Productive Saturday

Last night, before I went to sleep, I wrote out my weekend do to list.  Sometimes, just writing everything down is a big help. 

I had a good night's sleep and slept in a bit, this morning.  As a result, I had 9 hours of sleep instead of my usual 5-6 hours.  I had a relaxed morning, posting on-line, watching some crafts and cooking shows on TV, video chatting with daughter, playing on-line games, etc.

In the afternoon, I did some cleaning.  I decided to tidy my bedroom since I had stuff piled on both my desk and my dressing table and the mess was getting to me.  I tidied the desk and the dressing table, dusted all the furniture and the window sill, changed my bed sheets, and cleaned the ceiling fan and light fixture.  There's one burnt out bulb, but I need to buy more bulbs before I can replace it.    I still need to vacuum the room and tidy my closet, but that can be done later.  I put some of the stuff that was on my desk in the 3rd bedroom, which functions as both a guest room and crafts room, so that room needs to be cleaned, but that, too, will be done later.

I came across a bunch of lace doilies my mother had crocheted, so I hand washed some of them.  The rest will be washed tomorrow.  I also did a load of laundry (the bed sheets that were on my bed).  And I washed a sinkful of dishes and wiped down the kitchen counters.  Also cleaned the litter box and swept the bathroom floor.   

In between, I video chatted with my daughter, spoke on the phone with a friend and an aunt (both had called to check on me since they knew I had felt tired earlier in the week), and played a few games of mahjong on the computer.

I am happy with what I have been able to accomplish today.  There was a nice balance between rest and relaxation on one hand and cleaning and productivity on the other hand.  Tomorrow, I shall carry on with the rest of the weekend to do list.

How was your Saturday?  Did you have a good day?

January In Review

Today is the last day of January!  One month of the new year is already coming to a close!  It was a good month for me in many ways.  The holidays continued well into the first week; daughter was home until mid-month; there were several family gatherings to attend and visits with friends; time for prayers and contemplation; productivity mixed with rest and relaxation.

Here's a quick review of my January Balance Wheel:

Spirituality:  Attended the monthly prayer meeting during the 2nd weekend of the month and I continue with daily devotions;  I consider this segment to be well plumped.

Daughter:  Having daughter home for the winter break and being off from work meant plenty of time for being together.  I was able to spend time with my daughter until after the middle of the month because I went back to Berkeley with her, when she returned to campus after her holiday break, and spent a few extra days with her.  Since then, we've video chatted every evening and there have been a few "Good Morning" phone calls (usually from me to her to wake her up) and at least one, "I can't wait to tell you my good news of the day!" call from her!   Another well plumped segment of my life. 

Environment: As always, there's much that needs to be done in this segment, but I am going to focus on the positives!  Not going all out with holiday decorating meant easy undecorating and putting away afterwards.  I have begun the first round of going through and cleaning the rooms; I need to start implementing routines.  This segment needs additional plumping.

Family:  Attended a cousin's birthday celebration one weekend and an aunt's birthday celebration another weekend, plus phone calls and social media.  Another well plumped segment. 

Friends: Had a friend over to lunch once, met other friends at the prayer meeting and family birthday celebrations; stayed in touch over social media and exchanged phone calls and emails.  This segment, too, is well plumped.

Career:  Going well.  Work can be stressful at times, but, on the whole, I enjoy my work. 

Finances:  This has been a very "spendy" month!  Daughter's spring semester tuition and fees had to be paid in early January.  There was the expense of our plane tickets to Berkeley (and mine back, as well).   And the regular monthly expenses and daughter's February rent has to be paid at the end of this month.  On the positive side, the money for the tuition and fees was already there in savings and everything else has been budgeted for in the monthly budget.

I went over on some of the budget categories (e.g. Pet Care: allocated $50, but spent $59.54 because I bought 2 buckets of litter, at once, to take advantage of it being on sale at $9.99 per refill bucket instead of the usual $11.99; Garden Care: allocated $125, but spent $161 because I purchased a peach tree to plant, however, the cost of the peach tree can be deducted from the Miscellaneous category).  On the other hand, I stayed under budget on some of the categories (e.g. Car Gas: allocated $300, but spent $51.64 because I didn't drive to Berkeley; Personal Allowance: allocated $20 and spent $6.74; Miscellaneous: allocated $50 and spent $36 for the peach tree and bag of soil amendment).   On the whole, I stayed within the overall budget.       

Health:  I was still recovering from December's period of illness when I had a relapse in early January.  Then, just this past week, I felt very tired and not quite 100%.  So, this month has not been the best where health was concerned.  However, on the positive side, no major illnesses, just minor ailments, for which I am very grateful.  This is definitely a segment that needs improvement, though.

