Free Advice Friday

It is my turn ladies…looking for some free advice this Friday!

What do you do with failure?

Does it harden your resolve?

Do you try again?

Do you blame others? Do you blame yourself?

Do you move on?

Do you change courses?

Does it paralyze you? Or does it light a fire for you?

I find myself not failing, but not really succeeding either, in an overall sense. I see changes that need to be made. I see things that need improved, but I find myself unable to make the changes, unable to find a place to start and feel like “This is possible”.

 I may just be on the verge of becoming a hoarder, or worse…Maybe I am just not a perfectly clean house kind of girl, but it feels so good when the house is that kind of clean. And maybe I am just not a blog everyday and run an Etsy shop kind of girl, but if feels so good when it is happening. And maybe I am just not meant to be wife, mother and student. And maybe I am just not as organized and together as everyone thinks I am…maybe I am just not who I always thought I was…but where does this leave me? What of everything on my plate does God want for me and from me? And what if what He wants for me isn’t even on my plate, yet? Then what do it do with all of “this”?

Okay…well, ladies…any advice…

I think I might go start throwing things away!

Happy Friday!

Friday, A Question for the Ages

I am leaving here in about an hour and half for a weekend away with the kids…and I have nothing in my suitcase!  So here is another effort in procrastination…

Advice time ladies…or more reassurance…I am not totally weird or lost in left field on this one, am I?

Facebook Friends:

I am not friends with this guy...and he is my dad!

I seem to be odd ball out when it comes to Facebook friends. I have maybe 35 friends (okay I stand corrected I have 84…I didn’t realize that I know 84 people, but I am glad you are all my friends!) while the rest of the world has 300 friends.  It is just who I am. I much prefer a close group of great friends to a larger group of acquaintances. I am sure there are some of you ladies who can keep up with a whole yearbook’s worth of people and feel totally connected with each and every one, I just can’t.

All of that said, I am not friends with many of my friends’ husbands. A few of those husbands are not on Facebook.  I only counted three that I am friends with – two are out of town and one I use to babysit for so I saw him more often than I see most of my friends’ husbands.  I just don’t feel right about being Facebook friends with everyone’s husband or guys in general and this from the girl who until post-college always had more guy friends than girl friends. Even my maid of honor was a guy.

Several of my husband’s friends have sent me friend requests – mostly guys from school who he is close to. I haven’t accepted those. It isn’t that I don’t like the guys, it’s just I don’t feel the need to be “friends” with them. I need a little space from that part of his life – school has already infiltrated so much of our family life.

I am friends with one of my husband’s  friends, who I have never met, but he is someone who is important in my husband’s life. At this point in all of our busy lives Facebook is the best opportunity I have to get to know him in any sense.

And it is not that I spend my time on Facebook  man-hating. If I had to guess I would say that since I am part of a couple, it is his job to be friends with the guys? Or maybe in this place in my life I have so little girl time, I don’t feel the need to drag the guys a long?

What do you think? Who do you not friend? Who do you friend?...and the infamous last question, WHY?

Free Advice Friday

So ladies, what is weighing on your hearts and minds today?

This morning I went to get Grace up at about 7:20 and she rather cheerily said, “Mommy, is it my first day of school?”  “No,” I said, “Not until Monday!” “Then I am going back to sleep!”

All this from the little girl who has been bright eyed and bushy tailed by quarter after six all summer!

With the impending start of school, I know Grace will be fine, I know my husband will be fine (he has been itching to be back since, oh, the last day of his internship!), but me I am not so sure about.

 My sweet baby boy will enjoy the quite of the house with everyone else occupied…and he is liable to get some extra mom time when I give up and quit trying to get it all done.

I logged into Blackboard to see if my course is posted. Indeed, it was. I have never been so scared by a syllabus! I am only taking one class these eight weeks, but between the text book – whose pages look like the internet on crack- and the syllabus with two 56 page problem sets a week I can already feel myself checking out.

That is NOT a good place to start, now is it?

We have finished the whole summer’s end To Do List, which is a good feeling, but I still have many projects on my plate and school LOOMING on the horizon. I find myself at a loss. I can’t seem to pin down where to start or what to do.  There is so much to tackle and a feeling that I will never accomplish it all…or even enough of it…

Where do you start? How do you overcome those feeling? Or avoid them in the first place?

Ladies, please do tell!

Bumper to Bumper

So it is Wednesday….

I was going to write about songs that make me think of God…like songs that aren’t about God but should be, but then I took my little girl to her fun Wednesday adventure and on the way I had two experiences with other drivers that I have to share …

First, I followed this orange X Terra with a dozen stickers on the backend. I am sure they all said insightful, poignant things – BUT – I could not read a single one of them. NOT ONE!  So let me offer a little advice: before you put a sticker on your car stick it on the fridge or the wall and then back up at least as far as you hope other drivers will be from the rear end of your car and see if you can read it! If you can’t don’t put it on your car, you will only aggravate other drivers on the interstate!!!

Secondly, I followed a Hyundai Santa Fe with a political campaign sticker, well I followed her until I could get around her – because she was driving s   l    o   w    l   y on the interstate – and not just only the speed limit slow. Try 5 under!  Talking on her cell…My advice on this one is twofold. First, if you want to continue to talk on your phone while you drive don’t drive stupid. It only gives groups against distracted driving fodder. Granted, maybe you were a bad driver before you picked up the phone, but a little effort goes a long way…and the Second piece of advice is this…Once you put that sticker for that candidate on your car you are representing that candidate so drive to make them proud, be polite to other drivers, follow the rules of the road, keep your car clean and in good repair. Think about how your represent them, think about what others will think of you and in turn them based on your driving and conduct on the roadways. Maybe this the marketer in me over reacting, but I know if I ever run for office bumper stickers will not be on my campaign trail!

So now share this with all your friends and the roads might be a little safer and more enjoyable to travel. Oh, and check back next week to see what Wednesdays are really all about here at The Things I am Made of.

DKJ