Home of Slightly Cracked Dreams

How long is your to-do list? Is it for today? This week? This month? Do you have more than one to-do list? One for work and one for home? Or one for your volunteering jobs? Or homeschooling?

The vast majority of the time, I find a single weekly or daily to do list enough to keep me focused. There are times, however, say, this time of year, when that doesn't quite cut it. And have you ever had that sinking feeling when you look at a list that's two, three, or even sixteen pages long?

What I've found is that not only prioritising those tasks, but separating them into different lists. I currently have 8 master to-do lists I'm running from. These change with the time of year, but they are currently (in no particular order):

1. Kiki's Birthday Party
2. House move
3. Blogging stuff
4. Baby/Pregnancy stuff
5. Our after Christmas party
6. Christmas
7. Tupperware
8. Tupperware Christmas party

Some of these lists only have a few items on them, some have more than a dozen. Each night I make a list from these lists of the highest priority tasks for the next day. For example, on my list today I have:

Order cake for Kiki's birthday party
Make appointment with bank manager
Register domain name for blog transfer
Hospital appointment
Print party invites for after Christmas party
Make list of Christmas presents I still need to get
Print Christmas letters to go in Christmas cards
Pay Tupperware bill
Post Tupperware Christmas Party invites

This is obviously on top of my regular Wednesday jobs, but rather than looking at a list of hundreds of items, I can choose one or two most important things from each list, and work through them today. I do keep the master lists handy during the day, so I can make additions and/or adjustments as necessary. At the end of today I'll sit down with my lists, mark off what I achieved for today, and make a list of priorities for tomorrow.

Another way I have worked it when I've been thoroughly pressed for time, is to compile separate lists as above, but then work out daily to-do lists for the time I have left. This allows me to spread out the jobs and make sure they're all done on time.

As it is, my current master lists have 3 columns, one with the item, one for a date if necessary (ie appointments/deliveries or deadlines) and one to tick when I've done it. Of course, since I only started these lists in the last few days, there aren't a great many ticks yet, but they are increasing every day, which is the most important thing.

How do you work your to-do lists when you have a lot on? Do you even have a to-do list?

And hit the ground running. I left this morning to travel home, and while I was incredibly relaxed after a week of six hands for two children, a plane trip home let me down. Then of course I didn't stop and am now almost as stressed as when I left.

The BIG news is that there is a contract on our house. See what happens when you leave town? Settlement is set down for the 14th of January, so I have a bit of time to organise myself, which is what I'm doing now. Making lists. I may share them with you at some point. Or I might not. They're quite scary.

What I have decided to do is keep running lists in each "category" of things I have to do, and then work on each of them each day.

For example three of the highest priorities at the moment are: Kiki's 3rd Birthday Party, Tupperware Xmas Sale and Packing & Delivering the 10 boxes of Tupperware currently adorning my dining room (pics to come).

So tomorrow I will focus on: getting invites out for Kiki's birthday party, collecting all stock for the xmas sale, and packing the orders and calling hosts to arrange delivery times. See how this works? Once I've done all that I'll look at other lists like: Moving House, and call and book the removalist.

It's a plan. I'll keep you updated on the progress.

In other news, our holiday was AMAZING, and I'll be posting pics as soon as I get myself sorted, and a bit more time up my sleeves (at this point probably next week). But by far the most exciting news of the holiday (apart from selling the house) is that M&M can SWIM! And Kiki is not far behind. I'm actually looking forward to swimming lessons this weekend so they can show off their new skills. M&M has been "practicing" all week to show her teacher, and yesterday she and Kiki both let me push them down to touch their hands to the bottom of the pool. Hundreds of times.

I also spent every night playing Jonola with my step-mother and the week actually ended in a draw. She normally beats me convincingly, and repeatedly.

That's about it from me. I noticed I've been tagged for a couple of meme's in the comments, so I'll try and get to those as soon as I can. I also have 375 unread posts in my reader, so I'll be ploughing through those as much as I can over the next few days, and catching up on all my bloggy friends.

And on that note, I'm off to my comfy bed, without Kiki. Ah, it's good to be home!

As this weekend draws to a close I look towards the next few weeks and grab the table in an attempt to ward off blind panic. It doesn't work.

