Daybook

Outside my window - It is officially winter. And I don’t like it, not one little bit. It’s cold and gray and dreary. I announced earlier in the month that I was once again considering moving to Florida where the sun always shines. It does always shine, right?

Listening to - the air blow through the heat ducts, the tick-tock of the wall clock and the tapping of my fingers on the ipad LOL. No music today, huh? I’m sure I’ll be turning it on soon.

Clothing myself in - a pair of jeans that Rachel has out(under)grown. :-) She is working out, making better food choices and it’s starting to show! I’m proud of her. Being committed to working out regularly is a hard thing to do, and she is rocking it. Oh and a black, long sleeve t-shirt from Joy FM. It’s my all time favorite shirt from them. Tennis shoes.

I got dressed before even coming down the stairs this morning because I knew I would be leaving the house early to take my girl to church to meet the group for their trip. Also, after regaining a considerable amount of energy and enthusiasm for the creative endeavors I’m interested in, I realized that I would get more done if I greeted my morning coffee fully dressed - to the shoes - and ready to get to work. You see, my idea is that if I get all the requirements done early and quickly, I’ll have more time for the work I enjoy and want to pursue. Kind of a work before play concept, but I'd like for the play to become the work...

Keeping house - well, I said to myself as I flushed the toilet yesterday, one bad thing about it, if I decide not to pursue a stream of revenue for myself with my creative work, is that I will have to continue to clean those awful bathrooms. :-) I think I would get a job just to pay someone else to do two things - bathrooms and dusting. I hate both, but they gotta be done. Keeping up with the rest pretty well since we're really down to three people living in the house and the de-cluttering campaigns are starting to pay off with big results.

Keeping it simple - all the work to simplify is definitely making a difference. That process continues still and I hope we will continue to reap the benefits.

I'm also hoping that the way I'm setting up the planner will help keep me on track with a practical, doable rhythm for our home and life.

To be fit and healthy - ……...nothing. I got nothing. No, I’m not choosing any New Year’s resolutions. It’s a setup for failure in my humble opinion. I’d rather focus on goals that are attainable and measurable. Pondering - how to keep 1st things 1st while still pursuing writing, blogging, podcasting and other creative interests. How to define 1st things. Where on the list of priorities do my creative endeavors land? I mean the list of things to do will never be done. There will never be a day when I can honestly claim that everything else that needs to be done (or can be done) is done and now I can spend some time exploring this thing. And if it’s not generating an income for our family, does that affect the degree to which those endeavors are considered a priority? Will it ever reach 1st thing importance? People before things, always. Always.

Watching - there has been a lot of television viewing over the course of the last two months. Starting with Hallmark Christmas, moving on to the traditional marathons - Marvel, Lord of the Rings and Hobbit, some Harry Potter, and then some interesting series (Emergence, Virgin River, V-Wars…) I am burnt out on television. If you know me at all, you know that I consider watching too much television a total waste of a good life. I’d rather be reading, writing or picking my nose. Just kidding about the nose picking :-) But seriously, there are too many other things I could spend my time doing other than watching someone else’s fictional adventures on a digital screen. I enjoy a good movie as much as anyone else, sometimes. But every night just gets to be too, too much. I do, however, recommend Virgin River. It’s a feel-good series that I look forward to for the next season if they don’t cancel it.

Reading - I have that stack already waiting, and more have been added since September. I dove back into a fiction book that I had started earlier in the year - Blood Spell - and I was happy to discover that I actually remembered the story as soon as I picked it back up, so I won’t have to backtrack to refresh my memory. I hope to read a balanced amount of fiction and non-fiction, as well as listen to quite a few podcasts on a regularly basis. I will be creating a TBR (to-be-read) list in my planner.

Loving the moments - when my sweet kids WANT to spend time with me. I know more than a few people who do not experience a great relationship with their parents, especially their mothers. I am eternally grateful that our kids actually want to spend time with me. They have all grown up to become my best friends and remain my favorite people in the world.

Words worth sharing - I have chosen my One Word for 2020. It’s actually two words - I don’t think anyone will complain though. PAY ATTENTION. I have a feeling this will be a catalyst for considerable growth for me in the coming year. So many aspects and thoughts to explore.

Giving thanks for - recognizing and being able to address the mood swings I had during Thanksgiving. It wasn’t pretty and had potential for a rather downward spiraling mess. 

John and I had a really positive, productive conversation about the house and the things we want to do. I feel like we crossed a threshold and are moving forward together now, on the same page. Unless God literally smacks us in the head with a 2 x 4, we will be staying in this house indefinitely. We would rather invest the costs of renovation and updates on a gradual basis rather than commit to a thirty year mortgage. It leaves so much more flexibility in every way. We’ve already reached out to potential contractors for the first two projects. We’ll be sitting down next week with someone to get ideas about the design, cost and timeline for a patio. Exciting stuff folks!! And we have created the start of our Home Binder - the brainchild of my kindred spirit, Robin. Thank sweet friend!!

Planning for the week ahead - trying to narrow down the most important things this week to get a good start to the new year. Every day is an opportunity for a fresh start, but there is just something special about doing it at the beginning of a new year, don’t you agree?

Have you done, or plan to do, a year-end review and goal setting? What is your process? Please share!