Forced time off

I work an insane schedule. No surprise there. For almost a year, I've basically given up my day off each week to help out at another clinic. Yes, the extra money has been nice, but it's catching up to me in a big way. I'm on my second go round of strep throat in 4 months. So I'm spending today and tomorrow at home until the antibiotics can kick in and I'm no longer contagious. Damn, my throat is sore. I alternate between hot tea and ice cream or popsicles. Haven't decided which one works better to help with the discomfort.

Prior to these two episodes, I'd taken one sick day in 5 years. Not counting pregnancy related issues, which I'm considering a whole different ball of wax. Though maybe less stress and more down time would have warded off preeclampsia as well. Last Saturday was my first day off in 3 weeks. I guess I'm having a bit of personal crisis here. Is this really how I want my life to be? I'm killing myself for a job that is frustrating more often than not. I would love to cut back at work, but don't really have the financial wiggle room to do so right now. We're getting there, but it'll be a year or two before I can really comfortably cut back my hours.

There's no easy solution, just wanted to try and work this out. Every few months, I go through this. Still haven't come up with a fix. Which is annoying. I'm apparently one of those people who complain and never do anything to change. The kind of person that drives me insane. I feel stuck. I know I'd work hard as a physician. It's not the working hard part that bothers me. It's the lack of personal time, that there's nothing else besides the hard work. At least I get a couple days at home to knit, read, and sleep with this little bug. A blessing in disguise?

In honor of the new year, I feel the need to post on the blog. Happens every year, then drops off. I don't know why I bother, but I guess this is a good place to at least keep track of my New Year's resolutions. I reviewed the list from last year. I did okay. Lost 20 lbs instead of 40. Better than gaining, though, right? We did grow and preserve more food. We're composting again, complete with a worm bin. We did pay down some debt. Overall, not a bad showing, I think.

And so, in honor of 2011, here we go...

1. Continue with the weight loss. I'll shoot for 40 again, but may miss the mark. I'm getting closer to my goal though.
2. Keep de-cluttering.
3. Eat more veggies.
4. Try a new recipe a week.
5. Keep up with paperwork at the office better. This includes dictations. The bane of my existence.
6. Renew some old friendships. We just get busy and forget to keep in touch. Amy, Mark and Ann, Erica...that's you I'm talking to.
7. Knit a pair of socks a month.
8. Knit myself a sweater this year. Complete with steeks.
9. Make the family finances more of a shared responsibility and work to set up and follow a reasonable budget together.
10. Read more classics. Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters, and Thoreau are what I have planned so far.
11. Expand the garden.
12. Finally get my craft room organized and set up so it's a comfortable place to be.
13. Bake bread each week.
14. Be kinder, more patient, and more understanding.
15. Start selling my fiber/wool.
16. Get up 30 minutes earlier each day for some "me" time. Meditate, yoga, knit, spin.
17. Keep up the blog. Not for anyone else but me. Just to use it as a journal of sorts, more than anything.
18. Spend less time on Facebook. And online in general. Which sounds counter-intuitive given the above resolution, but I can just surf for hours. Which is time I could be actually LIVING life instead of reading about it.
19. Actually put away the laundry after it's folded.
20. Keep the car cleaned out.
21. Read to the kids more. I get tired and busy and say "tomorrow". Is that really the message I want to send them?
22. Continue the journey towards a simpler life. It's the goal I'll forever be reaching for.

So with those lofty goals, Happy 2011!

He's a handful.

I've posted this on Facebook, but I thouht I'd share it here too. We've been struggling with bedtimes with Jack lately. He'll play until 11 or 12 if he can lately. Thursday night he was in our room. Asleep by 10:00. Or so I thought. About 10:30, I heard him calling me. I tried to get in the bedroom, but he had locked the door. I got the door unlocked, and then found him. Needless to say, he hadn't been sleeping. He had found an old dictation tape that he pulled all the tape out. The tape was everywhere. He also found a brand new Costco sized bottle of conditioner. Apparently his hair needed a little conditioning. Like a quarter of the bottle.


He was so proud of himself. I was laughing so hard I was crying. Daddy didn't find it so amusing. But it was so cute I couldn't be mad. I sure do love this boy!

Updates on the New Years' Resolutions

I'm trying to hold myself accountable for "the list" I made last week. So, with that, an update on how I've been doing this past week.


I've been to yoga twice so far. The first class kicked up butt. I've flossed every night except last night (but in my defense, I was on call and didn't get home until this morning). I've resisted the urge to join the Blue Moon sock club again (this one is killing me). I started a scarf from a unfinished shawl that I frogged. I had started the shawl when Catie was a baby. It wasn't looking good for the shawl, so I'm putting the yarn to better use. I have 2 bags of stuff to take to the thrift store in the back of my car. I've hauled one load to recycling so far. Not a bad week, I'd say.

I just need to keep this up. One other thing I should have resolved...quit spending so much time online. I blew about 3 hours today just surfing. I need to spend less time looking and more time actually doing.