In the next 17 days I have: an exam, 4 Tupperware parties to organise/do, another possible 2 parties, a hospital appoitnment, 2 open houses, a holiday to organise, a blog to keep updated (cause we wouldn't want y'all to get bored and go somewhere else now would we?), Chirstmas to plan, a 3rd birthday party to plan and a novel to finish.. Gee, it doesn't sound too bad when I put it like that. Except I made a list of everything I need to do for each one. Yeah. That's when I panicked.

But, as the title of this post suggests: I have a plan.

It basically involves a few things every single day (novel writing, blog posting, house cleaning and study) and a few extra things each day to get on top of the other bits and pieces. Oh, and did I mention my wonderful in-laws are away *sob* until after we leave on our holiday? So, no help there. Oh and did I also mention before they went away they "loaned" us their car, after putting it in the paper to sell? No? Well, there has been a bit of interest but my father-in-law promised us 2% commission if we sold it for him. Hmm: 2% of $3900 = $78. Yeah, those were my thoughts.

And what else did I add into this plan? ME stuff. At least once a week, something decadent, unnecessary, and all about ME!

I have also in the next 17 days: a nail appointment (cause you can't do a Tupperware party with yukky nails), a massage 3 days before my exam (cause you can't be stressed or sore during an exam) and a girly afternoon with some friends.

And for my next trick? Sticking to the plan.

Just one of those days. People going in different directions. Careful time scheduling is required and planning for the children etc etc. It's just one thing after another. And study? Keeps getting pushed back and back. Maybe I'll get to it on Sunday.

No, I will get to it on Sunday, this is getting a bit hairy now.

But still things keep popping up.

And all I want to do is sleep. Sigh. Which is SO where I'm going now.

Phew, what a day. I didn't have anything prepared to post today, as I guest posted at Snoskred's blog Life in the Country. I had a lot of fun writing that post, and researching for it. It is great living in a small town, but I am looking forward to moving back to the city. Talking with a friend tonight about her daughter's school, the new shopping centre extension has me all excited.

I know it sounds strange to get excited over a shopping centre, but if you'd spent 4 hours at the same shopping centre I did today (long story but Hubby needed the car) you would understand. I was so bored after 3 hours I went looking at laptops. *whispers* Shhh, don't tell my baby that, he still thinks he's my favourite. I've had him just on 12 months now, and he's not let me down yet. *Kin gently strokes her laptop*

Ahem, yes. Where was I? Shops. Yes, a severe lack of shops. I did manage my Secret Santa shopping today, and a few other bits and pieces. And several cups of coffee at the coffee shop. And a magazine. I felt terribly spoiled, but also quite nauseous a lot of the day. I have been very good and eating well, drinking lots of water and resting a lot as well, so I will definitely be mentioning this to the doctor on Tuesday.

The house is officially on the market now, and The Nice Lady will be here Monday to take photos. Now everything is decluttered, I'm cleaning each room in turn, top to bottom, and then closing the door. So far I've done the Office and spare bedroom. Tomorrow will be the main bedroom and ensuite. Sunday the lounge and dining room. Monday the kids bedroom, main bathroom and kitchen. All things being equal the kitchen should be done Sunday too. I'll see how I go. So that's my agenda for the weekend, as well as the regular swimming lessons, and Hubby has lots of jobs to do in the garden.

Next week things don't look to be any simpler. Monday, thankfully, the kids will be in daycare while I clean like a woman posessed for these photos. Tuesday, for the Aussies, is Melbourne Cup Day as well as the day I book into the hospital, otherwise known as the day I spend 3 hours waiting around at the hospital. The traditional Melbourne Cup Lunch for Hubby's work is being held at the Boss's new house, 30 minutes out of town, which means we probably won't get home til quite late. The plus side? The house won't get trashed on Tuesday.

Wednesday is Swimming lessons. The girls are in the same lessons now and progressing very well. M&M is even voluntarily floating on her back on her own with her noodle - quite an improvement considering a week ago she wouldn't even float on her back with someone holding her. Kiki is still having some trouble, but is trying harder, which is nice to see. I am taking my uni work with me to the pool, and manage to learn a few things while waving from the side and chatting to other Mums. Wednesday afternoon, I think we'll collapse.

