Christmas Planning

It is that time of year to start planning Christmas gifts. Assuming, that is, we can afford to!

In September, usually right after Labor Day, I like to plan out my Christmas gift making and/or buying. I do this for a few reasons, but mainly so I have a list to check off. The last three to four years have been, well, lackluster in the gift department. Perhaps this is simply the new normal. However, I really want to make an effort this year despite monetary deficiencies. I’m not really certain what I will do, be it ornaments or cards, but I do know that I’m not going to let our lack of finances dictate our gift giving. We will simply have to be creative with what we’ve got supply-wise. And honestly, we’ve got a lot.

Lists

Lists are good for a great many things. Crossing things off that list, however, requires actual work.

Every now and then it is a good idea to make a list of things you want to accomplish. Some people make lists for their life goals, summer vacations, places to see, etc. I make grocery lists. I make To Do Lists. Let’s face it, I make boring lists. It is a rare day that I make a list that will be used for fun and adventure. Perhaps I should attempt to make one. Perhaps I should try to see what will happen if I actually plan on doing something. Perhaps I should just finish up one of the oh, so many projects I’ve started without completing. Or maybe I just need to make a list of stuff I want to do over the next couple days since I have them off.

Projects Versus Chores

When torn between doing what you want and doing what needs to be done, the choice seems obvious. But why does it have to be so?

I know I’ve written on this matter before, but the fact still remains that nothing motivates me to clean the house more than being able to have a little me time to be creative. It actually is the creative process that allows me to legitimize my attempts at balancing housework with craftwork. I say attempts because sometimes I get too involved in one over the other. However, the process still helps.

Carefully writing down all the tasks that need to be done into two columns, one side Wants and one side Needs, will help to organize everything you want to accomplish. Personally I do this in my head… most of the time. When I’m especially unfocused, it does help to have it written down and placed somewhere central, like the refrigerator. And so today I will attempt to balance the Needs of cleaning the carpet, vacuuming, laundry, dishes and bathing the dog with the Wants of starting my commission baby quilt, church youth auction quilt, another Desperate Housewife’s Quilt block and figuring out what design to do for our Christmas cards this year. Does anyone else do this or am I just an oddball?

This Week's List

Today I am making a list of things I want to complete before week’s end. Tomorrow I will probably regret it.

With so much to prepare for the coming change in weather, and today probably going to be the last warm day to do most of it, my goal is to accomplish as much outdoor stuff today as I can. So with that, I am going to attempt at making a list of all things I want to get done over the coming week as well. Don’t worry, I’m scheduling in some me time too. After all, if your list is full of work, who would want to do it?

First on that list is cleaning up the backyard. This includes hosing off the deck, cleaning and storing the seat cushions on the patio furniture, emptying the spent flowers from the containers (the dahlias and cosmos are staying as they’ll bloom until December), cleaning out the old dog kennel we used to transport the chickens from the old house to here back in May, and general picking up of stuff we randomly have along the back of the house.

Second is to clean out the garden boxes. While technically this could be included in the backyard cleanup portion, it really does need to be a separate spot on the list for various reasons. My plan is to move them around and stack two of them together to form a deeper planting box. I figure since we only used two this year anyway, having three will work out fine. But this also means harvesting everything that is harvestable and tossing the rest over the fence. Literally.

Third down is cleaning out the chicken coop. Why do this after cleaning out the garden boxes? So that I can use their chicken poop covered bedding in the boxes and let the girls dig it all in for me. This worked out well last year, though I must admit I was a little sad I wasn’t able to reap the rewards since we had to move before planting season.

Fourth: Start cutting the Jelly Roll I’m using for the Fall Quilt.

Fifth: Sprinkle carpet powder on the furniture and living room carpet.

Sixth: Bathe the dog.

Seventh: Vacuum the entire house.

Eighth: Clean the bathrooms.

Ninth: Start piecing together blocks for the Fall Quilt.

It appears my list might be a little ambitious for someone like me who, well, isn’t so much. However, I know that if I can squeeze grocery shopping in after getting off work this morning before heading home I should be able to manage a majority of it before I go back to work on Thursday. Of course, this also is assuming I don’t skip down to the fourth item on my list then skip again to the ninth.

Grocery Lists

When I go grocery shopping I make a list, but not just any list, an organized list. Let me explain.

The dreaded grocery store. With all the rain, however, what else am I going to do? So I suppose that means I need to make a list of all the stuff we need and/or are out of. I’ve been making my grocery lists the same way for years, but it hasn’t dawned on me until recently why my organized lists are set up the way they are until recently when I sent my husband out to do the grocery shopping. You see, I write them in order of where they are located in the store starting at the entrance and ending at the checkouts. This has always seemed logical to me. However, my husband noticed that I use what is apparently called the “Racetrack” method in which I rarely veer off the perimeter of the store where it is mostly fresh and refrigerated goods. I never thought about it that way, but more in the sense that if I don’t write it down in this order the chances of me not getting it or missing it on the list increase by tenfold.

