Me? Over-scheduled?

Sports practice and games (for my kids), school activities, PTA volunteer, working out (recently added to my schedule), freelance writing and editing, cleaning house…oh, and a full-time job.

Yes, I over schedule, but I think that is just part of who I am. I like to be busy and productive. I tend to do this so much that the people at work expect a huge list of things when they ask what I have planned for the weekend…and that’s what they usually get. It’s odd that I keep doing this to myself since just talking about what I need to do makes me tired, but I have a difficult time just sitting. If I stop moving, I fall asleep.

What does my hubby think of this? Let’s ask him…."Well, you over schedule so much that you don’t make time for yourself. You put everything else above yourself…until you push it so much that you break down. It only becomes a problem when you’re so exhausted that you crash when you get home.” Hmmm…. I think he’s saying that I need to take more “ME” time. I might just have to take him up on that.

I’m not sure who said it first, but it seems to fit well here…“

~ If Momma Ain’t Happy, Ain’t Nobody Happy ~

How do things work for you?

Domestically Disabled

Vacation Planning

Since I am the planner in the family, I tend to run with the vacation planning. In fact, when hubby suggested we take a road trip to Arizona, four states away, I’m not sure he really meant it. However, once I got actually buy-in, the planning began. The number of miles and hours on the road would be many. But the places we could see would make for a great family vacation.

The road trip binder contained a day-by-day break down with directions and maps for the day, the activities planned and what we would need for each. Each of my girls also had a similar binder with journal pages and activity pages for each day. While my family tends to pick on me for being overly organized, the binders were a huge hit.

Three days of driving to reach our destination – my brother’s house. Four days of fun in the sun and three more days of driving to get home. Overall, we had a great trip. Visited family, saw great scenery, and did fun activities. Hubby, who has a bad back, was a great sport. However, I’m pretty sure he’ll be planning the next road trip – and that it won’t be such a long trip.

Next planning session - summer camping. Well, I’m off to start filling the camping binder with calendars, maps, and checklists.

How about you? Who does your vacation planning?

Domestically Disabled

My Blissfully Sweet Life of Organized Chaos

The topic of the day is who misplaces things and who can find them. The overall theme for this, to me, is organization, so read on to find out how we handle organized chaos at our house…
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Hubby: “Has anyone seen my shoes?”
Me: “Under the table!”
Hubby: “Which one?”
Me: “The end table where they were kicked under, like always.”
Hubby: “How about my keys?”
Me: “Downstairs on the arm of the couch.”
Hubby: “My phone?”
Me: “Stuck between couch cushions in the living room.”
Hubby: “Wait, what about my wallet?”
Me: “You left it in the console of your Jeep.”
Hubby: “Oh yeah. Has anyone seen my hat?”

Are you KIDDING me? Thank goodness I adore this man.

This is my life of organized chaos. We’re a fun loving family that stays very busy. A family of 4 with two Chihuahuas and a rotating door that invites houseguests at all times of the year. Our 2 crazy dogs that think they are Dobermans and bark at every knock or doorbell ring on the TV. My daughters are amazing. At 6 and 9, they could keep me laughing from morning ‘til night, if I wasn’t at work all day. They are creative, inventive and love doing projects with Dad. “Dad, Can I use the nail gun?” is a common question we hear. They and their dad absolutely make the chaos fun and the work day worth working.

My ultimate goal is to have everything organized and to simplify our lives. This would mean that everything has a place, closest are perfectly organized and labeled, my books and files are where I left them in my office, and shoes can find their own way to the closets. ~ I’ve since come to my senses and I’m settling for being able to see the kitchen counters and not get anything stuck to my feet when I walk on the wood floors in the living and dining rooms. Yes, it’s not my idea of “clean and organized,” but as long as others are helping out, I’ve decided to not be such a perfectionist.

I’ve noticed that everyone in our house misplaces things. Typically, things get set down where ever and I have a basket for each person that I put them in when I clean up. With my husband, however, I tend to have a different approach. I think I drive him crazy because he seems to want me to just leave his stuff where he left it (on the table, counter, window sill, etc), but I feel that if I give him a place to put his day-to-day things (wallet, keys, phones, etc), he should be able to put them there every time and know that they will be there when he needs them. This works sometimes. However, if these specified locations get filled with other items like tools, fishing line, other not day-to-day items, I move them to a basket in the closet. Therefore, I tend to misplace his stuff for him. However, I see it as cleaning up.

While things are certainly crazy all year round, I feel that summer is the craziest. With the entire family home, other than me, the house has no chance to sit and enjoy being clean. That is, three people here to dirty the house all day and the one that does most of the cleaning is at work and does NOT want to spend her entire evening cleaning.

