Family time

We moved into our new house a few minutes from my husband's job to have more family time. I have been delighted with the results these past three weeks, but my family informed me, in their nice little way, that they want to see more of me. That is, more of me NOT at the computer. They didn't come out and say it that way, but I got the message loud and clear.

They're right. I spend too much time at the computer. Some of it is working and some of it isn't, but too much of a good thing is definitely not a good thing.

To remedy this situation before it turns into a problem, I plan to implement something similar to my work schedule for computer use. That is, from about mid-afternoon until after the kids go to bed is time spent with the family, mostly away from the computer.

There are no hard and fast rules with this, but I try my best to get the bulk of my work done in the mornings and after the kids go to bed. This same routine ought to work for computer use as well.

I'm putting it to use starting today, and hopefully everyone will be happier with my decreased use of the computer while everyone is up and around.

Making ourselves at home

For the last three weeks (has it REALLY been THREE weeks?) we've been super busy trying to get settled into our new home and getting back to our normal routine. It's been exciting and we're quite enjoying it.

We have more time now together as a family, which was the main reason for the move. With my husband being only 10 or so minutes from work, we see a lot more of him, and most days we eat at least a meal together, sometimes even two. That was very rare for us at our other home.

We have taken up learning American Sign Language as we are attending meetings at the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses with the ASL group near here. It's something my husband and I have both always wanted to do, and we felt that this would be an excellent opportunity for our children to learn a foreign language, and of course so we could talk with more people about the Bible. It's going really well and we are learning new signs just about every day, and most certainly at every meeting.

We are still trying to sell our other home and are having some work done on it. We've been back there (or at least my husband has) every weekend since we've moved to work on it or just to get more stuff. There is something odd about that. Before we moved we spent many weekends over this way, either househunting or doing other things related to moving, and now that we are here, we keep going back to the other house every weekend.

Another odd thing about the work is that we always wanted to do things like paint our house and do other aesthetic improvements but never had the time or money. Now it seems that I have the house I always wanted now that I no longer live there. Just within the last couple of months we pulled up most of the carpet I detested and replaced the floor and flooring, and then moved into a house totally carpeted!

I've stayed busy with my writing work and of course have taken the girls with me. We've also done some fun things like go to the movies and explore new places available here in the "big city" where we now live.

We really like our new home, our location, and the fact that we see more of each other. More good things await us in our new surroundings!