This day started with the mad rush to get to the library, the store, and get Hub's lunch made before he had to take our only vehicle to work in the next town. I got it all done just in time.
After he left, I swallowed hard and decided to call the doctor to find out what my lab results were from last week. I really, really, didn't feel like I could handle anymore bad news, but something was telling me to call today. Something was telling me to hurry up and call NOW. I called and sat on hold for about 10 minutes, and was tempted to hang up and forget the ugly mess. The nurse finally came on the line and said that ALL of my lab results came back normal. I asked her if she was sure???? She went through and said that my A1C (blood sugar) was slightly over 7, which is down from the 11 that I had before Christmas, and all other issues were just right. The nurse and I had a little time of rejoicing over the phone, and she told me to keep doing whatever it is that I am doing. Please visit findyourweigh.com, if you want to know about my dietary changes. The owner of the site is a fellow homeschooler, and was surely sent by God to minister to people such as myself.
On the homeschooling front, I have Princess Abbey doing her math on tenmarks.com, while Princess Melody is trudging through a refresher writing course to improve potential test scores. Princess Tarja and I read two Alphabet town books, and now she is keeping busy by bothering her sisters while they do their work.
After school, Princess Melody might have a housekeeping job to do for a neighbor, we will all have twirling lessons, and then Princess Abbey has softball practice.
I am thinking strongly of changing our twirling club name from The Sparklers, which was our name in our home town, to Celebration Corps or Celebration Parade Corps. I don't have this solidified in my mind, but I'll let you know when a decision has been reached.
Hope to see you back tomorrow!
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Monday, April 11, 2011
Monday
Today marks the start of a series, which will simply be titled by the days of the week. I hope that you will join me and comment on each day.
I would like to begin Monday with a prayer request for some observations that I made last night. When I went to a particular store to buy milk, a loud noise startled me. It was a very obviously beaten down man screaming obscenities into his cell phone. He was screaming and acting so violently that I was afraid to get out of my vehicle. From his side of the conversation, someone has hurt his heart in ways that we don't even want to think about. Judging from his apparent position in life, it's not the first time. After I got my milk and started to leave, I saw a man with legs and one arm that can't bend. Usually I see him walking, but this time, he was riding a bicycle. He's horribly thin, and unkept. I've seen him out when the temperature was below freezing. This person has some serious health problems and probably needs home health. As I drive home, I encountered two homeless men. One is often seen walking around with a bicycle and basket loaded with his only belongings. Another was a man that I have not seen before, carrying a backpack. Lord, please do a work in the lives of these four men. I know that their circumstances may be such that man, alone, can't change, but YOU can turn it all around and show them that you are God, and that you have the resources to heal their hearts, their bodies, and their desperate situations. Friends, if you pray, please pray for these four men. I don't know their names, but God does.
Monday, is weekly House Blessing Hour, which will be familiar to you if you like to use flylady.net. I won't go into a lot of details about this special day of the week, since I don't want to take away from Flylady's good work, but if you will go check out her site, you will find out all about it. I take House Blessing Hour a step further, and call it "mindful cleaning". Regardless of how clean I can get my house (keep in mind that we have a toddler tornado running around), I give praise and thanks for my home and all of the good things going on in our lives.
The girls had a successful school day. How can I call it successful if they aren't being graded against their peers? Nobody got into any trouble. Nobody got hurt. Everybody did their lessons without complaints, and everybody got where they needed to go after school, and on time.
Hope to see you back here tomorrow!
I would like to begin Monday with a prayer request for some observations that I made last night. When I went to a particular store to buy milk, a loud noise startled me. It was a very obviously beaten down man screaming obscenities into his cell phone. He was screaming and acting so violently that I was afraid to get out of my vehicle. From his side of the conversation, someone has hurt his heart in ways that we don't even want to think about. Judging from his apparent position in life, it's not the first time. After I got my milk and started to leave, I saw a man with legs and one arm that can't bend. Usually I see him walking, but this time, he was riding a bicycle. He's horribly thin, and unkept. I've seen him out when the temperature was below freezing. This person has some serious health problems and probably needs home health. As I drive home, I encountered two homeless men. One is often seen walking around with a bicycle and basket loaded with his only belongings. Another was a man that I have not seen before, carrying a backpack. Lord, please do a work in the lives of these four men. I know that their circumstances may be such that man, alone, can't change, but YOU can turn it all around and show them that you are God, and that you have the resources to heal their hearts, their bodies, and their desperate situations. Friends, if you pray, please pray for these four men. I don't know their names, but God does.
Monday, is weekly House Blessing Hour, which will be familiar to you if you like to use flylady.net. I won't go into a lot of details about this special day of the week, since I don't want to take away from Flylady's good work, but if you will go check out her site, you will find out all about it. I take House Blessing Hour a step further, and call it "mindful cleaning". Regardless of how clean I can get my house (keep in mind that we have a toddler tornado running around), I give praise and thanks for my home and all of the good things going on in our lives.
