Week in Review: 7-15-12

This week has been busy, but good.  I feel like I got a lot accomplished, but I know I didn't get everything on my list done.  Here's how I did:

Spiritual Life

• Read Bible daily (this means planning ahead on days I work and not just expecting I'll be alert enough when I get home) I read most days.  I have no excuse for the days I didn't read.
• Be more consistent in praying for requests on my list I prayed every night for a few of the urgent requests.  There were a few that I didn't pray about, but should have.
• Continue to work on being more joyful. I'm doing better at this.  Still not perfect, but definitely making progress.

Family life

• Play a board game with the kids Check!  A rousing game of Chutes and Ladders (that made me think of my laundry chute which I need to post about soon).
• Have kids help with dinner on Thursday after their baseball game Once again, this didn't happen.  We were only home to cook on night this week and I was making some stuff that wasn't very kid-friendly.
• Take kids to the dentist (I'm actually sitting in the lobby as I type this and I'll post it when I get home.  Why not get something done while waiting and free up some time later to get some housework done?) Check!  (Obviously.)

Home life

• Try to get all laundry done by the end of the day Wednesday. Well, like I said in another post, it took me until Friday morning.  But, it did all get done!
• Clean the bathroom thoroughly All done except the floor.  That will have to wait until the kids are in bed or they will just need to go as soon as I mop.
• Sweep basement  I actually forgot all about this until I sat down and started typing.  But, I did get up, go downstairs, and sweep so that I could come back here and say, "Check!"  The stairs still need swept, but I'll have to ask DH to do that.  My back just can't handle it after a my marathon laundry session.
• Work more on playroom/schoolroom I didn't get to that this week.  This is moving over to my list for next week.
• Go grocery shopping Friday  Check!

Church Life

• Plan for Sunday school.  I need to try to get the planning done for the entire 2 months.  That will just leave reviewing and praying each week.  I'm going to do this tonight.
• Attend church Wednesday Check!
• Set up meeting with the Pastor to talk about Harvest fest.  Meeting can be any time in the next couple weeks.  I forgot about this, too.  Moving it over to next week's list.

Physical Life

• Write down every bite I eat!  I'm really struggling with this!  I honestly just forget.  I think I need someone to ask me every night.  I'm going to talk to DH about it.
• Lose at least 1 pound.  I lost one this past week and know I can do it again.  This one annoys me a little.  By Wednesday I had lost a pound.  By Thursday, I had gained 3 back!  I have no idea what happened.  I didn't eat any snacks and I had a sensible breakfast and lunch.  My dinner wasn't the greatest, but not bad enough to make me gain 3 lbs!
• Work on sleep schedule.  This may mean taking a Tylenol PM when I get home from work so I don't lay in bed for a couple hours before falling asleep.  I did better when I got home from work and wasn't as tired the next day.
• Drink more water.  I need to carry a bottle with me when I go out.  I remembered most days.
• Put on makeup every day  I did this every day but one.

Social Life

• Go to the Creation Museum with a good friend and her kids.  I must be losing it because she didn't ask me to go to the Creation Museum.  She asked if we wanted to go to the Museum Center.  I don't know how I messed that up!  But, we did end up going.  The kids had a blast and I got a chance to talk with a good friend.
• Possibly go to dance aerobics with my BFF this week.  I'm not sure of her schedule. This didn't happen again.  I'm not sure about this week, either.
• Buy a birthday present for a party on Saturday I'm going to stop and pick up a gift card on the way to the party.

Cincinnati Museum Center

Financial life

• Update budget software daily  Check!
• Do not overspend!  I did end up having to eat out one day because we just weren't home all day.  I should have thought ahead and packed.
• Go to the bank on Friday before grocery shopping Check!
• Pay bills  Check!

Mental life

• Read new library books  I'm in the middle of the first one, now
• Continue working on blog  Check!  I'm doing some reading to learn how its all done.

