Menu Plan Monday - September 1

Happy Labor Day! School starts this week, and so our life settles back into a normal routine. It's been a great summer, but I'm ready for fall!

Monday
Grilled Burgers
Fries
Baked Beans
Grilled Veggies

Tuesday
Chicken Potpie
Salad

Wednesday
Swiss Steak Stew Skillet
Creamed Potatoes
Corn
Rolls

Thursday
Salmon
Rice
English Peas
Carrots

Friday
Homemade Bacon Cheeseburger Pizza
Salad

Saturday
Hot Dogs w/Chili
Fries
Coleslaw

Sunday
Roast Beef
Potatoes
Carrots
Biscuits

For more menus, visit I'm an Organizing Junkie

Sunday Seed

Good Housekeeping, March, 1930

"For a dream cometh through the multitude of business . . ."

Ecclesiastes 5:3

Revisiting Time Management

Gastown's Famous Steam-Powered Clock, Vancouver, Canada
I originally posted this entry on October 23, 2006. I had forgotten all about it when I ran across it again this afternoon, and I knew right away that it would be appropriate to repost, considering our recent conversations on time management. I hope you enjoy it and can glean something from it. As I was reading it, I was thinking, "I said that?!" It just showed me how much I have learned in the past that I need to re-implement in my life.


This morning I came across an item on Lifehacker, a web site that brings you all sorts of technological finds each day. It was an article written for real estate agents concerning the top time management tricks of realtors. These tips were written with career women in mind, but quite a few of them could be applied to us as homemakers, and I wanted to share with you the ones I found most helpful.

1. Turn off the tube. What excellent advice! The lady who sent in this tip mentioned that she had become "increasingly aware of how useless and inane most of the programs are." If we, as Christian homemakers, want to redeem the time the Lord has given us, we should reconsider the time we give to the tube. How much prime time (and I'm not talking about the 8-10 p.m. time slot here) do we give to this time-waster that could be better spent on something productive?

2. Keep converstions in check. There's nothing wrong with having a time to chat - either on the phone or online - but keep tabs on how much time you're spending on chatting, and get up and do something!

3. Take inventory of your time. If you feel like you're spinning your wheels, constantly busy but never getting anything done, check up on how you're actually spending your time. I've done this before, and it wasn't pretty. Lots of computer time, lots of reading time, lots of chatting time . . . but not much actual working time. Could you be spending more time than you think on unnecessary things while the important things are going undone?

4. Just say No. This advice dealt mainly with focusing on things that advance the career, but we can learn to say No to things that don't advance our "careers" of homemaking. Sure, it would be nice and profitable to participate in yet another Bible study, but if it costs you time on something else that is a priority in your life, is it really profitable? This lady stated, "I’ve learned that when you’re focused, it’s easy to decide when to say yes, and when to smile and say “no, thank you.” We need to focus on our God-given priorities, and let the rest go.

5. Do it now, not later. Ouch! Meet the Queen of Procrastination. I'm finally getting it through my thick skull that doing it now is much easier than waiting, when the job will most likely be more difficult and take more time. This realtor commented, "If you set things aside for later, you’ll find that later never comes." How much time we could save simply by doing it now! My childhood pastor, Dr. Harold Sightler, used to tell of a teacher he had who noticed him wasting his time one day. She had him write "Procrastination is the thief of time" quite a few times (I can't remember how many he said), and he never forgot that lesson. Dr. Sightler was known as a man who wasted nothing, not even a minute of his time. How I wish I had learned that lesson when he was teaching it from the pulpit 30 years ago!

6. Customize your grocery list. Yes, this was from a professional realtor as a tip to advance her business! She made a list of the approximately 120 items that she most frequently buys, arranged the list according to aisle numbers in her favorite grocery store, and printed it out. She states that her shopping time was cut in half, and if she and her daughter each take half of her list, they can finish their shopping in 15 minutes. I have a shopping list that's not quite as organized as hers, but it does help me to not only remember everything I need to write down, but to get through the store more quickly.

7. Attack the pile. This tip will be familiar to those of us who are FlyBabies! When this realtor is feeling overwhelmed with the amount of work piling up on her desk, she sets her timer for at least 20 minutes and gets rid of that pile of clutter. Many, many times the reason I feel overwhelmed with my job as homemaker is because things have piled up - clothes, dishes, papers - and all it takes to relieve some of that tension is a 15-minute declutter session. Sometimes it only takes 5 minutes to clear a desk or gather up dirty clothes, and things look so much more peaceful.

