Well, the holiday week certainly kept me busy. Part of that was this little thing called a Kindle that A got for me.....So I have read five books since Christmas (I know that is a bit excessive). I am so excited about how easy it is to get a book. I just need to watch my budget and use the library and free collections more often than buying a new book, or else my basic life will suffer.
My house is still a wreck. Although I have been working all week in addition to reading, I have also started work (or rather my father has started) on the actual renovating of the new house. The tear down phase is pretty much done, just a couple of damaged ceiling areas to tear down still. The main wall for the boys rooms went up yesterday. I can not help much during this framing, electrical and plumbing stage, as I have minimal knowledge about how to do those three things. It would slow him down too much to be teaching me as we go because I am struggling to pay for two homes at the same time, so finishing as quickly as we can is important. After the framing, electrical and plumbing inspection, then we can put up the sheet rock at which point I can actually be of use. I CAN sheet rock, tape, spackle, paint, and then deal with flooring and molding. Then we can have the final inspection, get our CO and move in. Then I can give this apartment a thorough cleaning, and be done here. I also am looking forward to having a child care area that is separate from the main living and sleeping area of my home. It will be easier to design educational and fulfilling activities for the kids I care for, and will be able to keep my own children's stuff more protected and private, as the child care kids will not have access to their rooms. Here is so small that the kids use the living room/kitchen and the boys bedroom for playing as there is too little room to play and do projects otherwise.
I look forward to us having our own house again, and to getting the day care license process completed, then I make more than $3 an hour because I can have a few kids . Iin NY you can not have more than 2 kids at a time without the license, and in this area many people make minimum wage or barely above it, so can not pay more than $2-3 an hour--and the child care subsidy pays even less than that for people who qualify! Add int hat very few people have full time jobs year round up here, and you can see that making an income babysitting is not easy. Actually making a livable income at all is a challenge. But when I can have 4-5 kids at $2-3 an hour, I can make enough to actually eek out a living for me and the kids.
This week has also see A really step up to the plate with the kids. A has been sober for one month as of Christmas Day, and the changes that I see remind me of the person that I met nearly eight years ago. It is amazing how much addiction can change a person. We have a lot of baggage from the past few years, so I am not sure if our relationship could ever truly heal enough to consider getting back together, but it is good to the person that knew back them again. Of course it is not easy, and healing takes time, but I see A being more responsible with work, with the kids, and with taking care of the things A needs to rather than waiting for others (like me) to do it. Each of the kids spent one night at A's by themselves, and then they have spent 3 nights at A's together. I would love to say that I got to sleep in those days, but alas I still had kids to babysit, so the only day I slept in (to 9:30!! after getting up at my normal 6:30 to let the dog out and back in of course, but went back to bed). It was New Years Day. I went over to A's for New Year's eve, and the kids stayed up to watch the ball drop on TV. This was the first time they stayed up for New Year's Eve. Then I tucked them into their beds at A's house and headed home. Of course I ended up staying up until 2:30am reading, so I did not actually catch up on any sleep, sheesh!!
I am looking fr\orward tom this new year. I have many unfinished or partially finished goals from the last couple of years, and I will continue working on them. The three biggies I hope to continue this year are getting healthier physically, getting healthier spiritually, and getting healthier financially. Three facets of "wealth" in helping to transform my life.
Three primary focuses for the physical aspect: exercising 5 days a week needs to start happening again; eating more vegetables and fruit and less processed carbohydrates, and being more conscientious with food and snack choices (broth or soup for a snack instead of cookies or a bowl of cereal; drinking ample amounts of water; drinking hot tea between meals instead of immediately reaching for something to chew on; chewing gum when I really need the sensation of chewing; planning my meals beforehand so that I know I am eating a well balanced, nutrient dense meal, instead of throwing whatever together at the last minute).
Three primary focuses for the spiritual aspect: meditating at least 15 minutes a day; teaching my children about and living life as a prayer (being aware that everything I do can be an act of prayer--a way of communicating with and connecting to the Divine); and using self-hypnosis to actively work on emotional/mental blockages and to transform negative thinking patterns and habits.
Three primary focuses for the financial aspect: Making a reasonable budget based on actual spending needs and committing to it fully; Getting the day care business underway and being very reasonable with the budget; and putting some time and effort into the two business I have underway--finish my hypnosis training and get certified so I can make and sell some hypnosis MP3 and CD's, and work on my Ambit business, which my brother is law is making a six figure income from after only 2 years of being an independent consultant, so I know the company is honest, the service is good, and it is a great way to help others make money while helping their friends and family save money on electricity. I just need to find the time to put into building my business to bring in more income.
So three focus areas for my continued life transformation of my life. May 2012 bring blessings to you from unexpected places. And may you be open to being transformed!!
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