Homeschool Life

• Buy Math curriculum.  Grr.  I don't think I even looked for it this week.  I need to do that ASAP!
• Buy some Five in a Row books  Same with this.  I at least have an Amazon gift card I can use for this. 

Another One Bites the Dust!

Good-Bye Debt!

I just received confirmation that another of the bills in our debt snowball has been PAID IN FULL!  Woo hoo!  This puts us one small step closer to the freedom of being without debt. 

In my post on my Financial Life, I talked about why we have this goal and where we were coming from.  I figured, in the wake of this good news, now might be the perfect time to share a little about the "how."

Most of our debt is from my student loan.  I am the poster-child for why you should never get a student loan.  No one enters college expecting to have physical problems that result in having to drop out after 4 years.  But, that is what happened to me.  This left me with a ton of debt and no degree to show for it.  Now, 10 years later, my whole family is paying for that decision.  On top of this student loan, we also have my husband's car loan, a couple of credit cards (we started with several more that we've already paid off), and some medical bills from a hospital stay a few years ago.

When I think about the total amount of debt, it is easy to become overwhelmed.  That is a big mountain to climb!  It is easy to become discouraged and feel like we will never succeed.  But, that is just why Dave Ramsey recommends starting with your smallest debt first (the debt snowball).  It not only gives you a feeling of success when you knock out that first debt, it also gives you a small, manageable goal that doesn't seem impossible to reach.

I understood that first part and would cheer with each of the small credit cards we paid off.  But, recently, I had started to feel overwhelmed when I looked at the whole picture.  It seemed like success was so far out of reach and that we would never get there.  Finally, I realized that each and every bill we paid was a success! Every time we crossed a creditor off our list, we had reached a goal.  I've had to stop focusing on the big picture and get down to the details.  Those details are what are going to get us to our final goal!

So, today we reached a goal.  The bill from my husband's first hospital stay has been paid off.  That also gives us more money to throw at the next bill on the list - a credit card.  This credit card is our new goal.  We are aiming for it to be paid off in two months.  A two month goal seems a lot easier to manage than a three year goal.

This idea of small goals, all leading to a bigger goal is also the driving force behind my weekly goals.  By focusing on the details (something I'm good at) I'm making progress - one step at a time.

I'll post more about my budgeting process next week.


Edited to Add:
For more information about our budgeting process, see the posts below.

Zero-Based Budget
Budget Planning with an Irregular Income
I'm a Nerd

Setbacks and Sidetracks

I just spent over an hour on the phone with our gas and electric company.  I talked to five different people.  And, with a lot of effort, I smiled through the whole thing and stayed pleasant and calm.  A LOT of effort.

While the issue I was dealing with was annoying, it was nothing to the feeling that my time was being wasted.  You see, today is grocery day.  I really wanted to get out the door and home before lunch.  But, now it is 11:47 and I still need to plan my menu and make my list.  So, it looks like lunch is going to have to come first and I'm not going to beat the crowd. 

Although it hasn't been a fun time, I did accomplish something and learn something.  I accomplished getting my bill straightened out (No, I DO NOT owe $509 this month.) and I learned that my electric company's automatic drafting system is not a good idea.  Before you get too indignant on my behalf, the problem wasn't that took out way too much money, but that they didn't take any at all.  Had I not thought to set a cap on how much they could take when I signed up, this would be a whole different conversation in which I didn't manage to stay pleasant and calm the entire time! 

So, even though it seems as if my time was wasted, it was really just sidetracked into something different than I had planned.  Something was still accomplished and something was still learned.  It just wasn't what I had planned to accomplish (And, honestly, what was I going to learn at the grocery store?).

This happens pretty often in my life.  I plan something and those plans get interrupted.  It may be for a short time (like this shopping trip) or forever.  There is often a reason that I just can't see.  I may understand it in the future or I may never understand.   But, no matter what, I know that God is in control.