8. Save time and gas money. Schedule errands and appointments on the same day or in an orderly route, so that you're not backtracking, wasting time and gas to go back for something you could have taken care of earlier.

9. Put personal time on a pedestal. This one sounds like you're going to indulge yourself, but I found that this realtor was simply urging that you make time for the important things in your life. Schedule your priorities, and when someone wants your time during a time that you've set aside as a priority, you can simply say, "I'm sorry, but I have an appointment at that time." It might only be your exercise time, but it's important and should be guarded as such.

10. Cherish the quiet hours. This person stated, "I never, ever sleep in." His reason is that there are several quiet hours early in the morning that are so valuable to him that he will not give them up. So many important things can be accomplished early in the morning! My favorite thing to do first thing in the morning is have my quiet time of devotions with the Lord. It's so much easier to focus on the Lord when the house is still quiet! Mrs. B mentioned Laine's Letters on Be Not Conformed earlier today. Laine is the master of rising early! She accomplished more before her children get up than I do most of my entire day. Her letter on Rising Early is invaluable; reading it will motivate you to evaluate how early you rise, guaranteed! I have been mulling this over all day today. I'm going to be making some changes in my rising time soon.

11. Plan in short blocks of time. We learned this, again, from FlyLady. Tackle our jobs in small amounts, so that we're not overwhelmed with a gigantic job.

12. Turn on your kitchen timer. Sound familiar?!

These were the tips that I felt I could apply to my life and home. If you'd like to read all of them, you can read the entire article here. I hope something here will help you take a little something from the "professional" world to use in your little corner of the world, where you do the most important work of all - serving your family!

Live by Priorities

End of the Day

We live by demands when we should live by priorities.

J. A. Motyer

Menu Plan Monday - August 25

Monday
Grilled Pork Chops
Roasted Potatoes
Corn
Green Beans

Tuesday
Out of town

Wednesday
Stir Fry
Rice
Salad

Thursday
Garlic Chicken
Cheesy Rice
Broccoli
Carrots

Friday
Homemade Chicken Alfredo Pizza
Salad

Saturday
Beef Quesadillas
Rice
Veggie Sticks

Sunday
Chicken Casserole
Corn
Peas
Salad
Rolls

For more meal-planning ideas, visit I'm An Organizing Junkie

Sunday Seed

In Disgrace

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

I John 1:9

The Really Important Things

A Family Has a Fun Time Around a Table on Vacation, Fraueninsel, Chiemsee, Bavaria, Germany
You can look at my list in the sidebar and see that I got precious little done in my house this week. We picked up our older son from the airport on Monday to stay with us for a week, and after that, it was all downhill. Poor house!

I've enjoyed my time with our boy, though. He left home a year ago this week to attend college, and we haven't seen him much since then. He loves his school, and he's doing everything he can find to do during these school years. Having him home for a whole week is a treat for me.

I learned something several years ago from my mother-in-law while we were visiting her. While we were there, she would make sure the major clutter got picked up, trash thrown away, dishes and laundry washed and put away, but most of the time we were there she visited with us. She sat down at the kitchen table to chit chat every morning, and meals were long and unhurried. We just enjoyed spending time together as a family who only has that luxury about once every 4 years or so - my in-laws are missionaries in Jamaica and only come home every 4 years, unless there's a reason like sickness.

After this particular visit, my husband and I were going to visit my family a few hours away to celebrate my grandmother's 80th birthday. Just an hour or so up the road, our car broke down. My father-in-law came and took us back to their house, where I found something interesting. In the couple of hours we'd been gone, my mother-in-law had transformed the house! All the little piles of blankets and pillows and books were picked up and put away; the kitchen counters were cleared and all the dishes were washed and put away; the newspapers and church bulletins were thrown away; the bathroom was clean and all the wet towels were in the washer. I was mildly shocked that things were so neat!

What I realized from coming back to my in-laws' house unexpectedly was that my mother-in-law had lowered her normal standards of housekeeping while we were there in order to spend as much time as possible with us. Her family was more important than keeping up with the house that week. There was plenty of time after we left to restore the order she was used to.

That's how I feel this week, even though our son isn't taking up much of my time. He is only here for this week. I'm not going to knock myself out to make sure I stick to my normal routine; there will be time to get the house back in order once he goes back to school next week. There are still a few more days of family togetherness - our younger son arrives home today from working in the US this summer. We'll take time out for a few days to enjoy our whole family being together, and then we'll get back to routine.

