Cleaning Schedule

I hate to clean. There are few things I'd rather do less than clean. I don't like living in a dirty house, but I also don't like having to remove the dirt. I dislike so many chores so much that I have a hard time pointing out a least favorite. But I think bathrooms and dishes top the list, with laundry close behind (folding is repetitive!). (I'm not a promising candidate for getting organized and into orderly shape, am I??) Couple this with the fact that I only have 1.5hrs at a time to do anything, and a cleaning schedule is in order! I figure if I divvy up the chores onto different days, I can hopefully do a little bit each day and keep things in order throughout the week.

The cleaning schedule I devised follows as such:
Monday: Bathrooms
Tuesday: Vacuum, dust, and Eliza's room
Wednesday: Our bedroom
Thursday: menuplanning, coupon cutting, etc.
Friday: laundry and hopefully some time for hobbies? Maybe?
Saturday and Sunday: my goal is not to clean on these days besides what has to be done every day so that Saturday can be a catch-up day if something goes "not according to plan" and Sunday can be family day.

The kitchen requires attention every day, sadly. (Maybe I hate kitchen duty the most? Because it seems that no matter how hard you work, there is always more work to be done!)

So far... the schedule hasn't worked out at all! But, that was just last week I tried to implement it. I hope this week goes better. As it's currently Monday and still the morning (cleaning comes in the afternoon), I can't tell you how this week is going to go, but I have good intentions. Only, already the laundry is coming into play earlier than I'd hoped. How is that just between Nick and I our laundry basket is already overflowing when I just did laundry late last week?? It boggles the mind. I expect we'll probably have several laundry days as our family grows, unless we get really massive closets and have enough clothes to go more than a week in!

The Day

Like I said in my last post, I'm an unorganized person. So the goals stated there are a little intimidating. Just because I'm an unorganized person? No. Because I am an unorganized, slightly undisciplined person who has no idea where to start. The idea of coming up with a working schedule is going to be quite a challenge for all these reasons. Currently, the day just seems to slip away between feedings and diaper changes (and clothing changes...) and putting her down for naps. But I know that it shouldn't; how can it? Naptime lasts (usually) between 1 hr. and 1.5 hrs. And naps happen three (sometimes four) times during the working day (depending on how early the day starts)! That's between three and six hours where I can get stuff done, right? But it never happens. Or at least, most of the "stuff" doesn't happen. The few days where I get everything on my to-do list done has meant Eliza spent most of her awake time in her bouncy chair. That is unacceptable to me. I am a firm believer that she needs to learn to play on her own and I think she needs time in said bouncy seat and having quiet blanket time without me. I love that she loves her bouncy seat! But I also want time to play with her, to talk to her, to have our one-on-one time while we can get, because who knows when a sibling might come down the pike? As much as she needs to play on her own, she also needs my attention, and I want to give it to her. So, where's the balance?

My hope is that it will be in a schedule. If I can work out a schedule where every day some thing, some particular activity or chore will be accomplished, then maybe it will happen! If there's time for it, then the only excuse would be laziness. Something (that slightly undisciplined portion of myself) that I would all too easily give into if I chose to.

Things I have to consider in creating a schedule:

• Eliza's feeding times
• Eliza's nap times

Yes, that's it. Right now, as my daughter is only two months old, I have to consider the fact that she has needs that need to be met on a regular basis. (Diapers, we can try to do on a schedule, but that's a dream until she's a little older.) Everything else revolves (loosely) around those things. So, my solution, to schedule those naptimes to death and hope I don't mind using her awake times as "downtimes." We can both chill out on the blanket for awhile, right?

Partly the schedule's have written as we follow a feeding/naptime schedule already. But what I need to work out is how I will fit in daily tasks I want/need to accomplish. Here's the schedule I've been considering, (mostly to try to get in certain things before lunchtime):

6:00 Breakfast, make Nick's lunch, prep for the day
7:00 First feeding
7:30 Awake time, possibly Eliza's bath and getting dressed
8:30 Naptime for Eliza; devotions, reading, blogging for Mama
10:00 Feeding Eliza
10:30 Awake time, bath if not before; playtime for Eliza
11:30 Naptime for Eliza, workout and lunch for me
1:00 Feeding Eliza
1:30 Awake time/various activities
2:30 Naptime; cleaning and hopefully a shower for me!
4:00 Feeding Eliza
4:30 Awake time/various activities
5:30 Naptime; cooking dinner for me if it isn't started yet
6:30 Dinner, if not before
7:00 Feeding Eliza
7:30 on... evening family time
9:30 Last feeding and bed time

If not all of these activities take up their whole time slot, that will hopefully leave me time to do extra things. Theoretically. The only time where there's really "extra time" is during Eliza's awake time.

