Undone

All my life I was taught to look like I had it all together.  And so I did.   Look like it.  I don’t think I always felt like it was all together, but that wasn’t the important part.  The image…that was what we were after.  It wasn’t said but as the oldest in the family, it hung in the air.  Set the example.  Make us look good.  Be the best.  The whole world is out there, yours for the taking.

I think a lot about that.  I work hard these days at leaving things undone.  At going to bed instead of finishing one more thing.  At letting people see my weakness.  Lord, have I got weaknesses.

People have said things to me like “YOU don’t know how to do that?  I thought you could do it all.”

I want to scream at them.  But it is me…I put the can-do-it-all image out there.  The perfectionist that lies just below the surface can’t stand this undone stuff.

And so I haven’t been very productive today.  Not in a to-do list sort of way.  I slept in and then did some record keeping for work while in my pjs.  After a shower and grocery shopping I read a book that I’m really enjoying.  The rest of the day has been spent window shopping until stores closed and a meeting with a friend over a hot cup of tea.  Now I have a little more time before my guys get home from ice-fishing.  And I will probably spend all of it here.  Thinking and writing.

What looks like lazy is not lazy at all.  It’s hard work for me to play all day.

I know progress is being made.  At a school event last week, a friend was complaining that she has too much vacation time and her husband doesn’t have much.  She didn’t know how to use it up…even saying “I just can’t stay home and do nothing!”  I told her she should try.  That it was really nice to just take a day alone to read or putz around.  She said she’d feel too guilty.  My sweet hubby looked at me and said “Yeah, she used to say that too.  But now she can relax.”  I don’t think the other moms got it…but I sure smiled.

In fact, I’m taking a week off in March.  I’ll spend the first few days at a scrapbooking retreat and then spend the rest of the week at home.  I have some projects I’d like to get to and some crafting to do.  And some reading.  Who knows what I’ll leave undone that week.

How about you?  Are you up til all hours finishing things up?  Do you make time to relax and play?  Please tell me…

Company Girl Coffee 2.26

I’ve got a cup of hot tea and the sun is shining.  My favorite kind of Friday!  I had a funny week.  Things popped up on the calendar unexpectedly and it got a little hectic some days, but I declare a victory!  We made it through without casualty.

I love looking ahead at a weekend…the anticipation of what is to come.  Other than church Sunday morning, there was nothing on the calendar for the two days.   As part of my attempt to do more with friends (I really haven’t been doing enough to cultivate friendships lately) I emailed a friend I haven’t talked to for months! We are meeting for coffee/tea tomorrow morning.  I am really looking forward to it.  We are planning our Friday Night Blitz tonight which will leave tomorrow open for filling more bags and maybe even taking out my sewing machine or some other craft supplies.

Sunday I am taking a short shopping trip with Grace.  She leaves from school today for an overnight stay in the Twin Cities and a speech meet tomorrow.  She won’t return until later tomorrow night, so shopping will fall on Sunday.  For Christmas she received “money” for a room redo.  We are looking around at fabric for curtains to replace her closet doors.  Next month we’ll get going on the actual work.

So today I’ll straighten up and finish laundry so that cleaning is quick tonight.   My cup is empty and the kids are ready for circle time so I suppose I better scoot before I have a ankle-biter uproar!

Please visit the other entertaining coffee girls over at Rachel Anne’s place, Home Sanctuary!  It’s a great way to spend a little (or a lot) of time.

40 Bags in 40 Days

A couple of weeks ago I came across the 40 bags in 40 days challenge for Lent.  I don’t even really know how I got there…surfing around one evening.  I am not Catholic, nor have I ever given anything up for Lent, but this year I’ve felt a nudge to step it up.  I was wondering what I should be doing differently…thinking about where I need to grow.  Right now I feel there are two things holding me back.  One is STUFF!  Oh the stuff.  I love it and I hate it.  But I know it is getting to be too much.

Enter the 40 bags challenge.  I could do this!

I set out thinking this would be pretty easy.  And so far it is going well.  I went through a big stash of yarn that my mom gave me.  Some I kept for my own projects and most I donated to the local middle school.  They are doing a knitting clinic with kids next week and had an ad on the radio that they needed yarn.  Beautiful timing.  I went through big stacks of magazines that I’ve been saving.  Most are getting recycled and the newer ones are headed to the library.

I think as the weeks move along this will get harder and the sacrifice will really kick in.  And that’s good too.  I am already finding that I am looking around my house with new eyes…and a little embarrassment at how I’ve let things accumulate.

How about you?  Are you a saver or a thrower?

Just Like Tunnel Slides

At dinner last night I was talking with the kids about my mission to declutter this house.

Me: Mom feels claustrophobic in her own house!

Stanley: I know mom.  I get claustrophobic in tunnel slides.

