Reading Material: 10 – Lately, all I have had time to read happens to be the Bible and this Bible Study
Media Exposure: 5 – For media, I feel inclined to include video games here as well as TV. I do try to choose video games that have little/no cursing, which is EXTREMELY difficult in today’s market. Lately, I have been playing Lord of the Rings from time to time and it is not too bad with language/attire of the characters. I do not often get a choice on TV selections as Kevin has the remote in the evening. I usually let him watch what he wants. However, if the kids are in the room and I disagree with the language and/or content, I will ask him to change it. If it is just us, I let it go. Maybe I could do better in this area – I hate to take things away from Kevin that he enjoys, but gentle reminders would not hurt. 🙂
Fashion Sense: 8 – Fashion is NOT my thing. My sister in NJ seems to always have the cutest clothes, always seems to be current with the style trends, and always looks fantastic. She did modeling when we were growing up, but I have always not been concerned with that stuff. Sometimes I feel a little frumpy about what I wear. Comfort comes first with my medical condition – if it is not comfy, I do not wear it. So most days it is yoga-style pants and a plan t-shirt. Somedays it is my ugly gray sweatpants – so ugly, but cozy and warm. Some days I will wear jeans if I am going to the kids’ school or need to go shopping or if Kevin and I are going somewhere – those look a little nicer, but not overly tight or anything. Shoes… its either my Skecher flip flops or my tan orthopedic shoes that I have had for three years. Again – comfort. I don’t own any heels. I do wear crocs from time to time – not the most attractive thing in my wardrobe.
Financial Priorities: 9 – Groceries are the main thing I buy – and Kevin and I always discuss this in advance when we do our weekly meal planning. We use emeals, which we pay a small fee for, but it helps us budget better and keep up with the items that are on sale each week so we are spending wisely. I only buy myself clothes when Kevin says, “Go now and buy something or I am picking it out for you.” I strongly dislike clothes shopping as it is exhausting to me, but sometimes things wear out and it needs to be done. lol. I only gave myself a 9 on this because there are times I splurge on the kids on impulse or because I am too tired to cook and pick up fast food. I could work on this some.
Family Time: 8 – Some of our family time issues are beyond our control because the girls have to see their dad on weekends for visitation, but he is moving to Florida in a couple of weeks, so that is going to change some. We eat dinner every night together Sundays through Thursdays (and on the weekends, but it is not always all 5 of us – sometimes it is just me Kevin and Larry – sometimes it is just me and Kevin). We like to play video games together when we can and have board game nights when we can.
Home Life: 9 – I try to keep things calm and running smoothly at home. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. lol. I desire to be able to handle all the housework, but with my health condition, Kevin has been picking up the slack OFTEN for years. The kids help, too. We try to focus on God at home and when the kids need re-direction, we use memory verses to help remind them. We haven’t been to church as a family in years because the medications I take allow me to get sick very easily. The last two times I attended church, I came home with the flu – and these incidences were TWO YEARS apart from each other. I think this is something else that we can work on if the news I got from the doc today pans out. 🙂 Praying for an answer here so I know how I can work on my life.
Food Choices/Selection: 7 – Food choices and selection are not too bad. With Kevin being diabetic and with using the emeals plan, we stay on track pretty well with healthy food choices. HOWEVER, on the occasions that we have ice cream or sweets in the house, I do tend to overdo it. However, so will Kevin… so that is why I try not to buy those things. They are poison to him and aren’t that great for me, but it is nice to have a special treat once in a while.
Personal Appearance: 5 – I only give myself a 5 for personal appearance right now. This is not a priority to me, but for Kevin’s sake and to set an example for the children, I feel I could do better with this. I do not shower every day due to sheer exhaustion from my medical condition. Many days my curly hair is very frizzy so I just pull it back rather than try to wet it and fix it. I do not wear any makeup at all because of skin and eye conditions related to medications. AND I have medication-induced adult acne. I wouldn’t want to look at me – I feel self conscious at times but I am not able to work on this until I can do something about the medications… thankfully there is a chance this will be handled sooner than I ever thought possible. Light at the end of the tunnel. 🙂
Time Usage: 7 – This is a tough area for me. I detest needing naps during the day, but the exhaustion I battle makes them necessary. Any day I take a nap, I NEVER can finish everything I wanted to. This is a main area of contention for me personally. Kevin NEVER complains, though. I also can get easily lost on the computer – lost as in I lose track of time while I am working or designing a website. Almost an “obsession” when I am in the middle of a project. I feel I need to work on that. On a plus side, I have a very strict schedule I stick to during the day at home, so I think this helps me feel as if I am accomplishing things during the day. These scheduled time blocks do include “RA Rest Time” but they also include Exercise, TAG, Cooking, Cleaning, Laundry, Online Work, Homework Time with the Kids, etc… Having these scheduled out on my phone, with reminders, is very helpful in minimizing lost time for me each day.