So far it hasn't really happened this way. But we're trying.

No matter what, I want my quiet time to be at that first nap. It's the best one she takes (most days) and I can be gauranteed that time, as it should be a priority. I had the idea that I would put things that I'm least likely to accomplish at the first part of the day, but that would mean cleaning and exercise, and leaving my devotions to the mercy of available time. Not cool. But that does leave the question: what should get that second morning time slot, exercise or cleaning? What has more priority? If I don't schedule exercise for a time I know I can do it, I won't do it. Period. (Case in point, I've exercise only once this week and only twice last week. Sad, sad, sad.) But the cleaning has to get done. What to do? That's what we're still working on.

Goals for 2010, Redux

Earlier, I talked about some goals I want to accomplish in 2010, mainly losing weight and having a regular devotional time. But I am realizing that I have other things that I dearly want to accomplish. All can be lumped together under the umbrella of "GETTING ORGANIZED."

Anyone who knows me fairly well knows I am an unorganized person. It's a personality trait. It's in my genes. I could detail the numerous ways in which I fail to organize and be neat and tidy, but it would mean an overly long blog entry. We'll skip that. But I do have multiple goals under this "organizing" one, and the sheer number of them give me reasons for pause. Here they are:

1. Organize our bedroom (our main living space here at Mom and Dad's) so that it isn't so messy ALL-THE-TIME.
2. Organize Eliza's room so things are more easily accessible and efficient, and her room is tidy.
3. Create an efficient cleaning schedule so that my tasks get done throughout the week.
4. Create an efficient daily schedule so my daily tasks get completed.
5. Start menu-planning and be more efficient at cooking/shopping/etc.

That's FIVE goals! Add that to the two I've already set for myself for the year, and I'm trying to accomplish seven goals?? I'm not sure that's going to work! I've heard that you should really only set two-four (and four is pushing it) long-term goals. All of these are long-term for the likes of me for several reason, all of which I'll likely blog about in the next few days because this has really been on my mind.

I know the key is to start slow. And to start somewhere! But the question is where and how. Definitely not "when", I know that one: ASAP. This requires more thought. And more blogging. Stay tuned...

A note on the background

Nine years ago, I headed off to Europe for a 6-week backpacking trip with a friend of mine. It was probably one of the most adventurous things I've ever done, and that includes a 6-month trip to Africa. It was just my friend and I and we had no itinerary other than the one we made ourselves. We traveled from city to city using the railway system, walked a great deal in the places we visited and enjoyed the scenes of Europe from the city streets. The great thing about this kind of travel is that you don't have to follow anyone else's schedule and unexpected experiences are far more likely to fall in your way.

Lyons is an example. We didn't know much about the city of Lyons, France. The reason it made it on our itinerary is because in high school I did a research project on the French Resistance under Nazi Occupation, and I read the story of a woman who helped her husband escape Nazi imprisonment in Lyons. (The book was Outwitting the Gestap by Lucy Aubrac and I highly recommend it!) I was so fascinated with her story and the pictures in the book, that I wanted to see Lyons for myself. However, besides the Resistance museum there, we had little on our list of "must-see's" while in town. Which left us at the mercy of the recommendations of our guide books.

It was because of said guide-books that we found ourselves wandering the rooms of a tiny textile museum in a quiet corner of Lyons. It was a fascinating hour, to our surprise. Here were dozens of examples of cloth dating from Renaissance and Baroquial periods through colonial times and forward. Cloth! It was a study of textures, colors, patterns, and prints. It fascinated me to move through the museum and see the changes and innovations in cloth-making, in weaving and printing and dying. How tastes changed over generations to accommodate different designs, tones in colors. All information was in French, so I learned little, but I saw far more than I would have expected. Sadly, I have no pictures of this museum. I don't remember if they were allowed and I failed to take any or if they weren't allowed at all. But I found this background during a late-night nursing (trying to keep myself awake) and it reminded me of some of the things I saw there. I looked at it appreciate the sagey greens, the watery browns, the burnt reds, and it reminded me of this museum. If I ever find myself in Lyons again, I intend to look it up.

I want that cookbook!