Enter here…the chore list. Sometimes they get done, sometimes they don’t, but mom’s rule is that if it’s not done before I get home from work, you don’t get allowance for that day. It tends to work with my 9 year-old and I’m hoping that rubs off on the 6 year-old soon. However, she tends to be a walking tornado…things literally fall on the floor as she walks by. I’m thinking about having her tested for a sixth sense…what do they call it when you can make things move without touching them?

At least with a system of chores...(written down and posted on the fridge counts as a system, right?)...and some family members that help…(Kudos to my amazing 9 year-old!)...we can typically find the things we need to make our family function without too much freaking out…on good days. This is what I call Organized Chaos. Now, where is my energy drink and why is the dog in the baby doll stroller?
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Who is your household misplaces things? Do you have a system for keeping your family organized? Inquiring minds are always looking for ideas.

Thanks for reading: Domestically Disabled

Working Mom, Stay-at-home Dad

Household roles are changing all the time and it's a new world when trying to find the right balance. Here's how things work for us.

I am actually pretty lucky in this department. I work full-time and hubby stays at home with our girls (ages 6 and 9). He gets them off to school, cooks all of our meals, washes and dries laundry, gets the garbage out, and does the outside chores as needed. I work, commute, do most of the cleaning, the dishes, the bills, the school meetings, etc. One trick, since I’m able to work from home one day per week, is using my lunch break to do dishes so that I’m ahead of the game for that evening. Our kids also have chores and when they get them done, it works amazingly well.

Sometimes we even have someone come in and clean once a week. This is mainly because my stress level is directly related to the messiness of the house. Since I work full-time and commute 2 hours per day, I don’t want to have to clean everyday when I get home. I’d rather be playing with my kids or watching their sporting practices/events.

We also split up the homework help into the subjects that we each enjoy the most. I help the girls with reading, writing and math; he helps them with science and history. We’ve been married for 11 years and this seems to work pretty well for us so far…that is, until the kids are smarter than us.

Our plan is not always perfect, but I feel that we’re a lot closer to 50/50 than most couples.

How do you balance the workload and make it work best in your relationship? Any suggestions to help others looking to find a better balance?

Thanks for reading.
I write over at Domestically Disabled

The Top 5 Ways my Hubby/High School Sweetheart makes my Life Easier

First, I’d like to admit that there are definitely more than 5 ways my life is made easier by my hubby, but these are the top ones that come to mind.
* He is an amazing stay-at-home dad to our two girls (ages 6 and 9) and he supports me in my career. I am able to go to work and know that the kids are well taken care of. This allows me to focus on my job while I’m there.
* He encourages me to write and has more confidence in me than I have in myself sometimes. (Although, he doesn’t quite get this blogging thing yet.)
* He makes amazing meals for the girls and I so that we don’t starve or eat burnt food all the time. (We met in a cooking class and I burnt the food. There hasn’t been a very high expectation of my cooking skills since. My kids even prefer that I don’t cook. Sad, but true.)
* He remembers to remind me that I need to take time for myself and not take on so many projects – sometimes I even listen…sometimes.
* He balances out my extreme optimism and brings me back to reality when I need it.
Thank you, Hubby!

How about you? How does your spouse/partner make your life easier?

I also write over at Domestically Disabled . Feel free to stop by.

24 hours of ME time...Female Perspective

So the question posed was, "If you had 24 hours to do whatever you wanted how would you fill it?"

My Perfect Dream Day On My Own

Wow, it has been a long time since I’ve even thought to plan out a day all on my own. I do get chunks of time for me here and there, but an entire day…! Normally if I take time on my own, I’m out shopping for stuff for my family or the house…not necessarily for me. So, this is what I would do if the entire day was about ME.

8:00 am - Wake up, shower, get ready for the day, eat.

9:30 am – Grab a coffee from Starbucks on the drive…since I’d have to drive at least 20 minutes to get anywhere that has something to do.

10:00 am – Take an introductory yoga class.

11:00 am – Mani/Pedi, Massage, Facial, Relaxing lunch

2:00 pm – Shopping (bookstores, organizing stores)

4:00 pm – Writing a post for blog or work on a freelance editing project (because I like to, not because I have to).

6:00 pm – Dinner. (Anything but hotdogs and macaroni! Probably something like teriyaki chicken and rice with Coke Zero…and chocolate silk pie for dessert. Yum!!!)

7:00 pm – Quiet reading time (A brand new book bought while shopping earlier in the day.)

10:00 pm – Meditate (What does REAL silence sound like anyway?)

10:30 pm – Sleep…lots of sleep.

So what about you? Anything specific that you’d like to do with an entire day to yourself? Would your day be similar to mine?

I write at DomesticallyDisabled