This is a lesson I've really been struggling with lately.  There is something that I want to happen really badly.  In the recent past I've even made plans for it to happen.  I've made changes to prepare for it to happen.  And I've even worked toward making it happen.  But, it hasn't happened and I'm now in the place where I'm not sure it ever will.  In this case, I haven't remained pleasant and calm.  I've been hurt and angry and miserable.  I've sulked and felt sorry for myself.

This post wasn't supposed to be about that.  When I sat down, it was to write about how, even though things don't always go according to our plans, we still need to trust God (insert Bible verse, smile, and hit "publish").  But, as I started to write that, I realized that I was being a hypocrite!  I really want to trust God.  It is even easy in the little things like a day spent doing one chore when I had planned another.  But, with something big?  It is HARD!  It is something I have been wrestling with for months.  Every time I think I've got it in hand, I find myself longing for this planned (by me) event.  I know God has a great plan.  I know it.  But, sometimes, it is hard to really believe it in my heart.

For now, I guess that means more time in prayer.  More time talking to the Lord every time I notice myself thinking about this desire.  More consistently turning it over to Him and asking that He change my heart.  Because, He is in control.  And He loves me.

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. 

Jeremiah 29:11

For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. 

Isaiah 55:9

*Smile*


*Hit "publish"*

Mount St. Laundry

So, one of my goals for this week was to finish all the laundry in the house by Wednesday.  Turns out, I had so much dirty laundry backed up that, even with setting my alarm and changing a load over every hour, I wasn't able to finish it all.  How embarrassing!  Here it is, almost 5:00 on Thursday and I'm still doing laundry.  Granted, I was at the museum until about 4:00, so I've only done one load so far today.  But, still.

Laundry has always been a problem for me.  I've tried Flylady's method of a load a day for years.  But, something always comes along that keeps me from doing a load.  There are just always days in my life where I am running from morning to night with no time to stop.  Or, there are times when my back just won't allow me to get it done.  Then, the laundry backs up.  

Such a thing happened to me a few months ago.  My back was really hurting me.  I could barely even walk for a couple of weeks.  It was the worst it had been in years.  As a result, we were operating in emergency laundry mode.  You know, those times when you stay up late to wash a load, because you know if you don't you will be out of clean underwear tomorrow?  Or maybe you don't know.  Maybe that's just me.

Slowly, but surely I've been catching up.  But, when I say slowly, I mean s l o w l y.  I'd try to do a load or two every day, but didn't always have time to do two or more.  And of course, there were those days when I wasn't able to do even one load.  So, it never seemed as if I was making any progress.

Then, several days ago, I found a blog written by a woman who, I swear we were separated at birth!  The blog is called A Slob Comes Clean and it is written by a lady named Nony.  Like me, she is also a Flylady dropout.  Among the many, many things I've learned by reading her blog from the beginning (I still haven't caught up.  I think I'm reading posts from 2010 right now.) is that having a laundry day - a day when you do all the laundry in the house - actually works for some people.

You see, I had read from Flylady how the "best way" to do laundry was to do a load a day.  She sent out tons of email testimonials touting the benefits of a load a day and condemning doing it all at once.  Don't get me wrong, I learned a lot from Flylady and, if that works for you, great!  But, she often has a my-way-or-the-highway attitude about housekeeping.  And I bought into it.  I really believed that the only way to possibly keep up with laundry was by doing a load a day.  Except that I didn't keep up with the laundry.  Sure, if I had actually done a load every single day, I probably would have been okay.  But, that just never happened!

Then, I read Nony talk about how she prefers to do all her laundry at once and on a set day of the week.  When I read about how she loved the feeling of being "done" and not having to worry about it until the next week, I had one of those "duh" moments - one of the moments when you wonder why you never looked at something from that angle before.  I'd always thought of a laundry day as a horrible day full of nothing but my least favorite chore. 

But, a laundry day might be just what I need.  I would have that visible progress that I so often want.  I would actually be able to see the piles getting smaller and smaller until there were no more piles!  I would have a feeling of being done!  This is very unlike the load-a-day method where it seems to never end and you know you'll just be back again tomorrow.  Plus, I wouldn't even have to think about laundry again for a whole week!  Talk about freedom!

