Diving back into the blog with a clean slate

After a prolonged period of not posting, I am ready to dive back into the blogging pool. 

First on the list is to clear out all the old stuff to have a fresh start.  (Finished.)

Next on the list is to do an end of the year review.  I will review what is working for me, what is not, what I have completed this year in the way of projects, the projects I want to do next year, and many other topics.

  

Number one thing that works for me:  my Household Notebook, a la Getting Things Done.  I have a 2" binder where I have my GTD calendar stored, plus many other sections, mostly for each of the crafts I like and current projects.  There are many other sections such as cleaning schedules, garden projects, house projects, grandkid fun stuff, etc., etc.  In the manner of the GTD system, it is a brain dump.  

Needless to say, it looks a lot like my ADD brain must--a little crazy and scattered but always striving to keep things in order and reined in so the bright shiny things don't completely take over.

Every day, once I hang out for a couple of hours on the internet and drink my coffee, I start with my list of daily things to do--like making the bed, straightening the bedside table, drinking water, brush and floss teeth, personal hygiene, quick cleans of kitchen and baths, pickup house, laundry as needed, etc. I generally eat my breakfast and decide what I am going to eat for lunch and prepare for dinner.  I do a quick pick up and put away in the afternoon and finish up any chores I didn't complete in the morning.

This generally works like a champ for me, but there are several things I want to add to the list of Daily Things to Do:  

     1)  I have become quite lazy and intend to correct that with a new FitBit and getting back into daily or twice daily walks, and daily yoga, some Pilates, and some weightlifting. Hopefully this will lead to some weight loss. This will ALSO entail limiting my time on the internet every day.   

     2)  I want THIS YEAR to be THE YEAR I get my garden the way I want it.  I want our little yard to be the showplace I know it can be but especially for it to be a lovely retreat for humans and animals.  This will most definitely take daily work, but as Flylady proposes, "just do fifteen minutes at a time".

In the afternoon, I do a reboot of sorts, finish up the laundry, chores and projects for the day, pick up the house, light candles, and begin preparing dinner.

In the evening, I get the house in order, personal hygiene and watch TV or read.  handwork or knitting.   

I am sure there will be other DAILY things I want to add to the list, but those are the main things I want to add right off the top of my head. 

I also have weekly and monthly lists of things to do, but these are mostly boring cleaning tasks.  I use Flylady and the Cleaning Grand Plan to keep myself on track.

I am liking my little house more this year and we have done quite a few redecorating/remodeling projects.  We have plans for the New Year to sell our little lakehouse so we can concentrate our attentions on our life in the city. 

I love my family and the systems we have worked out are working well for us.  I love taking care of the grandkids and hope to increase the hours I care for the kiddos this year.😀

I have increased the hours I spend doing social events.  This is big for me and has always been a struggle for me.  I tend to be a hermit and I have had to work hard on NOT letting my social anxiety win.  Some of the social groups I tried out worked for me this year and some did not.  I want to continue with the bookclub, knit guild, Plano and McKinney quilt guilds, and the Plano garden club.  I am really wanting to become a Master Gardener and that will take a big commitment, especially at first with all the classes.  This may be a pie in the sky type of thing, but I would like to form a knitting guild that will serve people that are more in my area, Collin County. 

My crafts are a huge part of my life and I have big plans to finish projects that I have started as well as begin new projects.  I participated in the UFO challenge run by allpeoplequilt.com and I finished eight knitting projects, six sewing projects, and seven quilt projects.  That was almost sixty percent of the projects on my UFO list!  I am very pleased with that number.  My quilting skills have increased immensely and it is my goal this year to hone those skills. 

Next time I will talk about those plans I have for my crafts.