I hope you're enjoying these last few weeks of summer! Enjoy your family!

Free Sewing Patterns!

Cross-posted from ByGrace . . .

I just signed up to get free sewing patterns from McCall's Patterns! You can too. Just click on the link, enter your email address, and you'll get the links to the free patterns. What could be easier?

Hat tip to my good friend Margaret at Hearts and Home

Do the Next Thing

Simple Pleasures

This is the poem from which Elisabeth Elliot devised her famous "do the next thing" advice. I thought you might enjoy it, since we've been talking about time management. I haven't been able to find an author's name for this; the closest I've found is that this poem was quoted to Elisabeth by her mother.

Do The Next Thing

At an old English parsonage down by the sea,
there came in the twilight a message to me.
Its quaint Saxon legend deeply engraven
that, as it seems to me, teaching from heaven.
And all through the hours the quiet words ring,
like a low inspiration, 'Do the next thing.'

Many a questioning, many a fear,
many a doubt hath its quieting here.
Moment by moment, let down from heaven,
time, opportunity, guidance are given.
Fear not tomorrow, child of the King,
trust that with Jesus, do the next thing.

Do it immediately, do it with prayer,
do it reliantly, casting all care.
Do it with reverence, tracing His hand,
who placed it before thee with earnest command.
Stayed on omnipotence, safe 'neath His wing,
leave all resultings, do the next thing.

Looking to Jesus, ever serener,
working or suffering be thy demeanor,
in His dear presence, the rest of His calm,
the light of His countenance, be thy psalm.
Do the next thing.

Author Unknown

Time Management from Mrs. Wilt

Here's a great article by Mrs. Wilt of The Sparrow's Nest, one of my favorite bloggers, on Creative Time Management for the Home. She mentions some things that I hadn't thought of, and her final recommendation - cover each day with prayer - is one I'm ashamed to admit I didn't think to include in my own list of time management tips. I do pray for God's blessing on my day and for His guidance in knowing exactly how He wants me to spend my day, but I neglected to mention that to you. Take a look at Mrs. Wilt's list; it's worth the read!

Beatitudes for Homemakers

Pink Peonies

First published March 11, 2006

Blessed is she whose daily tasks are of love, for her willing hands and happy heart transform duty into joyous service to all her family and God.

Blessed is she who opens the door to welcome both stranger and friends, for gracious hospitality is a test of brotherly love.

Blessed is she who mends stockings and toys and broken hearts, for her understanding is a balm to her husband and children.

Blessed is she whom children love, for the love of a child is of greater value than fortune or fame.

Blessed is she who dusts away doubt and fear and sweeps away the cobwebs of confusion, for her faith will triumph over all adversity.

Blessed is she who serves laughter and smiles with every meal, for her cheerfulness is an aid to mental and physical digestion.

Blessed is she who introduces Jesus Christ to her children, for godly sons and daughters shall be her reward.

Blessed is she who preserves the sacredness of the Christian home, for hers is a divine trust that crowns her with dignity.

My thanks to Cindi, a member of the Making It Home Yahoo Group!

Just a Little Tip

I wanted to share with you one thing I've started doing with my to-do list. I saw it in the comments of a blog post somewhere recently - but I can't remember where.

Instead of marking through each task as it's done, highlight it. For some reason, that bright yellow swash through a job makes me feel like I've really accomplished something! Maybe it's because I can still easily read each item, so I can see what I've done. Whatever the reason, it's a great motivator for me.

Do you have an to-do list tips that have helped motivate you?

Menu Plan Monday - August 18

Our son comes home today! For a whole nine days! He's been traveling with a singing group from his college this summer, and they're finished now till school starts on September 2nd. But my boy, he has himself a job in campus security, so he has to be back a bit earlier than that. I hate saying goodbye again so soon, but I will celebrate while he's here by making his favorite foods. Then on Saturday, our second son will arrive back home from his summer job in South Carolina. And I'll celebrate some more . . . by making his favorite foods! He will be home to stay, at least for another year, then he'll be going off to college. Sniff.

