Knees to the Earth

Came across this song again today.  Kent and I had this played at our wedding, but I hadn't thought about it in probably years.  This version isn't quite what I wanted, but it's the best I could find.  My favorite version of this was on one of the Passion CDs where it's all done slower and is simply beautiful.  :) Just thought I'd share.

Weekly Schedule

I know I promised this for earlier in the week, but we've picked up another head cold around here, so my thought process has been pretty fuzzy. My routine following has been terrible as well, but I'm determined to not beat myself up about that. Hopefully tomorrow I can get back into the swing of things. If I can get the house a bit more under control tomorrow, then Monday it should be easier to dive back into my routine. We'll see...

Anyway, here's my weekly schedule, such as it is: (as always, this is my goal, not what usually ends up happening!)

Sunday- clean out the fridge (trash comes Monday), plan out my week (any lessons for Abigail, personal goals for the week)

Monday- dust, Kent's day off so generally we run errands or just spend time with Daddy

Tuesday- sweep and mop floors

Wednesday- wipe mirrors and then glass on the back doors, make menu for next week and grocery list

Thursday- change out sheets and towels, grocery shopping

Friday- vacuum rugs (our house is all tile, but we do have some area rugs that need to be done from time to time), possibly play date (try to schedule them for Fridays, but it depends on schedules)

Saturday- visit grandparents

Again, for the most part this follows FlyLady's weekly home blessing hour. I'd love to say that this is how all my weeks go, but in truth this is just an idea in my head. I don't think I've ever accomplished everything in one week, but I'm trying. If I make sure that I at least hit different things each week, then at least it will all get covered eventually, right? On the plus side, having done all this OYOL work, I'm at least beginning to get a better idea of WHY I feel like my life is crazy. I actually DO have a lot of work :) even if I am "just" a stay-at-home mom!

OYOL Week 8

Here's my daily routine. I use the FlyLady system for this (though I've put it together in a way that fits my life) so I've linked everything that goes along with her website. I have no set times on this because I just do it as I have time, but I do try to get each section done in it's part of the day. Not sure that really makes sense, but it should once you see the schedule.

AM:

Devotional

Shower & Dressed to Shoes

Eat a Good Breakfast

Clean up Kitchen (ideally in under 10 mins. I set a timer to try to get it done fast)

Brush Teeth, Hair, Makeup (if I don't do this together, I never come back to it)

Start a Load of Laundry

After Lunch:

Clean Kitchen

Put Laundry in dryer

One item from the Weekly Home Blessing List

Daily Mission

15 Min. Decluttering

Fold Laundry, Put Away

After Dinner:

Clean Kitchen

Shine Sink, Lay out new towels

Clean up Toys (with Abigail)

Exercise (I've been doing this earlier in the day, though, so I might need to move it. Also, this ideally would be an everyday thing...it's not)

PM:

Lay out clothes for tomorrow

Brush, Floss, Listerine

In bed (relaxing, not necessarily asleep) by 10

Since I'm already past my 10 o'clock time now I'll just post this and be done. I'll try to post my weekly routine (there's not much to it) tomorrow...hopefully :).

OYOL Progress Report

So, I've gotten behind on my OYOL weeks. I guess part of it is understandable, since one of the reasons I'm trying to get more organized this year is because I get sidetracked and forget/put off important things. I'm a work in progress, what can I say? Brenda and the other ladies have just begun week 8, but here's a quick run down of what I've missed.

~Week 5: Cut, Combine or Delegate (using the list we made from weeks 3 & 4)

~Week 6: Kid's Chores

~Week 7: Get a Routine on Paper

This week- week 8- Report for Duty (DO your routine)

Week 5: I never posted my detailed list, though I do have it written down. Basically I came up with a lot of things that I need to CUT. With my babies being only 3 and soon-to-be one, there's not much I can delegate to them. Hubby is currently working one full time job and volunteering part-time at a ministry, so he doesn't need anything else on his plate, either. So delegate is a no-go. Combine is one that I try to not do too much. For me personally I'm a TERRIBLE multi-tasker so I do much better when I focus on one thing at a time. One thing that I am trying to combine is my "me time" during nap time with some light cleaning. I'm thinking if I can fold laundry while listening to podcasts or music, then I'm (hopefully) refreshing myself while still being productive for my family. So, that leaves cut. Basically, I'm cutting my expectations and my impatience :). God has been teaching me over the past few months that this time of my life, while tiresome and draining, is short. The time I spend where my children rely on my for just about everything is going to be short when viewed from the end of my life, should God grant me a long one. But even if He doesn't, my kids are the job God has given me now and I need to pour everything I have into helping them grow, not rushing them to grow. So, I cutting my desire to have everything perfectly set up for an organized house and instead I'm focusing on my kids and working on organization habits little by little. I'm cutting my desire to be involved in every church ministry/home group/mom's club that comes along, in order to focus on having enough down time to relax with my children at home. I'm cutting my constant struggle to find a way to contribute financially. I know the extra income would be nice, but God has given my husband a job that provides beyond just our needs into a lot of our wants. By trying to find a way to make money from home I'm only distracting myself from my true job and honestly making more work for my overworked husband by leaving the housework undone. And lastly, I'm trying to cut the idea that everything has to happen NOW and instead just enjoying the process.

