Lots to do!

My mom is coming to visit tonight. Her flight gets in at 11:30. Before that, though, I have a LOT to do. I need some time management today!!! Here's what needs to get done...

DONE 9:30-11 Bible Study
DONE 11-12 Lunch at Pizza with Bible Study ladies
12-5...
DONE Find a babysitter for tonight's class
MOSTLY DONE Put away MK stuff
DONE Kit tonight's class (including instructions)
DONE Finish Black Orchid cards
WORKING ON IT Dishes
Laundry
DONE Email Spooktacular pictures
DONE 30 min to 1 hour of calling for MK
5:30-9 DONE Scrapbooking Class at Keepsakes
9-11:30 DONE!! Finish editing and emailing Spooktacular pictures
11:30 Pick up Mom!

Free day....

If you had a day at home, free from your busy 2 year old, what would you do?

I just talked to my friend Beth and she said she wants to take Ellie for a playdate on Monday. She is going to come over and pick her up at 10 and then return her later that day, leaving me free to do... whatever!

What should I do with my day??!!

there are lots of things I have been wanting to do and not gotten around to, so I think I probably ought to do some of those things... So I suppose I will spend my Monday:

• Setting up the guest room for my Mom's arrival on Wednesday!
• Cleaning out the too-small clothes from Ellie's closet
• Reorganizing the downstairs closet where all of Ellie's outgrown baby things are.
  
• Setting up for Monday's holiday preview

And if I have time, perhaps I'll do a little crafting, but not until my Mary Kay desk and cupboard are organized again.

Not a fun list of things to do, but oh, so needed and it will be wonderful to get those things accomplished!!

Cleaning frenzy!!

I am having a Mary Kay holiday preview on Saturday and I was planning on cleaning on Friday night. Turns out, though, that we are taking a family trip to the symphony that night. It is also my day in town without Ellie, so I won't be home that day to clean either. SO... I need to get it all done tonight!!! Here's what I need (or want) to do...

Kitchen:
Empty and reload the dishwasher
Put away groceries and dinner ingredients
Sweep floor
Mop floor
Throw away trash
Empty trash
Declutter countertops
Declutter fridge

Living Room:
Dust
Declutter piano, console table, floor
Vacuum
Shampoo
Clean windows
Clean windowsills

Master Bedroom:
Make bed
Put away laundry
Declutter bedstands
Vacuum
Shampoo
Dust
Clean windowsills
Clean windows

Guest Bathroom:
Sweep
Mop
Clean toilet
Clean mirror
Clean countertop
Clean tub
Wash little potty

Entryways:
Sweep
Mop
Vacuum
Shampoo
Declutter

Family Room:
Throw away the trash
Pick up the toys
Clean the end tables and coffee table
Get DVDs out for kids to watch (Word World, Veggie Tales)

MK Office:
Clean off desk
Find profile cards
Update inventory spreadsheet


Preview Tasks:
Photocopy surveys
Pull out holiday decorations
Ready profile cards (both new and existing customers)
Pull out samples for the preview and "look only" products

I'm going to set the timer and get to it!!

Today

Dinner:
Cube Steaks with Feta from the Body Clutter Menu Mailer
Mashed sweet potatoes

Housework:
Empty and reload dishwasher
Change sheets (ours and Ellie's)
Tidy our bedroom and the living room

Mary Kay:
Make phone calls
Organize office for 15 minutes

Ellie:
Play outside for a while
Do some sort of art project, coloring, or painting

Tomorrow:
Children's Museum
Make Costco list
Pick out clothes
Clean up house before bed

I've made dinner 2 nights in a row.

And that's progress.

That's sad.

But I'm taking it one day at a time and I have meals planned for the next 3 days.

But first things first... It's after midnight and I need to put away the groceries I brought home an hour ago.

I need a new plan. Again.

Every time the seasons change I seem to need a new plan. The last few weeks have been busy as all of our Fall activities have started up and, unfortunately, the cleaning schedule that worked this summer is no longer working for me! So I need to come up with a new plan (or, rather, get back to the old Flylady plan, more likely) and use a little discipline to stick to it! Here's what I need to work around...

Monday:
10-11a Kindermusik in Bozeman
7-9p Craft Night (twice a month)

Tuesday:
10-12p Open for MK Parties as scheduled
2-4p Open for MK Parties as scheduled
7-9p MK Success Meeting in Bozeman

Wednesday:
9:30-11a Bible Study in Belgrade
6-9p Scrapbooking Classes (every other week) in Bozeman

Thursday:
10-12p Playgroup in Bozeman

Friday:
10-3p Zoe/Ellie Playdate (every other week I have the girls here - the off weeks I'm in Bzn)

Saturday:
Open for MK Parties when scheduled

Sunday:
10-12p Church

So... as you can see, there's not a really good day to call my "cleaning day". I realize that with Flylady you only spend an hour doing your weekly home blessing, and maybe I just need to get back to that. Maybe I need to get back in the habit of swishing and swiping, doing a load of laundry a day, running dishes at night and emptying them in the morning, and keeping on top of things. That's probably what I need to do. But it still takes some scheduling to make sure I get it done, especially on days I need to be in town in the morning.

To be in town at 10, I need to leave the house at 9:30, more or less. Assuming it takes me an hour to get ready, I need to be up at 8:30. Ellie usually gets me up around 7 or 7:30 anyway, so I really need to use that extra hour wisely. I should be able to use the following schedule, if I keep myself to it:

• Wake Up / Take Temperature
• Make Bed
• Get Eliana changed / milk
• Shower
• Swish and Swipe Bathroom
• New washcloth for tomorrow
• Get Dressed (to the shoes!)
• Open / Close Windows
• Eat Breakfast - record
• Read Bible / Do Study
• Laundry to washer
• Empty Dishwasher
• Clean Up Breakfast Dishes

On days that I need to get to town, the next steps are to put Ellie in the car, round up my stuff, and get in the car and go. On days that I'm staying home, the next steps are to transfer clothes to the dryer and do 15 minutes in my zone.

There is more planning to be done, but we'll see how the morning routine goes first. That's enough planning for right now.