Category: Chronicles of a SAHM

Chronicles of a SAHM, Journaling, Lupus, organization

Sketch Notes

Sonja Hollis

I really love these sketch notes.  They allow me to be creative while writing my grocery lists, my to-do lists or just my every day thoughts.  Who knew that what we called doodling in school would become a “thing”?

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Credit to Dana Ladenburger, Twitter

Lupus sometimes creates what they call “brain fog.”  It’s when you have problems concentrating or remembering something. It can be frustrating because it happens at the most inconvenient time (as if there is a good time to forget or lose concentration). So, I’m constantly writing notes on sticky notes to remember stuff, but then misplace them…or my daughter decides they’re hers and writes on them.  I have what seems like a million note pads with letters and reminders to myself. However, since using this method introduced to me by my husband, it no longer feels like a chore when I have to write something down.  It allows me to use both sides of my brain. I can write down the necessary information in a logical fashion, but then I get to highlight them in pretty colors and make pictures to help remind me of the important points. Pretty cool.

We’ll see how long this method lasts.  I’m always up for new things, but then someone else shows me another “shiny object” and I get distracted.  Until the next time…

 

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Chronicles of a SAHM, Journaling, organization

INSPIRED TO ORGANIZE

Sonja Hollis

 

So after watching a friend’s Youtube video, The Winey Budget  I was inspired to get organized.  That notion passed quickly though as I am a creature of chaos

I have purchased notebooks, planners, phone apps – all with the intent on getting organized.  I’ve watched videos, searched Pinterest for ideas and created calendars of every size …to no avail.  I doubt I will ever be as organized as I’d love to be, but until then, I’ll keep trying.

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This is just the right side of my desk!

Last night, my husband gave me a bullet journal that I told him that I had seen on Pinterest. I’ve actually started using it – not because I know what I’m doing, but because I know he will ask me about it later.   My husband is also responsible for setting up my office in my basement.  AND OF COURSE my monitor size is ridiculous – a man set it up! (You should see the TV in the family room!)

Anyway, I’m trying to juggle this thing called stay-at-home mom’ing that people think is such an easy task.  Well, I’ve worked from the time that I was fifteen up until the time that I retired and let’s just say this stay-at-home stuff is way harder. Before I retired, I worked 8-10 hours in a scout car, went home, cooked, ate and went to bed.  Now, I have to schedule one day to myself every month just to decompress from the ridiculousness of my unorganized life. So, I need to get my stuff together.  I mean, I saw it on TV!  Moms cleaning, cooking, doing laundry while wearing high heels and mascara, taking kids to their activities, then coming home and being “wife”… and they did all of this with a smile. What the heck am I doing wrong?

I’m supposed to be retired. Yet, here I am doing all of the abovementioned activities, being a girl scout mom, a dance mom, a swim mom and a small business owner. So yeah, I’m a work in progress. Follow me on my adventure as I get my life in order or die trying. LOL

Chronicles of a SAHM

I Need a Better Hiding Place

Sonja Hollis

Stay-at-Home-Moms (SAHMs) typically look forward to the end of the day, when every one and every thing is quiet. That’s when we go to our hiding place. My hiding place happens to be my bathroom. I can close the door and think, or dream, or beautify, or just sit quietly and meditate.

Recently however, my hiding place has become no longer that. It has been compromised. This is what has been happening lately:

As I’m sitting on my vanity chair, I hear from a distance, “Mommm.” It’s my five year old daughter. She should be sleep, but has decided that finding out my location is a top priority- as I had not received clearance from her to disappear. I know she’s coming, so I sit as still and stay as quiet as I can.

“Mommmm. Dad, where’s mom?” I listen for his response, because of course, he’s got my back – I am he, he is me. We are one. And of course, he knows it’s after her bedtime and he needs to direct her to go back to her room and go to bed. But no. He tells her my exact location. “She’s in the bathroom.”

Snitch.

So, now I hear footsteps coming closer to the door. “Mom, are you in there?”

No response from me…I’m hiding.

“Mom, are you in there?”

“Yes. What do you want?”

“What are you doing?”

“Nothing. What do you want?”

“Are you on the potty?”

“Sure. What do you want?”

“Did you have to boo boo?”

“WHAT DO YOU WANT?”

“Are you mad?”

