Fall Reading List Follow up

I finished my last Fall Reading Challenge book! I have read 24 books this year. That's a record for me. I'm a very slow reader and I picked some harder and longer books this summer including the never ending The Eight. I'm not sure what book I want to start next.

Maybe I'll get started on my spring reading list. If it stays as cold as it was today I'll have plenty of time to curl up with a good book. Happy Reading!

Friday's Fave 5

Happy Friday! And only a week until Chistmas. Thank you to Susanne who is hosting the last Fave 5 of 2008 this week!Wow! Where has this year gone? So, I'm going to stop looking at the "to do'" list and think about the good things from the past week. So here are my favorite things in no particular order.

1. Christmas cookies! Did I mention I love Christmas cookies? These are special...they help create Christmas memories. They end up pretty tasty too!

2. Papa's visit. The weather co-operated with his travels! He made it safely to our house and back home. In between we had a lot of fun.

3. Done Christmas shopping! It was my fave thing for the 2 days I was done. Until... the last minute gift issue came up, but Honey is out taking care of that for me so I can get on with...

4. Wrapping packages! I do like to wrap gifts, I like bows, I like the look of the tree with packages wrapped in pretty paper under it.

5. No ice! We dodged 2 ice storms this week.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! See you again in 2009!

Friday Fave Five

Happy Friday! Susanne is hosting this wonderful meme this week. I really enjoy taking these few minutes to slow down and focus on the good things of the past week, so here they are...

Christmas cookies! I love cookies and the baking is finished, tomorrow we will ice the sugar cookies with Papa. Then we get to plate them on my favorite red platter and eat them!

Papa coming to visit. My Dad is coming for a visit this weekend. He's going to get to see the kids belt ceremony, ice cookies, and watch kid movies. It's always fun to have Papa come and we have the guest room finished!

Christmas trees. Both our Christmas trees are up and decorated! The "big" tree has the traditional ornaments - baby's first Christmas, our first Christmas together - the other tree is just for fun it's all red and white. I didn't think I could get away with pink and white but it was tempting.

My "new to me" gadget. I got Honey's old blackberry to use, I don't have the phone or internet on it I'm just using the PDA features and I love it! I have my eye on my next phone the Blackberry Curve and only 18 months to wait to get new phones.

Christmas program. Caleb had his kindergarten program this week. It was so cute! The pictures are still on Phil's camera.

$1.56 a gallon! That is what I paid for gas this week. Phil paid $1.49 last night. I don't know how long it will last but I sure am enjoying it.

Don't forget to drop by Susanne's place to see other peoples favorite things or join in. Have a great week!

Time Well Spent

Philip and I spent some quality time together over the Thanksgiving holiday, we had 10 hours in the van traveling, so we listened to a productivity seminar, Getting Things Done by David Allen, on his ipod. Considering my recent bout with OMS (Overwhelmed Mommy Syndrome) and things falling through the cracks I can use all the new ideas I can get. There are a few ideas so far that have really helped me feel more on top of things.

The first is to collect ideas when they pop into my head, capture them somehow, on paper or a napkin whatever works to keep the idea from buzzing around my brain. If it can't be taken care of right now then it goes in the inbox.

Processing the inbox, is the organizing part. Each piece of "stuff" is taken out of the inbox and dealt with. If it takes less than 2 minutes to complete I do it now. If it only takes one action but can't be done now it goes on the appropriate action list, home, computer, errand etc.

The last tool I have found to be very helpful is a "tickler" file I know where the info is and I don't have to think about it now. When I need it, it will show back up in my inbox.

What is missing from this system is a daily "to do" list, this has been the hard part for me, but so far this is working. All the little thoughts and "I need to ..." are not buzzing around in my head and I'm able to focus on the task at hand. By limiting the places I have information stored I'm not wasting time looking for things because the info is in one of 4 places the google calendar, the action list on the computer/PDA ( I inherited Honey's old blackberry), the inbox or the tickler file. An added benefit of the PDA is it syncs with Microsoft outlook, which syncs with the google calendar. Everything I need on the go in one place.

Even with the busyness of the holidays I feel like I have a handle on what I need to do and I'm not as stressed about it. I'm not worried about what I'm forgetting because for the first time in who knows how long I have a system that I can trust. Recovering from OMS is a good thing.

Friday Fave Five

Happy Friday! I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving! I missed last week, I was away from my computer for 3 1/2 days. I survived but I was about 24 hours from going into withdrawal.

This is the time to slow down and look back over the past week and pick my favorite things.

