Fun with Friends

Thankful Thursday: Solids & Organization

It's thankful Thursday time! We all have so much to be thankful for and we love to take this opportunity just to write down each and everything that comes to mind. Please take this time to share with us what you're thankful for as well. If you have a blog expressing your thankfulness, please share the link! Without further ado, here's what we're thankful for:

Mandi's List:

I'm thankful for solids....because I'm still not really eating them. I'm still unable to bite down fully and avoiding getting food into the back of my mouth (except to swallow of course). And boy oh boy do I miss crunchy, chewable foods! I am so thankful that they exist and I will never take them for granted again.

I'm thankful for organization. As Ronnie mentioned in his post yesterday, we've been doing some organizing and man does it feel awesome. I'm so thankful for the areas in our home that are now a little more organized.

I'm thankful for ice cream. Because I'm limited on what I can eat, I figure getting plenty of calories...from ice cream...is a must, right?! I have been milking this whole thing for all it's worth - making sure I have ice cream daily! I'm pretty sure it's just what the doctor ordered.

Ronnie's List:

I'm thankful for a wife who knows what I need. Mandi saw that I was a bit "off", so she did something about it. And, as any perfect :) wife, she knew exactly what needed to be done. When I went off to bible study, she got to work. I came home to a super clean house, organized pantry, organized office closet and organized hall closet. I still don't know how she got everything done in just 1.5 hours!!!

I'm thankful for an organized office. As I alluded to in yesterday's blog, organization is essential. It's especially essential if I want to be efficient while working. Seeing what Mandi did while I was away inspired me to get my office organized...with Mandi's help of course!! We moved furniture. Put away papers. Threw out unneeded stuff. It feels like an entirely new room.

I'm thankful for a more relaxed nutrition plan. After 12 weeks and many pounds down on the scale (more on that later), I'm thankful that I'm able to loosen the belt a bit. I had not eaten sugar for 12 weeks, so the first day I was able, I had a bite of birthday cake. Yup, just as good as I remember :)

So, what are you thankful for today?

Organization is Essential

I think we'd all agree that we need water to survive. We could all make a case that food is necessary. Those of us in the CF community would not do so well if treatments were taken away. I may be reaching here (okay, I'm definitely reaching here), but I'd like to add the act and the finished product of organizing. Mandi and I recently finished an organization project (and by "and" I of course mean, mostly Mandi) and I can't tell you the difference it makes.

I was starting to unravel a bit in the chaos known as my office. I had papers strewn all over the place, used medication vials that missed the trashcan shoved into a corner and documents to be filed were piled a mile (That's some Dr. Seuss stuff right there!!) high all over my desk.

Mandi saw that I was "off" and after working her magic, that has all changed.

I've identified 5 things that are a result of an organized office that I hope convinces you just how essential organization really is.

An organized space re-energizes.

I was really looking forward to get to work today. Instead of worrying about what I was going to tackle first or the order of which I was going to check stuff off the list, I was instead focused on how eager I was to actually get it done. Today, it feels more like an opportunity then work. I'm very curious to see how much more efficient this makes me and how much more productive, as a result of energy, I'm able to be.

An organized desk makes it easier to "check stuff of the list".

One of the biggest keys to getting stuff done and being productive, is to know what actually needs to be done! It's also helpful to have some semblance of order by which things need to be done - whether they are time sensitive or because I need to check off box "a" before moving on to box "b". With most of the stuff that was on my desk put away into their proper places, I am now able to clearly see (literally) what needs to be done.

An organized room helps to "de-stress".

You've probably read in past blogs that I've written that stress is not something that I struggle with often. I have to say though, yesterday I was starting to feel the tightening of my scapula muscles which for me is a sure sign of stress. I didn't know which way was up and which way was down when to turn left or where to turn right, all I knew was the way I was going about how my "office" was running was not the most efficient.

An organized file system makes it easier to pull vital material.

I can't tell you the number of times I've said, “I know I put X,Y or Z in this pile”. I then spend 5 to 15 minutes searching for X, Y and Z instead of actually working on X, Y and Z. If I can save 5 to 15 minutes a day as a result of actually being able to locate various files and documents, I will have an extra half an hour to 90 minutes every single week to get stuff done! I'm practically drooling thinking about it :)

An organized office is nice to look at.