Yes son, something like that.

So That’s What Went Wrong

Going into this week I was feeling pretty good.  The normal kind of busy, but that’s about it.  Or so I thought.

I went to middle school conferences on Monday.  I always go down to the music dept to visit with the band director.  He’s a quirky guy and I don’t think he gets many visitors.  He mentioned something about the concert Thursday.  Mental note – I don’t think I know anything about a concert Thursday.  So when I got home I checked…nope nothing on the calendar about a Thursday band concert.  I decided to figure it out tomorrow (today).

This morning as the first daycare family was coming in, Stanley produced a permission slip from his backpack.  A field trip coming up.  Ok.  Set it on the counter and I’ll take care of it later today.  He said it was due on the 22nd.  Whatever…I’ll do it for tomorrow.  Oh.  The 22nd was YESTERDAY.  Great.

As I cleaned up the breakfast dishes a friend called to see if I’d be at a meeting tonight.  Again I don’t have any recollection of it.  I said that if my co-leader couldn’t make it I would try.  After washing dishes I’d call my co-leader.  I glanced at the calendar on the wall next to the sink, hands still soapy, trying to figure out why I didn’t remember the meeting.  Well, I hadn’t written down the meeting but I did write down a dentist appointment for tonight!  Hadn’t remembered that either.

Eventually I did get details on the band concert.  I lined up my co-leader to go to the meeting.  I got my teeth cleaned.  My son is all set to go on that field trip.

So here’s the organizational system that would’ve helped:

Buy calendar done

Write pertinent information on calendar

Periodically check to see that info is UP-TO-DATE

Look at calendar at least weekly (preferably daily)

Seems simple.  Think I’ll try it.

Saturday Night Update #2

Two weeks ago I was knee-deep in tax work.  Yesterday was my tax appointment.  Now I have my life back.  No more checking and double checking figures.  No more late nights.  No more procrastinating.  Done.

If I wasn’t so darn tired I’d jump up and down with all the excitement.  Instead, I’ll be going to bed early.

How ’bout you?  Have you worked on your taxes yet?

Saturday Night Update

Hours and hours ago I started entering numbers into my computer in preparation for my upcoming tax appointment.  I am thrilled with the amount I got done today.  I would say I’m 75% done.  That is HUGE with almost 2 weeks left until the appointment.  My goal is to finish by Friday.  If I stay motivated, that is very possible.

Now I’m going to head to bed.  Sunday will be a long (but fun) day.  We are traveling tomorrow for a day in one of the bigger cities near here.  First a lot of wrestling to watch, then some shopping and dinner out.   Sounds perfect after a day at the computer.

Ever notice how good it feels to accomplish something you’ve put off for too long?

I hope your weekend is proving to be a good one too!

Also…my girl got an Excellent ribbon at her first ever Speech Meet today!  What a kid!

Company Girl Coffee 2.5

Hey there!  Welcome!  I know it is getting a little late for coffee, but I’m glad you stopped by!  I’ve got soda, tea & plenty cold water…what’ll you have?

I made it to the weekend!  Finally back from an unexpected blogging break, I’ve checked in at Home Sanctuary for Rachel’s Small Things.  I love those Small Things.  While I haven’t had time to comment much I did pray for friends, cut some tags, took care of some garbage clutter in my make-up bag, planned dinner before 10 am and today I shook out those throw rugs.  In Minnesota those entry rugs definitely collect sand & salt!  While I didn’t complete even 50% of my to-do list on any given day, I do feel good having added those Small Things.

About a month ago I made a little change to our weekend routine and my house has seen the benefit of that change.  It makes my home a sanctuary, at least for the weekend.  With daycare in my home, I might as well have a revolving door on my house Monday through Friday.  Between 6:30 and  8:00 on any given morning a dozen people have come in and 3 of my family have gone out.  That is a lot of traffic.  Repeat between 4:30 & 5:00.  By the end of the week my house can look a little worse for wear.  This week I had a blue design on my linoleum for 3 days.  It was carpet tape I put down in a zig-zag pattern through my kitchen & dining room for the kids to practice walking on.  And today there was a head to a baby doll stuck under my hutch.  Apparently the baby doll needed to go under there for a nap.  When a little someone was trying to get the baby up they pulled a little too hard.  Whoops.  Definitely not a sanctuary feel.

I usually straighten up each night, then vacuum & sweep each morning.  But energy for other big cleaning doesn’t come easily for me during the week.  So about a month ago I was here with the kids for the weekend while Dan was on a fishing trip.  I got a great idea!  I would offer an incentive to my kids!  I didn’t want to spend the whole weekend cleaning and I didn’t want to keep nagging reminding them to help.

