The office was still closed so it was a nice week of all family time. My brother and his two kids were with us Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, and my mom. It was a house full of people. My dh had some work he had to do at the office on Tuesday, so I went with him. The kids were playing with all their new toys and with their cousins, so it was a nice time to get away, get a chai tea from Starbucks, and do some computer time while my dh worked on things that needed to be done.  At the office, there is direct dial, so it is a totally different computer experience than at home, with dial-up. Everything is so slow with dial-up, and some nights are worse than others.  With direct dial, you can just go from one blog to the next, it takes seconds. I took advantage of this time and went blog-hopping. I can rarely do this at home because each page takes sooo long to load up.  I read blog  after blog and commented on ones that I felt so compelled to. It was fun, I made some new friends, as several of those came and visited my blog. It's always nice to make new friends!

I find reading other's blogs to be  a really good thing. On one visit that day, I came across one that used a meal planner website. I followed that link and signed up. Now I have 2 weeks of meals planned and my grocery list!  I'll write more about that later and also give you the website.

Although most of the blogs are rather encouraging, interesting, and uplifting, sometimes they are sad. Once I came across a blog that a family had a child sx molested within their own home without knowing it, while a church function was going on! 

On Monday, I came across a blog that was dedicated to one of their 5 children, Dakota. A child that was born perfectly normal, but after having been immunized at age 18 months, within 24 hours, started declining, and eventually became officially labeled as 'autistic'.  How incredibly sad.  I printed this blog out for my daughter, as this is not the first time I've read of a tragic decline in a child after immunizations. 

I have come across  books that I have ordered from other blogger reccomendations  My favorite website, www.homeschooloasis.com came from a blogger, even before I joined the blogging community.  A few months ago, I seen a reference to a book on teaching your kids chores, by the Maxwell family. It looked good and I ordered it. I got more out of the 'theology' behind chore cleaning than I did the actual little chore paks that came with the book.  It's helped me become a step up more organized with delegating, (I haven't arrived) and I'm probably going to order the other book they have that was written first for the mom's.

Sometimes I come across these blogger families with 5 or more kids. I have to say, I am drawn to these blogs in particular. If someone has the name, say, mommyofsix, or fullquiver, or something like that, I always look those up (I read these off the blogs friend list that I am reading).  I especially have a heart for these mommy's that are homeschooling and having little ones running around all over the place, and often a new born baby, too. I have such respect for these families. I have empathy because I know how hard it is, how isolated it sometimes makes you feel.  It also makes me sentimental because I'm not in that stage anymore, with my youngest being five.

I like to evaluate, periodically, how my time is being spent. This helps me to put things in perspective. I did this the other day.  I wrote down all my responsibilities and then wrote a list of things that I don't have to do but like to do. There are two things on that list:  blogging and horses.  These two things are 'extras' in life. I don't have to do them. They have to come after my responsibilities are done, and I have quality relationship time with my family. Like right now, three are sitting at computers playing a networked war game, one is playing a Sims game, and two are watching SuperMan. I'm not neglecting anyone as I write on my laptop and blog.  I'm too tired to do housework (this NEVER is finished, it's an ongoing process, one that never seems to have an end to it).  So I blog.  I look at it as having redeeming qualities of spending my time.  I've learned to plan my menu's, ordered books that helped me become a better housekeeper and delegator, found better philosophies of homeschooling (www.homeschooloasis.com) and try to be an encourager to others when I visit blogs.