Week 6: I skipped this one. My three year old helps clean up her toys at night (when I remember to have us do it), so for now that's all I want from her. We are embarking this week upon the potty training journey (again, for like the third time. Think it's finally going to stick!) so until we get that taken care of, I don't want too many other distractions.

Week 7: I have a routine that FlyLady helped me get together and I'm going to really try to stick to it this week (starting tomorrow! Today didn't happen). I'll post it up next.

So that's my OYOL catch-up! Hopefully I can start doing this on time :).

Super Nerd

Those of you who know me know that deep down inside (okay, maybe not so deep) I have this raging mega nerd just dying to get out. Seriously :). The kind of nerdiness that makes you embarrassed to admit it in public. Like Kent and I rented all the old Star Trek movies from Netflix, in order, because we wanted to. Yeah, that kind of nerdiness. And it's sad, but at least my dear, loving husband is just as nerdy. :) We're cool like that...I think.

Anyway, my latest semi-nerdy activity that I've been into is color analysis. I only rate it as semi-nerdy because at least it has to do with fashion and looking my best, but the fact that I'm doing hours of research about it online because I'm too cheap to pay the $80-100 they're asking for a personal analysis is. :) My sisters (who are both quite a bit younger) would be so embarrassed. For whatever reason, though, this just doesn't seem to come naturally to me. Knowing what to wear, how to wear it, what to do about my hair, makeup, etc. is baffling to me, so this is how I make up for it. I'm a bit of a perfectionist, too, so that's how we end up with this taking up all my evenings lately. I think my husband thinks I've gone off the deep end. I've given away about 2/3 of my closet and I'm unsure about the rest. Oh well, time to go get some more! I'm hoping to do this in a more organized fashion this time around. My goal is to end up with a workable wardrobe that consists of things that FIT and actually look good on me. :) We'll see how it goes. Goodwill has become my new best friend because I can try all kinds of colors and styles for very little while I'm working through what works and what doesn't. Hopefully it will all come together at some point (and in the near future!).

Taxes

So, one of my many projects that I've picked up the last week or so is getting the taxes done. Ugh, I've yet to meet anyone who actually ENJOYS working through this process, so let me add myself to the list and say that this is completely not my area. That being said, my husband simply does not have time to do this this year, and so it falls to me. We've also decided to start tracking things better so that next year if we try to itemize (as we are attempting to do this year) it will be easier. Which means more spreadsheets and more documents to keep. Great idea in theory, but finding the time to set this up will be challenging. Hopefully I can talk hubby into doing a lot of the legwork on that since he's better at organizing than I.

I had hoped to get more posted tonight, but unfortunately a teething/possibly sick baby leads to very little extra time. Off to care for the hurting child!

Ack! Where did all these projects come from?

Wow, I am the queen of projects. I never cease to amaze myself at all the projects I can get myself tied up in at one time. No wonder my stress level is constantly through the roof. I am NOT a multi-tasker. I'm just not. Multi-tasking just leads to a stressed out Cassie and a stressed out Cassie is not a happy Cassie. Yet, for some reason I really keep trying to do it and failing. Partly because I feel like I have to get so much done and there are only a few hours in the day where I can actually sit and do "grownup" tasks. I also tend to pile too much on at once and expect change to happen overnight. I'm working on this... but it's not sinking in very quickly. Week 5 of OYOL helps to address this (I'm a little behind, but hope to get caught up tonight) so we'll see what I can do to set some of my projects aside, at least for a little while. Too many hats, I'm afraid. I'm putting off week six for a few months anyway, so not too big of a deal (week six is about delegating chores to our kids, I'm going to wait on Abigail until I can get some of my routines down pat more so I can more easily monitor her as she learns).

For now, though, I need to get back to my cleaning and OFF the computer! Hopefully I'll be back tonight with some more of what's been going on around here :).