So, I am starting the process.  I think that Mondays might be the best day for me to have a laundry day, so I'll try that first.  It might end up moving to a different day, though.  I'll have to play around with it and see.  The first thing I have to do is get all the laundry done for this week (I'm starting late in the week).  And because I'm so backed up, there is a lot more laundry than just one week's worth.  That is why it is taking so long.  Hopefully, it won't take nearly as long from here on out. 

I'll keep you updated on how it goes.  But, I'm feeling hopeful that the laundry situation might start getting better!

Scrubbing the Shower Revisit

In honor of my post about my old routine of scrubbing the shower/tub to relieve stress (weird, I know), I thought I'd share a nifty tip I saw on Pinterest.  Here is the original pin.  All the instructions are in the comments below the picture.  It was a good thing, too, because when you actually click on the link, the blog post it takes you to is about something completely different.  I think someone just did a random search for the picture to use in their pin and didn't care what the blog was about.

The picture is of a Scotch-Bright dishwand.  The kind with a scrubby sponge on the end.  I've used one of these for years in the kitchen.  Why had I never thought to use it in the bathroom?

There is one slight difference between the one in that picture and the one I use.  Mine has a brush end instead of a sponge end.  Like this:

Since my current way of cleaning the shower was an old toothbrush, I figured that this would be perfect!  The brush on my kitchen scrubber was getting a little old and needed to be replaced, anyway.  So, I decided I'd just by a whole new brush for the kitchen and move the old one to the bathroom.

No more tiny toothbrush!

I like the idea of the brush better than a sponge since it can easily reach into the grout lines and scrub them clean.  Just like my old toothbrush.  Only much, MUCH faster!  With my old toothbrush, I would try to scrub a few lines of grout each time I took a shower (It got old fast and I couldn't always keep up the mildew since we have no ventilation in our bathroom).  When I took my "new" brush in the shower the other day, I was able to do an entire wall in half the time it took to do a couple of lines with my little old toothbrush.

So how does this work?  Easy!

1. First, get a dish brush from your grocery store.  It can be any brand, but you need the kind that holds soap in the handle.
2. Next, mix up some Dawn/vinegar miracle cleaner. (See recipe below)  Dawn really does work best for this.  I generally avoid name brands, but this one is worth it.
3. Fill the handle with the cleaner
4. Scrub away!  (You can even do this while taking a shower and save some time!)
5. Rinse well.

Scrub, scrub!

Dawn/Vinegar Miracle Cleaner

• You will need equal parts blue Dawn dish washing liquid and white vinegar.  
• Heat the vinegar in the microwave.
• Pour into a spray bottle or other container.
• Add the Dawn.  
• Shake to mix.  

I've used this now for two days and it is working great!  A quick scrub down of the shower and any traces of pink mildew were gone (What is that stuff anyway?  I can't be the only person with that problem in their shower!).  I also didn't have to worry about soap scum since this stuff is great at getting rid of it!  This one's a keeper!

Visible Progress

I had a routine in college. Whenever I got stressed out, I would scrub the tub in our dorm room (I lived in a suit with four other girls, but it had its own bathroom), then take a nice long soak.

It all started my freshman year. I had taken some Comet and the blue scrubby side of a sponge and started cleaning. As I did, you could literally see the dirt coming off as I wiped. It was disgusting. I have serious doubts that that tub had ever been cleaned since being installed in the 60's. When I finished with it, though, it was gleaming white. This made the results of my scrubbing easy to see. I knew that I was accomplishing something.

With four girls taking at least one, sometimes two showers a day, dirt built up in that tub pretty quickly, too. I think all the glaze had worn off the porcelain over the years, so it was pretty porous. It was always ready for a good scrubbing whenever I needed to work off the stress.

