Balance

I've been having trouble finding balance lately. It's not a new thing for me, I think it has something to do with not being very organized. I have days when I get tons done at home but feel I didn't spend enough quality time with the girls. And days when I spend tons of quality time with the girls and make sure we get outside time, and we all get enough creative time(which is as important for me as it is for them), but then my household duties get neglected and I get frustrated with myself. I'm sure there is a happy medium that will work for us I just can't seem to find it.
I know I am a person who thrives on routine, yet I rebel against structure. Or at least the idea of structured routine. I want my days to be fluid, to be able to embrace a sudden change of plan. But I know I need more routine than I have, and I really know that Payton does. She is a go go go-er, whose first question in the morning is "So what are we doing today?" And if I know, I answer and she'll respond with "how about after that?" or "what are we eating?". She really is a kid who thrives on routine.

I have been researching online what works for other families and trying to decide what I want to try with ours. I need some sort of menu plan, I'm always frustrated when it comes to deciding what to eat because I've waited until it's time to start to decide what to have. I'm also horribly bored with what we've been eating, which leaves me uninspired when it comes to cooking. So a menu plan, and shopping list is on the list.


Also I need a plan of attack when it comes to housework. Something easy to maintain. It's not important to me to have a spotless house all the time. I mean lets be realistic, I have 2 small children. If spotless was a priority then something else(like playing with my kids) would have to suffer. But I do like things neat with things in their "homes" when not in use. I've done a lot of decluttering and that has certainly helped. And I don't want to spend hours upon hours everyday on housework either. I've been trying to decide what would work as far as a basic housework schedule goes. Certain things on certain days? A general list with so many things to be done each day and I pick according to what I feel like doing? Setting aside a specific hour each day instead of just doing things when I decide to? Don't know, but there has to be something that is easy to maintain.


I need to work in time spent outdoors everyday, I've been feeling a little low the last few days and I really believe it's due to the grey rainy weather that we've been having. So I really need to grab some sunshine when I can, and if it's not sunny some fresh air at least. I always feel uplifted after soaking in some of God's great outdoors.


Other things that I know will make me feel more balance(whether I am or aren't lol) are getting enough rest and exercising. I've turned into a horrible night owl and need to concentrate on getting to bed before midnight on a regular basis. Early I don't think is realistic for me but I think in bed by 11 is reasonable.


Simple Mom has been very helpful for me, if you haven't checked out her site you should. She had a great series lately entitled How to be disorganized and unproductive at home, which I will be re-reading. I also downloaded her ebook, Spring Cleaning for normal people. Which looks great, I've printed it out and am going to give it a good read. I'm hoping to find some solid inspiration there.


So what works for everyone out there? What helps you keep balance in your lives? Cleaning schedules? Meal plans? Share any words of wisdom you have for me, as well as any websites/links you've found helpful. I think this will be a continuing topic for me until I get this figured out!

And it begins. **Edited**

Edits: Added in Red, Taken in Blue

Well it's been 2 weeks since my last post. The start of 2008 has been hard on us. I've had 2 flu's and a cold since the new year. The girls both had the stomach flu and have a cold as well. Rod thus far has managed to only catch the cold, but his is worse than ours. Thankfully Rod was able to stay home a couple days when I was at my worst. I don't get sick very often so this has been an interesting start of the year for me. I wonder what the rest of 2008 will hold?

Between the Christmas craziness(including lots of new things) and being sick the state of our house has suffered. There is stuff everywhere, I can't even think in here anymore. So, as the title implies, THE EXODUS OF STUFF HAS BEGUN!!! I can't, just can't, concentrate on anything else until this house is tidy, clear of excess, and organized. I can't stand not being able to find things because they don't have a home. We have been thinking about moving, about finding a bigger space, and although I think eventually we will have to do that right now I need to concentrate on the space we have. I just know that if we move now that we will just take all our clutter with us and be able to fill up all the "extra" space right away. First things first, take care of the space we have. It turns out the landlords aren't selling the house anymore so we don't have that to worry about.

So to start off with, I have a few things to give away:

A disco ball(yes we have a full size disco ball)
A full set of China (it was given to me and I do like it but we never use it and want to use the room for stuff we use)
An electric hand mixer (we have 2)
A couple boxes of wine bottles for making wine(not refundable types)
A small Japanese rock garden(Taken), you know with sand, figurines, small rake. Although I'm not to sure how much sand is left because we have a small child who loves to "play" in it.
A Knife block with assorted knives(again we had 2)
A Wine chilling bucket, stainless steel
A Slurpee Thermos mug, because we all need to keep slurpees cold
A 4 cup glass measuring Cup, Fire-King(Anchor Hocking)
A white ceramic casserole dish, I have too many this size
Oversize Purple mug & saucer, really like it but never use it

So if anyone is interested let me know. Otherwise I think I'll donate it somewhere, I was thinking freecycle but I'm leary of having people come here to pick things up. Maybe I could just leave stuff upstairs on the front steps. Don't know.

There will be more to come, and I know it's going to be painful to let things g0(we are such pack rats) but it HAS to happen. So here's to getting rid of the cluttler in 2008. I read somewhere someone was trying to get rid of 2008 things from their house in 2008. I wonder if I could hit that? We'll find out.