Merry Christmas!!

Thanks to computer magic, as this post is published I should be in a car, on my way to Switzerland to celebrate Christmas with my family and friends.

I wish you a very happy Christmas celebration, full of love and warmth.

P365's plan

As I mentioned before, I really want to complete a P365 this year. Since I've failed twice already, I want to plan a bit more to make sure that I won't have excuses to give up. I've seen two way to do this so far: have weekly or monthly themes or daily prompts that are repeated every month. This year will hopefully be a year of change if we get pregnant, so it's hard for me to plan themes until the end of the year, so I picked the second plan: I listed daily prompts that I will repeat every month.

Some prompts are ones I want to complete every months, the other ones are here "just in case", if (when) I need some extra inspiration. Here are the mandatory ones:

•  "This month looks like..." (a pic of my garden and house)
• Self portrait
• portrait of G
• G and I
• Flamby (our cat)
• Kira (our dog)
• Something home-related
• Breakfast
• Lunch
• Dinner
• Clothes
• TV
• Books
• Something weight-related
• And all the colors: black, white, red, yellow, blue, green, orange, purple (one pic for each)

And here are the additional prompts:

• Something organized
• Something messy
• Friends
• Family
• Something artistic
• Our town
• Plants
• Snack

I've also listed some monthly themes, even though I'm not sure I'll use those:

• January: goals/resolutions
• February: love/favorites
• March: fun
• April: spring
• May: nature
• June: animals
• July: vacation
• August: summer
• September: school/learning
• October: fall
• November: thankful
• December: Christmas

I'm getting ready for Christmas and vacation!!

Yep, it's about time! I'm leaving very early on the 24th, I'll go to Switzerland for 3 days and then at my grandparents for another 3 days. It'll be an eating marathon with at least 5 different Christmas celebrations in less than a week, but I'm really excited to see my family and friends. My handmade gifts are almost done and I can't wait to give them, hopefully they'll like it! Still have a couple pix to print to finish a mini album and an ingredient to buy, but besides that I should be good.

Oh, and of course, I also have to pack... Woopeedoo! LOL

Preparing for P365

One of my 101 in 1001 projects is to complete a P365: take one pic a day for a whole year. I've stopped quite early for two years in a row, but hopefully if I plan more I'll be more successful. And since 2011 will likely be an important year for us (10th anniversary, hopefully the year we'll get pregnant), I want to document it.

I've already started to think about it and here are some useful resources:

• Discussion at SSD
• Discussion at TDC
• Heather Greenwood's plan
• Week in the life inspiration at WCS (check the following posts as well!)
• P365 tips at Photojojo
• Photo projects inspiration at WCS (check the following posts as well!)
• and last but not least P365 and other alternative @ The daily Digi.

I'll definitely post my plan when I'm done with it!!

3 handmade Christmas gifts done!

Yesterday I finished my mom's gift. Pfew, it feels great! Now onto batch preparations... and nope, I won't tell more here, some receivers are reading! LOL

Hey, december, what are you doing here??

What do you mean, "it's that time of year again"??? Already?????

Yeah, I can't believe we've already entered 2010's last month!! I'm trying to get my Christmas gifts done. I've already finished my dad's and Guy's nephew's, I'm working on my mom's and my best friend's kids' are bought. Still have a couple left before I can be done, though, but it feels good to be started at least!

I'm really busy at work but not in panic mode as I usually am at that time of the year, and that feels great too. Learning to keep healthy distances with my job has helped a lot!

We've had our first days of snow and the temperatures have been really low, it definitely feels like winter here. I've taken my little tree out and it's decorated since last weekend, so that puts me in Christmas mood as well.

The only thing I'm not sure of yet is how I'll travel during my vacation. With my divorced parents, my grandparents and huge family and my friends that I want to see too, I'm usually very busy during the couple days I travel. I get headache to plan when to see everybody and all the driving/train trips to go from one place to the other. This year I plan to carpool. I'll use a website that helps you get in touch with stranger that make the same trip as you so that you can travel together. My cousins are fans of this site, I hope it'll work out fine for me too!

Last but not least, I'm already thinking about my 2011 resolutions/goals. I think my theme, my word for the year will be "Let go". 2010 word was "peace" and I think that, even if I didn't complete my monthly goals/mini-resolutions, I'm more peaceful than I was last year. I guess I'm growing up, even when I don't notice it!

Getting back in control...

If I want to feel more like I'm the driver and not stuck in the trunk of the car aka my life, I first need to know how bad things are, make a plan for making them better and get to work. It's easier when I write it down, so here we go! Here's what I want to do before going back to work on Thursday afternoon:

• Exam:
• study the methodology
• check past years' examples the exam is new so there aren't any past examples!
• try to make one "fake" exam in real conditions at home
• prepare my stuff to go to the exam
• Computer stuff:
• get rid of all unread e-mails (read, take action, delete or file) and maintain starting with 37 messages, 10 left
• get rid of all unread RSS posts (read, take action) and maintain
• clean RSS starred posts
• delete enough RSS feeds to get below 40
• 2 x 15 minutes daily on "to dispatch" file This folder is empty and deleted! Woohoooo!
• Home:
• pick up kitchen
• pick up living room
• pick up bathroom
• pick up bedroom
• put away dry laundry from bedroom and from laundry room
• iron clothes every time I'm watching TV
• wash, hang up and put away (when dry) 2 loads of laundry
• wash and hang up 2 new loads of laundry
• change beddings
• clean cat's litter
• plan next week's menus, write down shopping list, go grocery shopping
• finish pending PPW, incl. mail tax payement
• pick up office
• Personal stuff:
• start planning Christmas gifts and vacation
• investigate to make sure if taking a second job would be possible
• if it is, prepare application for job opportunity
• pamper myself
• scrap a couple LOs (monthly ones, to catch up!)
• make Guy's doc appt

Wow, looks like  I'm gonna be busy! LOL

A couple days off...

Man, it feels good! I have an exam on wednesday and I took a few days off to prepare it and pass it. Hopefully I'll be successful, finally (I've already passed it several times), but even if I don't it's good to have some time off. This time of the year is definitely the busiest. It feels like I'm getting one wave after the other, trying not to get drawn but I can barely take a breath of fresh air between each wave... Crazy busy, I tell you!

