Misc

the best made plans...and all that junk...

Julie Blair Lane — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 16:08:00 GMT

I "planned" to get up at 5:30 on Monday....I actually got up at 7:30.

I "planned" to get up at 5:30 this morning....sigh, reality was 6:15 (although I'm not sure I was fully awake until 8).

I "planned" to hang some mirrors the other day....but I was out of drywall anchors because I messed up the last four I had while trying to hang up a quilt (they should tell you where metal is located in your walls)...finally got some more anchors but ended up needing to paint walls/ceiling/trim/doors instead because the delivery company called saying the girls' beds were coming earlier than scheduled....which is why, after two solid days of painting...

I "planned" to have the girls' beds completely set up last night....BUT the second set of bunks* were lost in shipping (that's what the manufacturer is claiming anyway). So we decide to put together the set we did get at least....but they only sent one set of slats! If this isn't frustration enough, the bedding company (PBteen) sent a set of pillow cases instead of DD#3's gingham sheets.... while I wait for all of that to get ironed out...

I "planned" to see AF on Thursday....but I'm sure you've guessed it, yep she's already here of course.

Now, I was "planning" to do a ton of laundry on Friday should our washer/dryer set show up on Thursday as scheduled but I'm starting to wonder if I should do any more planning right now.

No, I haven't even seen a glimpse of the “normal routine“ I was hoping to get back to this week. Yes, I am tired and still feeling MILES from being done "setting up house" (recent move).

Hmm, probably ought to forget my plans and go talk to God about all of this...

Update: The afore mentioned furniture company is claiming that they sent us enough slats - they claim there were two sets of slats in the box we found ONE set in. The box itself isn't even big enough to hold two sets of slats.....wishing I had a padded room to go scream and flail around in for a few minutes. Speaking of screaming and tantrums, my three-year-old has specialized in both since Friday. She's taking the “Theatrical Threes” to a whole new level of excitement. We're supposed to see the “Fantasic Fours” next month but I don't think she's gotten the memo.

Yeah, I need some more one on one with God for sure! Help me, Jesus, I need You to change my day...or at least my attitude about it!

*it was cheaper to order two sets of bunks rather than one set and a separate bed. And yes, we're really second guessing going “cheaper” lol.

i'll be returning soon...

Julie Blair Lane — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 16:34:00 GMT

I really miss writing for this blog....actually, I've missed writing in general! As I mentioned before, we moved, yet again. This time though, we are hopeful it will be permanent. We're still surrounded by boxes and hundreds of stray items looking for a home in our new home. Despite this, my plan is to resume a more “normal” routine beginning Monday morning (Oh Lord please help me with this!). I do know that when I return, my online time will be limited to email, this blog and a couple of forums.

Speaking of forums, I haven't formally introduced one of my favorite projects to date. If you are a woman struggling with body image and weightloss, you might consider checking out GAINChange. Feel free to use my contact form or email me at j.blair.lane@gmail.com express interest in joining us. We do have some restrictions on who may join so be sure to check out the site.

Well, I'd better return to the land of cardboard chaos! Looking forward to being back in the swing of things next week!

On The Move Again...

Julie Blair Lane — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 13:21:00 GMT

First of all...Merry Christmas Eve!

Second, this will likely be my last post from Maryland (and probably last post of the year). We plan to head out on Saturday morning. The kids and I will hang out in Texas for a bit before moving on to Colorado!! We're all very excited about this next chapter in our lives.

In 2008, my husband and I hope to post a joint blog series on our “debt reduction” journey. Having made our final unsecured debt payment on Friday, we have a lot to share from the last almost two years.

Also, I will be talking some more about my “no more dieting” point of view and how incredibly freeing it has been for me.

If I have time, I may post my 2008 goals, but for now, I'm in packing mode.

Weird Things...

Julie Blair Lane — Wed, 16 May 2007 08:36:00 GMT

For some reason I can no longer post comments on WordPress blogs. I don't know why - it just stopped all of the sudden. So, I guess I'm banned from commenting. I'm not the only one at least - misery loves company and all that.

This is a bit frustrating for sure.

The Home-Stretch

Julie Blair Lane — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 08:59:00 GMT

I know I haven't been around much....neither here nor at OWOA....nor at Writer Interrupted. I've had a lot going on and the free-time I have had I've been working on a project with my husband (details to come). I'm having a blast with it but haven't had much time left for other computer related stuff.

We are also on the home-stretch to finishing our lessons. My kids are working so hard to finish this week - woohoo!! My seven year old should finish today and my nine year old is shooting for Friday. It will be nice to tally the grades and be done with "formal" lessons for the summer. We do have some things lined up for the off months but it will be a much lighter load.

I've missed writing for several carnivals - hopefully next week I'll get back to it. I have about a dozen blog posts bouncing around in my head just begging to be released. I will be writing the MWM at Writer...Interrupted in June so I'm looking forward to working on a deadline for that. Anyway, I got an email from Cristina yesterday wondering where I've been so I thought I should at least post something to let everyone know I'm still alive lol.

Typical American Dinner

Julie Blair Lane — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 00:00:00 GMT

I'm not really sure what is typical anymore at the "American Dinner Table". I know what is "typical" for us but I sometimes wonder if we are "normal". Amanda is supervising a group of graduates-to-be who are doing a thesis on "what dinner time looks like in America." She's also offering a prize drawing for those who participate. I rarely win in a drawing situation, so that just increases your chances all the more lol. Of course, if you were up against my middle sister, you'd be out of luck, her name is picked on almost anything she enters...must be nice huh? If I believed in "luck" I'd say she is one of the luckiest people I know....but I don't so we'll just call her fortunate.