Then, when I was done, I could fill it with bubbles and take a nice long bath in the clean tub with a good book. The tub was deep, wide, and had the perfect back for lounging against. *sigh*

Nowadays, that doesn't really work. Not only is our tub shallow and narrow, it doesn't have a slanted side to lean against at all. I do still manage to take a bath, but it isn't nearly as relaxing. But the biggest problem is the color.

My bathtub is teal. That's right. Teal. You can't even see the dirt until you can also feel it. So, when I clean it, there is no visible sign of progress. In fact, if I miss spot, I won't even know until I notice that it is feeling rough with grime. Something that happens all to often. So, what is the result? I don't clean my tub as often as I should. Sometimes it won't get cleaned at all until I can feel the grime. Not just because you can't see the dirt, but because you can't see the results of all that hard work.

My ugly teal bathtub.  Notice how the back doesn't slant at all so you can lay back and relax?

This mentality is too often the case in my life. Especially in housekeeping. I want visible results! I want the big projects - the ones were my husband comes home and says, "You worked hard on that!" or "That looks really good!" or at least can notice that something has been done that day.  It is the everyday maintenance that I struggle with.

Don't get me wrong.  I don't let things get bad just so I, when I finally clean it, I get an atta' girl.  It is just hard for me to feel motivated to clean something when even I can't tell that anything has been done!

This is an area that I really struggle with.  I love having a clean house.  But, I have a hard time making myself clean something that already looks clean (or at least good enough).  Add to this the fact that I often don't see messes until they become disasters, and you have the makings of a bad housekeeper.

Weekly Goals: 7-15-12

As promised, here are my goals for the week:

Spiritual Life

• Read Bible daily (this means planning ahead on days I work and not just expecting I'll be alert enough when I get home)
• Be more consistent in praying for requests on my list
• Continue to work on being more joyful.

Family life

• Play a board game with the kids
• Have kids help with dinner on Thursday after their baseball game
• Take kids to the dentist (I'm actually sitting in the lobby as I type this and I'll post it when I get home.  Why not get something done while waiting and free up some time later to get some housework done?)

Home life

• Try to get all laundry done by the end of the day Wednesday.
• Clean the bathroom thoroughly
• Sweep basement
• Work more on playroom/schoolroom
• Go grocery shopping Friday

Church Life

• Plan for Sunday school.  I need to try to get the planning done for the entire 2 months.  That will just leave reviewing and praying each week.
• Attend church Wednesday
• Set up meeting with the Pastor to talk about Harvest fest.  Meeting can be any time in the next couple weeks.

Physical Life

• Write down every bite I eat!
• Lose at least 1 pound.  I lost one this past week and know I can do it again.
• Work on sleep schedule.  This may mean taking a Tylenol PM when I get home from work so I don't lay in bed for a couple hours before falling asleep.
• Drink more water.  I need to carry a bottle with me when I go out.
• Put on makeup every day

Social Life

• Go to the Creation Museum with a good friend and her kids.
• Possibly go to dance aerobics with my BFF this week.  I'm not sure of her schedule.
• Buy a birthday present for a party on Saturday

Financial life

• Update budget software daily
• Do not overspend!
• Go to the bank on Friday before grocery shopping
• Pay bills

Mental life

• Read new library books
• Continue working on blog

Homeschool Life

• Buy Math curriculum.
• Buy some Five in a Row books

Adding: It is a good thing I typed this while in the dentist's office.  We didn't get out until 1:00, leaving us an hour to get home, eat lunch, and me to get changed before taking the kids to my mom and going to work.  So much for getting housework done.

Week in Review: 7-8-12 (With no Guilt)

I didn't post my weekly goal review on Saturday.  Then, yesterday (Sunday) I didn't post my goals for this week.  Last night I went to bed (with a horrible headache) and felt really guilty.  After all, I did promise to stick with this.  Even though no one may have read that promise, I still made it and I know I made it.  But, then I realized something.  I had good reasons for not posting.  Instead of posting about my life, I was living it!

