Thoughts on This Dreary Winter Day.

It is a dark, dreary day today; but we are in our warm cozy house.  It really took me some time to get used to this new house.  We went from a rented dark cave-like ranch-style house on beautiful acreage with a pond to a lovely window-filled house in a subdivision with a normal yard (and no pond).  I do miss the fields and chickens, but now it is so nice to be inside on gloomy days.

This house is a two-story/ 3 bedroom, but the previous owners finished out part of the attic so now I have an official office.  It is not fancy (and painted an unfortunate blue and brown combo with a really dangerous "popcorn" ceiling), but it has become one of my favorite rooms.  I have the boys' toys up here so they can play literally at my feet when I work during the days (my own personal day care).  This is also my exercise room (exercise tapes), guest room, and storage room.  I love that I can open a door and be in the attic and not have to climb one of those unsteady, drop-down attic ladders.

My office has two windows on either side and the image above is right next to my computer.  We decided to get a multi-story house so we would have views out the windows, and this tree-filled view helps me get over the loss of living out in the sorta-country.  Our other house had tiny windows and the only good view was from our bedroom, where I could look out over the fields.  This house has pretty wooded views from every room, and the upper stories make me feel like I am living in a treehouse.

It is nice that my boys can actually ride their bikes and Green Machine safely on the neighborhood roads now.  Our subdivision is in a circle, so no one is cutting through to get anywhere.  Our old house was on a twisty, dangerous through-road with no sidewalks, so we couldn't safely walk or ride around the area.

I love our new neighborhood, but I was really missing the open spaces of our last house.  However, the other day we found a little trail to the adjoining bigger neighborhood and discovered this amazing place.  I felt like I walked through the wardrobe.

This newer subdivision made this huge greenbelt for drainage, and it borders a wild and lovely creek and is surrounded by trees.  Best of all, it is kept mowed and it is a great place for the kids and dog to play.  They run around in at the bottom while I walk the border and get my much needed vitamins and exercise.  The perfect place to spend those cooler sunny days when we don't feel like getting in the car to visit our local parks.

I have moved around so much the last decades (so many apartments and one rental home) and it is nice to finally settle down in our own place.  And we now have almost a year's worth of happy memories in this house, so it is finally feeling like home.  And that is a good feeling.  Having a mortgage, not such a great feeling.  ;-)

I have had a few readers comment that they were upset that I was offering one of my Digital Paper Packs to my Facebook fans first.  I want to assure all of my readers that anything I offer on my Facebook Fan page will also be posted here within a short time.  As a blogger who works at home it can get pretty lonely.  Facebook has allowed me to interact with my readers in ways not possible with email or blog comments.  I can also answer your questions and listen to your suggestions in a public format, hopefully helping other people who follow my page.  So for me, Facebook is a free and valuable tool and helps keep this blog possible.

I really enjoyed reading everyone's comments on my post: Dismayed by This "Entitled Society"?  Why This Mom Stopped Blaming the Government.  I get so excited when I have new comments to read.  I love learning what works for you in your life, and I love when you link your own inspirational books and websites.  I think I am going to buy the kindle version of Have a New Kid by Friday: How to Change Your Child's Attitude, Behavior & Character in 5 Days, it sounds like a great read and thanks for suggesting it!

And I agree with my readers who said that children can turn out perfectly fine without doing regular chores.  I think that some people are so self-motivated that no matter how they are raised they will grow up and do amazing things.  But I am taking no chances with my boys.  I figure learning basic life skills isn't going to hurt them, and it is really making my life so much easier.  And a happy mom equals a happy family.  :-)

We are going "back to school" next week, so I have to spend the next days getting everything together.  I am excited to get back on a schedule.  It has been nice having the time off, but I really love to home-school those boys of mine.

Now off to make sure Duke fed the dog.  I don't think Blackberry enjoys our new family experiment.  I wonder how Duke would feel if I forgot to feed him his breakfast?  ;-)

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