One Wee Spark

On Friday morning, I got official word that the second part of Dr. Suzanne Chabaud's research on the effects on Adult Children of Hoarded Homes is live and available online. This is the first time this specific subject has been studied. I count Dr. C as a friend, and I've met the staff of the research project. Each of them is marvelous in their own way. I hope that you will read this letter from Dr. C and then head over to fill out the survey. If you're a COH, please participate. I know just how difficult it can be to revisit the past, but I know that so much good information is going to come from this research!

Next Friday, Women of Faith will be in Spokane! I am so very excited about this! (I'm jumping up and down like a hyper three year old who is about to get the best present ever...I know you can't see it...just imagine it!) I am following Woman of Faith on Facebook , although honestly, I have tried not to read too much because I want to bask in the experience and not have any preconceived ideas. In high school, I often went on youth retreats and conferences, and I never came back from one the same as when I left. I always grew in the Lord in some manner, and I have the same expectation for next week's Women of Faith Conference. This hasn't been a tough year, but we all have times when we need refreshing and renewing in the Word, in the Spirit, in God. I am so ready for this! In case you're on the fence...here's a sneak peek video...I strongly encourage you to get to a Women of Faith conference. I promise to let you all know what the experience was lik...

This morning while I was dropping my son off at school, I watched his interaction with the other boys in his classroom. He seemed not to fit in, nor to be out of place. He just seemed alone in a crowd of boys. I could tell by his expressive eyes that he wanted to fit in with these boys, and I don't know that it's a bad thing at that age to want to fit in. Taylor Swift But it reminded me of how I have always felt like I don't belong, no matter where I am. As a child, I was the one with no father...in a generation where divorce was still pretty new...and well, my parents weren't divorced. The other kids around me didn't know how to interpret this lack of a "daddy". Honestly, neither did I. I watched the fathers come to school events and cheer on their children. I usually didn't even have a mother present because she worked full-time. I was alone in a crowded room... And this is a feeling I've experienced many, many times in my life. I remembe...

My kids are all headed back to school for another year today...well, not ALL of the kids. The BusyBears are both too young for school...but the process of getting the kids school supplies, finding out what their schedules look like, and generally adapting our day-to-day routine made me think of my own childhood/school years. I was often teased at school. I was teased about my clothes (I wore hand-me-downs from cousins who were six to eight years old than I...very far from fashionable!). I was teased about my size from middle school on, although in hindsight, I think those girls should have been shot...I was far from overweight or even obese! And I was teased for my values. My mother's rigid black-and-white thinking failed me in public school. I often repeated things she had said at just the right moment to offend someone. But I survived all those years. I'm here now, and as a parent, I fear that my children will be teased. I find comfort in knowing that their home life is f...

After posting on my feelings of being ill-prepared last week, and after reading a blog article by Michael Hyatt (no, not my son! LOL)[ http://michaelhyatt.com/how-to-go-further-faster.html ], I believed that although I felt  ill-prepared for many of the day-to-day tasks of life, I could learn  from someone who KNOWS. So I decided that this would be the week that I would begin to emulate the people who seem to have what I want...peace and energy. And no, they really aren't exclusive...you can have both, or you can LACK both. I suggest going with the former and not  the latter, however...personal experience. Last night, I began a bedtime routine. In fairness, half the kids were away from home which meant less work to get the kids ready, but still...I haven't ever really had a bedtime routine. This was a first. I began following the FlyLady , and using her bedtime routine as a guide. I had completed all the bedtime tasks and was in bed by 10pm! Silly, I know, but that is a...