The worst part of this situation is that I don't feel in control AT ALL, of anything. Very scary and stressful to me (as to anyone else, I guess). I addition to preparing my exam some, I also plan to take some time to get back in touch with my life during this mini-vacation. I desperately need to feel like I can do something about what's going on and not be a victim of it! Those are strong words, but I'm that stressed that I really feel that way.

I need to simplify, focus on the really important stuff, pick my priorities and stick to them, not get distracted by the little things and get focused... Good plan, uh? LOL

Guess who's going to Paris next weekend???

Guy and me! Woohooo, can't wait!! Very spontanous, definitely not our style of organizing a trip, but I don't know when or even if we would have made such a trip without it! LOL Watch out for tons and tons of pictures!!

As "promised"...

...I'm still very busy. I've finally finished the big project at work that I was working on, and I'm starting the next one, so there isn't much time to relax in between! I've also had some time to get all those "little things" done, you know those tasks that can stay there forever because you always think "Oh, I'll do that later, when I have time". Well, guess what, "when I have time" never comes and those pending to-do's keep nagging at me every single day. This situation was starting to affect my mood and my productivity, so I finally took the 2 hours I needed to get those tasks done. Pfew, it feels good!

On a personal level, I've started 2 new activities: I've been taking "body combat" classes, which is a sort of tae bo, for a month, and yesterday I had the first self-defence class. I'm feeling sore this morning but I really liked it. Of course I couldn't get rid of an attacker yet and I've even never been confronted to such a situation (luckily!) but I love the workout and it's useful too, what more can I ask for? And I absolutely love the "body combat" classes, it's so energetic and such a great stress reliever... Perfect for those busy times, I can get all my frustrations out!

Today is the first weekend when I have to take pix for work, but definitely not the last one: I'll have several of those until Christmas break. It may only take an hour, but it's still annoying because it makes me think of work during my free time, so I'm not really free, you know? Good thing is: I know in advance when I have to work like that so I can plan my life around it. And I know when it will be over, it helps when you can see the light at the end of the tunnel!

Oh, I almost forgot, I've got another great news: I'm finally caught up with my 2009 monthly LOs!!! It took me a looooooooong time and I still have the 2010 ones to do, but it feels great to have those memories scrapped!

Messti messes with my routines!

It's messti time in my town. "Messti" is the alsatian word for fair, and it's a big event in our small community. There are roundabouts all over the town, even big carousels (the make-you-puke style... lovely! LOL) Anyway, between that and lots of work to do, I'm so busy I didn't even make my usual weekly plan. I have it in my head, though, I know what I want to accomplish (besides surviving the huge workload, that is): maintain my routines, get back to eating more healthy again, scrap and enjoy some me-time. I don't plan to be more detailed this week... and probably for a more couple weeks too, 'cause the workload isn't going to get lighter anytime soon. I've already scrapped one LO every day since 4 or 5 days... not bad, uh? ;)

Oh, and I've been catching up on the Paperclipping Digi Show, love it!

Thursday

• morning, midday and evening routine (especially the dishes!!)
• min. 20 minutes workout
• maintain e-mail and RSS reader to zero unread
• catch up with TDC, SSD and other scrap site
• 10 minutes on my happiness project
• iron when/if I watch TV 
• 15 minutes digi-organizing

Wednesday

• morning, midday and evening routine (especially the dishes!!)
• min. 20 minutes workout
• maintain e-mail and RSS reader to zero unread
• catch up with TDC, SSD and other scrap site
• 10 minutes on my happiness project
• iron when/if I watch TV 
• 15 minutes digi-organizing
• filing (empty my to-file box)

Good news of the day: my Tae Bo class isn't cancelled after all!! Yay!!

So, the Tae Bo class was led by a Kick Boxing instructor, not the usual one, and I could notice the difference, this one was much more into the "martial art" part, not so much the fitness part. It was fun, though, but I slightly prefer the usual teacher.

Tuesday

• morning, midday and evening routine (especially the dishes!!)
• min. 20 minutes workout I was too tired, slept in this morning and didn't feel like it tonight
• maintain e-mail and RSS reader to zero unread
• catch up with TDC, SSD and other scrap site
• 10 minutes on my happiness project
• iron when/if I watch TV I slept instead... no comment!
• 15 minutes digi-organizing
• 15 minutes PPW

Monday

• morning, midday and evening routine (especially the dishes!!)
• min. 20 minutes workout
• maintain e-mail and RSS reader to zero unread
• catch up with TDC, SSD and other scrap site
• 10 minutes on my happiness project
• iron when/if I watch TV 
• 15 minutes digi-organizing
• pick up kitchen and rest of the house after my lazy weekend

The week ahead

Ugh, it's so hard ot go back to work today. The double workday (15 hours... I'm still in shock!) I had on Friday probably has to do with it, but still, knowing why doesn't help: I'm having a hard time. I have to work, and I have a lot to do, though, so I can't afford being lazy. Here's my plan for this week:
Daily tasks:

• morning, midday and evening routine (especially the dishes!!)
• min. 20 minutes workout
• maintain e-mail and RSS reader to zero unread
• catch up with TDC, SSD and other scrap site
• 10 minutes on my happiness project
• iron when/if I watch TV 
• 15 minutes digi-organizing

Specific tasks:

• Monday: pick up kitchen and rest of the house after my lazy weekend
• Tuesday: 15 minutes PPW
• Wednesday: filing (empty my to-file box)
• Thursday: go to Tae Bo class (the Wednesday one is cancelled this week)
• Friday: plan next week's menus and write down grocery shopping list

I also would like to keep working on my other blog and my "101 in 1001" project and to start studying for my exam in November... So much to do, so little time! And I find it hard to keep those "big goals" in sight when I'm struggling with the day to day to do's. The balance between the big "far away" stuff and the little daily things is hard to find, especially when I'm as busy at work as I am now. It almost looks like my work takes all my mental abilities and energy, and when I get home I feel just like sitting on the couch and doing absolutely nothing. It's energizing to accomplish things, though, I love the "I'm in control, I can do it, go me, yeah!!!" feeling I get when it's done, but getting started is reaaaaaaaaally hard! When I'm that tired, I tend to forget about the delayed gratification and only focus on the immediate inconvenience. Ok, enough rambling, back to work! ;)

What a week!

Ugh, I'm so glad it's over. I had the busiest week at work since a loooooong time. Lot of planning for yesterday's "associations day", which ended up being a 15 hours workday: 8 AM - 11 PM. No surprise I was absolutely exhausted by the time I came home. My legs were feeling like stones, so heavy and stiff.

