I guess it's time for my semi-annual blog post! ;) I have a lot swimming around in my head, so I'm going to do this list-style:
- I'm feeling extremely grateful for a hardworking husband and too many blessings to list. My hubby spoils me rotten. I don't deserve it, but I'm not complaining!
- One of the reasons I'm feeling so spoiled is that I hired a housekeeper. As much as I love my house - and I think it's perfect for a family with 5 kids, 4 of whom are rambunctious boys who get bigger every day - it's just too big for me to keep clean. 6800 sq ft is getting the best of me. So John told me last month I should call the woman who cleaned this house for the former owner. It took a few weeks for me to push the guilt aside and make the call. The first visit was Thursday, and stressed me out completely! First I was worried about having things picked up and dishes done so that the real deep cleaning was all that was left. Then it was the stress of keeping things clean after I'd paid to get it that way. Fortunately, I think I can push through the stress and enjoy having some help. (Can you hear the sarcasm? Poor me, right?) She'll be coming back for a short cleaning this week, then again for the deeper clean next week.
- While I'm talking about my house, a week ago tomorrow marks the one year anniversary of putting in an offer on this house. Not an anniversary I'd remember, but it happened the day after my birthday. For the second time in our married life, my husband let me buy a house he'd never seen in person. Now that's trust! Luckily, he's just as happy with our new home as I am. :) We recently had the front page of the house plans framed and hung it above the fireplace in the den. It's really fun to look at.
- I'm reading again! For the last 9 years of my life, I've been convinced that I don't have time for leisure reading. I've read plenty of non-fiction books about child-rearing, but only a book here and there, usually for the neighborhood book club. Well, I finally decided I wanted to read something good, and I started with The Fountainhead, which I've wanted to read forever. I disagreed with a lot of the philosophy in the book, and I felt uncomfortable with it at times. And I loved reading it! I loved having to think, and having to stretch myself. I didn't want to put it down, and finished it pretty quickly, considering how long it is. I think that's what it took to remind myself that I love to read, and to decide that I can make time for reading.
- To go with the reading theme, I'm just finishing Heaven is Here, by Stephanie Nielson. You know, Nie Nie who was in the plane wreck? Have you read it? I freely admit that I have never once read her blog, and I was never really interested in her story. That might sound awful, but I heard about her blog and it didn't appeal to me. But the book is amazing. I did have to force myself through the first section about her uber-perfect BYU courtship. But it was necessary to know all about her life in order to understand how much she lost when she got hurt. I have cried and cried as I've read about her struggles, particularly the dark feelings of despair she went through. It helps to know that everyone has trouble in this life, and that my problems are really quite small compared to what others have suffered. (Not that I didn't know that, but reminders don't hurt now and then.)
- I have major spring fever! I planted over 600 bulbs in the fall, and I think about them every. single. time. I go outside. Now that some of them are starting to peek out of the ground, I'm going crazy with excitement! Although I'm terrified that the deer are going to eat them. I planted some super tall tulip bulbs that I've wanted to plant for years, but tulips are famous for being "deer candy." I've already sprayed my stinky deer repellent 3 times and I'll be doing it faithfully every week in hopes of not losing my precious flowers to those pesky (and adorable) deer!
