One Step Closer

When I was in college, I juggled a full time job, a part time job, being in a sorority, an on air personality for the radio station, writing for the newspaper and yearbook, part of student government, a boyfriend and social life plus going to school full time. It took a lot of juggling, planning and multitasking to get it all done-and done well. You have to be able to keep all your balls in the air at all times in order to be successful. I was of the mindset I could do it all, and I did reasonably well.

The first thing was I was a slave to my calendar. I lived by it. I was almost religious in my devotion to planning my life to the most minute increment of time. Everything went in there, and if I ever lost it (or worse, had it stolen) I was toast. I tried really, really hard to use the calendar feature on my iPhone but I just can’t get into it like writing things down. I think its how my brain is wired.

The other key feature was routine. I did pretty much the same thing everyday. I was a creature of habit, and to this day I am not a fan of spontaneity or surprises. I like to do the same thing, at the same time on a consistent basis. It just makes my life easier and more predictable. Like if its Monday, its meatless. Tuesdays are taco night, and so on. Or its Wednesday so I wear purple, its Friday I wear green. Yes, I am that detail oriented. Its something that works for me, and it keeps me sane.

For a while there, I deviated from what worked for me and the results were staggering. I have totally lost control over my home and life. So its now back to basics for me. First and foremost, using my calendar-both the one in my kitchen and the one I carry in my purse. If we need to be somewhere, do something or meet someone it goes on there. Depending on what’s going on that week, I can do the following things:

Plan menus

Plan housework

Plan the rest of my life

Part of my schedule is set-I work M-F from 8-4:30 (ish) at my day job. I teach yoga Friday evenings and Saturday afternoons. I have to physically be at church Wednesday evenings and Sunday mornings, and can do the remainder of my work from home. The third Tuesday of each month I teach cooking at a local museum, have PTO meetings, and I would love to rejoin my book group (last Thursday of the month), the autism support group (the 1st Tuesday) and possibly-wait for it-Zumba on Monday nights. It seems like a lot, but its not because I maximize my time. I am able to squeeze in library trips, date nights with my son, grocery shopping and errands plus volunteer work as well. It’s a matter of planning.

I work out in the morning from 5:30-6:15. There’s laundry swapping and litter box scooping going on too.

I shower, and while I am drying off I have a chance to swish and swipe the bathrooms, swifter and dust the upstairs.

I get the little man up and motivated. Something needs to be said about Phineas, Ferb, chocolate milk and cinnamon toast crunch to get a sleepy 9 year old boy revved up. In between, I get dressed, double check lunches and get someone else in his room to get ready.

Its out the door and on our way, him to school and me to work.

Work work work

Come home, rest a bit. Then either my husband or I get dinner going. Depending on what’s going on that night depends on how after dinner goes. Most nights there is homework and baths. Little Man has ample play time to be a kid, and that’s super important. Some nights we have activites, other nights we are just hanging out. Either way, its all good.

Little Man goes to bed somewhere between 9-10, depending on how excited he is (for some reason, kiddos on the spectrum seem to have sleep issues.) We do our yoga pretzel cards, say prayers and snuggle and cuddle. Sometimes I stay up on my own and enjoy the solitude, sometimes I go to bed right away. It all varies.

There isn’t much variance in that schedule, and that is how I like it. I like knowing that if its Thursday, the chances are pretty good for dinner to be meat loaf and I will be wearing the color blue, and I will either be going to the book group or hanging with the boys.

My system may not work for everyone, but it’s the one that works best for me. When I wasn’t using it, I was really floundering. I lost track and control over everything. Getting back on track is so incredibly hard, but each day I am getting closer and closer to achieving it.

Some One's in the Kitchen

Over the course of the last few years, I have transformed from stay at home mother to working full time, to having a full time job and an almost full time job to both of those and teaching both cooking and yoga plus all the volunteer work I have always done. Did I mention that I have a special needs son and my mother is moving in with us due to her own special needs? It’s not easy to keep juggling all those balls, but I am really trying hard. My life keeps me hopping, and I need to seriously get back on top of everything to get back to basics. I was issued a challenge the other day. I mentioned that I was working really hard on getting organized, and I was told that it was impossible. There was no way in h-e-double hockey sticks that I could possibly get organized, especially with my schedule.


Game on.

Several years ago, some well meaning folks decided to reorganize my kitchen when I was at work. Their intentions were great, but it didn’t work for me. They are not me, and they don’t know how I like things or the “flow” of my kitchen. To be quite honest, despite the whole thought of it being a nice thing-and for some other folks, it may have been greatly appreciated-it was quite traumatic for me. I felt like what I wanted and how I wanted my kitchen wasn’t good enough, and that it needed to be fixed. I know that its probably in my head, and just my insecurities rearing themselves, but I really haven’t “fixed” it back to the way it was either.