Anyway, I'm in recovering mode this weekend and I'll try to do the bare minimum of un-fun stuff. Yeah, I make up words, is that a problem? LOL

Here's my plan:

• next weeks' menus, grocery shopping list, go shopping
• change beddings ('cause the cat threw up in our bed Friday evening... delightful! I made some emergency clean up so that I could crash asap, but it's only temporary.)
• change cat litter
• 15 minutes PPW
• call my brother for his b'day
• 2 loads of laundry: wash and hang up
• pick up and put away dry laundry
• dinner out with friend on Saturday I had such a great time. We hadn't seen each other since quite a long time and it was fun to catch up with everyone. And the best part is that we didn't spent all evening talking about work (they are collegues and ex-collegues) and gossiping about people that don't deserve that much of our time... Fun evening!
• make reservation for next week's family lunch
• pamper myself
• scrap some (2009 monthly LOs catch up)
• some digi-organization if I feel like it

So far... so bad!

Okay, forget about my big plan, I'm already guessing that I'll be happy if I can end this week without eating out every meal and without having a whole big mess instead of a liveable house. I'm so stressed and busy at work that I feel totally exhausted by the time I go home. I feel drained and I have absolutely no energy to do anything but zone on the couch or in front of computer. I really don't like feeling this way but sometimes you just have to focus on surviving and not doing great! That being said, I'm off to bed!

Monday

Ugh, I got up at 5 AM thinking about work! Not dreaming, it was even more weird: I was sleeping and all suddenly I was awake, the transition was really soft and unnoticed but I couldn't go back to sleep, probably precisely because it was so soft. With the long (and no-nap-opportunity) day ahead I don't think it's a good idea! Anyway, here's my plan for today:

• morning, midday and evening routine
• 20 minutes workout (indoor bike)
• maintain e-mail to zero unread
• organize party with friends
• doc appt at 2 pm
• late meeting at work

Weekly plan

Once again, I have a busy week ahead with a big event on Friday night, so I gotta stay focused on my priorities and keep practicing my routines diligently if I want to make it without getting insane!

Here's my plan for the week:
Daily tasks:

• morning, midday and evening routine
• 20 minutes workout (indoor bike or Tae Bo)
• maintain e-mail to zero unread

Specific tasks:

• Monday: organize party with friends, doc appt at 2 pm, late meeting at work
• Tuesday: check scrap sites, maintain RSS feed to zero unread, 15 minutes digi-organizing, organize other party with other friends, change cat litter
• Wednesday: 15 minutes digi-organizing, first Tae Bo class, 15 minutes PPW
• Thursday: 15 minutes digi-organizing, check scrap sites, maintain RSS feed to zero unread, iron while watching 24 (last season, we're sooooo excited!!)
• Friday: work late and survive without killing anyone... Now THAT's a challenge! ;)

Thursday and Friday + weekend plan

I've been really lazy on Wednesday evening and Thursday, doing nothing but watching TV. BTW, we saw Flashforward's last episodes... So much suspense, I thought I'd die! And the worst part is that there isn't a season #2! Argh!! Okay, TV rant over! ;)

Anyway, I got a phonecall on Friday midday that my cleaning lady couldn't come in the afternoon because she's sick. Don't blame me, I'm sorry for her, but I'm even more sorry for me because I'll have to clean the house and I really REALLY don't like it. I can iron for 2 hours, do the laundry, but cleaning the house... Yuck!!! What make it worse is that I have to take pix for work all day today (saturday) so I don't know when I'll have time to clean. Consequently, my Friday was way less lazy that the 2 other days: I had to write down next week's menus and my grocery list, then go shopping. After that I just sat on the couch and fell asleep around 9:30. I'm so tired already, can't imagine how I'll be when December comes! LOL

Here's what I want to do this weekend:
Saturday:

• morning, midday and evening routine
• clean house
• take pix for work: morning + afternoon
• 2x15 minutes digi organizing
• call our friends to organise a party in a couple weeks
• catch up with TDC, SSD and my other scrap site
• e-mail inbox and RSS reader back to zero unread
• create 2 LOs and post

Sunday:

• morning, midday and evening routine
• pampering session
• clean oven
• 2x15 minutes digi organizing
• 15 minutes on PPW
• unload dishwasher
• catch up with FB and do some "FB-decluttering" to have less to catch up on
• change cat litter
• wash, hang up outside, hang down when dry and put away 1 load of laundry
• pick up and put away dry laundry
• wash and hang up inside 1 load of laundry
• create 2 LOs april 2009 monthly LO... catching up! :

Credits: Christine Smith (DSO color challenge 08/2009), background pp by Sara Amarie, Andrea Burns' photo action, Century Gothic font

and may 2009:

Credits: background pp by Sara Amarie, red pp by Kimberly Giarrusso, stitching by Zoe Pearn, torn pp template by Steph Krush, Andrea Burns' photo action, Century Gothic font.

Wednesday

• morning, midday and evening routines
• 20 minutes indoor bike
• clean downstairs fridge (finally... I've been postponing this forever!)
• maintain e-mail and RSS reader to zero unread
• catch up with TDC and SSD daily + other websites if needed
• 15 minutes digi decluttering
• 10 minutes working on my happiness project
• track spending
• iron when/if I watch TV
• go to bed at 10:30, lights off at 10:45

Tuesday

• morning, midday and evening routines
• 20 minutes indoor bike
• maintain e-mail and RSS reader to zero unread
• catch up with TDC and SSD daily + other websites if needed
• 15 minutes digi decluttering
• 10 minutes working on my happiness project
• track spending
• iron when/if I watch TV
• go to bed at 10:30, lights off at 10:45
• hair salon appt feels good to look human again! ;)

Monday

Let's see how I'm doing today:

• morning, midday and evening routines
• maintain e-mail and RSS reader to zero unread
• catch up with TDC and SSD daily + other websites if needed
• 15 minutes digi decluttering
• 10 minutes working on my happiness project
• 20 minutes indoor bike
• run dishwasher and unload it
• track spending
• iron when watching The Pacific
• pick up kitchen
• clean cat litter
• wash and hang up one load of laundry, hang down when dry and put it away
• go to bed at 10:30, lights off at 10:45 

Woohooo, got everything done!!!