Face palm. “Omg. What do you want? I’m in the bathroom. I’ll be out in a minute.”

“Can you put on my band-aid?”

“SERIOUSLY? GO ASK YOUR DAD!”

Now, I’m rushing through the shower just so I can place my hands around my husband’s neck. He heard all of this, but didn’t rush to help me (or her for that matter). I love my kids with my entire heart, but I definitely need a new hiding place.

Chronicles of a SAHM, Lupus, Saving Money

Lupus said “Chill”

Sonja Hollis

So, I had every intention on blogging Saturday but I had a lupus flare and it completely zapped my energy.  After grocery shopping and hanging out with my sisters,  I was supposed to come home and brag about how much I saved at the store, but I crashed and burned.  I think I was asleep before my head touched the pillow.  I had that “I’m so angry that if I don’t go to bed NOW, somebody is going to get hurt” type of sleepiness.

Then, at 2:30am, I woke up in pain in my side, in my back and I had a migraine. I didn’t even get sleepy until a half hour before I had to take my daughter to swim class – ten hours later. I couldn’t take any meds because they just make me sleepy or woozy and I never like feeling like that.  Sure, my body would’ve felt better, but it’s like walking in a fog. I decided to just drink some coffee.  LOL Yes, I have tea and I know that would’ve been a better choice, but I have a serious coffee addiction.  Thankfully, it doesn’t keep me awake. It totally relaxes me.

Having said all of that, I didn’t save a lot of money. I did okay, but I recognize that I needed more help with couponing.  I’ve signed up to a few of the Facebook couponing groups to get tips and tricks.  I’ll go tomorrow to see how well I do on buying school supplies at Target using their ideas.  Either I need more coupons or I need to make a list and travel to different stores instead of getting everything at one.  I did end up going to Kroger to get my free eggs and free Ragu pasta sauce using the coupons they sent me though.  Love those!   Here are my savings: IMG-6003.JPG

I’ll post my savings from Target tomorrow – God willing. Good night!

Chronicles of a SAHM, organization, Saving Money

Saving Money…by any means necessary!

Sonja Hollis

Today, I woke up on a mission to save more money.  I’ve already been clipping coupons, using my store rewards and shopping apps. So, I decided to go to the website of some of my favorite brands, such as Snuggle, Ziploc, Proctor & Gamble and Kelloggs to see if they have any additional savings.  I recognized that I spend more money on these brands than anything else.

What I found were pretty good coupons on Kelloggs (plus points),  P&G and Ziploc – very nice!! I didn’t find any coupons on Snuggle, but I did join the Snuggle Bear Den, so hopefully they will send some soon! It’s also really convenient to be able to link my store cards so that the savings go right onto the rewards.  I don’t have to fumble through so many coupons when I’m shopping when I’m able to do that.

I’ll post my total savings tomorrow!! Here are the links:  www.ziploc.com www.pgeveryday.com, www.snuggle.com, and www.kelloggsfamilyreward.com

Chronicles of a SAHM, Journaling, organization

SAHM Planning Day 4

Sonja Hollis

Day 4 of my new Journaling Journey and I am still enjoying the process.  I’ve realized that from writing down my goals for the day, that sometimes I set the bar too high.  For example, yesterday I wrote that I would take my daughter to school, work out for an hour, then come home clean for an hour and then go back to pick up my daughter from school, cook dinner, wash dishes, etc.

Ok, so this is what really happened: I dropped her off, I worked out, then I came home and passed out for an hour.  I had to put off cleaning until after my daughter got home and had lunch.  I got it done though – house cleaned from top to bottom and I’d worked out.  I had accomplished what I didn’t think I could do in a relatively short period of time.

Also, the fact that my meals are all planned out, removes the stress of trying to think of something last minute or ordering take out.  I also learned to write on my dry erase board that’s attached to the fridge – a menu for the day. There are no changes either – no additions or deletions.  Stress free. I’m loving it so far.

Chronicles of a SAHM, Journaling, organization, Saving Money

Stay-at-Home-Mom (SAHM) Stuff

Sonja Hollis

So… my husband purchased a “Life & Apples” growth planner and I’ve decided that today would be the day to start logging in my affirmations, tasks and goals for my life.   I actually started brainstorming and writing small notes a week prior so that when I opened my planner, I would be ready…hopefully.