Thursday is the first open (I think) so expect another mad day of cleaning. Friday the girls are once again off to daycare, and I have a Tupperware meeting, as well as a party to organise for Saturday.

Saturday is another open, Hubby taking the girls to swimming lessons while I do a party, and then I am having a linen party here that night, and a friend staying over. Sunday will be a day of collapse. I mean rest.

So there you have it, the upcoming week at Kin's Home. Feel free to stop by for your daily dose of insanity, and I hope you enjoy your weekend.

Today was day 2 of my monster October plan. Believe it or not I'm actually up to date. I conned Hubby into helping me do the spare bedroom before he sat down to watch TV, and it's all done, despite the fact it was expected to be a 2 day job. I'm thinking I might make a list and check it off in the sidebar as we conquer each room, so far we've packed the office and the spare bedroom. Remembering that this is packing excess stuff. I'm going to have to do it all again when we move, but the "stuff" will be greatly reduced, and hopefully tidier and thus easier.

As I go I've been tidying cupboards and drawers, so when the time does come it'll be easy. As I go I've been doing bits and pieces in the linen cupboard (by far our most "cluttered" space, not as in overflowing, but as in full of stuff, only 1/3 of it is actually linen). I've discovered these plastic boxes that are mostly useless (no lids) fit neatly on the shelves, so as I've sorted stuff I've put them in a box, so far I have a baby box (with new linen and clothes for the baby), a food box (with emergency food supplies) and a Christmas box (with obviously, Christmas stuff: tablecloths, disposable plates etc). I can fit 5 boxes across a shelf, so I'm going to keep plugging along at it, and hopefully by the time I'm done I'll have 2 complete shelves of boxes, and then 3 shelves of nice, tidy linen. Ok, maybe 2 shelves, and the other shelf can be suitcases.

Now looking at my list for tomorrow, it's very short (basically a Tupperware party and notes on a chapter for uni (short chapters thank goodness) so I'll try and start on Sunday's stuff as well if I get time.

I seem to be managing a lot at night while the kids are in the bath/going to sleep. It's that bit cooler (ie 23 celcius) so I dodn't feel so hot and bothered all the time, and Hubby is home to help.

It seems to be working...

I've been very quiet the last week. I have had 2 rather stressful nights, not to mention a sick kid (but finally Kiki has a tentative diagnosis rather than "bring her back if she's lethargic, can't keep water down, etc etc) on top of everything else. In stressful times like this, I find it helpful to do a "brain dump" I worte down everything I have going on. It only came to 6 items, but some of them are pretty huge. You know, like pack half of stuff and get into storage and clean the house for going on the market. Not something you can do in an afternoon.

So in true stressed Kin style, I made a monster list (generally 6-7 pages) of EVERY LITTLE THING that I need to do. Start with the non-negotiables on days like work, swimming lessons, parties etc, then add an item to a day. The next week is going to be very full on, but hopefully after that it should calm down a lot.

It even looks like I'll have a week to spare to play catch up, although I know if I think that way I'll need it. So, now I can know that everything is planned for and if something else comes up, I can check the day to see if I can do it. If not, it doesn't happen. Well, at least until November.

But until then, I apologise for the lack of comments on everyone's blogs. I have been very slack, mostly because I am reading in a rush, and I want to keep up with what everyone's doing. I think maybe I need a better plan for reading blogs.

So what do you do when you realise there's too much to do?

Yeah, so I probably overdid it yesterday. 5 loads of washing done and away. Tidied the main living areas and 2 bedrooms (yeah the 2 easy ones, so what?) and vacuumed. Cleaned the kitchen etc etc etc.

Left on my "to clean" list is the office (gulp) the main bedroom, bathrooms and the laundry.

The nice real estate lady (hereafter known as "the nice lady" - she sold our last house in 48 hours and the kids think she's nice) will be coming around in about an hour to tell me what of my list she things we need to do before going on the market, and our timing, strategy etc.

But exhaustion has set in. I've hidden anything remotely incriminating in the bedroom, and she'll just have to understand my office and bedroom are a work in progress. I'll show her my list of what I want to do beefore we list and see what she says. I'm hoping she'll cross a few things off for me and tell me not to bother. I'm lying down in between mini pick ups in the bedroom. I'm ignoring the office because I plan to pack that this weekend.

