I don't have time...or do I?

A while back Rachel Anne over at Home Sanctuary posed the question "What's in Your Pockets?" She asked us to make a list of things that we can do in 15 minutes or less, or a "pocket" of time. I personally had that list already, so I went to it, edited it, put it back in my folder, and called it good. I call it my "It'll only take a minute...or 15" list. The problem is, it's there, in my folder, where I don't see it every day. I probably don't even look at it once a month!

I have another mental list of things that I often refer to. I like to call it my "I don't have time for that right now" list. Actually, when I think about it, most things on that list can be accomplished in less than 15 minutes. What's at the top of the list? Shower. I know what you're thinking. "Gross...I don't want to know what she smells like!" Rest assured, I do get around to showering eventually in my day. But today I realized something. If I would just get up 15 minutes before my kids do (they are like clockwork) then I could shower in peace and quiet first thing in the morning.

15 minutes. That's all it takes. Here's the kicker...that's WITH shaving my legs AND Shampooing/Conditioning my hair. I kid you not. I timed myself this morning. It takes less than a minute to shampoo my hair and slap on some deep conditioner. Then I took less than a minute to shave my underarms. Less than two minutes to shave my legs, and less than a minute to wash my face and body. And I was not rushing it. By then, I was ready to rinse my hair and hop out of the shower. Are you counting? That's' a total of about 6 minutes, and then I spent another three minutes or so pampering myself with some body lotion and moisturizing my face. I try not to spend a lot of time on my hair, so 5 minutes to blow dry the hair and a minute to put on minimal make-up. Voila! I am ready to face my day! Sorry if that little scenario was TMI, I just wanted to get my point across.

I CAN take time to take care of myself. When I do that, I feel a lot more generous with my time to take care of others around me. I am building my house here. Proverbs 14:1 says "The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down." How do I build my house? By a number of things. According to Rachel Anne, Sanctuary is in the small things. So I've been paying close attention to how much time I spend on each small thing that I've done today. Here's a list of just a few that take less than 15 minutes, some less than 5.

• Make my bed
• Empty the Dishwasher
• Make breakfast
• Rinse the dishes and load the dishwasher
• Start the laundry
• Make two phone calls
• Organize the vacuum supplies
• Take the trash out of the van
• Empty the kitchen trash and replace the lining

My list goes on, but you get the idea. A lot of the time I look at my list and I think "Oh, I'll get to that later." The thing is, if I do it NOW, I feel good about getting it marked off my list. I also free up the valuable time that I'm going to need later in my day. For what, you ask? My family. When I eliminate procrastination, my kids and my spouse reap the benefits. Then they don't have to hear that ever so common phrase "I don't have time right now."

What can you move from your "I don't have time" to your "It'll only take a minute...or 15" list?

Ten Things Tuesday

It's good to see that X Box Wife is up and running again. I love participating in Ten Things Tuesday! It sounds like she has a sick little one though, so my prayers go out to her today as she heads to the doctor to find out what's wrong.

I have so many things to be thankful for that I don't even know where to begin! That is why I usually try to find a common theme. How about I keep it to all the things that I am thankful for so far today? You see, for every hard moment I have in my day, I try to think of something positive. It goes something like this...

1. I didn't get much sleep last night so I had a really hard time crawling out of bed this morning. However, I am very thankful that my 7 year old is old enough and considerate enough to get herself and her siblings something for breakfast while I wake up.
2. I didn't get to Starbucks to treat myself to a latte today like I had planned. However, I am thankful that I have my own trusty coffee pot at home with some yummy creamer to make up for it!
3. I didn't get the laundry started before I went out the door this morning because I was in a rush. However, I am thankful that I caught up on laundry yesterday, so I only have one load to do today.
4. Oops! I forgot about the baking soda I sprinkled on the carpet downstairs last night to clean up a mess. However, I am thankful that it didn't get stepped on and smashed into the carpet to make matters worse.
5. The front of the piano fell down because the wood splintered and the screw fell out. However, I am thankful that it was hanging by a thread on the other side so no one got hurt.
6. I had just gotten home from picking up my kindergartner at school and the office called to tell me my 2nd grader needs to come home sick. However, I am thankful that everyone was still in their coats, hats, shoes, and mittens so it was easy to go get her.
7. I forgot what it was that I came upstairs to do...am I losing my mind? However, I am thankful that my 2nd grader reminded me that I was going to take her temperature and give her some medicine, if needed.
8. I didn't remember to put dinner in the crock pot this morning. However, I am thankful that the exact same meal can be cooked for 4 hours on high instead of 6-8 hours on low.
9. I am out of dishwasher detergent because I didn't get any the last time I went to the store. However, I am thankful that dishes can still be washed by hand, and I do have soap for that.
10. I am feeling a bit guilty that it's 2:00pm and I haven't even finished up my morning routine yet, let alone started my afternoon routine. However, I am thankful for 10 things Tuesday and the opportunity to pause in my day and be thankful before I get back to work!

