Each time something to do is added to my life there is a time of adjustment. Sometimes a well thought out plan of action is needed. So a while back in hopes of starting order in our house, I sat down and requested Doug's assistance in making a few lists. The lists we made were: Dylan Chores, Dylan general rules, my household tasks and the "Did you remember the..." list. Dylan chores hangs in his bedroom so he can make sure he is on top of things like...cleaning his room, brushing his teeth, homework...etc some things are not his responsibility alone such as homework, however in the past Dylan has needed "warning" of things to come...if you drop a bomb on him he has had a meltdown. General rules reminds him and his brother when he is here, that we keep our hands to ourselves, we don't scream/yell etc. My household tasks keeps my mind fresh on what needs to be done so the laundry or meals do not suffer. "Did you remember the" reminds me as I am leaving for church, a day with friends or family , to have my house keys, cell phone, cash, fully stocked diaper bag, etc. This way we are not turning around or doing without.
I know the first couple days I forgot I had the lists and as I was running out the door my sister stops and reads the list " WAIT, do you have the ___ ? the ____ how about the ____? okay let's go." I felt like a phoney organizer...I ran right past my list and my sister who did not create the list remembered to check it. But then I knew in my heart I would get it right...unfortunately I needed to make a few more mistakes to learn.
We also simplified our lives as far as bills go as well. We have life, car and renters insurance all on one bill, one credit card with a balance around 120$ just to build credit ,we have prepaid phones since we never use them except to prevent unnecessary trips to visit family who are not home and emergencies...which there are none Thank God! We have a lower speed internet bill, and then the basics lights water gas etc. No car payment, no contract cell phones that charge us more than we use our phone, no extra credit cards..etc. Simple is simply less stressful!
So on with my simple life...right?
I get up at 6:54am after a few night time feedings with Maddie and as it has been in prior days, my oldest son, his step mom and her daughter(my sons half-sister) are standing at the door waiting. I keep saying I am going to get back on track and be there before they knock at the door...but today and prior to today that has not been happening. I get to out Maddie down for a short nap and my sons sister is sleeping too.... I straightened the front room and then read prayer requests emails, posts from Pastors etc and get Dylan dressed. 7:56 I begin getting ready to take the boys to VBS, Doug wakes up. 8:20 boys are at VBS (which for this week VBS is replacing the Bible Study we do with the boys everyday at home) and I am back home to feed Maddie and do the Bible study with Doug. We do three study units and I do dishes and start laundry gather trash to it's central location and dump it then pass to Doug. I feed my son's sister and then it's time for lunch no time for getting groceries like we needed so it is buy one get one pizzas....I HATE spending money on food I can make and just don't have the time to. Today I am not going to sweat it though. Knock at the door, it's maintenance they are replacing our broken stove..." Please move your furniture." Mmmmk, path clear check check. Doug goes for pizza and the stove arrives, I sweep up behind the stove, wash the wall...and here is the apartment's new stove. Warm the stove stick the pizza in it that Doug just brought back, get the girls ready to go to VBS to watch Ty and Dylan sing praises and watch the final teaching of the day. Unloaded at VBS watching the boys have a blast. My mom and sister show up from their busy day to give us a ride back home. Get home serve pizza change my sons sister and sit down to eat.
The chores continue and then my mom and sister arrive back at the apartment to pick us up so we can have some fresh air. See our apartment was rented to us unfit to live in , there was urine on the floors, and mold in and on the walls. The urine smell showed up right after they had the carpets "cleaned" and when we moved a few boxes in we told them about the smell. They assured us they would take care of it and since we had rented from them in another unit for some time we were sure they would fix the issues....they removed the carpets but the smell stayed. The mold they call mildew (still dangerous to our health ) it gets to stay...we should be happy!!! The list goes on not enough space to tell all the terrible details just this...we have been more out of order in our house due to this mess, we had been spending just enough time here to make a mess and then leave again. The next day I go around putting out fires and then I make more and leave....to put them out the next day.
Today our attorney is sending us a draft letter to approve to get us out of this excuse the term...Hell Hole. Essentially that is what it is. Satan has tried so many times to cause an uproar in our family and we refuse to let it happen. All is well with us, we serve the Lord and Abraham's blessings are ours!
Dylan's meltdowns were very minimal today, one because of a brother conflict and one because his brother's sister would not say " Madalyn"...she is 10 months old...try explaining that to Dylan...thank you Grandma, who took that one. The better structure, rules, stern...but not frantic tone of voice and appropriate punishments really help Dylan stay focused and in line.
The day was more productive than usual, however we still did not get to pick up our groceries. So that is for 7-29. Each day I will get more and more in order...moving next month will really help us out in a major way. Right now I have multiple boxes of garage sale items in my dining room and my pictures are not hung due to a move soon...Maddie doesn't have a bed set up yet since her room is the worst as far as urine scent... Ahhh the day we get to say we are HOME (on earth that is) will be a great and exciting day. Thank you Jesus!
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