What Do I Need To Do?

I have all these ideas and thoughts, but the follow through isn't always there.  With summer being here and my husband being home and Michael in school for the month of July, we have taken advantage of just having 2 kids to take out for our daily walks and have gone for a 4 mile walk usually about 3-4 days a week.  We have also attempted to spend a lot of time with the kids playing outside and maybe even getting some gardening done.  What we haven't really had is a set formal schedule other than Michael's school.  What this has done for me, is to take away some structure that I had and now I haven't gone and done a normal grocery shopping, made a normal meal plan, cooked dinner, cleaned house, done laundry, made time for creating, gone to any farmer's markets.  This means, my goals of being organized, eating healthy, being creative, etc have all gone by the wayside.  Also, we have my brother in law staying with us, and as much as it's not his fault, it has really either caused some planning issues or at least given me a way to rationalize (albeit an abnormal rationale) why I am not getting things done.

One of the reasons that I like writing this blog, is that it helps to keep my head a little more clear about what my goals are.  I may not always follow through with them, but at least I am thinking and writing and hopefully following some of them.  To give myself some credit, I have been exercising.  I have made some better meal choices, though not always great.  I have started making water kefir and milk kefir, though I am feeling like I am getting behind in that area as well.  I have been having some green smoothies, though I really want to have more.  I really want to start menu planning again.  For some reason, having my husband home has made me lazy in this area.  I need to get back on track.

Long and Short Term Goals?:

1. plan my meals for the week
2. have a green smoothie every day
3. exercise
4. be creative
5. cook/eat at home versus eating crappy unhealthy food out
6. continue to read more about aromatherapy and herbs
7. continue to research nutrition and healthy diet
8. reasearch and get new recipes
9. read and follow "the Body Ecology Diet", and allergy diets
10. go grocery shopping
11. finish Rebecca's baby shower gift!

Thanks to those who read!  I love having a place to put my thoughts and ideas down and sometimes even get comments/thoughts back!

Amy

Organization

I am in the process of meal planning for the next month.  Initially it felt overwhelming, but then I read the post of a twin mom friend and it didn't feel so overwhelming.  She is using a calendar white board that she got at Target.  I haven't gotten to Target yet, but I printed of some weekly calendar sheets from outlook and am using that as my planning for for now.  My goal is to get the white board so that it is up for all to see and will be in my sight when I am in the kitchen.  I am hoping that meal planning will save me both time and money and help me to eat healthy and follow through with my dietary goals for me and my family.

Once I get set on meal planning it will be on to other areas of organization that I need to work on.  I really need to get my laundry under control.  Every time that I think I am in control, it gets totally out of control yet again.  I really need to make sure that I wash the diapers daily.  the most I ever go is a day and a half, but I think that it is better all around to do it every morning.  It may seem like a hassle, but I am so happy that I have been cloth diapering for the last year and a half.  It is one thing that I have wanted to do with my kids that I have been able to follow through with unlike my birth plan, breast feeding, limiting tv time (this is something that I drastically have to change). 

The other area is maintaining a clean and organized house.  I get started, but then I just can't maintain.  It is important for me to maintain an orgainized and clean house because once it gets away from me I find it so difficult to get it back.  If I can get this in shape, I will hopefully have more time for my hobbies and to introduce the kids into more arts and crafts, especially now that they are older.  I just finished my latest apron swap and even though it was pretty last minute finishing up, I really didn't get the same anxiety or stress taht I usually get when I am doing something last minute.  I was really happy, overall, with how it came out.  Ii just wasn't too thrilled with the rest of my package.  Yet again, oraganization would have dramatically helped with this.

Here's to being more organized and less stressed!

Amy