Have a great week everyone!

What Flash and I have in Common

All day I have been thinking about a story that I read over at Home Sanctuary this morning. Rachel Anne has a donkey named Flash that lives in her pasture. He just wandered into their barn one day and never left. They adopted him as their own and have been watching out for him ever since.

The other night they experienced a freezing rain storm and apparently Flash wasn't smart enough to make his way back into the barn. There he stood in the cold night, right next to the very barn that could shelter him. How ridiculous! How stubborn.

Wait a minute...I think there's a lesson here. Flash and I are a little more alike than I care to admit. What do we have in common, you ask? Let me tell you. I'd like to say that when the storms of life come, I run straight for the shelter of my Heavenly Father. It is, after all, the safest and most logical place to wait out a storm. But alas, like Flash, I can be a stubborn fool. Too set in my ways to run for the shelter that is offered me.

"Huddled in the freezing rain, not five feet from the shelter of the barn, the donkey raised his heavy head and looked at us questioningly. 'Huh?' he seemed to say."

Often that's what I do with God. I raise my head, look up at Him, and say "Huh? What is this all about?" I question the storm when I should just be depending on Him to help me ride it out. With His help and guidance, I can safely navigate any storm that life can throw my way.

There is, however, good news for Flash, and for me. Flash has loving owners and they had mercy on him and guided him back to the safety and warmth of the barn. It is much the same with our Heavenly Father. He is full of mercy for us. When we get caught in the storms of life, He comes to rescue us. He gently guides us to a place of refuge from the storm.

Yes, I am a lot like Flash. I too was once wandering, looking for someone to love me. Then God adopted me as His own and has been watching over me ever since.

Isaiah 32:1-2 "Look, a righteous king is coming! And honest princes will rule under him. Each one will be like a shelter from the wind and a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in the desert and the shadow of a great rock in a parched land."

4th Folder, 4th Picture

First of all, I want to apologize if it seems like my glass has been half empty lately. I haven't been very positive in my posts, and I'm going to try to change that.

Today, I'm following suit of my friend over at Nieman Express. The idea is to go to your pictures file, go to the fourth file, and then the fourth picture in that file. Post the picture and explain it! Here's mine....

I think the picture says it all. It's my 3rd born, BC. He used to make this face quite a lot. It's his grumpy face. It still makes me laugh. I don't think it's a coincidence that this is the photo that popped up.

No more grumpies for me! : )

Work and Play...the Balancing Act

Today's Small Thing over at Home Sanctuary was to do a little work before a little play. The reason this caught me as something to blog about is because I seem to be lacking in the "fun" department lately. In fact, I feel like I'm running around in circles, hardly able to accomplish even the smallest of tasks. I realize that some of this is due to Winter Break being lengthened by the weather. There were moments through the holidays where I really just kicked back and had fun with friends and family. Like everyone else, I am catching up on taking down and boxing up Christmas decorations. There are a few extras on my to do list that didn't get done during vacation. I don't think that's what's bogging me down though.

I think Rachel Anne is right. There has to be a balance between work and play. When I spend my days only playing with kids or hanging out in blog land, the house starts to close in on me. When I work too much and don't take some down time for myself, I end up being grumpy mommy/wife. It seems everything I read, listen to on CD, or watch on tv lately has something to do with the topic of how women don't stop often enough to make time for themselves.