That’s going to change. The weather is supposed to be quite miserable and cold this weekend, so after the March for Babies and the Yogi Junior class I teach Saturday, and after church on Sunday, I am taking back my kitchen. It will be mine, all mine again after this weekend. I have big plans for that space.

First is cleaning out the cabinet above my island. It winds up being a dumping ground for homeless things. I am rather frustrated by the fact that it remains like that, despite repeated attempts to keep it cleaned out. When tidying up, I seem to stash and dash, and never get back to it later on. So, that cabinet is the first to meet with my fury. In the next cabinet, I keep my dishes, along with a bottle of Holy Water that my husband swears is expired cough syrup. He is Catholic, and has more of an affinity for it than I do, so it will be his responsibility to find a home for it. Moving along, the next cabinet are for my glasses. We currently are in a plastic tumbler state of life, due to a cat that likes to tip over glasses and break them. I need to adjust the shelves and make the space usable.

In the next cabinet are coffee mugs, and an awful lot of wasted space. The mugs can be moved elsewhere, and that space used more appropriately. I am thinking of moving my pyrex pans there versus where its currently housed. In the next cabinet it is our medicine cabinet. It earned that distinction seven years ago, before we had a medicine cabinet in the Little Man’s bathroom. I need to move the stuff out of there and into that cabinet, since its been virtually empty since our guest left in November. That cabinet would be perfect for my Tupperware containers. Over the stove are my spices, which is prime for me to grab them as I cook.

Next cabinet over contains my mixing bowls. This is actually quite perfect as is, and so it will remain! The cabinet next to that, not so much. It currently houses my baking stuff-mixer, pans, cupcake liners, decorating sugars, and I honestly can’t find anything in there. Something needs to be done with it, stat. The next cabinet is all the Tupperware, which is being moved, so the baking stuff can go there. Finally is the coffee cabinet. Coffee, grinder, all that jazz are currently residing there-which is a great idea, so adding the mugs makes perfect sense. The final top level cabinet is above the fridge, where I have serving platters. Wasted space, but I am too short for anything else to go in there.

The bottom level cabinets are due for some spring cleaning too! I have a cabinet that basically is wasted, which is where my recycling bucket is, but its on the opposite side of the kitchen from the garbage can…so the recyclables go on the counter. That is just high on the ick factor! We can mix our recycling, so its just putting them in the bucket and developing a new habit. In the cabinet next to that, I have some larger appliances, like my griddle and crock pot, that only fit into that cabinet-but again, lots of wasted space. I can do so much better! The cabinet next to that is a corner cabinet, but doesn’t have a lazy Susan like my other two corner cabinets. I currently have my pots and pans in there, but its hard to find things if they wind up in the back, so I need a better system. I think by swapping one of the lazy Susan’s with the pots and pans, I will be making best use of the space. Again, one cabinet has appliances that I use, but not very often, and bakeware that may or may not be used frequently. All of these can best be rearranged to meet my needs.

The one cabinet that I will not be working on is the under the sink cabinet. That will require a separate day (and post!)

Mine Smell Like Honey

REM is back! But you probably either already knew it, or don't care or are wondering what sleep patterns have to do with motherhood.

But I digress...

It's Friday, and man I'm beat. It's been a LONG week, and its going to be a longer weekend. I've got a lot of things going on, all manageable. Saturday: clean. Two snow days have caused chaos, and mommy has been exhausted after work. Grocery shopping. Need to buy: milk, cupcake stuff, sugar cookie stuff, salad, lunches for the week x3, coffee & creamer, eggs, fruit, butter, juice boxes, super bowl snacks, turkey kielbasa, cereal, spinach, tomato sauce & pasta. Library. Church & Sunday school. A birthday party for Teddy, little man's best friend & the greatest teddy bear ever. Laundry & ironing.

The usual stuff that a household requires.

The puppy dog has another ear infection. I am very tired of it, especially since it can't be pleasant for him. I'm open to suggestions on how to prevent them. A friend of mine who is a rock star dog rescuer told me her dogs wind up not eating chicken or beef because that can trigger sensitivity. Her pooches get lamb based foods, which he does get. It's the treats that are bad.

It's just like if we ate junk food all the time. We wouldnt feel good and have health problems. Same thing with the puppy dog. The worst part? I probably did this to him.

Guilt.

But I can also make it better.

Ear washing & medicines.

It will be ok.

I am looking forward to some down time too. A chance to rest. Recharge my batteries. Find some peace. Relax. Read a good book. Putter in my kitchen. Prep some meals for the week.

Since its fridge Friday, I am already planning for next week:

Saturday: pork fried rice

Sunday: super bowl

Monday: chili & corn bread

Tuesday: chicken

Wednesday: waffles & fruit salad

Thursday: pierogies & kielbasa

Life is good, if exhausting.

My life is sweet, like honey.

it is good