What I soon realized however, is that what I thought were just small, attainable goals actually required many steps to achieve.  For example, under the “Career and Finances” category – I wrote that I wanted to stop using my credit cards as much as I have been in the last three months.  To do that, requires me to cut down on spending.  Therefore, I checked my bank and credit card accounts to see where the bulk of my spending was and it was *insert drum roll* grocery shopping.  Ridiculous!  I used to coupon and check the weekly ads for sales, but I’d stopped that and just started shopping every week all willy nilly. (It doesn’t help that I live within five miles of Target, two Meijer stores, Walmart and Kroger) – so my spending has definitely increased.  I realized that I would have to become more organized with my shopping lists and spending habits.

I started by writing down and numbering every meal that I like to make for the family complete with sides. I wrote down the corresponding numbers to days of the week.

Monday – #1 – Meatballs with gravy, mashed potatoes and green beans.

Tuesday – #5 – Tacos, etc…

Then, I wrote down all the necessary ingredients that I would need for each meal.

On a separate sheet of paper, I began writing down the items that I didn’t have available in my fridge or pantry and I started clipping coupons.  I then went to my Ibotta app and my Checkout 51 app to see what would be eligible for rebates later and wrote that down.    My next step was to go to each store’s website to see what was on sale, clip my rewards and go shopping.  I decided on Meijer for this shopping trip. (I also use the Shopkick app while in the store which is why I can’t shop with my kids – I need to concentrate). It seems like a lot of work but gets easier over time.   I ended up saving over $50 – with an additional $7.50 in eligible rebates!

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At least now I can start the week off with savings!  I knocked off a couple of tasks in pursuit of the goal of cutting down on my spending and that felt great.  I’m also going to look around to find out other ways to save today.

I think this planner is the way to go!  I can look at my goals at the beginning of the week and see much I’ve achieved at the end.  I just have to be consistent…in everything.  Wish me luck!

Chronicles of a SAHM

Nostalgia

Sonja Hollis

I was making a hot dog for my daughter, when I turned and looked at this bag with one hot dog bun left in it.  It brought back a wave of nostalgia that I haven’t experienced in a while.  It reminded me of backyard parties and picnics at the local parks with opened pop cans overturned on the table and half eaten hamburgers and potato chips left on a plate.  I remembered my uncle cooking over an open flame charcoal pit with a beer can close by (for seasoning *wink wink*), playing volleyball with a net that had missing strings, kids running around tossing water balloons and screaming loud enough to “raise the dead” my mom would say; bees flying over head and ants crawling on the table looking for an uneaten morsel of food.  Wow. Good times.

But it was just a hot dog bag.

Chronicles of a SAHM, Journaling, Lavender Fields Creations

Uninspired

Sonja Hollis

I find myself feeling totally uninspired. This is quite a contradiction as I am writing this because of a sudden inspiration to tell the world about how uninspired I am. (Weird)

Anyway, years ago, it was easy to put together a paragraph, a page, or a chapter. Now it’s difficult to even string two words together without having to use a dictionary. Inspiration used to flow from my fingertips onto paper, later to a keyboard where words were given life – like water – to anyone who would willingly partake of its goodness. I loved to write words describing my life and every intricate detail – it was juicy.

I don’t know if it’s the dis-ease that I have now which makes me mundane, dull, lackluster and oddly droll, but I want more. I want my old life back. I want laughter and dancing. I want poetry and fiction.

I want to feel life but how do I do this? How do I get my groove back?

Chronicles of a SAHM

Giving Praise

Sonja Hollis

This morning I woke up with so many problems on my mind and on my heart.  I keep trying to figure out how I’M going to get through some of my issues. Then, I heard all the birds outside chirping and singing – just making a lot of noise – beautiful noise though.  I was kind of irritated because they had taken me away from my thoughts.  So, I started wondering about what was so important that they had to wake up that early in the morning with such a ruckus.

Then it occurred to me.  Birds wake up giving praises for being carried through the night, for waking up in the morning able to see the sun, being with family, for not being hungry and for the ability to fly. Well, at least that’s my interpretation.  There’s a lot that we can be upset about, but there is so much more to be thankful for. Keep giving God praise. He’s brought you this far for a reason.

Love, Me (and the birds)