For example, it is 2:00pm and I haven't taken the 15 minutes or so that I need to shower! I hate to admit it, but that happens quite a bit. I always think to myself that I'm going to do it after I complete this task or that, but then I end up getting to the end of my day and I'm still in my sweats. I will say, however, that because of the small thing today, I finished up my morning routine and then took time to exercise on my Wii Fit. That's something I enjoy, but don't allow myself to do it until I have most of my housework done.

I'm rambling now. I guess my point is that when I don't take care of myself, (fun being included in the definition of taking care of one's self) I am far less motivated to take care of the ones I love. I am working on the balancing act. I probably will be working on it for many years to come. I am a nurturer. It is in me to take care of others before myself. But then I always reach a point where I am too thinly spread and the well has run dry.

Honestly, I think I will have to schedule fun and time into my day until it becomes natural to me, if it ever does. It's a good thing I'm married to a loving man that tells me to lighten up every once in a while! : ) I think tonight I'm going to give myself permission to have a little extra fun today and play some board games with my kiddos tonight after dinner. They've been playing with their dad every night this week but he's at Youth Group tonight so it's my turn to have a little family fun. I am, after all, trying to teach them the importance of working hard so that they can have fun playing.

What are your thoughts on the matter? I'd love to hear from you!

From Snow Shoes to Canoes!

The weather we are having this Winter is just crazy! First, in December we broke a record for snowfall. Over 60 inches! It just kept piling up like it was never going to end! I watched in amazement as the toys in our back yard literally disappeared into the snow. The kids missed two days of school before Winter break, and the schools were still closed yesterday. We've been on Winter snow storm advisory on and off for a month now! They opened our school district today, but after nearly getting in an accident while trying to drop them off, I decided it wasn't worth risking their safety and brought them back home.

Today we moved from Winter snow storm advisory to flood advisory. It warmed up above freezing for the first time in a long time and actually rained. It's supposed to stay above freezing for the next couple of days and the snow is supposed to melt up to 12 inches tonight. I don't know where it's all going to go! We're going to have a lake at the end of our driveway. (Photo taken 1/7/09-"Lake Holgate") What a mess. We're going from snow shoes to canoes overnight! I had to make a category here on my blog just for this crazy weather! All I can do is shake my head and try to keep a good attitude about it all.

What do you do when the weather's got you down?

Menu Planning

When better to get back on track Menu Planning than the first Monday of the year? Rachel Anne over at Home Sanctuary has some great advice on how to plan an entire month's worth or more of meals with some very easy, very practical steps.

I have been menu planning for a while now. We have a large family, and the last thing I need to worry about during the busiest time of my day (the evening) is that ever lingering question "what's for dinner?" So I sat down and broke out some files and some paper and began to gather some of our favorite meals. From there, I started to piece together a few weekly menus. I tried to do a month at a time, but I just couldn't commit to sticking to it. Something always came up or ingredients got used too soon. With just one week and a grocery list though, I can stick to a budget and for the most part, be faithful to make what is on the menu for each day.

When a menu is a success, I enter the recipes and the groceries needed into my computer. I then print off a master copy, put it in a protective sheet, and place it in a binder. That's how I am up to 8 weeks of working menus for my family. Now and then I try a new recipe, and I keep those in a separate protective sheet until I can work them into their own menu.

I try to keep my menus pretty simple. I use crock pot meals on nights when I know my husband will be home late. I will put at least two nights of chicken in so that I can cook the chicken for Thursday while making Tuesday's meal, or put beef together with beef. (You get the idea.) I schedule leftovers on a weekly basis. I will even confess that sometimes when I'm cooking something elaborate for my husband and myself, I feed the kids cereal. (They love it!)

Menu planning is all about what works for your family and your schedule. It doesn't have to be some complicated, perfect plan. I've tried several ways and this is what has worked best for me so far. If I could give any advice though, I would say definitely save your menus from weeks/months past. That way you can look back and see what worked and use it again. Take it from someone who's tried many ideas. It will save you time in the long run.

Well, I'm off to see what's for dinner this week and maybe even make a couple more new menus by gathering recipes from my stash. : )

Have a great week!