This was the deal:  For two hours after kids left they helped me CLEAN house.  Floors, bathrooms, dusting – everything.  At 6:30 if I had good, productive helpers with happy attitudes I would order pizza to be delivered.  (this if VERY rare around here) then we’d pick out a movie to watch while we enjoyed our pizza.  They loved the idea.  Really.

They didn’t mind helping.  They loved the pizza.  And they really liked that mom sat down and watched a WHOLE movie with them & didn’t get up once to change laundry or something.

We have done this Friday night thing three times now.  The kids ASK to do this on a Friday when we don’t have anything on the calendar.  It is amazing. One week I got three junk drawers cleaned out & sheets changed in addition to the rest.  Another week we got the kitchen counters cleared and scrubbed down.  Best thing is, my house actually feels like a sanctuary by 7pm on Friday.  Getting up to a clean house on Saturday morning is heavenly.  On Sunday I still have a short cleaning session to do to get ready for Monday, but it is nothing like the weeks we don’t do our Friday Night Blitz (as my son called it last time).

That is the main thing I’ve got going on lately.  How about you?  What have you been doin’ to make that home a sanctuary?

To see what a bunch of other fun folks have been up to check out more Company Girl Coffee links!

7 Quick Takes (vol. 1)

I love reading the Quick Takes over at Conversion Diary, so I thought I’d add mine this week.  I seem to be all about randomness lately so this should be easy.

1. Today is the family dog’s birthday.  She’s now a 9-year-old chocolate lab.  A gentler dog you won’t find.  My son thought I should make puppy chow for snack today in honor of the “puppy’s” birthday.
2. I have survived almost a week with a teenager in the house.  Grace turned 13 on Sunday.  Just when I can’t believe I have a teenager, she gives me a good dose of attitude.  Then I believe it.
3. Outside there are a couple of inches of fresh snow & it is snowing lightly now.  I love days like this…especially when it is FRIDAY too!
4. Tomorrow I get a day home alone!  The boys will be at a wrestling tournament in the morning and then have fishing plans.  Grace has her first speech tournament.  I’m not going to watch wrestling because my tax appointment is looming and I have a LOT of data entry to do.  But even tax work can’t take the excitement out of a day to myself at home!
5. My son was asked to take part in a team wrestling meet that is on Sunday.  It will be the first opportunity I’ve had to watch him wrestle this year.  I love watching my kids in their various sports.  I enjoy visiting with parents and seeing the kids work together.  We don’t usually do things like this on Sunday, but we’re making an exception this time.
6. Yesterday I got to see a baby roll over for the first time.  Babies are wonderful little creatures…even when they cry and poop.
7. The days are flying by and this is the busiest we’ve been in a LONG time.  I’ve had trouble staying focused on just one day at a time.  I tend to get overwhelmed by the big picture.  I’m working on it…

So there you have it…a few little random tidbits from my life this week.

Thursday

This week is NOT going as planned.  I am stressed out & behind on all the things I should be doing.  So, hello, thanks for helping me procrastinate!

Ever notice that when life gets busy money seems to disappear?  Happens here.  And I don’t think we’re that unique.

I like life on the quiet side as far as the day-to-day operations go.  A few activities here and there for the kids, maybe a meeting or two thrown in every so often and I am good.  So I’m on foreign ground now.  Thursday is now our crazy day.  Stanley has wrestling practice after school until 5:15.  Usually Grace has Speech practice until the same time, but today she has a practice meet until 5:45.  Stanley has piano lessons from 6:00 until 6:30 (a 10 minute drive) and then Grace has Volleyball practice from 7 – 8:30.  It is usually closer to 9:00 before we get home.  My main issue with this schedule is dinner.  When do we eat?  And what do we have?

I know many, many families have this type of schedule several nights a week.  I’m not really whining as much as trying to figure out how to make it better.  We have almost always eaten together as a family…at least with the kids and one parent.  So everyone eating at different times is tough for me.  And yes, I know it will only get worse!  When we started this schedule it was ok because Thursday is leftovers night.  With garbage day on Friday we always clear out the frig on Thursday nights.  In my efficiency lately there haven’t been leftovers.  I am cooking dinner one night and then incorporating those leftovers into the next day’s lunch.

So now what?  I want something filling, nourishing and easy for them to scoop up.  I think the crockpot is probably the way to go.  I have 6 crockpots in varying sizes so I shouldn’t have a problem there.  But what do I prepare?  It has to be able to be ready at 6:00 but keep warm, without getting mushy, until 7:00.  Here’s a list of what I’ve come up with…  Meat for sandwiches: sloppy joes, shredded chicken or pork, or lasagna hot-dish.  Other, non crockpot ideas I had include fixings for cold-meat sandwiches or chef salads.

I know you all have more great ideas!  Help me out!  PLEASE!!  Because it really crossed my mind that Dan and I could each take one kid out for a quick supper – and that’s not the kind of simple I’m looking for!