Inspiration

My friend Amber has just started back to school this fall. She has three kids, a husband, and a dog that kept her life plenty exciting up to now so I'm really proud that she's doing this for herself. So far she's doing a great job of managing school and family and recently she shared her ten secrets for accomplishing this on her blog. I like them so much that I wanted to share them here (in a somewhat abbreviated form)...

1. Don't watch soap operas (for me that includes those televised in the evenings)

2. Don't go to bed with the dishes dirty (as if Tommy would EVER let me do that :-))

3. READ. Amber says "you can't wait around for the desire to read An Empire for Slavery--the desire won't ever come. So, just get to it."

4. Don't take any of life's joys for granted how ever small or brief they may be.

5. Tell your husband thanks...I definitely don't do that often enough, thanks for the reminder Amber.

6. Eat...thank goodness I'm not the only one who sometimes doesn't have time (or remember) to eat. I'll add that I do TRY to eat well and, in the future, will try not to beat myself up if I forget every once in a while.

7. Sleep...yep, another important one.

8. Don't take on more than you can handle. I learned that one the hard way.

9. Be tolerant of other people's values and opinions when they differ from your own (Actually, what Amber said here was "tolerate the big libs [liberals], yes, it is true--most professors are liberals." which made me laugh, mainly because it's so true, but also (to be really honest) I'd never thought of it as something to be tolerated (more like a haven). What I think is really cool is that Amber and I are friends despite sometimes not sharing the same opinions and values...lots of people in the world could learn from that.)

10. Stay off the computer. Yeah, sometimes it's far more fun to blog, look for recipes, play around on Good Reads, and shop that study.