Now, this isn’t to say that I never go into the center aisles where those well preserved shelf products are, because I do. But it isn’t where a majority of my shopping is. I mean, one must gather provisions in the baking aisle every now and then! I also venture into their confines to get pasta and spaghetti sauce and cereals and such. Staying on the so-called “racetrack” also reduces my shopping time, along with having an organized list. That way, if you are like me and tend to wander into a quilt shop before going grocery shopping, you’ll have more time to drool over your latest finds.

Lists

Okay, so yesterday I made a list. Six out of nine crossed off isn’t that bad for me.

Whenever I make a list it always seems like it would be near impossible to do it all, even if everything is completely easy and can be accomplished in half the time I’ve allotted. The problem is that I tend to not do the ones that are really important. Fortunately, even though the move is imminent and should take precedent, the only items on the list I didn’t do were all related to packing or garage sale stuff. Yes, that means I have all of my financial aid paperwork submitted and entered and will be going back to school starting this summer, something I’m extremely excited about, even if I haven’t a clue what I should be studying as of yet.

Back to making lists, I’m not much of a list maker unless I really need to focus on time management. With large cake orders and wedding cakes I almost always have a list of things I need to get done and in the order they need to be completed so that I know that the cake will be ready on time. And yes, I always give myself a few hours of wiggle room in case something goes awry. Trust me, if you make a list and give yourself the exact amount of time it should take, there is going to be something that will not go according to plan and throw off the whole project. And yes, it is true that sometimes not everything on the list will be done, which is why as I’m working on a project if something isn’t imperative and I’m running behind, I’ll scratch it off. It’s better to cross off a few minor elements nobody is going to miss than not complete the project at all.

Overwhelmed

It seems that, even though I’m unemployed again, I’ve bitten off more than I should have. It’s my own damn fault.

Christmas is ten days away and we have only got two presents under the tree; our church’s directory should have been done weeks ago but I’m barely a third of the way through entering in the names, addresses, phone numbers and email addresses; postcard mailings for work we’re doing with the Children’s Alliance need to be need to be, uh, designed and sent off; I’ve got to go over my lines for our choir’s Christmas cantata this Sunday as the narrator… with a puppet; second interview tomorrow for a job I’m hoping to get; and somehow find time to bake cookies this weekend too. It’ll be an exciting adventure.

Oh well, I’m sure I’ll have the time to do it all, it just seems that I take on all these projects not thinking that many of them will end up being due at the same time. Then again, keeping busy is a way to keep me focused, but alas, too much and my body shuts down and doesn’t get anything done. So I suppose I will make a list and prioritize what needs to be done first, finish it, then move on to the next. Ugh.

Priorities

Do you ever take on too much and end up feeling like you haven’t accomplished anything? If so, you are not alone.

From time to time I decide to start a whole list of projects or volunteer to make a bunch of stuff and it usually all happens to need to be done at the same time. I don’t know if I am unconsciously sabotaging myself or if it is just part of my nature to say yes to things I want to do, but either way I made the commitment to complete the tasks and one way or another I will.

What I find that helps in situations where there is so much to do is make a list for each project and a timeline to complete them by. Time management has never really been a strongpoint for me but if I list what needs to be done and by when it makes it easier to complete. Of course, I also have to be realistic on my deadlines too. If I have out-of-town guests, will only be home for a short period the night before two cake orders are due and a softball game and birthday party at the same time, there’s a pretty good chance something isn’t going to go according to plan. This is when making priorities comes into play.

First of all, business takes first priority. To make the orders go by smoothly, anything that can be done ahead of time I have to do ahead of time. In the case of one order it is fortunately only plain cupcakes for a build-your-own cupcake bar, and the other is for three-year-old twins’s birthday party for which they have a specific theme. Also fortunately the decorations can be made well in advance and placed onto their cakes and cupcakes, which basically means I have to only really account for baking the cupcakes and frosting one order before placing the decorations on. Simple enough with a little foresight and a good list to go off of.

Next will be the out-of-town guests, for which the house will need to be cleaned. Again, a checklist helps here, and not just any checklist but a prioritized list. What this will do is make sure that I clean the major stuff first, and if the little things don’t get done I can live with that. Think about it. If you clean the bathroom but don’t clean the office are you really going to be embarrassed? Now reverse the scenarios. Hopefully you get the picture.

Now with a softball game and a birthday party to go to at the same time, which should take priority? Unfortunately this is where I have to go with whichever one was scheduled first, and in this case it was the game. Of course, with the amount of players we’ve had turn out for practice we may not even be able to play. But if we show up for the game and only play catch and hit the ball around a few times, we may still be able to make it to the latter portion of the birthday party.

I like to simply handwrite my lists in a notebook, but it may be easier to type them out on the computer and print it out so that you can move the priorities to the top. Most of the time I put a star in front of the items to identify them as priorities. Also to keep things as simple as possible I will group like items together. For example, when the time comes to clean the windows, I do them all at the same time. I’ve already got the supplies out. Same thing goes for dusting and vacuuming. By grouping like items I streamline the process and am able to cross off multiple portions of the list, which makes me feel like I accomplished something and helps to alleviate stress and prevent Freak-out Mode from setting in.