Mom is Just a Nickname

It’s time for another of my to-do lists. I need it to keep me focused today since there’s quite a bit I want to get done. The house isn’t quite a wreck, but there are a number of areas which have become cluttered and bogged down and need to be cleaned up.

Vacuum (Living Room, Kitchen, Dining Room, , J’s Bedroom, X’s Bedroom, Computer Room)
Clean Kitchen Sink and Counters
Unclutter Trunk and Bar
Unclutter my Desk
Move my Desk

Unload Dishwasher
Clean Master Bath
Change Cat Litter
Make Pizza Dough for Dinner
Refill Soap Dispensers
Mop Kitchen Floor and Master Bath Floor
Pick up Living Room, Dining Room
Move Bookshelves
Laundry
Vacuum –Master Bedroom

Our plan is to buy a chest freezer this weekend. I have to move my desk (which is actually a large kitchen table) out of the kitchen to make room for it. So, we’re moving the bookshelves that are in our ‘reading nook’ and changing that area to my desk area. The bookshelves will be going to the empty wall in the dining room.

Ok, I’m not going to post it today, but I have one, so I need to get working on it!

Tonight, we’re having friends over for lasagna! Yum. Toph made it. Even better, because that means I don’t have to cook!

His lasagna is famous in our house…it was the first meal he cooked for me, actually. The first time we met, he brought it with him (it traveled 500 miles to be eaten!) and we cooked it in the tiny oven that was in the lounge on the third floor of my dorm. Ah, college life! lol. Everyone kept ducking in to see what it was that smelled so good!

Tomorrow, we’re having “Kids Rule Day” which should be interesting. It’s an experiment…they get to decide, together, what we eat, what we watch, what we do….all day long. No ducking off for quick email checks, no hiding in a book…full participation required all day. They already have a list of things for us to do. Wanna see it? Too bad if you don’t. Here it is:

Breakfast: Waffles
Play Chutes and Ladders
Play Trains
Play Cars
Play Restaurant, Lunch: Mac n Cheese
Make Cookies
Watch Green Bay Packers game or go to Magnet Mania
Go Swimming
Go for ice cream and play at McD’s
Dinner: Dogs in a blanket with hot dog beans
Watch a video from the Redbox and eat popcorn
J reads us a bedtime story

Sunday, thankfully, should be a quiet day. I don’t think we have any set plans then.

How’s your weekend shaping up?

Or just teach me to drink coffee without spilling it down my shirt. Sheesh.

This post was not about the fact that I still don’t know how to drink without making a mess….

I’ve read a lot of books about organization. I’ve even bought a few of them. (I try to stay out of bookstores unless I have a purpose there because I’m irresistibly drawn to buying things when I’m there.) They don’t usually have much to offer that’s different than what I already know. Sometimes I wonder why I bother reading them. Maybe it’s just for the inspiration, the way that they jiggle ideas lost in my head so that I can stew on them and put them into action.

That’s the same thing with the cookbooks I flip through on occasion. It’s got to be an eye catcher of a recipe (and pretty easy without exotic ingredients) for me to try a new recipe. But seeing the recipes in a book will often remind me of an old favorite that we used to eat often and I’ll make that again.

As a parent, I’ve been told by various “experts” that it takes something like fifteen times of experiencing a new food before kids will like it. (That goes for us adults, too, by the way!) Well, the whole thing with these ideas and recipes and everything seems to be the same cycle. I have to read it many times before it finally sinks in and I do something with the new information.

It’s the same theory that advertisers use when running ads. They try to get a company’s name in so many times during one commercial and why they run several commercials throughout the time of one show. They want the viewer to see their name enough times that it sinks in and becomes familiar. This way the viewer has an inner motivation to check out the brand or company that was advertised.

I think this is part of why writing ideas down is important, even writing to-do lists down, and journal ling. When we do this, we put our thoughts and ideas down where we can re-read them until we imprint them in our minds. Every time we re-read the ideas, we give it a boost towards action. Maybe one day I’ll re-read one of those organization books and have an epiphany and I’ll be able to get my house organized.

What are the chances?

Wash and dry sheets
mop (k,mbr, kbr, fh)
sweep garage
fold laundry
wrap gifts
clean up kitchen
put away clean clothes
wash front window
Prep food for Lemon Garlic Chicken
Put tablecloths in dryer
put away laundry
Clean Kids’ bathroom
Clean out minivan and ‘bu
Make cinnamon rolls
Change sheets (X’s room, J’s room, B&T’s room)
vacuum (dr, lr, mb, mbr, jbr, xbr, cr, fh, k)
change cat litter (kitch)
clean bathrooms (mbr)
get stockings out

Maybe hang pictures

I’ve been slacking this morning. I’ve gotten some things done, just not as many as I should have done. So, now I’m trying to organize my to do list for the afternoon while I eat my lunch.