Katrina's word...STRIVE

[sweetpumkinpye]

It did not take too long to find a word that I would like to live by in 2011.

I chose Strive as I have so much that I need to work on this year.

I must Strive to be a better companion to my husband. When ever things gets rough my relationship with him gets put last, and that is not fair. With him by my side I can do anything, and it is so comforting to know that I am not going through things alone.

I must Strive to get to know my children better now that they are adults. The have their own feelings, opinions, goals and fears. I must look at them with new eyes and see the wonderful adults they have become.

I must Strive to make my home a sanctuary for the 4 adults who live in it. This is our safe place and our haven and it should reflect that.

I must Strive to find some me time, and to know that I cannot achieve all I want to do without thinking about myself. It is not selfish to want some alone time to plan, organise, and rest so that I can run the house and take care of what needs to be done.

I must Strive to get our finances back on track so that we have a buffer Then if there is a situation we are more able to cope financially with out adding stress.

and i would love to be able to say no if what I am being asked does not suit me.

I thank you for you support and friendship and wish you all well in whatever you are Striving to do in 2011,

 

[girlsinmo]

Good word Katrina...Look forward to following your progress...

 

[Gingerbug]

Great word...it will be interesting to see how you live it in 2011

 

[happy2bme]

I love your word!!

Best to you for 2011.

 

[Ahorsesoul]

A good message to live by for all of us.

 

[Holly Molly]

Wise words.

 

[ChristmasPir8]

Great word! I can tell you thought alot about it alot.

 

[sweetpumkinpye]

Thank you all for your kind and positive words. I will as Ginger suggests try and use these pages as a journal to document how things are going with my word. Hopefully it will be a great year for us all.

 

[luludou]

Looking forward to following your journey

 

[Mackiesmudder]

Oh my goodness, Katrina, that was beautiful and exactly my sentiments. I hope I can learn thru you. Best of luck.
Cathie:tree:

 

[sweetpumkinpye]

I will be using this page to "Journal" how I am going with living by my word. It will be interesting to look back at these pages at the end of the year and see what I have achieved.
Some little goals I have set myself over the last couple of days are helping me with my word.

DH has been great around here and has done everything I have asked him to do. Last night he made a great pizza dinner. I offered to wash the dishes afterward and made sure I let him know how much I liked the meal. I know it is only a small thing, BUT I like to be thanked when I have made a meal so I assume that he does as well.

As for the home being our sanctuary, I have started to declutter our bedroom and have taken 4 bags of stuff out to be donated or thrown away. I will continue to work on our room so that at the end of a long day we have some where cosy to settle down in.

I will work on the rest of the house as part of the room a month program here at MHH.

As for the financial side of things, we are comfortable with what we earn but seem to waste a fair bit of money. This year I have the opportunity to pick up a few more hours at work. It will not be a hardship for me to work a bit extra and we have decided that the extra wages will go straight into our savings. We will also sit down at some stage a re evaluate how we spend our money and if we can tidy things up a bit.

So far I am pleased with how things are going.

 

[ChristmasPir8]

great work so far Katrina!

 

[AnnieClaus]

Great work, Katrina!

Annie

 

[sweetpumkinpye]

Journal Update...

Yesterday was my first day back at work, DH was still at home on holidays. When I came home the house was not as clean as I would've liked. I actually had to stop myself from saying something to DH. I am glad I just let it go. I realised that it was not a big deal, and it would only take a few minutes for me to do what needed doing. So I got changed, DH made me a cup of coffee and I cleaned up a little.

DH is entitled to a break, he works hard at work and here. He has done everything I have asked of him in the past few days. He has helped with my crazy cleaning frenzy, even though he had other things he would rather do. By me keeping my mouth closed and realising that the untidy house was not a big deal meant that we could have a nice evening and not have tension in the house.
Now I am not saying that for the rest of the year DH and I will not have nasty words to say to each other, but if I want to STRIVE to have a better relationship with him, I will often have to make that happen.

As for finances, we have sat down over the past few days and had casual chats about what we are doing with our money. We have come up with a few ideas about cutting spending here and there. It is still a bit too early in the New Year for too serious a conversation.

DD was offered a casual job with my company last night. She is thinking about it. It will be nice to work with here one day a week and see the adult she has become. It would be nice to be able to talk to her at night about something we have in common. We will wait and see if she takes up the offer.

Have been talking to DS about setting himself 3 mini goals a day, just so that he has a sense of satisfaction at the end of the day. Last night his 3 mini goals were to clean his work boots, have a nice long bath and be in bed at a reasonable time. He said he felt better this morning.

The house is getting there!!!!!

So far I am working towards my goals. I am not sure how long I will continue with the enthusiasm that I have at the moment, but journaling like this really does help.

 

[luludou]

Good for you Katrina. I may have to apply this to me this week as I'm going back to work and DH is still off for some time

 

[sweetpumkinpye]

Journal update......

DH is up at the farm so last night DS and I had a little date night. What I did find, was it was hard to have a conversation with him as I had really no idea what he was talking about. I must strive to learn what DS does at his job and to really find out what is interesting to him now. He has been setting 3 mini goals each day which is great.

DD went to the movies and when she got home we had a quiet chat about what it means to be turning 18 in a few weeks time. My main concern is one day they are 17 and still seen as a child in the laws eyes and the very next day they are able to go to pubs and drink and live in a very adult world. She is very sensible and listened to what I was saying, so hopefully she understands my fears.
Spoke to both of them about what we might expect when I increase my work hours soon, told them that with 4 working adults in the house it is important that we all work together to get things done and to keep some order in the home. I think they took what I said on board.

The house is slowly getting back in order.

I have realised that living up to a word is actually a bit of work. You must actually stop and think about putting your word into action. If you don't you are just living the same life that you lived last year.

 

[snickerdoodle]

I have so enjoyed reading your journal. I am reading with interest your changing relationship with your children. My children are now in their 30's but I remember their transition to adulthood and it was a personal growth period for myself as well. It also serves as a reminder that as women we do set the tone in our homes!

 

[sweetpumkinpye]

snickerdoodle, thanks for your kind words. I too feel that it is the woman that sets the tone in the home. I am aware that the dynamic of our home is changing now and that we all need to learn how to relate to each other in this new phase. DH is a bit more blase about things. Where I can relate to the fact that after working a full day they will be tired, DH feels that they should "suck it up" and that I mother them too much. I know that they are adults, but I still don't think a little pampering is a bad thing.

 

[Ahorsesoul]

DH feels that they should "suck it up" and that I mother them too much. I know that they are adults, but I still don't think a little pampering is a bad thing.

Hmm, does he feel he should suck it up or does he like your pampering too. lol

 

[sweetpumkinpye]

ahorsesoul, LOL a very valid point.