On Saturday, I spent the entire day shopping with my best friend.  She needed new clothes for work and I needed a couple of things.  Not only did I get to spend some great time talking and having fun, I also bought myself some things.  Something I never do.  Instead of posting when I got home, I spent the evening with my husband and planning for a Sunday School class I taught (more about that later).

On Sunday, I took a much needed nap after church (the really late nights at work have completely screwed up my sleep routine).  Then, we went to the grand opening of my husband's cousin's new ice cream parlor in downtown Cincinnati and had some AMAZING ice cream.

DH's cousin toasting a homemade marshmallow on top of homemade ice cream.  Yum!

Those things were important for the relationships in my life (Including the nap.  I get cranky when I'm tired.).  After realizing this, I no longer felt guilty.  I knew I could write the review and the goals for this week today.  This realization was a big thing for me!

I'm going to review my goals again this week.  I found it really helpful last week to go back and really, honestly, look at how I had done.  It made me change some of the goals I would have set for myself the next week.  So, once again, I copied over my original weekly goals and put the results in blue.

Review of Weekly Goals for 7-8-12

Spiritual Life

• Try to find a better study time.  Some options are: I didn't reach this goal this week.  Unfortunately, this week was even crazier than normal.  My abnormal sleep schedule finally caught up with me and I slept late most days.  Then, I had to run out the door early.  I'm going to try this again this week.
• First thing in the morning
• Right after my morning shower
• After lunch
• After dinner (my least favorite since I am often at work at this time)

• Be more consistent in praying for requests on my list.  I did better, but not great.
• I was really convicted at church this morning about the joy (or lack thereof) in my life lately.  I've been letting a situation in my life rob me of my joy and I have been feeling sorry for myself.  I confessed this, but need to really work on the internal dialogue I've come to use and focus on my blessings.  I need to spend a lot of time in prayer about this and also catch myself when I slip.  I caught myself several times this week and was able to make a conscious shift of focus.  I'm still not there, though.  This week's sermon on peace was just as convicting and I know I have a long way to go.  I've made a point to pray about this a lot.

Family Life - DH goes back to work Monday

• Play a board game with my kids Didn't happen.  I'm disappointed in myself for this one.  One game wouldn't take that long.  This is going back on my list.
• Have kids help with dinner one night this week That would have meant actually cooking dinner one night.  I worked Monday, Tuesday and Friday, we were at church on Wednesday, and grabbed a quick bite before the kids' baseball game on Thursday. 
• Try to get everything done before DH gets home from work so I can spend more time with him With the exception of Saturday, I did this.  But, I have to admit that it probably doesn't count much because I wasn't home most nights.

Home Life

• Clean the bathroom thoroughly. I did wipe it down most days, but didn't have time for a deep cleaning.  I did find a new trick for the shower that seems to be working.  I'll share about that in a post later this week.
• Use grout whitening pen I bought and then seal the grout I didn't have a chance with the extra work and sleeping late.  I probably won't have time this week, either. 
• Wipe down daily
• Sweep and mop kitchen and living room They got swept, but not mopped.
• Finish cleaning in the playroom/schoolroom I made some progress, but it needs more work
• Vacuum the basement Didn't get done.
• At LEAST one load of laundry a day I probably did laundry 3 days this week. 

Church Life

• Find a song to sing at church and practice Still looking for a song. 
• Attend church on Wednesday evening Check
• I have to make a note that I ended up with a new goal in this area.  My kids' Sunday school teacher had an accident in her family and needed someone to take over her class for a couple of months.  I was asked and, after praying and talking to my husband and kids, I accepted.  It is just for a couple months and I can do all my planning for the entire two months in the beginning.  So, I won't be trying to plan for Sunday school after our school year starts back up.  I taught the first class on Sunday and it went well. 

