My "Summer Plan"

I mentioned in my last post that I had created a "Summer Plan."  I used one of the forms from an older version of Kemi's planner (see my sidebar for links to the planners) that showed the week-at-a-glance.   The form can be completed on the computer and printed, or, as I did, saved as a picture via the Paint program and used as a desktop picture!

Yes, a desktop picture.  Other people have pictures of their children, spouses, favorite vacation spots, or images of their hobbies.  Not me.  My desktop shows my weekly plan LOL!

If you click on the picture below, I believe it will enlarge.  Below the picture I'll describe what the heck it means!

MONDAY:

No, I'm not the one playing tennis.  I should, of course, but it's actually my dh and ds.  They roll out of bed early, brush their teeth, grab a light snack and hit the court.  Meanwhile, I'm getting started on the laundry, making a good breakfast, and setting up my cooking plan. 

I have always done my laundry by doing one load each day during the week.  This is the first time in a long time that I've done it all in one day, but it's all part of my master plan to get the housework done so I can do OTHER things the rest of the week.  I'm loving this so much that I'm trying to figure out how I can do this during the regular school year!

The laundry is doing its thing, the men are getting some exercise and bonding time, and I'm lining up my groceries to cook a week's worth of meals in one day.  When they return, we eat breakfast and do our Bible reading.  My DH heads off to work, J and I spend a little time in the yard or garden improving something, and then I get started on the cooking. 

I knew that I wanted to do this and was about to look for some plans online when I stumbled across this book at a yard sale:



Source

 It exactly fit what I was looking to do.  So far we've liked everything that I've cooked.  I'm about to do my 4th session on Monday and I'm Actually. Looking. Forward. To. Cooking.  Imagine that.  Two things are especially great about doing this (aside from having to just heat and eat throughout the week).  One is that none of the food that I'm buying is going to waste.  Nothing is lingering in the produce drawer, dying a slow, pathetic death.  Everything is fresh and healthy!  The second thing I really like is that I'm not having to do any major cleanup of the kitchen throughout the week.  Oh, JOY!

After I'm done with the cooking and kitchen cleanup, J and I do a thorough house cleaning (around the stacks and stacks of stuff), put away all the clean laundry, and then

WE'RE DONE FOR THE WEEK!

I put the Family Movie Night on Monday because, after the busy day, I'm ready to kick back!

TUESDAY:

After breakfast/Bible/outdoor work, I set J to doing some state history activities while I do my paperwork.  That consists of bill paying, customer invoicing, filing, and working on the new school year.  When we finish with that, J and I work on some house project.  This coming Tuesday, for example, we'll be working on J's "notebooks."  In the evening, we all get to work on our respective computers without feeling like we're ignoring each other.  So far my husband hasn't gotten to participate in the evening activities, but soon (I hope) he'll not be working double shifts, 'cause the PM schedule is mucho fun too!

WEDNESDAY:

Usual morning startup with J going to his Mavis Beacon typing lessons while I put the finishing touches on my errand list.  I also do my grocery list even thought I don't shop until Friday.  After lunch, we head out and meander our way to band practice, doing whatever errands need to be taken care of.

THURSDAY:

DH leaves the house at 6:30 on Thursdays, so we don't eat breakfast together.  J and I do our morning routine and I gather up some snacks, our bottles of water, and we head out the door.  This past week he and I explored some side roads in our little town.  We came across a tiny graveyard and walked around reading the names and dates.  I let J decide if we'd go left or right at each junction (he loved that) and we spent about an hour just seeing what we came across.  We call these our "Adventures."  I want to incorporate time to do things for others in this time slot, too.  We'll see what I come up with.

We've been playing board games together in the evening, which has been very...interesting.  Let's just say that my 10yo boy is still having a little trouble with sportsmanship when he loses LOL!  Training time is always useful!

FRIDAY:

I'm working on some writing and drawing activities with J.  He enjoys both of those and I want to increase his skill in both areas.  I thought it would be nice to work on those without all the other school subjects hanging around.  I'm hoping that will make it a more relaxing and creative time for him. 

The same thought goes for the drum and piano lessons.  Less pressured.  Of course, right now it's just piano lessons because his drum set had to be dismantled.  He makes up for it by drumming on any flat surface he comes across.

We head to church about 5:00.  My favorite grocery store is near the church (half an hour away).  I shop for all the non-perishables before, leaving the few perishable items for after.  When I get home I load the frig and freezer, and leave the rest in bags in the pantry.  I don't have to put it away because it's all going to be used on Monday and throughout the week!  Did I mention how much I like cooking for the week on one day yet?

SATURDAY AND SUNDAY:

The weekend days are laid back and family oriented.  After church, I bring our food and changes of clothes (which I prepped on Saturday night), and we head out to do some family summer stuff.  We're already a half hour in the right direction leaving from there.  In the evening before bed, I do a quick plan for the upcoming week.

At this rate, I do believe I will accomplish much this summer and we'll have lots of wonderful memories!

A Schedule That Works? Part 3

In my LAST POST, I mentioned something about my meal planning revelation.

The beginning of my inspiration came from THIS post written by Kemi Quinn on her Vintage Homemaking site. It appears that women THOUGHT AHEAD about their meals. I'm not talking about the puny thinking ahead just to supper. No. I'm talking about thinking all the way to the next day's lunch!

In the morning, as part of the morning tasks, as much prep for the evening meal as possible was done. Boom! Want a casserole? Prepare all the way up to the point of baking and put it in the frig! Tomorrow's breakfast oatmeal needs to soak overnight (a la Nourishing Traditions)? Put it together and it's done! Oh, the freedom.

