#11, 14, 33, 62, 70, and 95! (aka "I'm on my way!")

Well, dear readers, it appears that this GPS of mine has taken me on a rather wild and eventful ride through the last few months. There's so much that has happened that I can hardly blog about it all, but most of you who read me on Facebook know the major details anyway. So instead of dwelling on all the craziness, I thought I'd catch up on my list. I set out in January to do 100 things and thought the other day, "Man, there's no way I'm going to make it. I've done nothing since then!" But aha - I have. Makes me think that God probably had something to do with the making of this list. Neat, huh? Read on...


#11. Volunteer my time in a new way.
I could respond to this in two different ways. First of all, I've volunteered at church for Easter weekend. Not sure what I'll be doing because I told them I'd gladly go wherever needed... but I'm really enjoying this new church, and might just stick around as a volunteer if things go well!


Also, because of my mother's recent diagnosis of colon cancer and the major surgery that went along with it, I have had to spend some time living at my parents' house to care for her. My father is an independent contractor with no benefits, so if he doesn't work, the bills don't get paid. And, as you can imagine, the bills for this sort of diagnosis really add up fast! For the first 5 years of working in the school system, I maintained perfect or nearly perfect attendance, and thus saved up a lot of days of leave. I didn't realize that leave rolled over from one year to the next, but God did! And just when we needed it, it was there. So I'm on paid leave until mom no longer needs me home with her. It's been a lot of work and a bit trying at times, but I truly find joy in helping my family out.

14. Become a couponing queen.
I may not be a couponing "queen" just yet, but my parents just laugh and shake their heads at me now when I tell them of coupons arriving in the mail or the latest deal I've snagged for them... so I guess I'm close! Part of helping my parents out has become teaching my father (who does the grocery shopping and cooking for the household) how to do the Grocery Game to help us afford the things we want and need without breaking budget. (And actually, we should be able to be under budget eventually, which will help pay for all the other bills!) We've only been in on it one week and already they're skeptical... but I'll keep clipping and shopping and they'll be glad later I'm sure.

33. Surprise my Jazzercise customers in some way
There was a not-so-good surprise involved, but I won't go into details. But the good surprise for my Lite customers is that we've grown and expanded! Due to the number of people attending class, I had them keep their chairs (for the strength training portion of class) off to the sides and back of the room to create more space on the dance floor. They still say that it feels "weird" to them, but it sure does give them more room to move! Also, I've added new morning class times that will start in June. They're very happy about that. There are more surprises to come with the summer attendance game, but I may blog about that later. Don't want to give away all my secrets yet!

62. Re-organize the pantry.
I didn't actually re-organize my pantry... it was my parents' pantry. We needed it to be better organized so that we could see what was there and to make room for stocking up on deals as they come. I added an over-the-door shoe organizer (the kind with pockets) to the inside of the pantry door to hold little things like granola bars, extra spice bottles, popcorn bags, etc.) Pictures in a future update, perhaps?

70. Refresh my resume.
I've only had one teaching job other than the one I'm currently in, and most of the information was straight from college. So it was time! It's nearly done.

95. Do something for someone that they couldn't do themselves
I've been my mother's roommate for the past 3 weeks, since she came home from surgery. For a while, I was here to help her get out of bed, to walk, to use the bathroom... to everything! Now she can get around OK by herself but still needs rides to appointments, care for her surgical wound, meals prepared, etc. and the rest of my family has needed the extra set of hands with keeping up with the house as well. And then yesterday, I had to whisk our oldest kitty, Dusty, to the vet because he seemed to be struggling to breathe. I was glad that mom hadn't been home alone then, because she wouldn't have been able to take him to get help!

So... you can see why I've been so quiet blog-wise these past few weeks. But God has been very good. I'm embarking on some new adventures, STILL in "Murder at Rutherford House" and absolutely loving it, and I'm looking forward to seeing what God has in store!


So there's much more to this story... stay tuned, dear readers. And thanks for supporting me through all this. You know who you are.


~ Allison