Bills, bills, bills

Have you seen Babes in Toyland?  Poor Annette...

This was one of my many favourite movie scenes as a kid.  As a grown up, I can relate.  I've been growing increasingly frustrated as "the price of milk and eggs and bread is rising everyday."

Yesterday, we received a notice stating that our internet rate from our current internet company (Provider A) was, once again, increasing.  In the past, we have chosen to stay with our provider because of the hassle of changing the email address associated with my business, The Cleaner Sweep.  But, as of March 2013, my sister is the sole operator of that business, so I don't need to maintain the email address for it anymore.  With that hindrance out of the way, Aaron and I decided to start looking around for better monthly rates.

We found a company (Provider B) that offers a monthly rate that is $15 lower than our current rate ($17 lower than the rate it is climbing to in June 2013).  So I called up Provider A to see if they could lower my rate.  I was hoping they'd give me the $15 off that is offered to new customers.  I didn't quite get that.

A gentleman offered me $5 off my current rate, which I could lock in for 12 months, giving me $7 off come June.  I asked him to note that on my account and I would call back after chatting with my husband.

Buckle your seat-belt; there's some simple math coming up.  Try to stay with me.

Aaron and I figured that at the old rate from Provider A ($51/mth), it would take us just over one year (12.5 months) to start saving money with Provider B (at $35/mth) because of the (approximately) $200 in start-up fees and new modem purchase.  With the new rate ($44/mth), it would be just under two years (22 months) before we started saving money. 

We decided that the hassle and uncertainty of how a new provider would work was not worth the switch, so we agreed to stay with Provider A for the reduced price. 

The best part was that the nice lady that I spoke with at the very end said "We appreciate having you as a customer.  Please feel free to call back again in 12 months to discuss your rate.  We'd like to keep you happy."

You just have to ask.

Birth Sounds

Please don't get weirded out, thinking that I'm going to show you a video of  me, giving birth.  I'm not...

Fellow blogger, Green Grandma, has asked for some guest bloggers to share their birth stories.  That got me thinking about my kids and their early days...  Which got me digging around my picture files on my computer.  I came across this video and looked at the time stamp.  November 27, 2005, 9:33 AM.  My youngest was born about five hours later on November 27, 2005 at about 2:00 PM.

While this scenario was happening, the rest of the members of my church family were getting in their cars to meet for Sunday morning worship.  My family had dressed in their Sunday clothes and were ready to go, but I had decided that we needed to stay home so I could have a baby.  I had probably been in labour for about an hour at the point that this video was taken.

It is so sweet for me to see this and know that my kids have been singing songs about Jesus as long as they can remember.

Mawwiage

My kids have recently discovered the joy of The Princess Bride, so please excuse me while I quote it for a minute here...

Mawwiage, that bwessed event. That dream wiffin a dream.

...Then wuv, Twuuuuue wuv...

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

You know, you have to marry the right person.  Because that person is going to change you.  You will either harden against them or soften towards them, but you will be changed, one way or another.  So make sure they are the person you want to be the most influential in how you change.

I regularly feel incredibly blessed to have married someone who has changed me for the better. And I am very thankful to God for bringing Aaron and I together, and for giving me the grace to be willing to change alongside him. 

Life is more fun when you enjoy the person you're stuck with committed to, so it really is best to figure out how to live with each other.

And by "committed" I don't mean institutionalized.  

Marriage is fun.  Or at least it can be...  If you're each willing to change to accommodate the other.

I love my job

While Dad works on the basement renovation, the kids and I played some basketball tonight at the park.  The girls were winning 8-0.  The only person to score (me) was taller than 5'1".  My teammate asked why the boys kept taking the ball from her.  Her younger brother answered her with, "Because you're the worst!"

As you can imagine, that instantly produced tears in her eyes.  She was wailing that she was done and wanted to go home.  I gathered the kids together and we chatted about how it would feel to have someone say that to you.  And then I awarded my girl five free throws for getting her feelings hurt.  With a smile, she planted her feet and took her shots.