I've added a new blog that I follow to my list below: "There's always a reason to bake!". It's written by a lady who wrote a cupcake cookbook. I gave said cookbook to my sister-in-law for Christmas and I so want my own copy!! She's got lots of fabulous ideas. The cookbook is called "101 Gourmet Cupcakes in 10 Minutes." The Premise: additions you can make to cake mix to make them truly unique and yummy! How awesome is that?? Especially for someone like me who's not the best baker in the world... *Looks down and away.*

Anyway, check it out! I just found it today and I'm looking forward to perusing it in my free time!

Cabin Fever? Not here.

It seems it's been snowing for weeks. Oh, wait... it has. And then top it with cold, and many have been in-bound for weeks as well, especially those of us with small children. I am no exception. I haven't been out since last Sunday when we came home from Iowa. But unlike my friends, whom I've seen posting the cabin-crazy statuses on Facebook, I'm not that fussed. I guess I've always been a home-body, but you'd think even homebodies stuck inside all week would go crazy. Maybe it's that I weigh the hassle of getting her ready to go outside (suiting her up and getting out the door before she overheats, the screaming from being buckled into the carseat, struggling to get the carrier into the base in the car, the resulting tension headache) and I'm perfectly content to stay home. Maybe it's that I feel the need to master the craziness indoors before heading out, like trying to actually get some laundry done, some cleaning done, getting a shower in... Life really does seem to go from naptime to naptime, and between feedings and supervised playtime, and bathtime, and diaper changes. And while I'm nowhere near good at it, while sometimes I feel like a pretender, a faker, as I try to mother and sustain my little one, I'm liking it. Most times, I'm loving it. Even when she doesn't want to nap and I feel so unequipped. I look down the road to the spring, and I'll be very content to get out then. She'll be sitting up (hopefully), and we can go out and sit on a blanket in the yard. We can go to the zoo and she can hopefully sit in the stroller. Whether she'll look at the animals remains to be seen. We'll go to the library and look at books. Until then, let the cold keep us in. We'll enjoy tummy-time and playing in our bouncy seat. And church and Bible studies and occasional coffees with the girls will probably be just fine with me. We can hope.

Life Changes

This last weekend was a rather big one. Besides seeing not only a new year but a new decade in, Nick and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary and then attended the wedding of one of my dearest friends. It was fun, it was fabulous, and it was COLD with a high of 5 and a low of -22 there in Iowa. But leave it to items such as anniversaries, weddings, new years, and new decades to look back and see how far you've come and how much has changed in your life.

Ten years ago, this millenium had just started.
Ten years ago, I was preparing to start my first semester back after six months in Africa.
Ten years ago, I lived in a dorm on the same floor with all of my dearest friends.
Ten years ago, I was about as single as you could get, and really had no hopes to get married soon.
Ten years ago, I was still in college for the first time, and besides my klepto roommate and reverse culture shock, I was loving it!

One year ago, I was just married. (In fact, I was spending my honeymoon wandering around my new home, a small condo, because my husband was very sick!)
One year ago, I had just finished getting my teaching license and wondered if I really wanted to teach.
A year ago, I had big ideas about writing another d-group summer series.
A year ago, I was scouring real estate websites, dreaming about buying a big, fixer-upper home.
A year ago, I was trying decide how soon I hoped we might have a baby. (That one's answered!)

Now, I am not only a wife, but a mother. A stay-at-home mother who dreams about homeschooling her children a few years down the road. And wondering when the next one is coming. (I admit, I think about six months from now would be perfect, but we'll see what the Lord has in store.)

Life changes, doesn't it? At my friend's wedding, I reflected on how long we'd been waiting for that day. (She'd been dating her fiance for a number of years, and might have married sooner if the Lord had not led her to spend a couple of years in China.) I thought about how things are so different from when we were all living in Omaha, able to hang out to our hearts content. We were young, we were single, we had no commitments. Want to go to Cubby's for ice cream? Sure! Now, one friend is in Germany doing ministry. Another is in Virginia with her young family. Neither could come to the wedding. Another friend is at home in Minnesota, working and owns a property she and her brother rennovated to rent out. They might take on more. I am married and have a daughter. My friend just got back from China, is now married, and moving to western Nebraska to live. So much has changed. But the thing that I love most is the thing that hasn't: we're still friends. We still love each other, care about each other, and it's always good to catch up. I am seriously considering proposing a friends' reunion so we can all get together. Maybe a joint vacation? Might be tricky with kids in tow, but I think we could do it...