Monday
Roast Beef in Brown Gravy over Rice
Corn on the Cob
Green Beans
Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits

Tuesday
Turkey Potpie with Potatoes, Peas and Carrots
Green Salad

Wednesday
Tator Tot Casserole
Ranch-Style Beans
Carrots

Thursday
Chicken Stir-Fry over Rice
Tossed Salad

Friday
Homemade Pepperoni Pizza
Green Salad

Saturday
Parmesan Chicken
Creamed Potatoes
Steamed Broccoli
Fresh Yeast Rolls

Sunday
Lasagna
Tossed Salad
Fresh Rolls
Apple Crisp with Ice Cream

For more Menu Plan Monday ideas, head on over to I'm An Organizing Junkie!

Sunday Seed

Busy Day in Dollville

"[S]He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much . . ."

Luke 16:10

On Being Overwhelmed

Originally published September 3, 2005

It's so easy to look at all we need to do and get overwhelmed. When I allow myself to do that, I get very irritable and can't think straight. I snap at my children, because I'm trying to figure out what to do and they're asking me questions! To keep from getting overwhelmed, first take one thing at a time. Do one job at a time. When that's finished, do another. Elisabeth Elliot says, when you don't know what to do, do the next thing. Secondly, once you get things in order, use routines to keep them that way. Will they stay that way all the time? Probably not, but if you have routines, it won't take long to get them back in order.

Here's what author John Steinbeck says about feeling overwhelmed:

"When I face the desolate impossibility of writing five hundred
pages a sick sense of failure falls on me and I know I can never do
it. This happens every time. Then gradually I write one page and
then another. One day's work is all I can permit myself to
contemplate and I eliminate the possibility of ever finishing."

~~ John Steinbeck, Travels with Charlie

Be a Little Bitter

Originally published September 27, 2005

I have a friend whom I've known for about 16 years, and when I first met her, she would come over to visit and end up cleaning my house! I was embarrassed, but I was also mystified by how she kept her own house so clean. One day I asked her how she kept her house so clean, and she said, "I clean house every day!" Now, that brought to my mind images of furniture polish, mop and bucket, and hours of time every day, and I totally rejected that idea, because I didn't want to spend hours cleaning my house every day - and I didn't think it was necessary to deep clean every day (which it isn't - that's obsessive). She never explained what she meant by cleaning house every day, but now I understand what she meant - she did some cleaning every day. She made beds, picked up clutter, kept the dishes washed, wiped down the bathroom, swept, and maybe did one or two deeper cleaning jobs each day. She didn't clean it all up on Saturday and then let it go till the next Saturday. She understood the principle of doing a little bit every day, maintaining the order and cleanliness. She was a little bitter! This is what FlyLady calls "routines." I've now learned to be a little bitter myself, and I finally understand how my friend keeps her home clean. So learn to be a little bitter!

In All Labour . . .

The Seamstress or, Young Woman Working

This post was originally published July 14, 2005

Pro 14:23 In all labour there is profit: but the talk of the lips tendeth only to penury (poverty).

We can sit and read about FlyLady's system (or any other, for that matter) all day, but until we get up and do something, there's no profit from it. In all labour there is profit: housework done incorrectly still blesses our families!

The Best Things In Life . . .

Good Housekeeping, June 1927

The best things in life are nearest: Breath in your nostrils, light in your eyes, flowers at your feet, duties at your hand, the path of right just before you. Then do not grasp at the stars, but do life's plain, common work as it comes, certain that daily duties and daily bread are the sweetest things in life.

~~ Robert Louis Stevenson ~~

Take Care of Yourself

This is a portion of a post originally published July 12, 2005

Pro 11:17 The merciful man doeth good to his own soul: but he that is cruel troubleth his own flesh.

How many times has FlyLady said to take care of yourself so that you can take care of your family? I've heard other Christians dismiss FlyLady's acronym of Finally Loving Yourself as the result of the Me generation; everything is about taking care of #1. Well, I do happen to believe that many people seek to take care of their own needs first, including many wives and mothers, to the detriment of their families. I also believe that my calling in life is to take care of my husband, children, and home. I do believe that Jesus taught putting others first, denying myself in order to serve them. All my life I've been taught that putting others first means ignoring myself. However, I've come to see that if I don't take care of myself that I won't be able to take care of my family. There's a fine line here. If I don't eat right, I'll gain weight, my diabetes will get out of control, and I'll be too sick to care for my family before I'm 45. If I don't get enough rest, I'm too cranky to be patient with my children, and I hurt our relationship by being short with them. If I don't take a couple of hours occasionally, with my husband's blessing, to do something by myself to recharge my emotional batteries, I get overwhelmed and discouraged, which affects how well I care for my family. So there is merit in taking care of ourselves; the very families we are trying to serve will be hurt if we don't. We'll be living the verse above - troubling our own flesh. So be good to yourself, not putting yourself first for selfish reasons, but to make sure you're able to care for your family, with God's help and blessing. Even Jesus and his disciples took times apart to refresh!