And with that, I'm off to bed...nighty night all.

Bring on 2010. As usual, with the hope of new beginnings, I feel the need to set some goals for the next year. So, here goes. My New Years Resolutions. There's quite a few of them. Some of them are works already in progress. Some of them are ones that I won't officially start until later this year (gardening, etc). So, for your viewing pleasure:

1. Continue to lose weight. 40 # down so far...another 60 to go. I think another 40 this year is a reasonable goal.
2. Declutter room by room
3. Pay down debt--specifically pay off the 4 wheeler and pay off at least one credit card.
4. Knit exclusively from the stash.
5. No new yarn. None. Zippo. Not even when we go on vacations.
6. Read 85 books this year. I read 75 in 2009. I think I can do it.
7. Get back into yoga. It helps with my aches and pains, as well as great for stress relief.
8. Be more patient, especially with George and the kids.
9. Floss...every night.
10.Stick to the budget.
11. Finish Catie's quilt that I started months ago.
12. Set aside at least 3 nights a month for family game nights.
13. Don't let paperwork stack up at the office.
14. Keep up on filing at home.
15. Recycle more. Since moving out to Homedale, we've been terrible about this. We will have to haul stuff to Caldwell, but it's not like I don't go there most every day for work.
16. Grow even more food this year (plant and animal).
17. Can and preserve more food.
18. Begin to set up a formal food storage system. I'd like to start by having a couple of weeks worth of food on hand, with the goal of a 3-6 month supply.
19. Compost---vermicomposting and regular. Again, we had a compost pile in Caldwell, but haven't started one here yet. And I've wanted a worm bin for a couple of years. I finally have G talked into it!
20. Start holiday and other gift knitting sooner, so I'm not in such a rush.
21. Spin more.
22. Strive to live a more simple and authentic life.

So, with that...my basic goals for the year. Really, my overall life goals. Something to strive for, at the very least. Happy new year, all!

Happy 4 year blogiversary.

I started this blog on New Years's Eve 4 years ago. I post sporadically, to say the least. Life gets in the way, as I'm sure you all know. It's not like I don't want to or mean to post. I just can't seem to get it done. Ravelry and Facebook take up my time, and probably a lot of yours as well. I do want to make an effort to try to keep this updated a bit more. More for my use than anyone else's. Probably a useless goal, but what the hell. It's the new year, right?

When I started this blog, Catie was 6 months old. Now she's in pre-school and starting to read. Jack has come along, and is the most hilarious character I've ever encountered. We've bought 25 acres with plans to build a house. The house plans fell through, and we ended up buying an existing home just down the road from the property. My knitting skills have improved tremendously. I've started spinning (though not enough). I've started sewing and gardening. I've gotten in touch with my inner housewife (and homebody). I've been trying to become more frugal. I've fallen in love with the local library system and read 75 books this past year. Now I'm on this preparedness kick. I want to get better at food storage. It's like I want to be a Mormon...without actually being one, if that makes any sense. Really, what I've become is...an old lady. I've turned into my grandmother(s). And I love it.

So tonight we're spending the night at home. We had an utterly exciting dinner of tuna casserole and green beans. Then played a couple of rousing games of Candyland. I'm about to finish a book...about food and the evolution of coooking/kitchens over the past 100 years. Yup. That's what I said. Wool socks. Flannel nightgown. So cool in its un-coolness.

So Happy New Year to all 3 of you who might read this!! 2009 was a good year for us here at the Skinner-Decker household. Hopefully 2010 will be just as wonderful, for us and for you.

Tomorrow...the obligatory list of resolutions.

I promised myself I wouldn't cry...

but I did.

Today was Miss Catie's first day of preschool. Now, I know it's "only preschool", but to me, good gosh, it's a pretty big day. I didn't get home last night until late, but George said it was easy to get her to bed (highly unusual for her). This morning she came in about 6:30 or 6:45, wanting to get up and get ready. We got ready and headed out the door at 7:30 to start a new family tradition. One of my patients had told me she takes her son out to breakfast every year on the first day of school. I thought that sounded like a pretty cool idea. So we set out for the local Moxie Java for a cinnamon roll and hot chocolate. Here she is as we head out the door. She looks so excited.

After breakfast we headed to the preschool. She practically ran up the sidewalk to the door without us. We did finally get her to stop and turn around briefly for the pic.

Once inside she headed directly for the toys. We hung out for a bit. Some of the other kids were hanging close to their moms and dads. But her, nope. Didn't even care if I was there or not. She did somehow find the time to blow me a kiss. On the way out, I couldn't help the tears. I thought I wasn't going to be "one of those" moms. Not that there's anything wrong with that. I just didn't think I'd cry. But boy did I.

Jack misses his sister, but at the same time, is loving having us to himself this morning. (I took the morning off today). He's running all over the place and doesn't have to fight over toys. I'm excited for Catie, but I can't wait to pick her up later this morning and hear all about it.