Before that revelation, supper planning (forget the next day) went something like this: OMG it's 5:30 and everything is frozen! I could flash thaw it, but I had a roast planned. I thought it would be nice to have a green bean casserole and mashed potatoes with the roast. I don't have time to peel the potatoes! That means I'll have to resort to (the sinister) Plan B: hot dogs, pasta, sauce, and carrot salad. Blech. Plan C (even more sinister): "Honey, could you pick up a pizza?"

Maybe that was just in my house.

NOW, however, supper is pretty much done in the morning, tomorrow's breakfast is planned and prepped as much as possible, lunch is usually leftovers from supper and doing all of this ahead reduces the kitchen cleanup tremendously. I'd call that a win-win situation!

Thanks, Kemi, for putting the wisdom of yesteryear in one place to help the homemakers of today!

A Schedule That Works? Part 2

(I talked about the need I had to figure out a schedule that would work for me in THIS post. Please read it first as it gives the "why" for what follows.)

I have THREE areas of responsibility that just didn't seem to ever get as "completed" as they ought. In the past three years, I had try to do them all at once. A typical day would be my making breakfast, throwing in some laundry, typing up an invoice, fielding some calls, trying to work in getting dressed, getting the language arts under way for my son, and then answering the phone. By the end of the day, everyone to varying degrees was fed, dressed, taught, billed, and vacuumed. Many, many things were NEVER gotten to, though.

My thought process began with that "three" number. The three areas were equally important. If I didn't bill the customers, we wouldn't be paid. If we didn't get paid, we wouldn't be able to buy food, etc. If I didn't feed my child, he would languish away and not care about schooling. If my son was languishing in dirty sheets and the health inspectors came, they'd send for backup and take my child.

Noooo! Not my baby! This called for extreme scheduling measures!

I considered a few very important factors to determine the order of things:

• When am I at my physical best during the day?

• When is my son the most willing to concentrate on the schoolwork?

• When is my husband best able to answer business questions while he's out working?

My answers came fast and furious:

• When am I at my physical best during the day?
  Definitely in the morning, when I first get up.

• When is my son the most willing to concentrate on the schoolwork?
  After he's had some physical activity.

• When is my husband best able to answer business questions while he's out working?
  NOT the first thing in the morning. He's just getting set up and working at the jobsite. Afternoon would be better.

Eureka!

I divided my day into THIRDS for the major tasks!

MORNING (After Breakfast):
Housework tasks including cleaning, meal prep (more about that in my next post), laundry, exercise. Son is involved in these things to help with his extreme energy.

LATE MORNING TO EARLY AFTERNOON (includes lunch):
Homeschooling prep, work, projects, activities.

LATE AFTERNOON:
Business paperwork--depends on what needs to be done.
Home paperwork--each day has its own task.
M: Bills, T: Debt Reduction, W: Menu planning, errand lists & prep, Th: Errand Day, F: Filing for both home and business.

At 5:00 things change gears. The major responsibilities have been COVERED!

Here's my "After Five" general routine:

Finish supper prep and the next day's breakfast, clean up kitchen.
Sweep and mop kitchen floor.
Freshen myself up. Hair, makeup, clothing change if needed.
Have J dust and vacuum the entry area (see HERE for explanation about this in my "The Good Wife" series), and set the table. Play games or read with J.

6:30 begins the Evening which involves supper, bedtime ritual for J, free time, and GETTING TO BED at a decent hour.

I have been following this schedule in a loose way for six weeks now. It is VERY easy to accomplish, toss out when needed, but get right back to immediately. Hopefully my posting about this might prove useful to someone!

In my next post I'll briefly talk about some details like my meal planning revelation. For someone who struggles mightily in this area (read "I detest cooking") this has helped considerably.

A Schedule That Works? Part 1

I have a schedule, I really do. The point of a schedule, is that it's there to get things moving, keep things on track, and be thrown out the window if something more important comes along! As long as you get back to it later, that is! Unfortunately, I have made schedules (beautiful ones), that were heaved out the window at the least incident that wanted to intervene. Then, I would revise.

I have three areas of major responsibilities: Homeschooling, Doing the paperwork for my husband's business, and Keeping up with the housework. For the last three years, that is. Before that I had a baby/toddler/preschooler instead of the homeschooling. Before THAT I was a SAH wife for two years, volunteering as the secretary at our church two days a week, with only a young dog to raise instead of the baby. The constants were the contracting business paperwork and the housework.

Each change in my circumstances brought new challenges. Except for the baby/toddler years, I've mostly succeeded at "pulling it all together," but it was always only on the surface. The past few months I decided it was time to figure out why things would fall apart so easily if life went a different direction then I planned. I noticed that the common instigator for all those years of planning and struggling, I was trying to do all three major areas of responsibility simultaneously.

It just wasn't working as well as I wanted.

One thing would distract me from another, then my attention would be needed somewhere else. That meant that only the very basic necessities of homeschooling, food, laundry, keeping the house standards at a reasonable health level, and making sure that the proposals and invoices were going out EVER got done. NOTHING BEYOND THOSE THINGS managed to make it to my priority list. Filing the business papers? HA! Science experiments? Only if I HAD to. Mending things? Nope. Those are just the tip of the iceberg of the many things I always wanted to get to, but never did.

Then I came upon an idea that seemed like it just might work for me. My idea would allow time for the three major areas to be accomplished and maintained as completely as they should. It would also allow for those secondary things to finally have some attention.

It wasn't rocket science, but my plan WORKED--for me, anyways!

I'll talk about the details in my next post.