TAKING CHARGE 27 Feb 06

I've already done enough to earn myself a nap this morning, and the sun's shining so I'm a bit bouncy, in spite of a horrible closed up throat and tender swollen glands.

I paid for the Easter break by credit card this morning. DH called to say he's trying to get on a flight on Wednesday. And I bought the computer desk and lugged it home. I got assistance at the other end and used physics to manoeuvre it into the house - no lifting, minimal doing anything heavy.

so I'm going to be working on the garage today to get some space for the bed.

what's unusual for me is that I've made a number of fairly large decisions on my own. It's not so much that I'm indecisive, more that I tend to talk almost everything over with DH before doing anything. Since he's been away just over a month so far, and obviously had plenty to worry about, I've had to go ahead myself and I think I've made some headway. I've decided what's happening to this office - quite big changes of usage really since I can't hang round till the business is ready to start or I'll never get anywhere. And I've decided on a place to stay in Easter and gone ahead and booked it, even paid for it without him knowing. All part of a cunning plan because I figure I could lose the whole thing if I let him get involved. Now it's a done deal and we'll just have to work round it.

Have you ever been indecisive about things?? Do you tend to leave bigger decisions to someone else?? I'm not talking about just getting someone's advice, but actually making big decisions yourself. Maybe that's something we could consider working on this week. Not hanging around for anyone else to make the decisions for us, but really taking charge of whatever happens in our lives. Is there anything you can think of that you've been waiting for someone else to decide on?? Is it possible you can do it yourself?? I'm not sure this will fit everyone, but it's a start till I come up with something more universal.

I do think we should also be aiming to start March on a high, make an achievement that will set the tone for the month. Is there something big you've been hatching, or maybe just something flamboyant you've been itching to do?? Start March in style! It'll be the beginning of Spring soon too, so gardens could start to feature highly. I've got a few shrubs I need to get round to pulling out, and I'm just going to have to brave the mud and soggy grass to do the job soon. A few dry days and I should be giving it a go.

that should give you a few things to pick from to get your week kickstarted. I know Mondays can be difficult, but today won't be. Let's get out and kick some serious a$$!

Kerri.

The big decision I made recently is to return to studying. I also need to get voluntary work in a school, preferably with deaf children. I hope to do that for 6 months to a year and then hopefully get a job in the same field. That's the plan, but I haven't done much about it yet. This week I need to send off the application form to register for the course I want to do which starts in May. I also need to make a few phone calls or write letters about the voluntary work.

Indecision is a close cousin to procrastination....while I can righteously claim innocence of the first...I am hopelessly guilty of the second!

That confessed, I woke up to a spanking clean kitchen and a hot pot of coffee because I got a burst of energy last night and remembered to set the timer on the coffeemaker. Sounds silly...but it was quite nice! I'm almost done with my Monday sweep-and-swipe, too. I still have to mop the front and back halls and vacuum the stairs (both of which I hate!)

I have a couple of errands to run for MIL and have to make a quick trip to the grocery store for sprinkles to go on DD"11-tomorrow!"'s cupcakes for school. The baking and decorating will happen later, as the birthday-girl is in charge of that! We also have Girl Scouts here later with DD15 and crew.

The big decisions around here in the next few weeks only require "facilitating" from me! The DDs need to pick their summer camp programs so we can get those applications and payments sent and then I've got to look at the summer calendar and reserve our camping week at Kelley's Island. Our Spring Break trip is at the end of the month but that doesn't require "decisions" from me, just "action!" I'm also planning to "facilitate" the decision to hire me at my interview on Thursday!

I must get going, though!

Love to all!

Blessings,
Lenora
"...if woman's work is never done, why bother about how much of it [isn't] getting done at any given moment?"
~ Claire Fraser in The Fiery Cross by Diana Gabaldon

I don't know what to say other than paperwork scares and overwhelms me, to include our finances. I absolutely must, HAVE TO take charge of that part of my life. I will clean, organize and put order to the entire house before I finish the office. Not out of duty or routines, but to avoid the office. With two special needs kids, the paperwork monster has really grown. Every time we move it grows more. I've given up clipping out articles I like just to get them out of the way of bills. I think I'm getting the idea here. I'll focus on this one big thing, but it includes a whole list of subcatagories, anyway.