Weekly plan

A lot to do this week again, as usual. I'd better get used to it 'cause it will stay the same until Christmas... at least! Yeepeeee! LOL

Here's what I want to accomplish this week:
Daily tasks:

• morning, midday and evening routines
• 20 minutes indoor bike
• maintain e-mail and RSS reader to zero unread
• catch up with TDC and SSD daily + other websites if needed
• 15 minutes digi decluttering
• 10 minutes working on my happiness project
• track spending
• iron when/if I watch TV
• go to bed at 10:30, lights off at 10:45

Specific tasks:

• Monday: run dishwasher and unload it, pick up kitchen, clean cat litter, first episodes of The Pacific
  
• Tuesday: hair salon appt... finally getting my hair done, it was about time!
• Wednesday: clean downstairs fridge
• Thursday: pick up house if needed, 15 minutes PPW, Flasforward's last episodes!!!
• Friday: write down next week's menus and grocery shopping list, go shopping (because I have to work on Saturday and I won't be able to go shopping).

Finally the weekend!

I feel like this week wasn't ending! Yeepeee for weekend!! I've already done the most boring task of the day (grocery shopping) and I'm really excited about that! Let's see what else I'm planning for the weekend:

• menu planning + grocery shopping
• tidy up purse and wallet
• 20 minutes workout every day not done on Saturday, but I caught up on Sunday
• take pix for work on Sunday morning
• give his meds to the cat
• change beddings
• wash and hang up 2 loads of laundry
• pampering time
• 15 minutes on PPW
• 4x15 minutes on digi-organizing 1 done (RSS starred posts cleaned)
• track spendings every day
• create 4 LOs and post them 2 done
• clean downstairs fridge
• clean cat's litter
• check monthly bank report

That's it for now... See ya!

Friday... lazy!

Mmmm, I didn't do a lot today. I had a busy and stressful day at work. Even though I felt like I was running everywhere, I didn't get a lot accomplished. I hate that kind of days. And the worst part is that there's not much I can do about it: those unexpected tasks are usually added by my bosses, and they are definitely very important to them, so I can't say no. But I still know that there are other tasks that I should be doing and I know that my bosses will ask about those tasks in a couple days or week, and saying "I couldn't do X because you asked me to do Y" won't be accepted. Paradoxical and oh so frustrating. Anyway, all that to say that I don't feel great after such a day.

Okay, back to my to do list:

• morning, midday and evening routines
• maintain e-mail and RSS reader to zero unread
• catch up with TDC and SSD daily + other websites if needed
• 15 minutes digi decluttering
• 10 minutes working on my happiness project
• 20 minutes indoor bike
• next week's menu + grocery shopping list + maybe go shopping?
• track spending
• go to bed at 10:30, lights off at 10:45

Thursday

It's back to school day here in France... I just can't believe it!!
Let's see how I'm doing with my to-do list

• morning, midday and evening routines
• maintain e-mail and RSS reader to zero unread
• catch up with TDC and SSD daily + other websites if needed
• 15 minutes digi decluttering
• 10 minutes working on my happiness project
• 20 minutes indoor bike
• track spending
• clean downstair's fridge (not done yesterday) 
• iron while watching episode #1 of Flashforward and manicure during episode #2
• go to bed at 10:30, lights off at 10:45

The cutest ad ever!

I just love this ad for the "soccer channel", who shows all french, british and spanish soccer matches. The kid cries for his "ballon" (ball) and it says "don't cry, football season is back at last". The end is just so cute!

Wednesday

Can you believe it's the first day of september already?? I'm in shock! Good news is: I managed to get 30 points in SSD challenges, which mean I'll get a 40% discount... Mmmmm, I see some shopping coming! LOL

Let's see how I'm doing with today's to do's:

• 20 minutes indoor bike
• morning, midday and evening routines
• maintain e-mail and RSS reader to zero unread
• catch up with TDC and SSD daily + other websites if needed
• 15 minutes digi decluttering
• 10 minutes working on my happiness project
• meeting at fertility center
• clean downstairs fridge
• track spending
• go to bed at 10:30, lights off at 10:45

I've started on a good note for my September goals: I did a 20 minutes workout this morning. Tomorrow is the first day of school so I have to be at work earlier, so I'm not sure I'll be able to do it in the morning. I'll try to do it later in the day, though, but it's usually harder.

Seriously, people, what were you thinking??

As you can see in my to do list for today, I wanted to try a Zumba class. It is new, and they had a free trial session today. So far, so good, right? Yeah, except it's free, it's back to school time (and people may be making more resolution now than in January!) and consequently the class was jam-packed. There were at least 150 people, no space left in this huuuuuge room... awful! As I arrived "only" 5 minutes early I had a place in the back, and I couldn't see anything because of the 12 ranks before me. It wouldn't be a problem if the teacher would explain what was going on... Yeah, right, in your dreams! This was probably the less teaching teacher ever, she didn't say anything but counting the steps. I felt like I was at a show to watch her shake her (terribly firm... nope, I'm not jealous) butt, not to shake my (not as firm) own. Anyway, I stayed there for about 5 minutes, did the warm up, and when I saw how terrible the instructor was, I left right away. This was really a shame.

Okay, all that ranting is pretty negative, but I'm really amazed at how bad people are at marketing. If you have a trial session, it's to make people want to join (and pay for) the real class, right? Not make them feel like idiots because they can't understand, even less make, a single step. Okay, with all the people that was there, she will probably have enough paying clients, but still... Is that really smart to be that bad of a teacher for the first (and probably the only) contact you'll ever have with some of them?? After all, I'm glad I went there because I might not have a butt as firm as her and I don't rock the Zumba steps as she does, but at least my brain looks fitter! LOL

Tuesday

Let's see how I'm doing on my to-do list...

• morning, midday and evening routines
• maintain e-mail and RSS reader to zero unread
• catch up with TDC and SSD + other websites if needed
• 15 minutes digi decluttering
• 10 minutes working on my happiness project
• create one LO and post it
• try Zumba class with Chantal
• go to bed at 10:30, lights off at 10:45

I'm not sure if I'll try the Zumba class with Chantal because I have a torticollis starting. Hopefully the heat pad will help, and if it doesn't I'll go to the class another day.

Monday

Okay, hopefully I'll be able to do all I planned, since I just finished planning and it's 6:00 PM already!