The girls had a successful school day. How can I call it successful if they aren't being graded against their peers? Nobody got into any trouble. Nobody got hurt. Everybody did their lessons without complaints, and everybody got where they needed to go after school, and on time.
Hope to see you back here tomorrow!
Friday, April 8, 2011
The Queen's War
My husband might have to suffer another job change in the near future. This means that our insurance will change.
This means.............if my training in insurance law serves me right.......that this diabetic queen will not have coverage for her diabetes for a period of two years.
This was on my mind when I went to bed last night, and was haunting me again when I woke up this morning.
As I went through my daily routine of blood sugar readings, meds, breakfast, etc. I mentally calculated the cost of each item that I have to use to get through my day.
The greatest expense, of course, is the lab work, second only to the dreaded insulin injections that I have to take every day.
THIS MEANS WAR!!!!!
Here are the demands that I am making on my body:
1. My blood sugar is going to be brought under control without the aid of insulin.
2. I will use my newly gained knowledge of dietary effects on blood sugar for the remainder of my days.
3. My body will respond in kind by reactivating all of the systems that have worn down, or never have worked correctly.
4. I am going to enjoy my life with my family, as I have discovered that my blood sugar is lowest when I am happiest, so I am going to be deliriously happy.
In Jesus's Name....
This means.............if my training in insurance law serves me right.......that this diabetic queen will not have coverage for her diabetes for a period of two years.
This was on my mind when I went to bed last night, and was haunting me again when I woke up this morning.
As I went through my daily routine of blood sugar readings, meds, breakfast, etc. I mentally calculated the cost of each item that I have to use to get through my day.
The greatest expense, of course, is the lab work, second only to the dreaded insulin injections that I have to take every day.
THIS MEANS WAR!!!!!
Here are the demands that I am making on my body:
1. My blood sugar is going to be brought under control without the aid of insulin.
2. I will use my newly gained knowledge of dietary effects on blood sugar for the remainder of my days.
3. My body will respond in kind by reactivating all of the systems that have worn down, or never have worked correctly.
4. I am going to enjoy my life with my family, as I have discovered that my blood sugar is lowest when I am happiest, so I am going to be deliriously happy.
In Jesus's Name....
Thursday, April 7, 2011
St. James Creations
Princess Melody is an artist. She is also thirsty for knowledge, which led her to research and find out that our last name, Santiago, means St. James. This information, in combination with her talents, merged together to form St. James Creations. She made her own sign, which she will someday hang in front of her very own store. As for now, it is the default picture on her facebook page.
Right now, she is hosting a giveaway to celebrate her grand opening. If you comment on any one of her pictures, she will enter your name into a drawing. The winner will receive a framed picture from her collection. The winner will be announced Saturday.
Enter here: St. James Creations
Right now, she is hosting a giveaway to celebrate her grand opening. If you comment on any one of her pictures, she will enter your name into a drawing. The winner will receive a framed picture from her collection. The winner will be announced Saturday.
Enter here: St. James Creations
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Extreme Couponing
I finally, at long last, got to watch Extreme Couponing on TLC. I truly admire all of the people on the show that were able to get thousands of dollars worth of groceries for pennies. I must say, that I have absolutely no place to put 60 bottles of mustard, BUT the fact that it can be done is just fascinating to me. What's even better is that I am about to watch the third episode of Extreme Couponing, when I previously thought that I had missed the show while we were in church.
Couponing has actually helped me with something far more important than free groceries and toiletries. For reasons that I don't know how to explain, I have had a certain phobia about shopping. It was very hard for me to enjoy shopping for necessities, making shopping for enjoyment an impossibility. I have been known to literally break out in hives during shopping trips. Imagine my trip to purchase my first set of diabetes meds and testing supplies! Spending over $200 dollars for items that I literally can't live without was very painful. Discovering couponing has opened a whole new world for me. Not only have I established some very financially healthy habits, but I have found myself shopping for enjoyment. I have no explanation for the real reason that couponing has been so helpful except that getting what I need for pennies or even FREE is a lot less painful than paying hundreds out of pocket. Also, as a mother, it makes me feel good to know that if I were not able to shop for necessities for whatever reason, many of our needs have already been met via my budding stockpile from my coupon shopping trips. Will I ever bring home 150 Butterfingers or 1,000 boxes of cereal? I'm guessing not. Although I admire those that can do this, I don't have a special room to house my "grocery store", but I do enjoy the peace of mind that having extra supplies can bring.
Couponing has actually helped me with something far more important than free groceries and toiletries. For reasons that I don't know how to explain, I have had a certain phobia about shopping. It was very hard for me to enjoy shopping for necessities, making shopping for enjoyment an impossibility. I have been known to literally break out in hives during shopping trips. Imagine my trip to purchase my first set of diabetes meds and testing supplies! Spending over $200 dollars for items that I literally can't live without was very painful. Discovering couponing has opened a whole new world for me. Not only have I established some very financially healthy habits, but I have found myself shopping for enjoyment. I have no explanation for the real reason that couponing has been so helpful except that getting what I need for pennies or even FREE is a lot less painful than paying hundreds out of pocket. Also, as a mother, it makes me feel good to know that if I were not able to shop for necessities for whatever reason, many of our needs have already been met via my budding stockpile from my coupon shopping trips. Will I ever bring home 150 Butterfingers or 1,000 boxes of cereal? I'm guessing not. Although I admire those that can do this, I don't have a special room to house my "grocery store", but I do enjoy the peace of mind that having extra supplies can bring.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Free Homeschooling
Do you think that you can't homeschool because your income is limited, or have you started homeschooling and are overwhelmed with the expense?