--Karin
www.chaotichome.blogspot.com
www.bionicboys.blogspot.com

why don't you just ease yourself into this by picking ONE task that will reduce the problems you have with your paperwork. Can you find all your bills?? If not, that's probably a good place to start, and if you can't pay them all right away you can at least stack them all up together. Or is there a category of stuff you can throw away, or things you need to shred. Just find SOMETHING. Don't try to fix it all in one day, or even this week. You'll burn out and be at the mercy of the paper monster, instead of being in charge of it.

Kerri.

I'm way too uncomfortable - I'm going to the doctor tomorrow if I wake up as bad in the morning as I did today. I figure that at least if I can fix the throat problems with some antibiotics, I can eat. The aches and pains from shifting the tree I will just have to live with. My mother said I put a lot of effort into sifting that tree, that she'd never seen me move that fast and she wishes she'd had a camera! My belly's rumbling but I can barely swallow my own saliva. On the whole this hasn't been a fun month.

BUT... it's March tomorrow. Fresh slate perhaps, a chance to get our teeth into something really important perhaps. Karin - have you figured out which one task would be a good place for you to start taking charge in your office?? Honey - how're the bedrooms coming ?? Is even one of them going to be finished and brilliant by the end of the day?? If not, what are your plans...?? Lenora looks to have a busy week with birthdays and interviews, but I know Lenora's good at doing things the rest of us barely dream of, like keeping the house clean in a busy week.

and what about the lurkers and skulkers.. you know who you are! What single decision can you make today to come over here and brag about?? Anything will do - decisiveness must surely be a core tenet of taking charge. Can you take a decision which will make your finances easier, to upgrade your skills like Honey, to get out of the house to meet people (that should be me, but it'll never happen!), make the medical appointments you avoided last month?? I've heard some horror stories on the medical front these few weeks that would make your hair curl... like the guy who went into his nearby emergency room with suspected pneumonia, had a tracheotomy and is now on life support with septicaemia, all in less than 24hrs... These are not urban legends folks, but real people. Could you get something nipped in the bud by seeing a medical professional??

so let's be decisive this week. I have made my decision about the doctor tomorrow, and that I am forgoing my meal planning in favour of something simpler on the poor battered cook. Ok, it was Mum's suggestion! A New, more decisive, more proactive, more take charge You can begin with just the small decisions. Don't wait till Life comes along and forces you in a particular direction, because you may not like what you get!

Kerri.

Yesterday I worked on my bedroom again, having abandoned DS14's room in mid-sort. I never could stay on task It's going well, looking much better already. I have filled a rubbish bag, a recycling bag and a big bag for the charity shop

We've been out of the house all day today. This evening I will try to do a little in the bedroom (after I've eaten my pancakes - Pancake Day today ) Anyone else having pancakes? We're having them English style, with lemon and sugar, or maple syrup.

Hope you feel better soon Kerri.

I'll get you for all this one day... one day when I can overindulge and you can't!!!

did you get the bags out of the house yet?? Any definite plans to do so??

Kerri.

Well, I told DH I need to lock myself in here and just "finish". He said that I'VE said that before, he's watched the boys for four days now while I work and I haven't seem to make any progress. He's not usually that much of a downer, but we were both feeling icky sick and cranky that day.

I told him how dare he, since I have just recently unpacked seven more boxes in here, thrown out a total of 10 garbage bags of paper and junk from this room alone, and in the meantime reorganized DS7's room and ours to better support the things that were in here but belong better in there. And then I asked him how much HE has done that he's been saying he should do, too. And I reminded him of how much time in the past that I've had to watch the boys on my own. Recently while he went off on business, had dinner in restaurants with adults, and even got to visit his brother's family w/o our little loved ones tagging along. He's usually the uber supportive hubby, but like I said, we were both cranky sick.

The paper pile is now minimalized, but I need to focus and finish sorting it out. Then create a better filing system. That is key here, as the paper monster seems to be the biggest culprit in this room. I think once I put order to the paper everything else will start to fall into place. I've figured out the bill situation, thank goodness.