The best part about all this is that the main part of the house is clean, and my new routines (stay tuned for those) seem to be helping me stay on top of it (so far).

I am! I have given myself a "holiday" from study until Sunday, and to get the house in some sort of shape again. I started tonight in the kitchen and laundry. You know, those two places that fall apart if you ignore them for so much as a day? I have many plans over the next few days that involve organising quite a few things.

1. Moving - Hubby's work has a couple of units that are empty and will be for a while, so we're going to try and get the house on the market since we have a guaranteed place to live if it sells quickly. This of course involves major decluttering, packing and cleaning. I've made a list and will be calling a few places to help out starting tomorrow, including 2 or 3 real estate agents.

2. Office - Seriously, it's a disaster. It needs help. That is the first place I will "pack".

3. Finances - yeah, again. I can't wait to return to a cash based system. Speaking of which, keep an eye out for my "Managing Money for New Budgeters" post coming soon. It's something that's dear to my heart and I hope it'll help a few people out.

4. House - in general, it's a mess. Too. Much. Stuff. I'm working on it.

5. Garage - we did really well in July when we attacked it, but we literally have 30-40 empty boxes that are in a massive pile. I need to sort them out, and finish packing the rest of the stuff up.

Now, I don't say I'm going to be doing all this by Sunday, but hopefully by then I'll have the house in a "maintenance holding pattern" until a) we put it on the market and hire a cleaner or b) my exam is over and I can relax for 3-4 months, apart from the whole, having a baby thing. And maybe, just maybe, I'll find the time to attack these other projects.

When I make peace with myself about the level of work I want to do for Tupperware (ie none) parties fall out of the sky and into my lap? In the last couple of days I've booked in 2 parties, people who have called ME, and done a party that was booked from July.

I shouldn't complain. The money will be handy for getting the house on the market. I've looked at our weekend schedule and to get the house on the market before Christmas, I'm going to have to employ people to do most of the work. I'll be making phone calls on Wednesday (the assignment is due Tuesday remember!).

Speaking of uni, the assignment is officially 1/3 done, and all going well (ie I'm able to cope watching the Cowboys beat Manly tonight AND write my assignment at the same time) I should have 2/3 done before bed tonight. I'm so glad I spent the week doing the research, and organising the research. Putting it together is proving easier than I thought (though just as time consuming!)

M&M had a great day with her friend today, although Kiki missed her terribly, despite being occupied with Hubby for most of the day. How is everyone's weekend shaping up?

I'm off to Sydney today, and inspired by Monica's post "Tips for Packing Light" at the Clutter Control Freaks blog, I'm packing light. I was also inspired to make up a permanently packed bag of travel toiletries (interestingly enough I was able to do it mostly from things already in the house)

Yeah, that's a difference. Now if you imagine the size of the bag on the left as the carry on suitcase size, the bag on the right looks even smaller hey? Yeah, I thought so too.

It'll be a bare necessities weekend, but that's ok because I may end up sharing a room. It also helps that I only have precisely 7 maternity shirts and 4 maternity bottoms, so I could probably barely fill the small bag with all the clothes that fit me even if I tried. Back to the point: I really think this bag is the prefect size for these weekend trips of mine, and will help me not to pack piles of crap that I really don't need. I hope.

So yeah, I'm off for the weekend. I won't have my laptop with me (*pout*) but I reckon I can log in and post you all a little something while I'm away. If I don't, it just means I'm actually doing what I was there for and working really hard, and I'll see you all on Monday!

It's only taken me 2.5 years, but I've finally realised there's one aspect of FLYLady that just does. not. work. for me. Laundry. The laundry thing, one load a day, just isn't me. I detest washing so much, I'd rather do it all in one hit than every day. I guess I've always known this. Even as a teenager living at home, I did my washing Saturday morning. First darks/colours, then whites, hung them out, brought them in, and ironed on Sunday night while watching the movie. Ok, yes, for one person that was enough.

There's four (soon to be five) people here, and apparently I'm the only person capable of washing. A fellow group member has indicated she is hiding a pair of undies and a pair of socks for her Hubby for when she gets really behind in the washing. I've now done that too.