1. Safe travels. We traveled for the Thanksgiving holiday and didn't have any problems on the roads. We did have a little snow on the return trip, I think the kids liked seeing the snow. Caleb played in it when we stopped for lunch and let Max out of his box for a few minutes.

2. Twilight. Lauren and her friends loved the movie! We pre-ordered the tickets for the 1:00 matinee but the theater wasn't as crowded as I thought it would be that was also a good thing. It was a good movie, there were a few changes from the book but it was a fun movie to go see. I didn't have to share my overly salted and buttered popcorn.

3. Doctor's appointment. Philip had his 2 month post-op check- up this week. The doctor was pleased with his progress and said no more brace and he can start exercising! By next month he should be able to start light jogging, there are physical requirements for his job so being able to get back to his workouts is a good thing.

4. Baby talk. I had a good meeting with Caleb's speech teacher this week. She said he is doing very well on his individual words but, we are still going to work on his connected speech. This wasn't a surprise sometimes he is hard to understand. Along with his teacher we came up with a technique to slow him down (talking too fast is one of his biggest issues) and we will both be using it. I'm trilled with the progress he has made and the help he is getting.

5. Christmas season is officially here. I can now watch Christmas movies out in the open. I have been known to watch holiday movies early, like July. Yes, that is my little holiday addiction, I like to watch the old movies. Especially It's a Wonderful Life, I know it by heart and still never tire of it.

Thanks to Susanne for hosting this wonderful meme. You can visit her blog to see other participants lists or join in! Have a great week!

No Wonder I Have OMS!

This is my desk...well, it's under there, somewhere. This is where I'm suppose to "run my household". I think maybe this is contributing to my OMS. The 3 pound planner with all the stuff hanging out of it and the post-its stuck every where is suppose to help me keep track of information, who needs to be where and when. This is also where I should be able to keep the check book up to date and do my meal and grocery planning.

I agree with all those organizing experts who say that your space reflects what is going on in your life. I was getting overwhelmed by well, basically my job, and the system that was suppose to help me wasn't. I had notes tucked every where, I couldn't find anything and because I felt so out of control I was constantly double checking class times, lists and wasting time looking for things. All that just caused me to feel more overwhelmed.

I have been using a paper planner forever, various sizes and colors and it used to work. I'm not sure when it stopped working for me, but I'm guessing it wasn't over night. I was holding on to a system that had out lived it's usefulness because I didn't want to change. Even if my system wasn't working it was mine and I was used to it, it was comfortable. As hard as I knew it was going to be, I also knew it was time to change. I need a system that works for our family now not the one from 15 years (or more) ago.

So, the transition has begun. I now have a Google calendar that has replaced 3 others, I have daily calendar with my to do list and food log (some day I may give that up but not today). My addresses are on the computer and sync with my ipod, so I can take them with me. Other lists and notes are also filed in my computer with short cuts on the desk top so I can see them and get to them easily.

One pile of papers went to the shredder, a larger pile went to the recycle and my planner has been retired. It was harder to let it go than I thought it would be, it was like packing away a security blanket. Now that the changing is almost complete, I already feel calmer and more in control. Ready to tackle whatever comes next. There are still a few lists I'm putting into the computer, but now I have a space to put them on the desk and work, and room to sort the "to be sorted" folder.

As for my desk, I found it! I have a clean flat space to work and empty cubbies (those are behind the computer). Here is the after picture.

Fave Five Friday #13

Happy Friday! It's that time again, too look back over the week and focus on the good things that happened. So here we go...

Today is my pretty little baby girl's 14th birthday! Her party is tomorrow, I'm taking her and a couple of friends to see Twilight! I pre-ordered tickets (love that) then back here for pizza, cake and a sleep over.

Phil's brother and sister-in-law came to visit over the weekend. They brought their Wii video game system and we played with the kids, watching Caleb bowl was hilarious. I know why those controllers have straps. The kids had fun with their Aunt and Uncle and we got treated to a impromptu rock concert. The "band" members range in age from 14 to 39. Loads of fun!

We had 2 night with no activities this week! It was nice to just be able to relax after dinner and not have to rush out or be rushed to get lessons in before dinner. Ahh!

I have made progress on re-organizing/streamlining of our calendars and how I keep track of information. Honey helped me get all my address loaded on my ipod! That's a handy little feature.

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas... there is a chill in the air, itunes is loaded up with Christmas music ready to sync with the ipod, I have even bought a few gifts. But best of all I have a plan! Having a plan for the holidays is helping my OMS, so is the streamlining.

If you would like to participate in fave 5 or just see other peoples lists jump over to Living to Tell the Story to get all the details. Thank you to Susanne for hosting!

Have a great weekend!