Okay, on with my day. One little creature is already up, so I need to get moving. I crave quiet in the mornings, and he is a little chatterbox. Ugh.

why should him looking after his sons for a few days seem like he's doing you a big favour??? It always does though doesn't it, and we buy into it, asking them to 'do us a favour' when the kids are theirs too! It sounds like you've really found the crux of your problem too. Just clearing up the paperwork isn't really going to keep it clear - you need an effective filing system, one that works for YOU, and is preferably so simple any male can use it too!! This is the key to many of our recurring problems - finding a solution that really works for us. We can clean up the mess till we're blue in the face, and often do, but until we figure out WHY the mess keeps happening we don't really get any closer to a cure.

Of course there's always throwing the kids and DH out on the street, but I suspect there might be a less harsh measure!

I'm considering a way I can make ironing less irksome for myself, and it involves extension cables!! I need to get the kids some freshly ironed shirts for next week (DD wore a school t-shirt this week, bless her!) and I can't really expect DH to come back to the WHOLE pile from the last... well several weeks anyway. Possibly 6. Actually, doing the ironing in front of the television is pretty obvious (if I can ever find anything to watch) but my plug sockets are all in the wrong places. I do have a spare extension though!

other than that I'm mostly just chugging along this week. Tomorrow morning's both bits of school volunteering, and I may get dragged over to my parents' house after school befo they go away for the week, since both my grandmother's birthday and Mum's 60th birthday are in the week they're away. Which just leaves me Friday. I hope to get this office rearranged before DH gets back, so the bed is gone somewhere and the desk is put together and put in place. He's got a confirmed flight on the 7th and is waitlisted on a few other flights before then.

can't believe it's Wednesday already, but then as my mother pointed out I mostly slept through Monday!

Kerri.

Karin-
With regard to special Ed paperwork I put DS's papers in a binder with dividers. Each divider is a category. IEP, IEP progress notes,MFE,correspondence,standardized tests,work samples,misc. The spine of the binder says IEP 2nd-5th grade since I have 1 kid on an IEP one binder for those few years works. You may find a binder for each child is easier. Then when you have an IEP meeting or conference,you grab the appropriate binder and off you go. I just did this this year and it has helped immensely. Jusy my 2 cents....

Heidi

half of the posts on this thread are mine. I could lie to you, but it's obvious I'm the one doing all the hard work! Well if I'm not where the heckie are you all?? Come and get us all motivated if you're working so hard, or talk yourself into a little motivation if you're not - that's what I do all the time, which explains why I post so much. Some days this is the nearest I get to adult conversation.

I just had a call about the bed... it's leaving between 6 and 7pm today... that's less than 3hrs!!! All I have to do now is pray they don't care about the size and help fit it in the same car as my mother's got.

Kerri.

not much of my own stuff but loads of stuff for other people.

This week is wearing me out and next week I will be back in. I just have too. The rest of my life is so out of control that I NEED this!

Kerri - hurrah on the bed!

Karin - I love it when people say they are "watching THEIR kids!" and it is usually men! Sorry guys but they are YOUR kids so technically you are not BABYSITTING you are PARENTING!!! Hope the crankys leave your house soon and super hubby returns!

Honey - what to say......get moving! Ha! I can say the same for me too! I think we just love the company of these threads!

Jana

The bed is out!!! Can you tell I'm pleased!?! The kid's asked why I was dancing, and I told them it was because I wasn't accepting the bed back now it was out of my house! This room seems huge suddenly... well... less small anyways. I'd better get bits of that desk up here this evening and see if I can't get it done.

YAYAYAYAYAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't care what happens for the rest of the month much now I've got rid of that bed! And thanks Honey for reminding me about Freecycle!

Kerri.

I just have been so busy I can't seem to get into that bedroom! Got tied up today with a lot of research on the internet and stuff, mainly to do with trying to get DS onto an evening class or a short course with the Open University (distance learning) Most won't accept under 16s, because they 'should' be in school ).

Tomorrow I am out of the house until about 4pm, maybe I'll get something done in the evening.

I'd say I invented the concept but I'm not that old. I've certainly perfected it though.

today's excuse of choice is only 2hrs sleep and not being able to eat or drink. That goes for my meds too since I can't actually swallow them. Getting it fixed in a few hours and once the antibiotics kick in I'm going to be NAPPING!

