It has been a while, hasn't it?

I'm sure that whoever has been reading, has probably given up on my blog, but here is an update!

Our lives changed huge on January 23, when our foster son of 4 years moved from our home. This was a big decision that we made, mostly for the well-being of our 2 wonderful children, and well as one that was not without alot of soul-searching. We've been foster parents for more than 7 years. The commitment to the 9 children we've had through the years was huge. We gave up alot with having these children in our home. We also learned alot, but it finally got to the point where the cost to our family was just too much. The upside is that I think we will have a better relationship with our own kids, as our time is now for them and them alone, and the resentment (however small or large) created by the sheer volume of time spent on the other children in our household is no longer there.

We have noticed a huge sense of relief that is now in our home. The stress level has gone down, even though I am now working full time. There are far fewer arguements and disagreements. Our rules are followed and respected. Our home is peaceful.

It's funny how you don't notice how much things can drive you crazy until they are no longer happening.

Now, as for me working, I still love what I do. I guess the best part of my job is that it is always different. No two days are exactly the same. The jobs I do may be similar, but I'm always somewhere different. At this moment, I am booked full time until the end of April. Slightly scary, but at the same time, very very good.

What am I doing with my "real" money now? Hmmm.. this could be interesting! LOL Actually, I've made a couple of decisions about what really is important to me.

1. I HATE housekeeping. I do it, but I hate it. So, to fix that stress, I now have my wonderful, fantastic, amazing housekeeper. She used to look after my home before we had kids and I was working full time. She starts tomorrow. I can't wait.

2. I have a desire to learn more about photography. Not that my point and shoot is horrible, it just doesn't do what I want it to. So I got a new one last weekend. A Pentax istDL. I LOVE it! Still learning, and haven't gotten out to do any "real"pictures of anything, but I am so pumped! But I did take some pics of my B-man the other night, and printed (on my new printer) the pics and scrapped them right away! Gotta love technology!

3. I need to go shopping. I need clothes. I can't stand any of the stuff in my closet. Maybe this weekend calls for a shopping trip! The kids got new stuff last payday, so I think its my turn!

I read a cool layout about random things the other day. It was titled "my completely random life", and there were a bunch of completely random question sort of things, with 3 answers under each. On my way to work, I was thinking I should really be doing more than just driving on autopilot. So my challenge to myself this morning was to find 3 things I thought were interesting on my way there. They are:

1. a black and white collie trotting down the side of the road (I wondered where he was going in the middle of nowhere, but he seemed to have a destination)

2. the hugest silo I have ever seen, laying on its side on a flatdeck truck, being moved who knows where

3. a pickup truck that sported the words "Dick's Liquor Delivery" on the side of it. It gave me a giggle (ok, it was early, I was still tired!)

I challenge you to find 3 things you see as interesting on your way to work! Tag! You're it!