Physical Life

• Make a point to go to bed at a good hour This one became impossible this week.  I worked until 2am on Monday, 12am on Tuesday and 11:30 on Friday.  Then, on Wednesday and Thursday, I just couldn't fall asleep.  My body was too used to the late nights.
• Start tracking everything I eat!  I did great at the beginning of the week.  Then, I started letting it slip.  I'm going to work to do better this week.
• Drink more water.  I need to keep a bottle filled and at hand throughout the day. I did this most days.
• Exercise at least once this week.  I know this is smaller than last weeks, goal, but I also didn't reach that goal.  So, I'm starting even smaller.  My best friend and I have a plan to go to a dance aerobics class on Thursday. My best friend was sick on Thursday, so we couldn't go to the class.  But, I think all the walking on Saturday (and Friday) while shopping should count.  So, I'm saying I achieved this goal this week.

Social Life

• Attend dance aerobics with my best friend Didn't happen because she was sick.  Instead we shopped on Friday before I had to work and Saturday all day.
• Message another friend  Check!

Financial Life

• Update budget software everyday  Check!
• Do not overspend! I did have to buy one thing out of our "blow" money.  I try not to do that, but sometimes it happens.
• Send extra payments for debt snowball I'm sending that in today

Mental Life

• Go to library on MONDAY.  Not "sometime this week."  MONDAY!  I did go, but not until Wednesday.  I ended up having to leave for work early on Monday and that cut out our library time.  It did get done, though.
• Continue working on blog Check!

Homeschool Life

• Put together bookcase Check!
• Finish organizing schoolroom I worked on it, but it isn't done, yet
• Start printing notebooking pages for next year and create a filing system for them Didn't get to this.
• Buy math curriculum I emailed several people with used copies.  But, haven't heard back, yet.  I need to do some more searching.
• Start planning Five in a Row lessons and buy a couple of the books  Didn't get to this, yet.

Overall, there were a lot of unexpected things that happened this week.  I worked an extra day I hadn't planned, had to leave early and got home late another day, and a few other things.  I don't handle these kinds of changes well.  As a result, a lot of things just don't get done.  This is something I really need to work on.  

I'll come back after lunch to do my weekly goals for this week.  Now, I have to get back to living life and take my kids to the dentist!

Hello, Out There!

I am so new at this blogging stuff.  A baby, really.  Blogger lets me know how many page views I've had each day and where the people are coming from.  Mostly, they are coming directly to my site (typing in the URL - I think this is the one real-life person I've told about this blog) and from Stumbleupon. 

It is also telling me I had 23 page views yesterday!  Wow!  I have no clue if these people are clicking right past or actually reading.  I just installed Google Analytics, so I might know more tomorrow.  But, in the meantime, if anyone out there is actually reading, I would love to hear from you!  Drop me a line or leave a comment.  I'd love to know if I'm just here talking to myself or if there is someone out there reading these words.

Details, Details

I'm a perfectionist.  I know this sounds strange having already confessed that my house is often a mess.  But, there is a strange connection between being a perfectionist and having a messy house.  The first time I heard about this was from Flylady and it was like a light bulb.  Yes!  That makes sense! 

You see, I am often consumed by the details of a job.  This can be a good thing when planning an event, but not so great when it comes to cleaning my house. 

Cleaning my desk takes hours.  Why?  Because it has to be done right.  Each paper has to be analyzed to determine if it should be kept or thrown away.  Then, it must be decided exactly how the keeping or throwing away should happen.  Does it get shredded?  Thrown in the trash?  Filed (and where exactly)?  Put in a new location?  It is exhausting!  So, as a result, I often just never start.

Right now, I am sitting here at a messy desk dreading that, tomorrow, I am going to have to clean it.   A normal person could probably take five minutes right now and get it done.  But, not me.  I look at those pink papers on top (a wedding invitation) and go back and forth about if I need to keep them.  I have all the info saved on my phone, but what if something happens and I need it again?  But, if I keep them, where can I put them that I will remember where they are?  So, they have sat on top of my desk for a couple of months.  I know where they are and can find them at a moment's notice.  In fact, about five minutes ago they were at the bottom of the pile, but I needed them to make a reservation for a hotel and was able to find them right away.

This is something I really need to work on!

My Messy Desk