Photo by worak

Redeeming the Time

Lots of Clock Faces

This post was originally published August 11, 2005

See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Ephesians 5:15,16

These verses have been running through my mind today. In their context, their primary application doesn't apply to housework, but I believe that we can make application to our homes.

The word circumspectly means "cautious." We're to live carefully; maybe you could even say on purpose. Live purposefully. To redeem something means to buy it back. So, to apply this to our homemaking and FLYing . . . our routines help us to walk carefully, on purpose, through our days. When we get up in the morning, we have a plan in place to start our day, and at night we have a plan to wrap up our day and prepare for the next. We have afternoon routines to help us transition from the morning to afternoon and dinner time.

Our routines also help us to redeem (buy back) our time! Following a routine each day for cleaning up the kitchen after meals helps me to clean up in 15 minutes right after a meal, rather than it taking 2 hours the next day, because I've let it pile up for 3 meals. Let's see . . . that's 45 minutes today, in 15-minute increments (after each meal), compared to 120 minutes (and a lot of stress) tomorrow. Just one routine - cleaning up after each meal - saves me an hour and 15 minutes to do something else, like playing with my kids, playing the piano, visiting with a friend, reading, studying . . . any number of things that I'd rather be doing than cleaning my kitchen! That one routine redeems 75 minutes of my time!

I wholeheartedly believe that biblical principles can be lived out in our everyday lives. I'm so glad that the Lord allowed me to find a way to learn how I can live on purpose and redeem my time!

Speaking of Time

Speaking of time management, I'm finding time scarce this week. I ended up spending all day yesterday on one school subject because of a glitch in some software. I feel like my brain is beginning to fry!

To take a little pressure off of myself, for the next few days I'm going to be reposting some archived entries. I'm doing this on my other blog too, and I found it fun to dig around finding old things to say again.

I'll be around, just not posting or visiting too much!

If you haven't been reading The Simple Mom's series How to Be Disorganized and Unproductive, you are missing a goldmine of homemaking help! Today's post, the fifth in the series, really touched a chord with me. Simple Mom talks about how we can't do a task perfectly, so we don't do it at all, or we can't get it all done, so we choose to do nothing. I know how damaging that kind of thinking is!

The Simple Mom also points out six truths we must understand to drown out the lies running through our heads about having to do everything and doing it perfectly. If you struggle at all with having too much to do and not enough time to do it, please don't miss this series!

Introduction
Key #6
Key #5
Key #4
Key #3
Key #2

Time Management and Me

I wasn't born with that gene. The time management one. The one that seems to come naturally to so many people. Instead, I fight a daily battle with how to spend my time wisely and productively. Over time (no pun intended) I've found five time-management principles that work best for me.

• Choose your 3 Most Important Tasks. This has changed my days! I had made lists and I had prioritized my lists, but I rarely marked things off my lists. But when I found Simple Mom and her Daily Docket, it was like the light came on. I tried it, and now I fill out my DD every night (sometimes not till after breakfast in the morning), thinking of the 3 things that absolutely must be done that day. When those 3 are done, I know I've done what had to be done, and the rest of the things on my list just seem to flow right along. Some days I still don't get everything on the entire list done, but most days I do get those 3 MITs done. And I love it.

• Set a timer. Especially on days when I have a lot of unrelated tasks to do, setting the timer for 15, 20, or 30 minutes is a lifesaver for me. When I know that I only have 15 minutes to do a task, I will focus on that task and get it done. Otherwise, I find other things to distract my attention, and then nothing gets done. For big jobs, like sewing or reading, 30 minutes is a good amount of time to make some progress but not get so involved that it overtakes my day and nothing else gets done. Sometimes I'll have two sessions. It all depends on what else needs to be done for the day. Setting a timer is very flexible; it fits what you have to do and the time you have to do it.

• Have routines. My morning routine alone has simplified my days and saved me time. I get up, shower and dress to my shoes, hair, and makeup. This frees my time for the rest of the day to do whatever comes up. My evening routine - which I have not mastered as well as my morning routine - prepares me for the next day. Routines help me get the little maintenance things out of the way, making room for the bigger things in my day. I hate playing catch-up when I don't do my routines!

