Week 3

I did OK with my goals for Week 3, but not wonderful. I tried to get an electrician to our house that was referred by a neighbor, but the phone number is no longer in use. So that didn't work. Then I looked in the yellow pages but I really hate that because it just seems like you're picking someone blindly. So I hemmed and hawed and ended up not getting anyone over. However, maybe it will work out OK because some new neighbors just moved in today and they seem nice and he's a contractor. So maybe we'll get to know them better and I can see if he knows of an electrician. At least we can go for awhile without a light in our bedroom closet. It's a nuisance, but manageable.

Another goal I had was to clear the clutter on my kitchen counter. I did some of it and went through most of the immediate clutter. However, I was surprised at how I resisted completing this. I kept having other tasks to do but if I'm honest with myself, I didn't want to keep going to the point of finishing this project because I'm not sure what to do with everything. I'm afraid it's going to become more of a mess before it gets better as I try to spread everything out to figure out where it should really go. I'm also afraid this will really take a large chunk of time. So I have more to do on this and I need to push myself through my mental block - I get tired just thinking of it.

The last goal I had was to exercise 5 days. Well I made it for 4, so that was pretty good. It was a hot week last week and I lose motivation to work out, even in the morning, when I'm starting to feel too hot. Last week it seems I was feeling hot most of the time.

I also ended up planning a vacation our family is going to take in a couple of months. I looked on the internet but wanted more information so I ended up at Barnes and Noble looking through travel books. I really enjoy doing this and get really into it when I'm planning a vacation. However, before I know it, I've been there for a couple of hours because I get so caught up. I did end up securing a reservation at a hotel that usually gets booked up to 13 months in advance, so I felt I really accomplished something there.

For this week, good friends of our family are moving back to Holland (boo hoo) so I feel a little sidetracked. We're trying to see them as much as possible before they leave and we keep having their son over so he can play with our sons a lot. I'll still try to get some organizing done, but my focus isn't as sharp this week.

So the good and bad for last week -

Good -
Went through most of the clutter on the kitchen sink
Exercised 4 days
Secured a difficult hotel reservation for an upcoming vacation

Bad -
Didn't get electrician out, but I'm going to table this for a bit
Didn't finish the clutter-busting kitchen counter project

Goals for Week 4 -
Spend as much time as possible with our Dutch friends
Finish kitchen counter project
Keep planning the rest of our vacation (will need to figure out where we're staying at another city)
Exercise 5 days
Pay bills

Week 2

My focus for Week 2 was to get the following repair people out to our house: plumber, air conditioning repair person and an electrician. I got two out of three: the plumber and the air conditioning person. The plumber came 1st and he took apart the faucet in our master bathroom to see what needed to be done to fix the leak. He told me the repairs would cost $225. That sounded really expensive to me for a faucet leak. When I asked him if there was a warranty, he replied that there was for 90 days. So I'm going to pay $225 for a repair with a 90-day warranty?! I think not!! If the faucet starts leaking in 91 days, I'm out of luck. So I'm going to look around and get other estimates. I asked my husband to ask people at work if anyone has a plumber they like. Funny thing is, ever since he came and took the faucet apart then put it back together, the leak has been much better. In fact, some days, it doesn't even leak at all. So I guess I'll hold off for now on the plumber.

The air conditioning repairman came later that day. He was referred to me by my neighbor. He was an odd guy. He said the unit needed freon and that our filters were fine. He said he couldn't guarantee that the motor wouldn't just die at some point and we would need to replace it and maybe the compressor. He said if that happens, we should replace the parts of the old unit because installing new units now are extremely cost-prohibitive because there are a bunch of new regulations that went into effect as of January 1st. Now you have to replace the whole heating/air conditioning system and pay for various inspections to make sure it's done right. Anyway, I've got the air conditioner on right now and it's working so-so. Air is coming out but it's not as cold as I would expect.

I didn't get the electrician out so I'm going to work on that this week. I'm also going to work on clearing out the clutter on our kitchen counter. One of the problems is that I don't have a place to put some of the paperwork that I have stored there. So I'm just going to find a temporary home for it until I get into this project enough to clean an area in the office to store paperwork like it.

I did unexpectedly clear out some of the clutter near my bed so that was good. I just started working on it one day and decided I better finish so I feel I accomplished one "clutter-busting" activity. So I'm proud about that. One thing that got sidelined last week was my exercise. I only exercised three days instead of five, so that wasn't good. Each day I at least walked our puppy. However, walking the puppy entails a lot of stopping, so it can hardly be considered cardio. At least I'm moving a bit.

So here's the good and bad for week 2:

Good -
Bathroom leak is at least temporarily doing better
Air conditioning is working somewhat
Cleared out clutter near my bed
Saved $65 (about 35% of the total) when I did my main grocery shopping trip

Bad -
Didn't get electrician out last week
Don't know if bathroom leak and air conditioning will stay OK or if these are just temporary fixes that I'll have to deal with later
Only exercised 3 out of 5 days

Week 3 Goals -
Get electrician out
Tackle clutter on kitchen counter
Exercise 5 days

Week 1

OK - so I really should have posted this on Saturday or Sunday, but I got crazed this weekend. Well my first actual week of trying to be more organized went OK, though I wish I had gotten more done and had been more efficient with my time. I realize I get sidelined when I get on my computer to check e-mails and such. It just seems to suck up time and before I know it, an hour has gone by.

For Week 1, I was really focusing on the boys going back to school and making sure they had all the supplies, clothes and shoes they needed. This has now been accomplished and I told them yesterday that I won't be buying any more items for them for awhile. This process took longer than I would have liked, mainly because I couldn't always find what we needed and there were multiple times when I had to return items to the store. That was mostly clothes that didn't fit. But sometimes it's just easier for me to pick up items when I'm out and about that to drag both boys out shopping with me. Actually, I don't like shopping with both of them because they inevitably whine for things like toys and candy and they usually end up fighting, loudly and with hitting. So I end up stressed out and embarrased and vowing that I'm not doing that again. So all that shopping is now done, except I bought a new shirt for my oldest son and he put it on for the 1st time this morning and we found a rip in one of the seams. So I have to take that shirt back, probably today or tomorrow.

Also the 1st week, I had 3 evening meetings for school, so that took a lot of time. I helped the boys set up a new homework routine and am monitoring that they are doing their homework. I also took them to the library to pick up some books since they kept forgetting to go to their school library.

For Week 2, I'm going to focus on making appointments for things that have needed repairing in our house. I need to get our air conditioner checked because it's getting old and hasn't been working wonderfully. I also need to get a plumber to fix a leak in our bathtub faucet that was supposedly fixed by another plumber just last year (I won't be calling that plumber back). Last, the light in our master bedroom closet went out over a month ago and changing the light bulb didn't fix it. So it looks like I need to get an electrician out to see what's going on. I can see this will turn out to be an expensive week.

So here's the good and the bad for Week 1:

Good -
Finished getting boys all the stuff they needed for the start of school
Paid all our end-of-month bills on time
Helped the boys organize their homework and made sure they have some books to read
Exercised 5 days (woo hoo!)

Bad -
Wanted to get on my blog before today
Got sidetracked too many times on the computer and therefore wasted too much time
House looks like a mess - haven't kept up with daily pick-up well enough