My office now looks like a working environment. It doesn't look like some college kids dorm room or a gigantic “catchall” closet (we have one of those too!). When I walked into the office this morning it just felt nice. It felt more open, more comfortable, and more conducive to getting as much done in a day as I possibly can. Most of us are visual creatures by habit and an organized office is not only pleasing to the eye but pleasing to, I (wahhhhh wahhhhh).

So what about you? Have you organized a particular room in your house lately and also experienced the “organization high"? What did you organize? Any tips you can leave on how to become a better organizer? All tips are welcome as we plan on implementing this to other areas of the house!!!

“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” ~Winston Churchill

Learning From My Wisdom Being Gone

Just like that, my wisdom is gone. But I learned so much.

On Friday the inevitable happened. I finally, at the age of 26, had all my wisdom stripped from me. I knew it was coming, I had known it ever since the first little bit of wisdom sprouted, but I wasn't prepared. Thankfully, I learned a lot from the experience.

On Friday, I had all 4 of my wisdom teeth removed. I thought I was in the clear. Most people had them out in high school, maybe college. Anyone else, I thought, just got to keep their wisdom in tact. Boy did I think wrong. About 6 months ago, my bottom right wisdom tooth started coming in. I was referred to an oral surgeon who x-rayed and told me that all 4 needed to come out. "They will cause you problems," he said. "It's a matter of when, not if." That's all I needed to hear. So I scheduled the extraction (is that what it's called?!) for Friday. I wanted to wait until I would be done breastfeeding so my little love didn't get anything into her milk (meds from me being knocked out and pain meds if I needed them). Plus, I just wanted to delay the inevitable...we all do that, right?!

So Friday, I went in to have them steal my wisdom. It was knocked out (twilight), so I don't remember any of it, but judging by how my jaw has felt since then, they were not gentle nor were they kind. Perhaps they would have been a bit nicer if I was awake? I guess I will never know.

Honestly, I don't know what I expected. Most people tell you how bad it stinks. That it's miserable. But I didn't really think it through I guess. I thought it would be no big deal...afterall, I did hear how bad labor was and still feel jealous of people I know in labor! Ha! I have been able to cut the soreness with just some Advil, but man I'm sick of not using my mouth to eat, to talk, to drink, to swallow normally, you name it. But I did learn some stuff through this process, so I'll share it:

1. I'm a talker. This one comes as no surprise to anyone that's spent more than 30 seconds with me. But I guess I never quite realized how much I talked, until I couldn't....FOR DAYS. I feel like a grenade ready to explode, full of worthless, pointless things I want to say. I know I have nothing profound to share, but all those little stories, thoughts, exchanges..I WANT TO BLOW UP NOT HAVING THEM! I'm sure it'd been the best weekend of Ronnie's life on the other hand - HA!

2. I'm a texture gal. I have had to eat soft (read: no chewing necessary) foods since Friday, and honestly, I'd rather just not eat. I'm the kind of gal that doesn't really like ice cream, unless there's something inside of it I can chew. Don't give me soup, unless it's chunky. I want to chomp down on something with some crunch, not just place something in my mouth I can swallow as is. I always kind of knew this, but didn't realize just how much I needed texture until I didn't want to eat at all this weekend.

3. People think you're mean when you don't move your mouth. Give it a shot. Talk to someone and barely move your lips/mouth. People look at you like you're being rude. I tried to slip in, "I had my wisdom teeth out," in every conversation because otherwise, I just looked like a puffy, expressionless meany!

4. I make a cute chipmunk. Said no one ever.

5. I can live without water, but no one would do it. I am still alive, even though I have had very little water this weekend (or any liquid/food). I usually drink about 100oz/day of water, so this is quite the change. I am glad to see I don't die without it (I supposed eventually I would!) but I'm certain it's not good for me. Back to water drinking, ASAP!

Welp, that's it. That's what I learned through having my wisdom taken from me. If you've curious, I think today I'm on the up and up and just praying I don't get those dry sockets people talk about!!