• Do it now. I am the Queen of Procrastination. If I can put it off, I will. I've learned, though, that doing things right away saves time in the long run. Washing or rinsing the dishes as I cook saves time after the meal. Wiping crumbs off the counter when I make a sandwich saves time when I'm finished with lunch. Putting away my makeup as soon as I'm finished with it saves time when it's time to wipe the sink and counter. Making the bed when I first get up saves time later when I come into the room to get the laundry and realize the bed hasn't been made and I have to stop to make it. Doing it now keeps my momentum flowing so I don't have to constantly stop to take care of little things before I can do the bigger thing.

• Work ahead. I learned this principle working in the kitchen at church camp. When breakfast was over, we would begin working on lunch, buttering buns, shredding lettuce, cooking meat; we even did some work toward supper right after breakfast. All this work ahead of time made meal times for 80 people a breeze! Applied in our 5-person home, I'm finding that if I chop the veggies, thaw the meat, and make the salad, when it's time to cook I just throw it all together easily - and I even have time to wash the dishes and wipe the counters as I go. Every small thing I can get done ahead of time saves me time when time is pressured.
  

Time management is an everyday battle for me. I haven't arrived, and probably never will, but these five principles have been the biggest help in using my time wisely and productively. And when I do that, I can relax, knowing that I have looked well to the ways of my household.

What things have you learned that help you manage your time better? Do you use a schedule? Do you have routines? Does time management come easily for you?

Photo by John-Morgan

Rewarding Homemaking

I read this article, entitled 10 Secrets to Rewarding Homemaking, at TipNut.com last night. It's short but packed with encouraging gems to remind us that homemaking is indeed rewarding, contrary to what many people would have you believe. I also saved it to My Delicious: Worth the Homemaker's Read in my sidebar. Don't miss it!

We Made It!

We made it through our busy weekend! Saturday and Sunday were two of the busiest days I've had in a long time. I have lots to tell you, but I have so little time to blog right now. We're a homeschooling family, and school starts in three weeks. My two boys, who have been away this summer, will be home next week. The week after that, we have a large group of friends arriving to spend one day with us, then my husband and two boys will be flying to Lancaster, CA to drop the oldest boy off at college and drive his car back home (he stored his car there this summer because he was traveling with a singing group from the college). So this week is all the time I have to finish school preparations, because I want to enjoy the time off with our boys before school starts.

All that to say . . . I'm in the process of planning the week, and blogging will fit in there somewhere. Just not so much today. Hopefully I'll be back tomorrow or Wednesday with something worth reading!

Our Big Weekend

Our big weekend is almost here! Our son and his tour group are driving into Canada today. They'll be with another church in the area tonight, then they'll come to our house tomorrow afternoon through Sunday afternoon. And Sunday is our Friend Day!

This week has gone fairly smoothly as far as planning and getting things done. I've been working in the kitchen zone all week and adding other little areas as I see them, mostly just straightening up in general. Sometimes I don't see things until I try looking through someone else's eyes - like a group of young men staying in my house for the weekend!

I've lived by lists all week. Each day I've written down the three most important things to get done that day, whether it's house-related or some other aspect of life, and I've been happy to cross those off my list each day. I'm working on a post in my head about this principle I've recently learned of getting those most important things done first. It forces me to prioritize my life according to what's happening that day, and then it's easier to get to those other things that need to be done but aren't quite as urgent. I love to read about time management and try new things to see what works best! Now I just need to apply all I learn and actually do it!

I'll be busy this weekend, but hopefully I can work on some things for next week. Have a great weekend!

Photo by Great Beyond

It Never Fails!

This morning I had a doctor's appointment, so I took a few minutes to clean my small appliances and canisters on the kitchen counter. It was a small job, one I could easily finish before I had to leave. Everything looked so good when I left, so shiny and clean!

It stayed that way till I cooked supper. I am diabetic, so I decided to try the Dinner Diva's recipe for FauxTayToes. You steam cauliflower till it's soft, then mix in cream cheese, butter, salt and pepper till it's the consistency of mashed potatoes. Mashed potatoes without the carbs! So I steamed the cauliflower in the microwave in one of those steaming bags. I forgot that those steam the veggies to just crisp/tender. I needed them soft, remember. I got the cauliflower out of the microwave, put it in a bowl, and lowered the mixer into the veggies. Cauliflower flew everywhere. In the toaster. Under the toaster. All over the counter. All over the stand mixer. On the stove. On the coffee maker. On the floor. Everywhere.