I will be very interested to see what her group comes up with. I hope you'll join me in taking the survey. It really doesn't take that long to complete and it had me pondering "why we do what we do at dinner."

Thinking Blogger Awards

Julie Blair Lane — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 14:50:00 GMT

Heather Ivester of Mom 2 Mom Connection surprised me on Tuesday by honoring me with (along with 4 wonderful bloggers) a Thinking Blogger Award. Heather said that my goal tracking encourages her to focus on her goals also. I know I've told her probably a dozen times that it is she who inspires me to go after my goal of being published. Had I received this award before she did, I would be tagging her with it. She definitely deserves the recognition for helping moms to see their true value in this world and showing them that they can reach their full potential through Christ. I just love ya Heather and I'm so thankful I can call you, "friend". Thank you so much.

Now, having this affirming award bestowed upon me comes with the task of turning right around and giving it away again. Oh I just love it!! Some of the ladies who would have made my initial list of possible recipients have already received the award (Blest, Carol, Catez, Gina, Heather, Iris, Janna, Keziah, LaShawn Barber, Mary, Rebecca, Sallie, Vicki...to name a few lol). Since I don't intend to name one already awarded, I'm glad that someone else narrowed the choices a bit for me. And now, I would love to present to you the award recipients I've chosen:

Erik Lane @ Giddy Up! - Erik is my wonderful husband. He is my first choice to receive this award. His blog (being mostly of the technical nature) definitely causes me to use my noggin - tee hee. However, what he writes there doesn't come close to showing his really deep thinking side - a side that I'm probably one of the few privileged enough to witness. He's incredible and I just felt that my readership (no matter how great or how small) should know that I value what this man has to say above anyone else on earth.

Amanda @ following an unknown path - If you haven't gotten hooked on Amanda's life as a single woman in a foreign country, you are really missing out. She brings beauty and encouragement to single women all over the world by showing how you can serve the Lord while waiting patiently on His timing.

Debi @ Just as I am - I think Debi is probably one of the greatest kept secrets in the blogosphere and I think it's about time I blab it all over the WWW. This woman is so talented! Her photography and graphic design skills just awe and inspire me. Her digital canvas makes you sit back and ponder the beauty of God's creation.

Leann @ The Prattling Pastor's Wife - A fellow homeschooler, Leann and I have quite a bit in common. However, it isn't what we have in common that causes me to "think" when I'm at her blog for a visit. Leann is in culinary school and if you're new here, you don't know that I do not enjoy cooking whatsoever. Leann makes it sound fun though and she has challenged me to try new things and to break out of the "what's for dinner" cycle.

Tina @ She Plants a Vinyard - I read several writer's blogs and so it was rather difficult to chose one. I went with Tina because she's recently crossed over from unpublished writer to published novelist. I find her candid discussions about the process informative and encouraging. She has renewed my faith that hopeful writers like myself can still break into print if they keep at it.

Thank you so much for coming to my award ceremony today. I hope you'll congratulate these bloggers by paying them a visit.

Changing Categories

Julie Blair Lane — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 12:08:00 GMT

I've decided to revamp my categories some. This will not affect you unless you subscribe to specific categories. If you have no idea what I just said, you can go ahead and ignore this post. For those who do subscribe to the following categories - they will be merging with other categories and you will need to change your feed address accordingly to keep receiving the posts in your aggregator:

2005 Goals
2006 Goals
2007 Goals (all goals will merge into a new category: Goals)
My FlyLady (merging into Homemaking)
TiVo (merging into Misc)

This change will take place sometime during the next week.

Auto Publish

Julie Blair Lane — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 07:37:00 GMT

Ever since I found out it was a possibility, I've wanted to have an auto publish feature on this blog. Kind of a "set it and forget it" thing. My darling husband has worked on adding this feature for a while (as time allowed) and it is finally live!! I set up a "test post" yesterday and it was there this morning - woohoo! Yes, I think he's a genius and he's nice to look at too ;) Now, I just have to get into the habit of using it. This will be a mind shift for sure, but like TiVo, I think I'll adjust.

Also, in case you hadn't noticed, he put my archives into a nice and neat drop down box. It was beginning to look really cluttered over on the sidebar (something my regular readers know bugs the heck out of me). I do have other changes I would like to make both to form and function but I think those will have to wait until we convert to something other than .Text.

Thank you, Erik!

Blog Reactions from Technorati

Julie Blair Lane — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 08:11:00 GMT

We've had trouble ever since the publishing of this blog with trackbacks. Not trouble in the sense that we don't like them....because we most certainly do. I mean trouble with the delicate balance between valid tracks and spam tracks. We've tried to change up our spam filters to keep the parasites at bay but of course that often blocks legitimate trackbackers as well.

So, we've decided to go with “Blog Reactions” from Technorati. You'll now find a link below each post that indicates the number of trackbacks to that particular post. While I don't care for the “green color” of the link, I'm willing to sacrifice a little of my “style” to credit valid trackbackers to this blog.

A HUGE Thanks to my resident software engineer for hooking me up....I love ya, Erik!