Co-op, Football, Karate, Basketball... oh my!

I've allowed this blog to go on far too long without posting. To the few followers I have left, I'm sorry. :) I am happily settling into a new routine... hopefully one that will allow me more time to blog again! :)

We joined a homeschooling co-op group in September in our area. The kids are taking Animal Science (for the little ones), Biology (for the teen), all are taking Art Classes. I'm volunteering as a volunteer coordinator for the group, and have been heavily involved in the co-op. Possibly a little too heavily, as the areas of my life that I really enjoy have been neglected.

The teenager played 6-man football this year. This was the inaugaral season for our newly-formed team, and again, I was as heavily involved as possible (volunteering as treasurer).  We had a great season, won more games than we expected to, and can't wait for next year!!!  We are enjoying the time off, though.  :)

The twin boys started taking Tae Kwan Do at our local YMCA on Tuesdays and Thursdays. They've thoroughly enjoyed the experience, although we will be taking a break from it for the month of December. Mom's a little overwhelmed. :) I've used this time to work out, making my fitness more of a priority than I have in past years. I've managed to shed 24 pounds (gained back two during Thanksgiving), but more importantly, my energy level is much better and I'm feeling more confident and relaxed.

I've switched jobs. I really enjoyed my last job, both what I did and who I worked with. But working every weekend meant that I couldn't spend time with my now-14-year-old son. So I'm now working with a company that's proving to be very flexible with my hours, and where I have weekends off. It's going to be a balancing act, as my pay is the same, but without working weekends, and with my hectic schedule, I'm only getting an average of 27 hours/week. So, big pay cut. But I'm working on a proposal now that will hopefully smooth that out and allow me to get back to contributing what I'd like to my family finances, while also helping this growing company with their needs. I'm really enjoying the job, the company, and the people that I work with, so I can see a future with this company.

My husband is still working at the job he got in January. He's gone from 4, 10-hour day work-weeks to 7*10s back to 4*10's. The extra pay was really nice, and allowed us to buy a few things we'd been waiting on buying, as well as get caught up on some bills that were sitting on the back burner. But it was also crazy-hectic, as he was able to contribute much less to the day-to-day household needs, and with me working full-time, the balance fell on me to make up the difference. I'm missing the money from his overtime days, but so glad he's more able to help now. :)

I've scratched the surface on my new venture: life coaching, Dream Teams, corporate training and business consulting. Feel free to check that out at Kim Earley, Renaissance Woman. It's still a work in progress, but I'd love it if you'd follow me over there, drop me a line and comment! I <3 comments! :)

That's about it for now. There's been loads of other things going on, but it's been so long, and I just needed to get started on the road back! :) Hope everyone is doing well, and I'd love to hear what y'all have been up to!

What we've been up to

So I've got a new post about what we've been up to at the "real" Making Our Dream Life Happen blog.  Just a reminder that all you have to do is click the post title and it'll take you to the blog post, or you can click the link above.

But I've also been seriously considering moving it on over here to Blogger, too.  So hopefully soon, I'll have more and more on this blog.  I'll keep the one over at WP for my old posts, so if you find one you want to read, you'll click on the link title and be headed there again.  But I may start putting my new posts on here.  I'll make a decision in the next couple of weeks, and let you guys know. 

In the meantime, please feel free to head on over to Making Our Dream Life Happen, and check out what we've been up to!

Fundraising Request - VCA

My 13 year old (step)son is playing basketball for the first time this year with our local homeschool athletic association, Victoria Cobra Athletics.  He's very excited about it, and has been working hard on his fundraising.  Would you please take a moment to check out my post over at the main blog by clicking here or on the title of this post, and see if you can help, even if it's just passing the original post along to your readers/friends?  We only have a few days left...

Thanks for your help!!  Hope everyone's having a wonderful November!