Time to Get Back on Track

I hope each and everyone of you had a wonderful Christmas!! Around here, we were very blessed. There were gifts and food a'plenty. We are blessed to still have my mom and dad and DH's mom to celebrate with us. All of the family on both sides were able to get together and enjoy. It was loud and chaotic but the laughter and hugs abounded and, like I said, we were blessed.

This week finds me trying to get back on some sort of schedule. I had to buy some groceries yesterday and quickly implemented a new strategy that I want to try for the new year. Instead of swiping that debit card for everything I purchase, I made a trip to the ATM and withdrew the money that I intended to spend. It was the oddest thing in the world to me, using cash for everything. For someone who was raised in a cash only family (my mom didn't even have a checking account until last year) plastic had totally changed me. I told myself, when the cash is gone..I'm finished shopping...time to go home. Amazingly though, each time I opened my wallet to pay for something and actually watched the money dwindling away, I became more and more aware of what I was spending!! Hey! This might just be a good change!!

Today is my Daddy's birthday! He's 68 years old today. I'll give him a call a little later when he's up and about but I probably won't see him until Friday. I found out about this restaurant just outside of town that I want to take him to. He's not real big on going out to eat, but even at 45, I can pout just a little and Daddy will do what I ask.......

So that means that I will begin taking down the Christmas decorations, being careful to leave out the snowmen and anything that looks like winter. The house is a wreck right now and will be in worse shape before it gets better...but eventually, I'm sure it will all come together.

Got on the scale yesterday morning and shockingly, I had actually lost a pound over Christmas!! So that means I'm starting the new year with a better frame of mind on getting healthier than I thought I'd have. This is a good thing!!

Like most, I find myself wanting to do things differently in the new year. In years past, like most, I'm gung-ho for a few weeks, but by February everything has fallen by the wayside and I'm back into old routines and habits. But the older I get, I'm finding the things I truly want is a closer walk with my Lord, a healthier body and to master the ability to slow down and enjoy my family. To lower the stress levels and just enjoy the path God has put me on. So I'm quite certain that many of my posts in the future will be focusing on my progress with these things. I'll share my failures as well as my victories because, as I recently posted, I want my blog to be real. A place where folks can read and say, "Hey!..I'm not the only one who_______".

So, I'm off!! Time to get dressed, make the bed and tackle the mess....allowing God to direct my steps so that I find myself doing what HE wants me to be doing!