Days 2, 3, 4, etc.

I've made some progress on my house resolution, but it's been S-L-O-W!  I haven't been working on it every day.  Some days I have to run errands or do something else.

I spent two mornings going through NB's clothes; weeding out the too-small and searching for winter things in the right size.  I thoroughly cleaned his room and vacuumed and cleaned the carpet.

Another day I went through my own clothes, but I made only a small dent.  I need to go through PJ5's clothes.  He will need some winter things, but he is being very picky about his shirts lately, so I better take him with me.  That means a Saturday shopping trip.  I also need to go through the toys, and that will be a multiple-day project.

On another (somewhat-related) topic, fall busy-ness is starting to show up in our schedules.  The boys have fall break this week, which means two days off of school.  This weekend is Faith Promise (extra time commitments) and a relative is coming into town to renew their vows on a special anniversary in the same chapel where they were married.  Personally, I look forward to both events, but we'll see how the boys react to all these variants in their schedule.

We're not far away from our annual Ladies Retreat, and I'm really looking forward to that!

I could say more, but lunch-time is over and duties call! 

Day One

I did okay.  Not spectacular, but good.  

I worked in the kitchen and the laundry area.  I mopped.  And mopped.  I cleaned counters and did dishes.  I cleared off the table of unnecessary items (which chore has to be done regularly at our house).  I know that doesn't sound like much, but it took some time.

I realized that some household tasks (namely, mopping) are an aerobic exercise when done for a long stretch, so I had to stop once-in-a-while to catch my breath and get a drink or snack.   I was burning calories, you see.  

The next day I took a nap in the morning, because I had been up in the middle of the night for at least an hour with a fussy, but not sick, kid.  I think he had a bad dream.   If I don't get enough sleep I drag the rest of the day; it affects my patience level; and it can cause flare-ups of IBS.  So, I do take a nap when I really need one.  My husband understands and encourages this.  He is pretty awesome.

Today I need to spend some extra time preparing for Bible Study tomorrow night, so we'll see if anything else gets done this morning.

Fall cleaning

I've heard of "spring cleaning", but not fall cleaning, so maybe I just made that up.  I've heard of fall pruning, and I'm going to do some of that, too.  And I'm going to blog about it.  Exciting, eh?

I'm blogging about it because I want to use this to hold myself accountable to my plans/goals. I will report my progress and maybe even post pictures..."after" pictures, only.  Either it will help me remember later that I can do it, or else it will make me realize that I can do better. 

My house is in a sad state, owing to a very hectic summer.  Add up a new diet that takes lots of cooking time, two messy boys at home pretty much all day, and excessive heat that makes it impossible to go outside for long and saps my energy.  That was my summer.  I am too embarrassed to have anyone in my house right now.  I am determined to do something about it now that the boys are in school again.  NB is not going full-time yet, so that gives me approx. 3 hours with an empty house each morning.  The first half hour is set aside for personal devotions, and then some days I have to run errands that would be difficult with the boys.  But that still gives me some good time to tackle this project.  MAJOR house cleaning.

The fall pruning I am going to do involves the boys' and my closets, the toy shelves and bins, and book shelves.  We are still in a small house, so it's time to simplify things and get rid of stuff that is outgrown or not used.  PJ is going to work on the garage where we have put boxes of clothing to either give away or keep.  The problem there is that the boys were out there in the spring and scattered everything all over, so it all needs to be re-sorted and marked clearly.  (We have a lock in place now to keep them from going out there without our knowledge.)

So, I will update here about how it's going and my non-readers can hold me accountable.  Hmm...

Spiritual Training

Every night, I (or my husband) prays aloud with PJ5 before bed. He sometimes ignores, sometimes listens, and on rare occasions says "amen" after we finish. I also pray aloud for him when he gets hurt and is very upset (overreacts), asking Jesus to help him feel better. Sometimes I pray aloud when he's crying and I don't know why he is upset. It's a comfort to me, if not to him.

Last week, he got hurt. I don't remember how, and it wasn't very bad, but he went and laid on his bed and cried (as usual). I went in and was trying to comfort him and calm him. In the middle of his crying he blurted out "Jesus". I said, "Do you want to pray and ask Jesus to help you feel better?--Okay" (fyi--I often answer my own questions with only a short pause because he never answers.) So I began my short prayer and this is what happened.

Me: Dear Jesus,-
him: Jesus!
Me: help Paul John to feel better-
him: better!
Me: in Jesus' name-
him: Amen!
Me: Amen.

He interjected those words without me pausing, which I didn't do because he never responds. And he said amen before I did, but he knew it was coming because I always end my prayers "In Jesus' name, Amen." He also kind of blurted out each word, because he was still crying and sniffling. He did seem to calm down better after that, but I was a little in shock and went to find my husband and see if he was near enough to have heard.

I don't know if that counts as his first prayer or not, but I'm still glad it happened, and finally feel like some of the training he gets at home and church is actually sinking in.





(explanation: In case someone is reading this that doesn't know our situation, PJ5 is 7 years old, with autism, and very little language skills, though he has made some good progress in the last year.)