Category: meaningful thoughts

Quite simply put I have not been coping very well with “life” since returning from our trip. First I was sick, then Amy was (and continues to be) unwell, then my Poppa died and well, life just didn’t get back to normal. I feel so out of touch with things now as it’s been a good 7 weeks since I had any routine in my life. I’ve been trying to do it all and, frankly, it’s just not working. So for the moment I have decided to put my weight loss efforts to the side, get life back under control and then tackle that demon.

My top priorty is getting my household routines back in place. I started yesterday by making up a monthly menu plan (and putting all relevent recipes into my monthly folder) – even Amy had been complaining about having her fav dinner all too often. I then sat down with the girls and came up with 4 jobs for each of them to do in the morning, and 3 in the evening. This is in addition to their normal jobs (which is basically puttin their stuff away). This should help take some pressure of me and give them some good skills as well. They are very excited about it. The plan is for them to swap jobs every week.

Here’s their lists:

AMY                                                                       CHRISTY

Empty Dishwasher                                                    Hang out washing

Feed/water dogs                                                     Feed/water guinea pigs

Clear table                                                             Feed/water Fudgie (bird)

Change tablecloth if needed                                    Set table for breakfast

EVENING

Set table                                                                Help cook dinner

Pack school lunches                                                 Clear table

Tidy up house                                                         Tidy up house

I’ve also redeveloped my own routine and am going to try getting my household jobs out of the way before going to the gym. Should help as me feet are so sore at the moment. This way I can get my “on my feet” jobs over and done with early. I also plan to eat healthily, just not stress over what I’m eating.

Well, I’m slowly recoveing from Christmas – unfortunately I’ve been unwell with a VERY sore throat, achy body and unsettled tummy. This is meant it’s been hard to get the house back to normal. Lucky for me Mum and Dad came over today and helped me restore order. Now as I look around the house it feels like home again. The girls have been pretty unhelpful and it’s taken plenty of raised voices and threats to get them tidying. I just want them to learn if they tidy as they go it doesn’t become a big job and it makes ME happy, which will in turn make THEM happy as I’ll have more time for FUN.
As the year comes to a close I’ve been considering my goals/aims for 2007. In reading today I came across the saying “renovate your life” – I love it and that’s going to be my motto for 2007. With CHristy starting school I am going to make 2007 MY YEAR. I’m still working on my goals but here’s what I’ve got so far. Many goals overlap or aid one another.

HOME
– Maintain new household routine
– Reduce processed/packaged foods/meals
– Menu plan properly and buy ONLY what is needed
– Minimise disposable products – napkins, plates, towels, containers
– Make from scratch where possiible
– Buy organic produce where possible

FINANCE
– Read up more on budgeting/finance
– Reularly review budget
– Put $50 a week into long-term savings
– Start paying extra off mortgage in June

PERSONAL
– Write in blog regularly
– Learn to download photos and update my website myself
– Work on novel for 2 hrs Mon – Thurs
– Limit e-mail/internet