Recap

Well, my 12 week "vacation" is over. Monday I start back to work. I can't believe it's gone so fast. I'm a little nervous and ready for the first day to be over with. I think I'm partly worried that I've forgotten everything smart I once knew and partly nervous that I won't like it anymore and partly afraid that it will be too much to do and I won't have enough time to spend with Ella. Here's an example of why I'm worried about losing my mind. I went to Wal-Mart the other day and when I got to the car I couldn't find my keys anywhere. I spent an hour looking around Wal-Mart, asking people, I even looked in the car several times. I finally got a hold of Brad and he sent Mike to come give me a set of keys. Right after I got off the phone I looked one more time and they were right there in my shopping bag

But on the positive side, we found a great girl to come over and watch Ella. She's also going to help out around the house which should make things a whole lot easier. I'll probably end up with more time that I know what to do with and will have been worried about nothing.

I thought this would be a good time to see how I did on my "to do" list:
1. Pray and read my Bible every day - OK, I put this one first because I thought it was the most important and unfortunately I didn't do so well on it. I probably only read my Bible 1/4 of the days. It is hard to be honest about not doing so good, so next list maybe I'll stick to it better.

2. Relax and hold Ella - I did quite a bit of this, especially the first 2 months when she slept so much. It was so nice to have her fall asleep on my chest while I read or took a nap.

3. Read "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand - I finished this long book (1,000 pages)and really enjoyed it even though I didn't totally agree with all her conclusions. It was an interesting story line which she used to demonstrate her philosphies. I thought she had a lot of good points about capitalism in America and the illustrations which probably seemed grossly exaggerated in the 50's don't sound so far off now, especially with all the bailout stuff that has been going on. I would recommend the book to anyone who is interested in philosphy and politcal science.

4. Read "Democracy in America" by Alexis De Tocqueville - I've only made it through the first part of the Part I. I really like it so far although there are sections that get a little dry. It is interesting to read a foreigner's perspective on our country almost 180 years ago. The biggest dfference I've noticed between our country then and now is the role of the Federal government. It was VERY limited back then with most of the laws made at the state level and most of the administration done at what he calls the "township" level. The titles of later sections look interesting so I'm excited to finish the book.

5. Read "The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment" by Jeremiah Burrows - I took this book to Seattle with me and spilled half a glass of water on it which totally ruined it. I've got another copy on the way.

6. Consistently update blog - I guess that's kind of subjective...

7. Keep up with Ella's baby book - I finished her baby book and left a page to write all her "firsts" down.

8. Memorize the first 2 chapters of Philippians - I didn't do so well on this either. I made it through the first 12 verses and then got distracted with other things. I'll have to move this to the next list.

9. Make a book summarizing our 2008 - I did this while we were in Seattle. I'm just waiting on a couple more pictures from friends and then I can order it.

10. Finish researching client software for the Crisis Pregnancy Center and make recommendation - I worked with the center Director and we decided to go with Way Cool software. The Board approved our decsion and we ordered it last week. Now we have the big task of implementing it and putting all the old records in so we have at least one calendar year in the database.

11. Find a good arrangement for Ella for when I return to work - Done. I'm so excited about Johanna. She is a girl who goes to our church and is graduating from high school this May.

12. Organize my socks and underware - I did this and it's such a good feeling every time I open the draweres. I ordered some dividers which will be here Monday so hopefully everything will stay nice and neat.

13. Make my bed every day - I actually surprised myself with this one and made my bed almost every day. I think its a habit I'll keep because it makes the room so much nicer looking throughout the day.

OK, that was probably way more info than anyone wanted to know, but I've decided this blogging thing is kind of theraputic.