• morning, midday and evening routines
• maintain e-mail and RSS reader to zero unread
• catch up with TDC and SSD daily + other websites if needed
• 15 minutes digi decluttering
• 10 minutes working on my happiness project
• clean microwave
• create one LO, post this LO + the one I did yesterday
• go to bed at 10:30, lights off at 10:45

Weekly plan

Back to work this morning, I feel way more in control than last week, this whole back-to-work time was quite rushed and stressful! Anyway, I still have lots of things to do this week, so here we go again!

Daily tasks:

• morning, midday and evening routines
• maintain e-mail and RSS reader to zero unread
• catch up with TDC and SSD daily + other websites if needed
• 15 minutes digi decluttering
• 10 minutes working on my happiness project
• 20 minutes indoor bike (starting Wednesday)
• track spending (starting Wednesday)
• go to bed at 10:30, lights off at 10:45

Specific tasks:

• Monday: clean microwave, create one LO, post this LO + the one I did yesterday
• Tuesday: create one LO and post it, try Zumba class with Chantal
• Wednesday: meeting at fertility center, clean downstairs fridge
• Thursday: iron while watching episode #1 of Flashforward and manicure during episode #2
• Friday: next week's menu + grocery shopping list + maybe go shopping?

Weekend plan

Since this week wasn't really productive, I have to get back on track and get some things crossed off my list this weekend. I want to catch up on the organizing I planned to do last week and I also want to get some scrapping done. SSD's challenges must be done this week, so I have to get working if I want to get the 40% discount (30 points). And there's a CT call I absolutely want to apply to!

So, without further addo, here's my to do list for this weekend:
Saturday:

• make appt for hair salon
• morning, midday and evening routines
• write down menus for next week and grocery shopping list
• go grocery shopping
• filing: empty my "to file" box
• 3x15 minutes on digi-organizing 1 done
• finish hybrid album, print it and assemble it, take pix and post
• create 3 BOM (book of me) LOs 1 done and post
• start organizing my studying for the November exam.
• maintain RSS reader and e-mail inbox to zero unread
• catch up on my fave websites
• give the cat his treatement
• mend clothes if/when I watch TV
• call Nanie spent 1:15 on the phone... so good to catch up with my BFF!
  
• 2 loads of laundry: wash and hang up to dry

Sunday:

• morning, midday and evening routines
• pampering time
• change cat litter
• create 2 BOM LOs + all additional LOs to get 30 points and post them BOM LOs posted
• post hybrid album
• 3x15 minutes on digi-organizing
• filing: empty my "to file" box
• give the cat his treatement
• start working on my happiness project: review the website's "basics"
• send CT application
• maintain RSS reader and e-mail inbox to zero unread
• catch up on my fave websites + youtube
• clean downstairs fridge
• iron if/when I watch TV
• clean microwave
• keep organizing my studying for the November exam.

Our friday...

... was so fun! Well, first of all, it was Friday, which is already great. And my cleaning lady comes on Friday, so I came home after work to a clean, smelling fresh, orderly home. And in addition to those already freaking cool two things, our friends Anne and Christian called to see if they could come over impromptu and we spent the evening together. It was great to see them and we had a lovely time. Of course, as I told them, an half an hour notice is great on a Friday (after the cleaning lady) but on a Thursday they should have given us a 2 hours notice! LOL I love it when good things add up like that to create even better things!! Yeepee for the good maths!

TGIF

Pfew, it's been a long week. Considering how painful it is to go back to work, I'm starting to think I should not leave for vacation ever again! LOL Seriously, though, it's not that hard, I had a lot to do but I was productive and I'm 95% caught up, so this is great! Let's see how today was to-do-wise:
Daily tasks:

• morning, midday and evening routines
• 15 minutes digi organizing
• 15 minutes filing (my "to file" box is overflowing!)
• maintain e-mail and RSS reader to zero unread, catch up at least once a day with my fave websites and FB
• go to bed at 22:30 max, lights off at 22:45

Specifics tasks for today:

• Friday: plan next week's menus and grocery shopping list

Mmmm, considering how much I'm in the "TGIF let's relax" mood, I'm not sure I'll get much accomplished! LOL

Thursday's to do... how am I doing?

Daily tasks:

• morning, midday and evening routines
• 15 minutes digi organizing
• 15 minutes filing (my "to file" box is overflowing!)
• maintain e-mail and RSS reader to zero unread, catch up at least once a day with my fave websites and FB
• go to bed at 22:30 max, lights off at 22:45

Specifics tasks for today:

• call back health insurance,
• tidy up house if needed,
• iron while watching first episode of Flashforward 
• and then give myself a manicure during second episode.

Wednesday's to do's: how am I doing?

Daily tasks:

• morning, midday and evening routines
• 15 minutes digi organizing
• 15 minutes filing (my "to file" box is overflowing!)
• maintain e-mail and RSS reader to zero unread, catch up at least once a day with my fave websites and FB
• go to bed at 22:30 max, lights off at 22:45

Specifics tasks for today:

• tidy up kitchen, 15 minutes PPW, call back health insurance tried again, busy again, call Nanie

Tuesday

Well, that's not what I call a productive day...

Daily tasks:

• morning, midday and evening routines
• 15 minutes digi organizing
• 15 minutes filing (my "to file" box is overflowing!)
• maintain e-mail and RSS reader to zero unread, catch up at least once a day with my fave websites and FB
• go to bed at 22:30 max, lights off at 22:45

Specifics tasks:

• Tuesday: get in touch with Lydie to see how she will prepare her exam and get inspired, call back health insurance still busy every time I try

Monday to do's... how am I doing?

Pfew, it's tough going back to work! I'm been running non stop all day, even though I started 30 minutes earlier than usual. I had 150 e-mails in my inbox (plus 460 spams), a huge pile of newspapers to read, tons of things to go through, plus a meeting tonight to prepare. Next time I will give me a couple "free" days when coming back from vacation so that it's not that hectic. I'm surviving, though! ;) Of course, with all that busy-ness I had nothing else in mind than work and I'm afraid my to do list will suffer of this. Let's see...
Daily tasks:

• morning, midday and evening routines
• 15 minutes digi organizing
• 15 minutes filing (my "to file" box is overflowing!)
• maintain e-mail and RSS reader to zero unread, catch up at least once a day with my fave websites and FB
• go to bed at 22:30 max, lights off at 22:45 Uh oh, considering I came home at 10:30, this isn't going to happen!