But I like washing to be "caught up" regardless of the fact I know it never is. I would rather wash and wash and wash until it was done, then relax for a couple of days. Which is what I did this week. Feeling slightly overwhelmed because I hadn't washed for about 5 days, I had 3 nearly full loads of clothes to do. It wasn't overwhelming, in fact it was easy. I hang all our shirts up inside, which means I CAN fit 3 loads of other clothes on our tiny tiny clothes line. I can put that many clothes away in one hit. It's really not that many.

And then I thought back, the stories you hear of 'laundry day' and 'cleaning day' and 'shopping day'. I already have a shopping/errand day (Monday). And a study day (Friday). That leaves me with 3 days. Tuesday is my quiet, at home day. It will hereby be known as "washing day". Which leaves me with Wednesday & Thursday. Thursday has recently been my day for doing a kind of Weekly Home Blessing as the kids are usually at the most docile (read: exhausted). Ergo: Thursday will be now known as "cleaning day". Leaving Wednesday for fun!

What this also means is that, particularly as my pregnancy progresses, I will not (hopefully) be out more than one day in a row. I plan on scheduling the childrens swimming lessons this weekend for either Wednesday or weekend days (fingers crossed I can) and will try and schedule hospital appointments that day too (same town - saving myself a trip).

So now my rough weekly plan looks like this:

Monday - Library storytime, grocery shopping, errand day
Tuesday - Washing day
Wednesday - Fun day!
Thursday - Cleanng day
Friday - Study day
Saturday - garden & extra washing as needed

The primary focus of cleaning day is the floors and bathrooms, and I've allocated different rooms to different days. For example: Monday is grocery shopping, so my focus room for Monday is obviously the kitchen. Tuesday being washing day, the focus room is the laundry and main bedroom and walk-in-robe. You get the idea. As I'm washing I'm spending a lot of time in the laundry anyway, so an extra 5 minutes here or there will keep it looking tidy. Same with our bedroom.

What do your weekly plans look like?

I HATE clutter. It's probably due to growing up with an incredibly sentimental mother, and having dozens of knick knacks EVERYWHERE. If you look through my house, it's messy, and junk piles everywhere, but there's no knick knacks! It probably has something to do with the fact I didn't move for the first 11 years of my life, but since then I have moved 11 times (in 16 years).


And whilst I still am a sentimental person (2 boxes of school photos, letters, and books will attest to that) I just can't stand things that don't have a use. Like my garage. It's only use seems to be to store junk I don't want in my house. If I don't want it in my house, why do I still have it I hear you ask? Well, basically, a couple of reasons. Firstly I'm pregnant. Not restrictive in itself, but I need to be a bit more careful of what I do, and various ailments that afflict me during pregnancy limit my mobility somewhat. Secondly, until this weekend I hadn't been able to get out there without opening the front doors, which means my children coming in and out the front door, and the dog getting out. Not good. Thirdly, with two children at home, getting any decent block of time to make a dent is very difficult.


But this weekend, well, have I mentioned how special my in-laws are? I'm sure I have. They offered to take the girls ALL WEEKEND. So Saturday morning I dropped the girls off, and Hubby and I got stuck into the garage. Unfortunately I didn't take a before shot, and I'm not going to take an after shot until I'm satisfied, but with only a little bit of work I think we could get the boat in now :-)


4 boot loads to the tip, at least a ute full of stuff for the first charity that can collect it, 14 boxes to go into storage, and about 40 empty boxes. I'm feeling rather chuffed. Now to just get the rest of the house done.

First off let me say, I will not be homeschooling my children. Period. But after SIX MONTHS of my eldest genius daughter nagging me senseless asking me to teach her how to read and write, I couldn't really put her off for the eighteen months until she starts school.

So I went searching over the dozens of sites I have in my favourites, and found a few useful things. I'm starting slow. About 4 x 5-10 minutes a day on various things, initially: letter recognition, number recognition, pre-writing readiness tracing, shapes, patterns and cutting and pasting.

