It's 4:30 am and I cannot sleep!

Are you kidding me??? This hardly happens to me!!! I freakin' can't sleep. Now this happens to my hubby a lot. He is a light sleeper and if he is awoken during the night it so hard for him to find that deep sleep again. I always relish in the fact that I fall asleep quickly and stay asleep until my alarms (three kiddos) wake me from my slumber.

I guess I have too many things rolling through my mind tonight. My Mom always advised me to keep a notebook by my bed and write things down as they came up. So here is my list tonight...

1. I am worried about G and his behavior lately. He isn't listening well. He is trying to "buck my authority" more and more. He has discovered telling "half-truths" when he gets into trouble, etc. Now, mind you this is not the first time we've done this. He's tested my patience many, many times before. Each developmental stages brings new challenges with him. Don't get me wrong, he is a tender hearted child. I know he is testing me to see where the "line" is drawn. We've got a discipline system in place. It seems I need to tweak it a bit. Plus we haven't had a lot of mommy-son time together lately. I'll have to work hard at playing/reading with him more this week. Let's see if that helps too.

2. I've been thinking about my sister's safety lately too. She is a young, pretty single gal in Chicago. She is living in a safe neighborhood, but I still think of the vulnerable moments that cross our paths everyday we don't realize. I cringe at the thought of someone harming her. She is a smart chic, but there are some sick tickets out in the world today. I'll call her in the morning. Encourage her to take a self defense class and pray for her (as always). 

3. I am already pondering Christmas shopping and managing the list and budget. It doesn't help that with every cartoon there are hundreds of commercials that feed into my children's psyche regarding "buy me now"! So, I started a list, but I really need to crack down because the smaller budget will play a big role in who gets what. Plus, E and I both want to work hard at keeping Jesus at the center of our Christmas celebration. It is our family goal every year. We've come up with some good ideas so far!!! Now that the kids are older I think it will be fun to do a little community service work through our church.

4. I hate how chubby I am! My jeans are too tight. I cannot afford a gym membership. We don't have any exercise equipment in our home and the budget doesn't offer any room for a purchase soon. I can manage my food in portions, but hate to diet. I just eat more. So, I need to record some exercise shows and working out during nap time, take walks/jogs when I can, and realize that it is going to be a slow road ahead. My kids are too old/heavy for strollers, my hubby travels making my schedule different each week and I can always find too many excuses to do it...that is the real truth. Note to self...get over it and suck it up!

5. It is now 5:30 am. I am going to need a nap today. My hubby is traveling for the next 4 days so my energy counts. I need to try to sleep another hour and realize that life is pretty good with a roof over my head, food in the pantry and clothes to wear (even if they are too tight) ;-)

Just in time...my battery is going to die! Night cyber world!

SLSK