Career moves...food, dancing, and writing...all the major life groups. :)

I was hired by a company almost two months ago. I have yet to work for them. Big sigh. I believe that they are going to use me but it may take a few more weeks. I was hoping to use this job as Christmas money. Yeah, that's not happening. Good thing I had some money put back already. As a family of 5 with two sets of grandparents we don't spend more than $700 (for 9 people) on Christmas. That's because we don't usually have more than that. My hubby gets a bonus...a tiny one, but, hey, I guess free money is free money. My children are used to small Christmases. They are such great kids. They rarely ask for things and never throw fits in stores. They know going in that we are coming out with only what's on that list. I know that not having tons of excess money can be a challenge but it really is a blessing for your children. It's a lesson in what's important in life and what's unnecessary. We have all that we need. The love of our family, food on our table, a roof over our head, and clothes on their backs and that is all we need. Everything else is cake. Great now I want cake. :)

Speaking of cake, I make almost everything we eat from scratch. I don't make bread, crackers, and cereal. But, if I can make it from scratch I do. After watching Food, Inc one of the many things I took away from it was you can eat anything you want as long as you make it. Because when you make it you know what's in it. (Did you know margarine is one molecule away from being plastic? Your body knows what to do with butter it has no idea what to do with margarine) So, I made homemade stuffing for Thanksgiving. Then, we went with family to have another thanksgiving and there was stuffing there. It was sooooo good. It was frozen and sold at Walmart. I had actually forgotten about it. Anyway, I was speaking to my hubby about how good that stuffing was and how I had forgotten all about it. His exact words to me were, "yes, it was. But yours was better and we know what is in yours." Awww. He notices what I do for the family. Trying to be healthier can be hard!

I'm loving the dance class I take on Thurs nights. It's line dancing and it's a great 2 hour workout. It begins again this week. Let me know if anyone wants to go with me. It's a lot of fun. Today I worked out on the treadmill and the elliptical. I can tell the dancing is helping my stamina on both. It's increasing and that's great. I'm really going to try to kick up the weight loss a notch.

In addition to loving the dance class I'm loving writing again. I've been researching how to become a better writer. I love planning out new stories and seeing where they will go. Planning a story is a new thing for me. I was one of those who just did it on a whim. But I can definitely see where planning is a better way to go. It's like a map for your story. I have set a goal of writing five pages a day.

I would love to be contributing to the family income right now. But that's not happening. Maybe I need to look into volunteering for a food bank to give myself something to do. Hmm. I might need to make some calls.   This week on Thurs I have another mammogram at the Vanderbilt Breast Center. Hopefully nothing's changed and they will give my mind some rest from thinking too much.  My dad is doing great. He had another CT scan that showed he was still cancer free and they said his lungs sound great. What a nice change from this time last year! Life is good.