I was not happy. The veggies wouldn't mash, but at least they tasted good - very good. Lesson learned, and the cleanup wasn't too bad, since everything had been clean to start with. Just be careful when you think everything is perfect. Because it won't be for long.

The Remedy for Real

Well, I kept it real on Monday and showed you my hot spots around the house. Today I spent about 30 minutes total putting out those hot spots.

I set the timer for 2 minutes for my desk, but that wasn't long enough, so I set it for 3 more minutes. This is my desk now:



And here is my sewing area:



My husband surprised me by clearing off the cedar chest at the foot of our bed, and I put the clothes away in just a couple of minutes. I don't have a picture, though, because my husband turned right around and began decluttering his filing cabinet, with my daughter helping. When I walked into our room, there were papers literally covering every inch of our bed and the cedar chest! It took them a couple of hours, and now it's all clear again, but I was finished taking pics by then.

And our dresser is still a mess. It probably will be for the rest of the week. Remember, my husband is a pastor whose office is also our bedroom, and this week we are preparing for a special Friend Day at our church. He is preparing lots of things for that service in his office (our bedroom), so this week will be messy in there. This is part of keepin' it real. Real life requires a little give and take; this week it's my turn to give!

If you have an area that's a mess, set the timer and put 15 minutes into it. You might be surprised at what a difference 15 minutes can make!

Back in the Routine (I Think)

Today went well. I think I'm back into my routines and good to go again. It's very hot here this week, and I hate nothing worse than having to slop around the house all sweaty and sticky because I didn't get my active work done in the morning. So I got myself busy this morning in the kitchen. I set my timer for 15 minutes and went to work. When the timer dinged I still had just a touch of work left to do, so I set it for 5 more minutes and was done.

Here is one of the blessings of having routines, whether they are daily routines or the monthly routines of Zone work. I was able to combine 3 jobs into one 15-minute session because I had just done them 4 weeks ago and they weren't that bad today. I did the backsplashes, cabinet fronts, and countertops. I only had to scrub one spot on the counter, because between my daughter and I we have kept the counters basically clean for a month. Even when the routines weren't followed completely, we still kept things in good enough shape that it doesn't take long to do these "heavy" jobs once a month.

I tell you this, not to toot my own horn, but to encourage you. I have been at the place where it took me 2 hours just to wash the dishes because I had left them from every meal the day before. I know how it is to have to catch up just to get started. That is why I love FlyLady's system so much! With the daily, weekly, and monthly routines, most of my house - not all - is within 15 minutes of being clean. I still have those places that I hope no one will look, and there is a healthy colony of dust bunnies in various parts of the house, but it's not overwhelming anymore. That's why I tell you about the things I get done. Not to make you feel bad or to make myself look good; simply to let you know that a decently-clean house is possible without having to knock yourself out every day or make your family miserable while you freak out over the house. There is balance. I can say these things because I've been there.

Keepin' It Real

Here are a few pics of how our home looks today, after a week of being away and a weekend of ministry work. Just keepin' it real for ya!

The bed is made, but there's laundry from Friday still waiting to be put away and baskets bought at the Dollar Store this morning waiting to be filled.

Our chest of drawers, or dresser, as my husband calls it, holding my tangled mass of necklaces that I hurriedly pawed through before church Sunday morning, plus various items of my husband's. That deodorant ran out on me this morning.

My sewing area, right outside my bedroom door. This area is on the stair landing; everyone has to pass by this mess to get to their bedrooms and the bathroom.

Last but not least is my desk. It is almost always like this. Can you say "hot spot?" This is one of those areas that I have to consciously pay attention to, or it gets like this. Yes, that is a pregnancy book on top of my desk. No, it is not for me.

So there you have it. FlyBaby for eight years, still flappin' around trying to get it all together. Just keepin' it real.

Menu Plan Monday - August 4

This is an exciting week for us! Our older son is a student at West Coast Baptist College. Every summer, singing groups from the college travel all over the US and parts of Canada promoting the college in local churches. Sam, who finished his freshman year in May, was chosen to travel with one of the groups, and his group will be with our church next Sunday for our Friend Day. The five boys and their chaperon and his wife will arrive at our house Saturday afternoon, so I get to feed them Saturday night's supper and Sunday morning's breakfast, and we're having a potluck after the morning service for Sunday dinner. Lots of work, but lots more joy in having our son with us for the weekend!

Here's our menu for this week . . .