Specifics tasks:

• Monday: call back health insurance it's ringing busy every time I try!, give book back to Max, late meeting

Weekly plan

I'm going back to work, and after a 2.5 weeks vacation, I'll be busy catching up. I already have a meeting Monday at 7:30 PM, that gives the tone of the week: it's work time! LOL

Here's what I want to do this week:
Daily:

• morning, midday and evening routines
• 15 minutes digi organizing
• 15 minutes filing (my "to file" box is overflowing!)
• maintain e-mail and RSS reader to zero unread, catch up at least once a day with my fave websites and FB
• go to bed at 22:30 max, lights off at 22:45

Specifics tasks:

• Monday: call back health insurance, give book back to Max, late meeting
• Tuesday: get in touch with Lydie to see how she will prepare her exam and get inspired
• Wednesday: 15 minutes PPW
• Thursday: tidy up house if needed, iron while watching first episode of Flashforward and then give myself a manicure during second episode.
• Friday: plan next week's menus and grocery shopping list

333th blog post!

Ha... That's something, isn't it?? To celebrate, let me share Inception's trailer. I just saw the movie tonight and I absolutely loved it!


The visual effects are especially great, and as many of them as possible were done "for real", like when the world is "spinning", they were in a big set that was actually spinning, so that they were really walking on the ceiling. I really liked Di Caprio and Ellen Page (who played the leading role of Juno, another movie I loved) and the relationship between those two characters is interesting. It's directed by Christopher Nolan, who also made the fabulous "The Dark Knight". With so many good "ingredients", the results couldn't be anything but a great movie!

If you saw it, what did you think?

August and september goals

I really want to get back to my resolutions, and the back to school period is great for that, I find it really motivating. It's like a second New Year's Eve for me! So, my word for the year was PEACE, and here are my goals for (the remaining of) August:

• Personal: happiness project
• Job: plan the study for my exam
• Organizing: digi

And here are my goals for September:

• Personal: happiness project + start preparing IVF (appt, tests, ...)
• Health: 20 minutes/day indoor bike
  
• Job: create procedures and study for my exam
• Finances: track all my spendings
  
• Organizing: digi

I will create a card for september's goals and print it, it really helps when I have a visual reminder: no "I forgot about my goals" excuse!! LOL

Sunday

Last day before going back to work, still a lot to enjoy and do today. Here's my plan:

• Get up quite early (7:30 max) to get used to it again and be able to get up early enough for work
• morning, midday and evening routines
• 4x15 minutes on digi-decluttering
• 3x15 minutes on office storage and organisation
• 15 minutes on planning for my exam
• empty my e-mail inbox and unread RSS reader and maintain
• goals: create my september reminder, send it at work to print next week and post my goals here
• change cat's litter
• iron when/if I watch TV
• 2x30 minutes on DBF's logo
• Finish the digital part of my hybrid album (photos and journaling pages) and get it printed.
• Create 3 more monthly LOs 1 done and finish journaling for 2009
• Create one LO for SSD's portfolio
• Have a BBQ with inlaws for lunch
• Go to see Inception with DBF

Saturday

Okay, last weekend before going back to work! I know I will be busy for the next weeks or even months at work, so I gotta get productive now to start the last 4 months of the year on a good tone! Here's what I want to accomplish today:

• morning, midday and evening routines
• 15 minutes on my goals/resolutions
• 4x15 minutes on digi organizing
• get rid of 2 things on my "to do someday" pile
• post on my green blog and plan 3 more posts
• 2x30 minutes on DBF's blog design
• 4x15 minutes on our office storage
• maintain new e-mails and get 4 old ones done
• maintain RSS reader to zero unread
• laundry: wash and hang up one load, hang down dry laundry and put it away 
• finish the digital part of my hybrid album and print
• finish the monthly LO I already started, get 2 more done 1 done and write down journaling for 2 more months
• get to bed at 11:00 max, lights off at 11:15 I'll be a bit late since I'm turning the computer off at 11:15, but it's not that bad!

Friday

Ugh, today we have to go to the dentist... EEEeeeeeek! He's very gentle and it usually doesn't hurt, but I'm not looking forward to it anyway! My cleaning lady is back, and that's something to be happy about, I really hate housework! Here's what I want to accomplish today:

• morning and evening routines
• Chantal's b'day lunch (don't forget to take card!!!)
• paint window shutters
• dentist appt no cavities... Yahooo!!!
• next week's menus and grocery shopping list
• grocery shopping
• 2x15 minutes on my goals/resolutions
• 2x15 minutes on digi organizing
• get rid of 1 thing on my "to do someday" pile
• keep working on my hybrid album
• finish one 2009 monthly LO (yes, catching up!)

Okay, it wasn't a very productive day, I didn't get all I planned done, obviously. I'll try to go to bed at a decent time (gotta get back to work schedule) and be more effective tomorrow!

Thursday

As I said, I've been busy this morning helping DBF today. He's putting down a floor for one of his customer and I had to help with all the little things like pick up tools while he's down on the floor, go up and down the stairs to bring things, etc. I got a pretty good workout, actually. I'm so used to working hard! LOL

DBF doesn't need me this afternoon, so here are the things I want to accomplish today:

• tidy up kitchen
• call insurance
• back up pix and LOs on DVD
• finish health PPW, I don't know how long it will take but I want to get rid of it! It's not completely done, some things are on stand by and I have to call again for other things, but at least I have a clear vision of what's going on there! Pfew!!!
• 4x15 minutes on digi-organizing
• catch up on websites and RSS 
• maintain new e-mails + catch up on at least 3 old ones
• keep working on hybrid album
• create 2 montly LOs (gotta catch up on 2009 first) + write down journaling for 2 more months
• evening routine one LO started, journaling done for all 4 months
• iron clothes for one episode and then give myself a manicure while watching Flashforward
  

Wednesday already

I'll have to work with DBF tomorrow and be his assistant, so I have to be productive today and get a lot done! Here's my to do list for today:

• morning, midday and evening routines
• call insurance about glasses
• keep working on window shutters
• PPW: print letter and send it
• 2x15 minutes on "to do someday" pile
• 4x15 minutes on digi-organizing
• prepare lunch
• call beauty salon to postpone tomorrow's appointement
• prepare dinner
• post yesterday's LO
• work on my hybrid album 
• get the insurance paper and mail it

Tuesday's to do's

My plan for today:

• Morning routine
• Midday routine
• Evening routine partly done
• Run some errands
• Check my bank account report for July
• Pull some weed if the weather allows it
• Post my last 3 LOs including the hybrid one
• Make dentist appt
• 2x15 minutes on digi-decluttering
• 15 minutes on PPW
• 2x15 minutes on my "to do someday" pile
• Start working on the shutters: sanding
• Create one LO

My hybrid LO

I'm so proud of it!!

