R & R for Sunday, November 7th, 2010

Posted by Unknown on Sunday, November 7, 2010


Learn to stand back and let others take their turn as leaders. There will always be new opportunities for you to step out in front again.
Sit in the dark. It will teach you to see and hear, taste and smell.
Pet a furry friend. You will give and get the gift of now.
Take a day off alone; make a retreat.
You can learn from monks and hermits without becoming one.
Direct your life with purposeful choices, not with speed
and efficiency. The best musician is one who plays with
expression and meaning, not the one who finishes first.
Take time to read . . . the Bible, poetry, great books.
Thoughtful reading is enriching reading.
Take time to wonder. Without wonder, life is merely existence.
Work with your hands. It frees the mind.
Once in awhile, turn down the lights, the throttle, the invitations. 
Less really can be more.
Let go. Nothing is usually the hardest thing to do. . . 
...but often it is the best.
Take a walk. . . but don't go anywhere. If you walk
just to get somewhere, you sacrifice the walking.
When things are in chaos and you are in a frenzy,
ask yourself: What is right about now? Chances
are, you already know what is wrong.
author unknown
R and R Tip # 22: Retreat and Reconnect, get grounded, and BREATH.

A retreat is a place to come away from the hectic schedule of our everyday life and reconnect with one's own innermost being. And in the Fall and Winter we are provided many opportunities for us to gather for fellowship and to have our spirits regenerated

Fall is a time when nature is slowing down, to pause and to rest. We need to do that too. Periods when you completely relax and retreat, removing yourself from everyday affairs, are especially beneficial. It's good for your health and has no harmful side effects

Sometimes we just have to look out for ourselves. Many of us feel it is wrong to put ourselves at the center of our life We tend take care of others first. But to really take care of yourself, you have to think of yourself first.

Working nonstop for 10 hours, taking care of other people, leaves you so spent and weary that there really isn't much left of yourself. That is when the best thing you can do is just sit down and breath. In as little as 5 minutes you can feel calmer and more relaxed. I've discovered when I took a little time out for me, I didn’t feel quite so exhausted the next day

Let’s face it; most of us are over-stimulated and over-scheduled, mentally, emotionally, and physically. This can cause stress, and stress is the cause of many other problems. We need unplug and unwind and take a break even if it's only for a few minutes a day. It's like a mini vacation. Not surprisingly taking a break from the fast pace of our lives can actually improve our physical and mental health, our relationships, and our ability to make better choices.

Cherishing yourself by making yourself a priority in your own life is possible. When you take care of your needs you'll find your relationships with family and friends can thrive.

Each demand on our time and talents drains a little more energy from our Eveready battery, sometimes leaving us wounded or at least wondering, How did I get here? Retreat and treat yourself to some quality times so that you can relax and enjoy life as it was meant to be.

See you all next Sunday!
Love, Live, Laugh and Be Happy!
ma

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FAMILY DINNERS & HOLIDAYS, ORGANIZING FOR A CROWD

Posted by Unknown on Friday, November 5, 2010

It has been hard to stay motivated lately, let alone offer up anything motivational with everything going on.  We do appear to be making progress with my aunt's situation, but it's as slow as molasses.  I honestly think watching paint dry would be better and faster.

Anyway, for today I offer you up some advice for the upcoming holidays and getting organized.

FAMILY DINNERS & HOLIDAYS, ORGANIZING FOR A CROWD
Once again I'm going to have a houseful for the Christmas holidays so I will use that as my example.

Besides menu planning and doing everything you can to organize, ahead of time, my best advice is to use cutting boards to aid in stacking items in the refrigerator and use cookie sheets as lids in the oven so you can stack multiple dishes on each shelf and have room for the Turkey or Ham and all your side dishes so they'll all be ready at the same time.

For a crowd that will be around for an extended amount of time, I also try to prepare dishes in advance and freeze them when possible so that I don't spend all my 'visiting time' in the kitchen. I may have spent the better part of a day cooking now, but it will be well worthwhile as it will save me tons of time while my company is here.

So to recap:
1) Menu Plan
2) Organize
3) Pre-make as much as possible
4) Stay organized or at least reorganize as necessary
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Frugal Fridays With Jen- Make Money Transferring Prescriptions

Posted by Unknown on Thursday, November 4, 2010

I am on a daily prescribed medication during this pregnancy, and I anticipate being on multiple medications once I have delivered. Some will likely have high copays.

My friend and fellow blogger Diane is the queen at getting deals on prescriptions. I doubt she ever keeps a single prescription at the same pharmacy month to month. I am fortunate enough to be surrounded with multiple Targets, Walmarts, Kmarts, Walgreens, and CVSs, and most of them regularly have deals where they will give you a gift card for transferring a prescription. Since I am an RN, I am not worried about having presciptions at 5 different pharmacies and therefore not having a pharmacist oversight as far as interactions go. I am well aware of interactions, dosage limits, and whatnot. If this does not describe you, this may not be a good frugal strategy for you.

This link, at "Cents" able Mama, updates weekly with all the available prescription gift card deals. I plan on transferring my prescription to Kmart this week, and getting a $20 gift card. I should earn $15 for doing this, and it isn't too far out of my way.

For more great prescription savings ideas, I highly recommend Diane's post here.
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Thursdays With Linda: Halloween!!

Posted by Unknown

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Halloween was a success!

