Well it's Monday and time to get back to work. After being sick all last week, it seems I have an abundance of housework to do, need to get caught up on my Bible study, definitely should pay some bills and do some grocery shopping. Something in the refrigerator has a less than pleasant aroma, so I should probably tackle that pretty quickly as well. Jeff was great last week, but I had to give my two teenagers a pep talk (they'd probably call it a lecture!) about how they ought to have picked up some of the slack.

I had to cancel the prom-dress trip today. The consequence of some teenage attitude problems in our home this weekend. She was waiting for my final verdict this morning, after which I had to endure her sad sniffles all morning. It amazes me how loud her quiet weeping can be. Like a wounded little puppy with really big sad eyes. Really played on that prohibitive conscience of mine, but I held firm. I venture to speculate, that had I held firm earlier on, we might have avoided some of our present struggle. This parenting thing is hard sometimes. I make decisions that I am pretty sure are good ones, but I just keep second guessing myself. I guess in view of eternity, a delayed shopping trip is pretty small.

I am starting a Bible study tonight that I'm pretty excited about. We are going through "Jesus, the One and Only" by Beth Moore. We have about 12-13 ladies and I think it's going to be a really neat time. I am unsure of the spiritual condition of a couple of them and I am looking forward to seeing what God will do in their hearts. I am trying to be more consistant in my prayer life, one of my New Year's resolutions. I am so easily distracted when I pray. I can just be going gangbusters, really pouring my heart out to God, and the next thing I know I'm planning what I'm going to eat for lunch or determining how badly I need a haircut or something. By the time I realize I've lost my focus, I can't even remember what I was praying about. And I wonder that my 10-year-old is off task so often! I think it's genetic.

Well, I need to get off the computer and let Christian start school. I had him two days ahead of schedule at the beginning of last week. He is now three days behind. He doesn't focus well without me standing over him cracking the whip! He's chatty this morning. He's pretty much kept up a non-stop dialogue (well, make that monologue, I haven't been listening very well--just added a timely grunt or two) the whole time I've been writing. This doesn't always bode well for our looming school day. It's usually days like this that I find him out playing with the dog in the middle of a lesson...

TTFN!