The LO

And now a couple details:

upper left corner with ribbon, buttons and misting

I used silver glimmer mist and masking techniques.

Cute ribbon and flowers

stamped and embossed flower

stitched photo corner

my greatgrandma's vintage buttons

The bottom with distress ink and masking

The title, white gel pen and sticker alphas

another vintage button, this one is in silk... how chic!!

The journaling box and some more masking technique.

So, what do you think? Am I right to be proud of it??

30 minutes!

I can't believe it. I actually scrapped a LO in 30 minutes, not one second more! Wow!!! I'm usually a slow scrapper, and some LOs take me hours, if not days. Anyway, one of this month's challenge @ SSD is to scrap a LO in half an hour, and I did it tonight! Didn't believe it was possible for me, and I even love the result:

Credits: You Make Me Intensely Happy by Lauren Grier @ SSD,

B&W photo action by Andrea Burns,

DJB Merry font by Darcy Baldwin.

So, what do you think? Pretty good for a LO that took me half the usual time, uh?

Oh, BTW that's my crazy cousin Anne and I being silly on the beach at my grandparents. 

Lazy Monday

When we got up this morning, the weather was soooooo bad and depressing that we felt like crawling back in bed right away! We didn't but we enjoyed a lazy day so far... How great! I still want to get some things accomplished today (besides finishing my hybrid LO, which I already did. I'm so proud of it, I'll post later!), so here we go:

• midday routine
• 2x15 minutes on digi-organization
• 2x15 minutes on PPW
• 2x15 minutes on health PPW
• change beddings
• from my "to do someday" pile: plant the "love seeds" I got + make pedicure appt
• prepare stuff for Anne (CD and meds)
• take pix of my hybrid LO and post
• create another LO (not hybrid, it took me forever!! LOL)
• check my bank account for july can't do it tonight, I gotta print it first.
• unload dishwasher and then deep clean it
• hang down and put away dry laundry done outside, still have inside to do
• evening routine
• read all RSS feeds

Sunday...

I had such a strange dream that it woke me up at 9 AM... even though I went to bed really late. We had a great night with our friends yesterday. They used to be good friends, he's even a childhood friend of DBF, but we didn't see each other for 5 years, I don't know why exactly. Anyway, we got back in touch recently and it was fun to be together. That doesn't make me forget about the things I want to accpomplish today, though!! ;) Here we go:

• morning routine
• pamper time (wax legs + manicure)
• start office / desk reorganisation, so that I can finally craft comfortably!
• prepare lunch
• midday routine
• 2x15 minutes digi-organising
• iron while watching "Love Happens"
• scrap 2 LOs one done, another one (hybrid) started
• catch up on TDC and SSD
• evening routine

Ugh, I don't know if it's the lack of sleep (still had 6.5 hours...) or something else, but I'm feeling really dizzy this morning, so I'll keep the list short and easy!

Saturday's to do's

Okay, I did pretty good with my list yesterdayand today will be as busy, so here we go again! Here are my to do's for today:

• morning routine
• finish to tidy up kitchen
• pick up, dust and vacuum living room
• clean, vacuum and mop kitchen
• clean, vacuum and mop bathroom
• prepare lunch
• midday routine
• clean cat's litter 
• dust and vacuum bedroom
• dust and vacuum office
• vacuum and mop entryway
• pull some weeds in hallway
• buy a little gift for our hostess tonight
• make pedicure appointement
• 4x15 minutes digi-organizing
• catch up on TDC and SSD
• prepare CT application
• create one LO
• give myself a manicure not done, but at least I removed the old nail polish!
• get ready for dinner
• have dinner with the K family

That's it for now, gotta go!!

Today's to do's

You know how it goes: big plans, 10 days to accomplish them, and when it's time to go back to the office, you haven't done much... Well, that won't happen to me this time, because I will break down my goals into daily to do lists, so that I can keep track of my goals and work on them! It's so easy to forget what you have to do when you get lost in the internet! ;) Here's today's to do list:

• morning routine
• tidy up wallet
• check calendar, plan next week's menus and write down grocery shopping list
• move everything to my "normal" purse (still have my vacation purse!)
• finish to unpack and put away my bag
• prepare lunch
• midday routine
• tidy up kitchen, which is a mess in progress
• 2x15 minutes on digi organizing
• iron clothes while watching "Fast Forward"
• wash and hang up one load of laundry (whites)
• make appointement for a new do my stylist is in vacay! Argh! and for a pedicure
• mail b'day card for L.
• stop at charity center to donate 2 bags of clothes
• go grocery shopping
• create one LO I even got 2 done!

Wow, what a list! Guess I'd better get started, uh?

Still in vacation but back to work!

Yeah, I know, quite paradoxical indeed! But I have a lot to do after being gone for a week. DBF was all by himself and... how can I say that gracefully... he's not the best housekeeper in the world! I'm definitely not either, but there is some basic maintenance that I do and he doesn't. Add to that the couple projects I'd like to get done before going back to work on the 23rd, and you understand why I can't stay on my behind all day long even though I'm on vacation! LOL Okay, here's what I want to accomplish during those 10 1/2 days:

• sand and repaint all window shutters
• create a professional blog and logo for DBF started
• get my e-mail inbox and RSS reader back to zero and maintain
• get back to my daily routines
• review and work on my goals/resolutions for the rest of the year
• get all health PPW done
• get all other PPW done
• get rid of my "to do someday" pile
• tidy and (finally) organize my office/craft area
• organize our office's storage
• 2x15 minutes on digi organizing daily
• iron the huuuuuuge pile of clothes
• get back on track with my favorites websites: TDC, SSD, youtube

And now for some fun stuff:

• scrap at least one LO per day
• get to see the K family on Saturday 14th
• go to see "Inception" with DBF
• call my friend Nanie, my mom, my friend Céline
• plan a celebration for Lydie's b'day

I'm back!