It would be somewhat unrealistic to believe that one can home educate without any money at all, but here are a few of my "tried and liked" tips to help ease the possible financial burdens of the situation.
1. Visit your local library on a regular basis. Keep yourself informed of the resources that they have available, and be sure to mention to the librarians that you are homeschooling. Many libraries host special events and Summer reading clubs. I personally like to borrow as much material as I can from the library. Because we use the Charlotte Mason approach of living books for most subjects, this has worked out very well for us.
2. Hastings and Barns & Noble will give homeschooling parents an educator's discount. There is a short form to fill out, and you will receive a card.
3. Keep your eyes and ears out for free or no cost community events that your family can enjoy. When you attend a concert, movie, fair, play, etc. save the programs and ticket stubs for student portfolios.
4. Instead of workbooks, I purchase spirals and composition books at the beginning of the year to be used for journals, centuries books, and copywork books. My total out of pocket cost for school supplies per year is normally less than $20.
5. You will have to provide more meals than a public schooling family would normally provide throughout the year, which makes it worth the time and effort to become a coupon mom. This is especially true if you left a full time job to homeschool.
6. A high speed internet connection can be costly, but the savings can be realized through all of the free homeschooling resources available around the internet.
7. Don't forget the importance of play. Board games and even some video games actually cover several important subjects at one time. I always teach colors and numbers by playing UNO.
It would be somewhat unrealistic to believe that one can home educate without any money at all, but here are a few of my "tried and liked" tips to help ease the possible financial burdens of the situation.
1. Visit your local library on a regular basis. Keep yourself informed of the resources that they have available, and be sure to mention to the librarians that you are homeschooling. Many libraries host special events and Summer reading clubs. I personally like to borrow as much material as I can from the library. Because we use the Charlotte Mason approach of living books for most subjects, this has worked out very well for us.
2. Hastings and Barns & Noble will give homeschooling parents an educator's discount. There is a short form to fill out, and you will receive a card.
3. Keep your eyes and ears out for free or no cost community events that your family can enjoy. When you attend a concert, movie, fair, play, etc. save the programs and ticket stubs for student portfolios.
4. Instead of workbooks, I purchase spirals and composition books at the beginning of the year to be used for journals, centuries books, and copywork books. My total out of pocket cost for school supplies per year is normally less than $20.
5. You will have to provide more meals than a public schooling family would normally provide throughout the year, which makes it worth the time and effort to become a coupon mom. This is especially true if you left a full time job to homeschool.
6. A high speed internet connection can be costly, but the savings can be realized through all of the free homeschooling resources available around the internet.
7. Don't forget the importance of play. Board games and even some video games actually cover several important subjects at one time. I always teach colors and numbers by playing UNO.
Monday, April 4, 2011
The ChaCha Queen
A lot of friends and family have asked me about ChaCha.com and how they can become ChaCha guides. First of all, ChaCha is a mobile search engine that you can use to text questions from your cell phone, and a human guide will text your answers back to you from his or her home computer.
ChaCha pays up to 20 cents per question answered. That doesn't sound like a lot, but consider how many questions one can answer in a few hours. Treat this like a regular job, and discipline yourself to work 6 or 8 hours throughout the day, and you will gain some easy money.
I treat ChaCha as my full time job, but the fun part about it is that I can get my chores done around the house, homeschool my children, and do numerous other activities, and then log into ChaCha for a break time of sorts. Therefore, I earn money while relaxing. Talk about the ideal work at home situation!
If you want to become a guide, simply go to ChaCha.com, and click on "become a guide". Use my email address: llsantiago1976@yahoo.com as your reference so that we can be team mates. Apply, and you will be invited to take a pre employment test. When you pass your test, you will receive online training, and then you are ready to make some money.
ChaCha pays up to 20 cents per question answered. That doesn't sound like a lot, but consider how many questions one can answer in a few hours. Treat this like a regular job, and discipline yourself to work 6 or 8 hours throughout the day, and you will gain some easy money.
I treat ChaCha as my full time job, but the fun part about it is that I can get my chores done around the house, homeschool my children, and do numerous other activities, and then log into ChaCha for a break time of sorts. Therefore, I earn money while relaxing. Talk about the ideal work at home situation!
If you want to become a guide, simply go to ChaCha.com, and click on "become a guide". Use my email address: llsantiago1976@yahoo.com as your reference so that we can be team mates. Apply, and you will be invited to take a pre employment test. When you pass your test, you will receive online training, and then you are ready to make some money.
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