular available.  I just might need to put a hold on some books I want to read and practice some patience.  Here's a run down of some of my favorite motivation content and why it motivates me: GaryVaynerchuck - Instagram and Podcasts  - I love Gary!  He really knows how to cut through the bull and tell it like it is.  We're going to die and it's up to us to live our be

I took this week off from my corporate job and we're kind of laying low and getting caught up on some things.  I'm feeling real progress, but today I'm going to kick it into high gear and make it an Anti-Procrastination Day.  I've been keeping it busy and getting through tasks that need to be done.  Last week I had car maintenance done on one of the cars, balanced the checkbook and we picked up Phoebe from JFK airport as she came back from Amsterdam for a field hockey camp.  She had a great time!!! Monday we went to Wildwood and Cape May for the day with the kids and that was a lot of fun!!!  We enjoyed the water park in Wildwood with the boys, Phoebe and her boyfriend.  She's been friends/seeing the same person for two years now and he's leaving for college the end of the month.  That is a whole post in itself. Tommy enjoyed all the slides at the water park that the big kids like.  He's a confident swimmer and he doesn't get nervous about t

I'm going to have a lot to write about over the upcoming months.  I'm undertaking a massive initiative to get organized.  Over the past 18 years, I've fought infertility and won with three kids, went to graduate school, my husband went to graduate school, we bought a house in a great school district and we've managed our life as a family with two parents working outside the home.  Let's just say we've created a big mess! I am now deciding that in order to take control of our lives, I need to organize everything.  I haven't finished reading the book "The One Thing", but I get the concept and my one thing is getting organized.  Our finances are a mess.  We are carrying a lot of debt and I can't take it anymore. My pantry is a mess. The kids closets are a mess.  My husband's closet and drawers are a mess - mine were cleaned out recently and it's been liberating and saves me so much time! The basement is a mess.  My brain is a very ve