Monday
B: Bacon & eggs, bagel
L: Leftover casserole, corn, Ranch-style beans
S: Tuna salad

Tuesday
B: Eggs, bagel
L: Salmon patties, creamed potatoes, corn
S: Chef's Salad

Wednesday
B: French toast, bacon
L: Beans & Rice, fried zucchini, cornbread
S: Tuna salad

Thursday
B: Bacon, eggs, toast
L: Parmesan Chicken, rice, ranch-style beans, rolls
S: Leftovers

Friday
B: Oatmeal w/nuts and cream
L: Homemade Pizza
S: Grilled cheese sandwich, chips, fruit

Saturday
B: Eggs & cheese on English muffin
L: Sandwich, chips, fruit
S: Meat Kabobs (not a recipe), potatoes, baked beans

Sunday
B: Pancakes, sausage patties
L: Potluck - Egg Noodle Lasagna, Chicken Potpie, Homemade Banana Pudding
S: Burgers/Leftovers

For over 200 more menu plans, visit I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Sunday Seed

A tiny seed from the Precious Seed for your homemaking garden . . .


Mother and Child

She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.
Proverbs 31:26

Vacation Slump

Dog Tired (Yellow Lab)
Cross-posted from my other blog, ByGrace.

My husband was the assistant pastor for our home church in Texas for over six years. During those years, we went through a time every summer when attendance and giving would drop significantly. Our pastor called it Summer Slump. People were on vacation and routines were unsettled. All we could do was wait for summer to be over and people to get back into their regular routines, and life would go back to normal.

Something similar happens to me whenever we take any kind of vacation, even a short one like this week's. I hit Vacation Slump. I do well immediately after we get home, like I did Thursday night, putting everything away so we're ready to live real life again the next day. But real life always runs the other way - or maybe that's ME running the other way. All I want to do is sleep and eat. I don't want to cook or wash dishes (can't we just keep eating out?); I don't want to do laundry (can't you people quit wearing all those clothes?); I don't want to do anything (doesn't a nap sound nice?). It's bad. Real bad.

So I thought I'd ask if you deal with Vacation Slump when you get home from a trip. How do you motivate yourself - and your kids - to pick up with everyday life and get back into your routines? I'd love to hear how you do it!

The Time Zone Thing

A couple of you mentioned in the comments on this week's post on getting FlyLady's emails that they never arrived at the right time for your time zone. Have you checked the time zone feature on your Yahoo account? You can set your time zone for the area where you live - anywhere in the world - and I think that your emails will be delivered according to your time zone once you set it to the correct one.

First, go to your Yahoo home page. On your Account Information page, the Member Information section has an area with your time zone in it. If it is not set to the correct time zone, click on Edit and use the drop-down menu to choose your correct time zone. For example, mine is -8, which means it is 8 hours behind GMT - Pacific Time. Every time zone in the world is available, so everyone should be able to set the correct zone.

Once you set the correct time zone, you should get FlyLady's emails at the correct time for where you live. I won't guarantee it, but it works for me!

We're Home!

My husband and I arrived home late last night, and today has been spent running errands (mainly picking up our daughter from camp, an hour away) and doing laundry. I finally have a chance to sit down at the computer. We had a great week, even though the weather didn't cooperate very much. What does the weather matter when you're with your honey?

I was able to get our house fairly clean before we left, at least the clutter picked up and dishes washed. Our bed was made when we got home at 9:30 last night, ready for me to turn back the covers, and the bathroom and kitchen were clean. On the way home, we decided no matter how tired we were that we would unpack everything before we went to bed. So Wes sorted through the food and put it away while I went upstairs and unpacked our toiletries and suitcase and sorted our dirty clothes. When we got up this morning, everything was where it normally is, which made it easier to ease back into our morning routine. Laundry was easy to start, since the clothes had already been sorted. The best part of all is that it only took us about 15-20 minutes working together! Then we were free to get ready for bed and unwind from a day of traveling.

We traveled for 2 1/2 years for our ministry before we moved here. We were away from home for weeks at a time, sometimes months. I was a FlyBaby during that time. There were times I had things under control, but many times I'd leave the house a mess to return home to. I hated that! So now, I try to make sure to at least have things picked up, beds made, and bathrooms clean, so that we come home to welcoming beds and bathrooms. It sure makes coming home after a long trip much more enjoyable!

I hope to get back to posting early next week. August will be a busy month for our family, and then school starts the first of September. Busy is good!