Because she and the other little miss go to daycare on Friday (where I'm assured she is also getting pre-writing and pre-reading small group work) and the fact she was bored very enthusiastic today, I decided we would do 5 days a week, Sunday through Thursday. Sunday is a very quiet day here, and something to focus her might mean she'll leave her little sister alone. Hey, let me dream all right?

Meanwhile I haven't forgotten the little miss, who no doubt will want to be involved as well. Dozens of sites provide free printables for colouring, and as the left handed toad little miss seems rather creative, I plan to involve her further in things such as colour recognition, and cutting and pasting. I have also planned a couple of "fun" sessions a week, with craft, music and cooking varying our days.

Now, if I could just find the motivation apart from the constant nagging to stick with it, and stay on top of the house, washing and my own study, I'd be set.

Well after six long weeks of trying to get into, stay in or just start a routine, it seems the time has come to put all my organisation into practice. My weekly plan I devised earlier will be put into action. Now I have finalised the daycare situation, the week will go like this:

Monday: Grocery Shopping & Library storytime
Tuesday: Baking/kitchen day
Wednesday: Playground/swimming for kids (cleaning for me)
Thursday: Spend the morning with Grandma (while I study)
Friday: Daycare for kids/study for me

This is similar enough to my previous plan that I feel it will work, while allowing me flexibility. I always shop on a Monday, and we go to storytime. Tuesday is good for baking because I've shopped on Monday and can make snacks for the rest of the week. Wednesday used to be daycare, so an effort will be required to get us out of the house to one of the many underutilised playgrounds in the area (although some are better than others), that will hopefully afford me a few moments to read before coming home for a major cleaning session (you know, floors etc)

I have a few more things I'd like to do before the semester gets too far underway, mostly things like a study program, more work on my Home Management Binder and a cleanout of my study. I will also need to to do some serious work to make sure the Tupperware keeps happening. It's been a few months since I've done anything really, so it's almost like starting again, although amazingly I booked 5 parties in 2 days this week.

I think that's all for today. I have quite a few bits planned for today, and I'd like to get stuck into the main bedroom. At this stage it's really the only room that needs more than a "quick 5 minute tidy" which is driving me up the wall. Although it's been hard at the moment with two dogs following me everywhere.

Ok, so after yesterday's post, I sat down and worked out my weekly plan. It will be of course subject to change depending on the day I get the girls in for daycare (at this stage it will be either Tuesday or Friday):

Monday: Grocery Shopping and Library Storytime
Tuesday: either daycare or baking day
Wednesday: Playground/swimming (cleaning for me)
Thursday: Spend the morning with Grandma
Friday: either daycare or baking day

That looks much more achievable. I have time for cleaning, 11-12 hours automatically set aside for study, and plenty of things to keep the kiddies amused. Monday morning is a big one for the kids, we're on the go from 8:30 to 12pm, so they both will sleep/have quiet time in the afternoon.

And now that I've done that, I can stop and relax for the rest of the weekend. Ok, well, maybe after I get a pile of ironing done. And the shopping list for tomorrow. And clean up the kitchen. And the bathroom. yeah ok. I'm going.

Looking around my house, I need to make some priorities this week:

1. Do my morning routine. The house flows better and stays reasonably up to date if I can get this done.
2. Get on top of the washing. Enuf said.
3. Clean out toy room and girls room. Hopefully I'll get enough done that I can move the girls into their new bedroom next weekend.
4. Cook some good, iron rich meals to avoid an iron suplement in a few weeks. To this end I need to menu plan and shop this afternoon.
5. Try not to think about my uni results too much. They're due out on the 19th. I just need to be patient.
6. Take the kids to the park, at least twice.
7. Try and book the kids into daycare so I can get some work done when uni goes back.
8. Start planning for trip week after next.

That should do it for this week. Of course, stay tuned for updates throughout the week, and undoubtably some excellent justifications as to why I didn't do them.

For those of you not in the know, a Home Management Binder (or HMB) is basically a running manual for your home. The idea would be that if anything (heaven forbid) happened to you, anyone could come into your home and run the house, know the kids routines, have a menu plan with recipes, know when the bills were due etc etc.

Candy of Keeping The Home is running a course in building one from scratch. As I already have one, I'm going through and updating mine as she goes. You can find her instructions in the left column of her blog, under HMB University