Then the boys got to take some shots, and then it was their sister's turn again.  They had a blast seeing if they could make any baskets.

By the time the sun was going down and it was time to pack it in and go home, they were all best friends again. 

I love being here with them for these experiences, being Mom, so that I can teach them the right way to treat each other and to react to each other.  Things that they don't learn when they're hanging out with 100 kids on the playground at school.

I love my job.

The best of me

I think the last couple of days has been enough to push me over the edge.  I can't quite tell you what the edge is or what's below it, but I'm going over.

I'm getting tired of Facebook.  I've been growing tired of it for a while.  Not everything about it, but a good portion of it.

Today I changed my homepages on my browser so that Facebook was not one of them. 

Perhaps it's that when I think about what I wanted out of Facebook, I think of what I want to share with my family and close friends.  And that's not what it is anymore.  At least not to me.  I think others got tired of it long before I did.

As I think of how I use Facebook, I think about promoting what I write on this blog.  But really, we can all agree that I'm no "Pioneer Woman" and I never will be.  So I don't need to maintain a presence just to promote myself anymore. 

I think of the friends I have on there.  Some I have known most of my life.  Some are new friends who are quite dear to me.  But many are acquaintances who I have no real reason to be connected to... except that this is what we do on Facebook. 

"Hey, I know them." 
Click 'Add'

I think about the things I share, which often reflect my personal thoughts and beliefs, thoughts and beliefs that a good portion of my Facebook friends don't agree with.  But I don't share those thoughts to get in arguments; I share because it's what I'm thinking.  And I don't even know what I can say on my own Facebook page without getting yelled at.

So perhaps, I need to step away.

Hmm...

I've been feeling overwhelmed lately.  I admit that a good part of that has been the slow accumulation of papers throughout my house.  On my dresser.  On the spare table.  In the corner.  In the other corner.  In the other other corner.  On the floor.  And I let them sit there. 

I feel like I'm always forgetting something.  But I'll check the news a few times a day.  And then my Facebook feed.  I'm overwhelmed but I don't need to be.  I'm letting myself be overwhelmed by the things that don't matter.  I need to disconnect, to some degree, because I don't need to know what an acquaintance from 15 yeas ago is doing today.  I don't need to know that Hollywood is making a new movie about this baseball star.

I need to spend more time doing what's best for my family.  I'll still be here.  If you really want to know what I think, you can see my blog.  And I will still update Facebook.  Maybe.  But I don't want to look at it every time I open my browser. 

And that Facebook-Friend weeding I did a while back?  It's going to happen again, much more dramatically.  I'm cutting back on the things that distract me.  Don't take it personally.  It's what my family needs, to get the best of me.

More humility for me

Just when I think I'm doing a good job of parenting...

Seven year old Simon, biting into his orange quarter: It'd be so awesome if there was such a thing as an Orange Tree.

blink, blink

Did my child really just say that??? 

Children learn what they live

I've been thinking a lot about my family and what is best for them.  I keep coming back to the title of a poem that I've been familiar with for years: "Children Learn What They Live." 

Children Learn What They Live
By Dorothy Law Nolte

If children live with criticism, 

They learn to condemn.

If children live with hostility,
They learn to fight. 

If children live with ridicule,
They learn to be shy. 

If children live with shame,
They learn to feel guilty.

If children live with encouragement,
They learn confidence.

If children live with tolerance,
They learn to be patient.

If children live with praise,
They learn to appreciate.

If children live with acceptance,
They learn to love. 

If children live with approval,
They learn to like themselves.

 
If children live with honesty,
They learn truthfulness.

 
If children live with security,
They learn to have faith in themselves and others.

 
 If children live with friendliness,
They learn the world is a nice place in which to live.

I want to teach my children the right way to live...  I want them to have the best influences showing them the right way to live.  And I'm willing to challenge The Status Quo to do it.