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Son3 was supposed to walk along the fence scaring the trick or treaters but he only lasted a minute in his mask… he then gave out candy for a minute but then was distracted by his friend from next door… so eventually he was no longer in costume and off at his friend’s house playing…

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The front yard fully decorated…

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The werewolf chained to the trees… Many remembered son2 dressed as the werewolf last year and were poking it to check if it was real or not… They also took pictures with the werewolf…

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To see slide shows of all our Halloween pictures visit me at Finding Footprints in the Sand…

And please share your pictures with us by linking up to TMS Show and Tell…

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Star of the show: son2 as the scarecrow… Many thought he wasn’t real, just part of the yard decorations and some didn’t even see him until their friends pointed him out… Many were scared as he stepped down off the post and just as amazed as he stepped back on the post, even though they had just seen him move, he didn’t look real… He posed in many pictures and high fived a lot of kids…

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We had our first trick or treater about 6:35pm although we were ready at 5pm… Only about a third of the number of people compared to last year… so maybe a 100 if that… it was a Sunday though and a school night… from 8-8:30 we had no trick or treaters so we started cleaning up, bringing everything into the house and garage… our last trick or treater was at 8:40pm… I still have lots of pencils and treats left over for next year…

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Does son2 look scary in the dark…

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Now I am left with this mountain of laundry from the Halloween figures and their stuffing…

Hubby had the front yard cleared of Halloween and put away on Monday and Tuesday, even taking down the fence… On Wednesday he helped me pack up all the inside decorations and figures… I did about five or six loads of laundry allowing all the figure parts to be boxed away… I still have all the towels, sheets and blankets that I used as stuffing to wash this week… 

However the Thanksgiving decorations are up already………

See you next week as we celebrate November’s blessings and get ready for Thanksgiving…

Happy Holidays…

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All Hallows' Eve Celebrations

Posted by Unknown on Tuesday, November 2, 2010

I hope you had a fun Halloween weekend, like we enjoyed here at the Sense of Humor is Essential household.

Here are some pictures of our decorations including-
this goblin warning, Beware and Enter At Your Own Risk!

My husband and two teen sons are in charge of decorating the outside. For the actual night of Halloween, we set up strobe lights and a table with more blood splattered sheets, a body bag which hosts either my CPR mannequin, or one of the boys in a scary mask ready to scare the older kids. Ah, boys...

My husband and son put "eye hooks" into these decorative skulls, and then we threaded them with fishing line to hang around the front and back porch. This is our "holding area" as we worked on them. It reminds me of some head shrinker's handiwork.

Here's a few skulls hanging out with Dracula on the back porch.

In addition to a lot of Trick or Trick Treaters this year, on Saturday, our youngest son hosted about 20 teens for a party, and our oldest son went to a party. This weekend, we also celebrated my mom's birthday with a special brunch, which we did indeed- Enjoy.


Please share any Tricks or Treats of your All Hallow's Eve Celebrations, and Thank you for your visit.
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Tuesdays With Kris: Hereafter

Posted by Unknown on Monday, November 1, 2010

Hey all, Kris from Behold the Metatron. Aside from being a food lover I also love films. Old, new, and the in-between that are so bad they are brilliant! On Halloween, I saw the new Clint Eastwood/Matt Damon film Hereafter. A bit more fitting than you'd first think for a film on Halloween, since it was about the afterlife and Halloween is technically derived from Samhain, a day when we honor our ancestors. But I digress, now for the review!

Hereafter is long and a bit tiring at times. There are themes for sure, the mains being how death creates loneliness and haunts us, and  it's about believing in faith (whatever yours is) and the afterlife... but I think what made this film motivating was Matt Damon's performance especially, and the other actors. Some are calling it lackluster but I thought that it was perfection. He was quiet, subtle, and so normal. Not what you'd expect from an actor playing a psychic, right? The film was rather beautiful in it's story telling too. You knew where it was going, but the characters were just so moving and heartbreaking and real. To show these people all over the world suffering from similar hardships and feeling the same emotions was something that made me feel close to these characters. 

In a shocking revelation at the beginning (shocking for me, but this is not really a spoiler), we learned that one of the smaller character's wives died from Multiple Sclerosis and the husband took care of her for years. I was sitting next to my father cringing at this scene because my mother, his wife, died as well from MS, he took care of her for years, and here we were in the theater reliving our lives from a fictional character. Lines like, "she's sorry for all of the years you took care of her." Unbelievable, I felt like Clint was going to pop out from under my seat or something. I was being punked, right? But what I am trying to get at is that this movie also taught me that we are not alone. Everyone suffers, everyone is connected in some way. To repeat, we aren't alone. No matter what happens to you, there will always be someone there in person or in spirit to guide you out of the storm. 

Bottom line: You can wait for it to come out on Netflix if you wish, but this is still a must see!

HAPPY TUESDAY!
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Motivation Monday - Bedroom Makeover Contest

Posted by Unknown

The winner for the bedroom makeover contest is...

Our very own Linda here at TMS on Thursdays from Finding Footprints in the Sand. I could easily see all the hard work that went into your makeover Linda! Congrats! I will email you soon with the gift code and details.

To all who played along - great job! :-)

I can't even begin to catch up on all that's been going on here - and believe me, there is nothing I could tell that is the least bit motivational. I am just taking things one day at a time and dealing with things as they come. There has still been very little progress with my mother. Your continued thoughts and prayers are appreciated.

Wishing you all a wonderful week!
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