Leisure/Crafts/Hobbies:  I was able to take some vacation time at the beginning of the month and, again, a couple of days mid-month.  I've relaxed playing computer games during the evenings, I read a couple of library books during the month, and I did some knitting.  So, I am pretty pleased with this segment and feel it was well plumped.


Productivity and Time Management:  I got most things done in a timely manner.  I still feel I am not making the maximum use of available time, but maybe I have unrealistic expectations.  This is another segment that needs more attention.

Goals and Achievements:  I was able to get one item crossed off my Master List!  One item I had listed in my Master List was planting a peach tree to replace the one that died a couple of years ago.  That replacement peach tree was planted, yesterday!

All in all, I think January was a good month.  Mostly balanced with one or two rather important areas needing more attention.   There's always room for improvement, isn't there?

How was your January?  Have you had an opportunity to look over the month and see how things were?   
 

Friday, At Last!

It's Friday, at last!  This week felt like a long drawn-out week, for some reason.  But now, the work week is over and the weekend is here! Time to relax!

Today was another rainy day.  There were light showers in the morning, during my commute to work and there was more rain in the late afternoon.  But the rain had stopped by the time I set out on my evening commute home.  On rainy mornings like today, I am especially thankful that I have covered parking in the underground garage at the office building. 

I had a busy day at the office, but it made the day go by fast.  I was glad to come home and relax, though.

I haven't made a lot of plans for the weekend.  I guess I should make a to do list for the weekend: I need to do some housework, I want to do some cooking and baking, and I'd like to do some crafting and gardening.

How has your Friday been?  What are your plans for the weekend?   

Balanced Thursday

Today has been a nicely balanced day.  I woke up feeling a lot better than yesterday.  I went to the office and had a productive day.  I listened to music and relaxed on the drive home.  I didn't make myself a long to do list, but put away the laundry from yesterday, put away the dishes that were air drying in the dish drainer, and paid a bill.  I still need to do today's dishes, but that will be the extent of today's housework.  On the relaxation side, I read my library book, sewed up one side of the blouse I knitted (have to sew the other side and tidy the yarn ends to finish it), enjoyed a phone call from one of my aunts, wrote to a friend and video chatted with my daughter.  I guess you can say that I am learning to pace myself.

Are you able to balance the must do's and should do's with the want to do's?  Are you able to balance work and play?  Did you have a balanced day, today?



  

Listless/List Less Wednesday

Today, I woke up feeling rather listless.  I fought the urge to try to push myself to do things and decided to take it easy, today.  As a result, I didn't make any to do lists (and was 'list less' in that sense, too!) and really didn't do too much.  I put away the laundry from yesterday, did another load of laundry and hung it up to dry, knitted a bit, finally got around to giving the cat his flea repellant medication, called and chatted to a friend and video chatted with my daughter.  Hopefully, tomorrow will be a better, more energetic, day.

Do you have low energy days at times?  Do you try and push yourself to do things on such days?  Or do you take it easy? 

Tuesday's Doings

I didn't make a new To Do list today, but rather, just carried forward yesterday's list.  Wonder if it would be better to just make a weekly to do list, rather than a daily one.

Anyway, I went to the office this morning, even though I would have much rather stayed home and slept in!  During my lunch break, I walked to the nearby library.  It was a nice, sunny day after yesterday's rain and it was a very pleasant walk.

There was quite a bit of traffic on the commute home and I didn't get home until almost 7:00 p.m.  I took a short tea break and then, put the washed and dried 2nd slip cover back on the family room sofa and covered that with bed sheets!  The cat likes to nap on the sofas and he sheds!  It's easier to wash the sheets than the slip covers.

After that, I did a load of regular laundry and hung it up to dry overnight.

I also watched a couple of programs on TV while I did the laundry and I video chatted with daughter.  And now, it's past 11:30 p.m., so I had better say goodnight and get ready for bed.  Morning (and the 6:00 a.m. alarm) comes too quickly!   

Hope you had a good day, today.

Rainy Monday

Yay, the weather forecast was accurate and we received some much needed rain today!  Not a lot, but any rain is welcome!  Besides, it means I don't have to water the garden this week!  So, it's frugal, as well.  I like rainy days, even when it's on a Monday, unlike in the song, "Rainy Days and Mondays".

The morning was fine; a bit cloudy, but no rain.  I went to the office and there was no rain during most of the day.  But it was raining on the drive home and it rained most of the evening.


I accomplished several of my To Do's for today: I went to the office, came home and cleaned the fridge, took the trash cans to the curb for trash pick up tomorrow, washed the other sofa slip covers and I put the washed slip cover back on the sofa.  I decided to put off cleaning the sliding glass door tracks for the weekend.  Tomorrow's To Do's include bringing in the trash cans, putting the 2nd washed slip covers back on the other sofa, and doing a load of regular laundry.

Does anyone else remember the song, "Rainy Days and Mondays"?  I'll give you a hint:  it was popular in the early 70s!