Tomorrow I'm doing the pretty for my grandmother's birthday since my parents went on holiday to avoid it. I just love being back here!

Can't get the desk to fit together, so I'm leaving it till DH and/or Dad get back. I'll let them muck it up since if I try to do it myself, knowing it doesn't fit and never will in the present state, they'll just argue that I did something wrong. Bit of a bummer but waiting is the better option here.

Kerri.

Well, I'm making progress in the office.

Kerri, you are just plain motivating! Hang in there, even when we're not "here".

Yes, I need a better filing system. I use the expandable files for the boys' most recent ed/med documents. But they have so many I have separate files for the extras. I've figured out a bunch I can purge, though. Yeah!

I'm heavily using MS Outlook for my Calendar and Contacts, and it's paying off big time. When I'm getting paper in w/dates and numbers I need to keep, I put it in a place right next to my computer. Then when I sit down next I can plug it in right away, throw away the paper. I'm at the point where I'd LOVE to buy a Palm Z22 to help me keep this data and manipulate it while on the go. Maybe it will fit into the budget in the second half of the month. Mortgage comes out the first half...

Gotta go!

--Karin
www.chaotichome.blogspot.com
www.bionicboys.blogspot.com

Good for BOTH of you!

I attended the "Education Expo" at my university yesterday. I handed out a bunch of resume packets, introduced myself to a bunch of HR people and had one preliminary interview with a district that "might" have an opening for the 06-07 school year. At least a third of the schools represented were out-of-state though, and those just aren't an option for me. Most of the others didn't have Family and Consumer Schiences on their "hot" list for interviews. I'll be focusing on the "job search" more heavily once we get back from vacation.

Today is laundry and housekeeping here. DD11's girlfriends are coming for cake-and-ice cream tomorrow, then we're taking the bunch of them (11 girls) swimming.

Karin, I use Outlook, too. I have a PDA and used it quite a bit for a while...but I just couldn't give up my paper planner! Now I input everything into Outlook and then on Sundays I print off the daily calendar pages for the upcoming week and pop them into my planner. I do my menu planning on my calendar pages, too, so they print with "dinner" already scheduled. (For a while I had my PDA set to beep at me in the mornings to remind me what to get out of the freezer!) I print a week-on-a-page for DH....especially when we have evening events. The DDs know to write things on the desk pad calendar so that when I sit down at the computer I can see their "stuff," too.

Well, it's 10:00 am and I need to get going!

Have a great day, all!

Blessings,
Lenora
"...if woman's work is never done, why bother about how much of it [isn't] getting done at any given moment?"
~ Claire Fraser in The Fiery Cross by Diana Gabaldon

but thanks anyway Karin! I'll get back to form when the antibiotics properly kick in.

I'd say be careful on buying expensive gadgetry. How long have you been using the other stuff first of all?? Because we've all done crazy stuff in the first flush of enthusiasm which wears out really fast. That's not to say it wouldn't be a good fit fr you Karin, but just be sure you aren't rushing it. I know I've been thinking about Palm-type gadgets with lust for a few years now, but my phone has an alarm!! It's been doing a great job for a very cheap phone. Just be sure first or you'll kick yourself!

Kerri.

what a pathetic week. I know why mine was pathetic, so what's everyone else's excuse?? And more to the point are we going to get it together next week??

I have DH arriving back on Wednesday, touch wood. We just had a weird conversation on Skype where he talked and I typed because I still have very little voice. So I need to do some super picking up round here. It's worse than a bomb site because I haven't cared for it at all in nearly a week. I need to find a time to fit my grandmother's birthday back in too, since that went down the toilet yesterday between me being ill and also the snow. AND I have to get out and buy my mother's 60th birthday present. I know roughly what but I need to go to a particular place. You'd better believe I'm hoping the antibiotics really get a move on. They haven't done nearly enough yet and I had hoped for something a bit quicker.

so I have a chaotic week and none of the strength I need to get through it. Should be fun! Certainly guarantees I'll be getting through it on willpower alone. And joy I suppose!! I left DH in S'pore on Feb 3rd, so you'd better believe I'll be glad to have him back. I don't know how military wives do it!

anybody else have an overall picture for their week?? What can you do better next week than you did last week??

Kerri.