Well today I thought I'd lay it all bare and talk about how I attempt to manage my days and weeks as a stay-at-home mom. I have always been a big fan of 'to-do' lists, but have never gotten hooked on any of the fancy planners that are out there (e.g. Franklin Covey, etc). So in an effort to be slightly more organized (i.e. I used to jot down all my lists on scraps of paper that would inevitably get lost!), I have started using a weekly calendar that I simply draw up on computer paper. I use this in conjunction with a monthly calendar that sits on my fridge.
Here's this week's calendar and you can see by the scribble on Monday that it is now Tuesday! My daughter's 12 month well-baby check up was this morning (she had five shots, poor baby!) and the cross-out through the eye appointment is because my husband took my car for the afternoon since his is in the shop - ugh! I did, however, manage to purchase tickets to see The Blue Man Group, which was a key to-do item for the day since tickets just went on sale today - yay!
You can see too that I have a row going across the bottom where I've done some meal planning for the week. This means I look in the fridge, freezer and pantry to try and figure out which meals I can make with my existing ingredients. Any items that I don't have on-hand, I write at the top of my weekly calendar in my little 'shopping' box. Tonight we will have the Parmesan garlic chicken breasts and accoutrements.
Also at the bottom I have a row called 'Weekly Goals'. Each week when I'm creating my little calendar (usually Monday morning) I try to determine which of my many to-do items should take priority that week and then I jot them down in this section to be crossed off or checked off as I complete them.
Speaking of which, one of my goals this week was to complete (yes, actually COMPLETE and not just START, which is never a problem!) one sewing project. So I rolled up my sleeves and knocked out a throw pillow cover out of some fabric that had been collecting dust! Here it is ...
Right now it's sitting on my bed, but I'm thinking it will work better in the living room since the cream is kind of fighting with the white of my duvet cover! But anyway, now I can check off my weekly goal of completing one sewing project - hooray! Another goal for this week is to complete at least one blog post, so as soon as I sign off on this post I am looking forward to the satisfaction of crossing off one more goal :).
One new addition to the calendar this week is a section for me to track my alcohol, caffeine and desert intake! After a weekend of serious indulgences while visiting my sister in the Bay area, I decided I need to be vigilant for at least this week to try and get myself back on track. So, I am only allowing myself 4 units of alcohol and caffeine, and 3 deserts for the whole week. As I consume these items I will tick off the boxes and, once all have been ticked off in any category, I'm no longer allowed that item! I know some of you may think this is pretty generous, but seriously, if you had any idea how many of these items I generally consume on a weekly basis, I'm sure you would see what a challenge this is going to be for me! So it's Tuesday and I still have 3 units of alcohol and caffeine left, and all 3 desserts! This is a big achievement for one who could easily have consumed all my weekly units in one day in my former life (i.e. before yesterday!).
So now maybe in liue of the afternoon coffee or tea and cookies I'd usually have, I'll go drink some more of that herbal-infused water I'm hooked on lately! Persian cucumber water is calling my name!
Have a wonderful day, friends!
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