Dear Friend,
I love Jesus, but I hate December! It's finally over, at least ... Except for the cleaning up and making returns! We exchanged our gifts and then my husband and I cooked a nice breakfast of orange juice, blueberry pancakes, bacon, and a fresh fruit salad. Then I went back to bed!
The very best thing this year was not having to cook Christmas dinner... I wish we had started doing this years ago, it made the day so much better for me, not to mention keeping me from getting in a terrible mood from exhaustion! We went out to dinner at a nice hotel and it was excellent and very upscale. I had to look up several things on my iPhone they were so haute! Our kids were in rare form at dinner being so funny and laughing so much, it was wonderful! He can make her laugh harder than anyone else in the world! I loved just watching them! At one point my husband asked them what their favorite thing was that we had ever done as a family. The summer in Hawaii definitely won and we had fun reminiscing over a lot of our favorite stories.
Than we came home and watched Christmas Vacation and I did some cleaning up in the kitchen. I should have the whole living area back under control tomorrow ... whoops. Cancel that. Were going into the city tomorrow to take our son to Rockefeller Plaza and Bryant Park. If I got up early I could get the floors swept and mopped and that would help A LOT! But that's not likely to happen, now, is it?!
So, I've been figuring out how to organize life in the new year. I love New Year and new starts and resolutions! My resolutions vary from being one word (SURVIVE!) to pages and pages. But I had already decided, and I'm sticking to it, that I have to start living my real life in January and quit putting most of my time into getting moved in and unpacked and decorating. I MUST start focusing on my health, NOW! So, the other day mentioned making Saturdays my work day and working on myself the five week days and, actually, I think that's probably a workable idea. I get the grocery delivery system going and the weekly meal planning going. Then during the week, keep the house picked up and make dinners, etc. Then Saturdays do the laundry and keep working on the house. Sundays for church and relaxation. And I think that's a pretty good basic plan. College work will keep everything from ever being easy and predictable and stable ... but the basic scheme is a good one.
I'm trying to think how a weekday would look, though. Here's where my thinking has lead me so far.
1. Get up 8:00 ish, or as close to it as I can. Feed dogs, coffee, make up, hair, dressed, breakfast.
2. Three days a week go to yoga for a 10:00 class. Two days a week go to jazzercise. As I get healthier, flip that so I am doing aerobics three days a week and yoga twice.
3. Go to a coffee shop and read my Bible, have my prayer time, and read a serious book. The idea is to have some dedicated time to read something other than stress-relieving novels. And this isn't going to take place at home, for sure!
4. Run any quick errands (pharmacy, UPS, post office, etc.) then go home.
Now here's where I get into trouble. The complication is the jumble and difficulty I have in separating out the two priorities of cleaning the house and writing. Not to mention that I do have routine work I have to do regarding the upkeep of the house and handling entertaining and other college-related emails and things of that nature. Plus, I need to change out of my exercise clothes and it would help if I could get prep work on dinner taken care of. Not to mention the more involved work of planning menus, putting in grocery orders, and unpacking and putting away the groceries when they arrive. My natural course is to do everything before I write ... so I guess that should guide
my plans here. Okay, then.
5. Change clothes and work on writing for ... TWO HOURS!
6. Housework ... ONE HOUR! I'd like to take down dirty laundry each day and keep things sorted in the laundry room. I need to sweep or vacuum most every day, really and mop more often than I am because of our Jack Russell. And keeping the kitchen island clutter free is proving to be a lot of work. Plus dealing with incoming mail and packages, watering plants, keeping the refrigerator cleaned out, etc.
7. College work, especially emails, planning events, menus, etc. ... ONE HOUR!
8. Prepare dinner, eat, and clean kitchen ... ONE HOUR.
9. Get ready for bed, bathe, wash hair, etc. ... LESS THAN AN HOUR.
10. Watch TV with husband and ... GO TO BED!
PROBLEMS:
Doctor appointments? Chiropractor? Meetings? What about wanting to do one thing a week to take care of myself ... manicure, pedicure, facial, or massage? Vet visits? The things that I can't fudge on at all are exercising and writing. Those are the two most important things for me to be doing and I can't neglect them anymore.
A flyway, it's a nice plan. Utterly impossible, but if I try to shape my days around it it will help.
But nothing is going to change if I don't make some big and very difficult changes to my life. I will not get healthy. I will not lose weight. I will not become a writer. And I have to do those things.
I am old enough now, at least, to not fall into the trap of trying to make any one day an exact replica of my plan. Never going to happen.
1. Exercise each day.
2. Write each day.
3. Plan meals and order groceries weekly.
Those are the main things that everything else will rest on. The trifecta of priorities if you will!
Have you started thinking about any changes you want to make in your life this next year?
Cheers!
Lisa
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