I had a great time, it was really great to see my grandparents and enjoy the sea (even though the weather was quite bad for a couple days). It's good to be home, too. I'll post several pix soon!

Last day before my vacay!!

Can't wait to go see my grandparents! But before I leave, I still have LOTS to do:

• tidy up kitchen
• tidy up desk
• change cat litter 
• pick up dry clothes
• iron clothes
• prepare packing list
• pack just the last minute items to add and I'll be good!
• stop newsletters while I'm gone (so that my e-mail inbox isn't full when I come back)
• empty unread e-mails and RSS
• catch up with websites (TDC, SSD and FB)
• charge PDA and cell phone
• wax legs
  

More or less in that order! ;)

Woohooo, I'm proud of all I got accomplished!

Weekend to do's

I'm on vacation on Wednesday, and I'll be leaving to my grandparents on the second day of my vacation, so I have a coulple thing to do before then. This weekend I want to...

• plan menus, write down grocery shopping list, go grocery shopping
• tidy up house (especially kitchen... eeeeek!)
• clean house (my cleaning lady is in vacation for THREE WHOLE WEEKS... I won't survive!): dust everywhere, clean kitchen, vacuum everywhere
• check my train schedule and maybe order the tickets
• take pix for work on Sunday morning
• get my e-mail inbox back to zero (starting at 15) and maintain 7 messages read + a couple others done
• get my RSS reader back to zero unread (starting at 15) and maintain
• 2x15 minutes digi cleaning
• clean RSS reader: get rid of useless feeds, sort the not-so-great ones, bookmark useful posts
• 2x15 minutes health PPW
• 2x15 minutes on my "to do someday" pile

Mmm, I think that's it for now... Now off to start this day!

2 hours, 8 minutes and 11 seconds

That's the time I spent on the phone with my mom. Thank goodness for free phone! And for wireless phones: I was able to unload the washing machine, load the dishwasher and walk around the whole house picking up stuff during that time. Ah!

That's a new record so I just wanted to share... You can get back to your normal life, now! ;)

Good news... and some bad too!

Bad news first: I had the blood test today that confirmed that I'm not pregnant. I already knew it so it wasn't too painful.

Good... well, rather GREAT news is that I'm below 90 kg for the first time in... more than a year! Actually, I passed that line a couple times but only when I was sick with stomach flu... not the most fun and healthiest way to pass that mark, uh? Nope, this time it's my "normal" weight, I didn't do anything special. What's even better is that I was below 90 kg for TWO days in a row, including this morning after a big restaurant dinner yesterday! I feel really excited and proud and energized again. I'm really motivated again to be serious about my diet and exercise and be healthier when we start the IVF procedures in a couple months. Can't wait to "just" be overweight. 3 more kg to lose and I won't be obese anymore! Woohooo!

Weekend to do's

My dad and his girlfriend are coming on Sunday, I can't wait! I haven't seen them since april I think, it's been a long time! So, in order to enjoy their visit fully, I need to have everything else done by Sunday early afternoon, which is:

• plan menus and write down grocery shopping list
• go grocery shopping and bring to my friend Danielle the stuff I bought for her (she has her birthday tomorrow and she's working today so she can't go shopping)
• daily routines (especially washing dishes after each meal!) done on Sat
• file (empty my "to file" box)
• 2x15 minutes on my "to do someday" pile
• 2x15 minutes on health PPW
• 2x15 minutes on other PPW
• finish to tag all digiscrap files I'm done!! Woohooo! Now I just have to unzip about a gazillion files and declutter all the "not so great but might be useful" files (yes, I'm a digital packrat!), and I'll be up to date... Whoopeedoo... LOL!
• 1 or 2 loads of laundry + put away the remaining basket
• iron every time I'm watching TV done on Sat
• fill up food journal on Sunday
• change cat litter
• change beddings
• pampering time
• maintain e-mail and RSS reader and check sites at least once a day
• unload dishwasher and fill up salt
• pick up house before my dad arrives

Crappy day

Looks like our third (and last) IUI didn't work. I'm feeling really sad and hopeless today. We'll start the IVF procedures this fall, but right now I'm so tired of all this stuff that I don't even look for it. Ugh!

Weekly plan

Here we go again... Here's what I want to accomplish this week:
Daily tasks:

• Morning routine: M T W T F
• Midday routine (including dishes!!): M T W T F
• 15 minutes on digi-organizing: M T W T F
• maintain RSS reader, e-mail inbox, and catch up on TDC and SSD: M T W T F
• evening routine (including dishes!!): M T W T F
• go to bed by 11PM max!: M T W T F

Daily specifics:
Monday: call doc for appt + wash and hang up one load of laundry  + pick up kitchen
Tuesday: doc appt @ 5:30 PM
Wednesday: call insurances for PPW + 15 minutes filing I didn't do anything because I was exhausted, but at least I got to bed earlier than usual! 
Thursday: 15 minutes on my "to do someday" pile + pick up house if needed
Friday: menu planning + grocery shopping list

Friday pm and weekend to do's

Okay, last post was too generic to be productive. Here's a more detailed plan for this afternoon and this weekend:
Friday:

• evening routine
• hang up clean laundry, wash and hang up another load
• organize two digiscrap files: tag, purge, create previews.
• clean desk
• 1x15 minutes sessions on PPW
• 1x15 minutes session on health PPW
• 1x15 minutes session on "to do someday" pile
• scrap 1 LO
• start creating 1 hybrid or paper card
• 2x15 minutes sessions on RSS reader (read and declutter)
• 1x15 minutes session on e-mail inbox
• iron while watching TV it was way too hot and I was way too tired to do it.

Saturday and Sunday:

• morning routine
• midday routine
• evening routine
• put away dry laundry from Friday and wash, hang up and put away at least 2 new loads of laundry
• organize 6 digiscrap files: tag, purge, create previews. I was working on it but ACDSee crashed!! I tried to catch up on what I had done since my last back up.
• 2x15 minutes session on health PPW
• 1x15 minutes session on PPW
• 4x15 minutes session on "to do someday" pile
• 3x15 minutes sessions on RSS reader (read and declutter)
• 4x15 minutes session on e-mail inbox
• clean bedroom's surfaces
• scrap 2 LOs
• finish hybrid/paper card
• iron while watching TV
• plan next months' birthdays, events, fun stuff, goals...
• pampering time
• take tags out of new clothes

5 days

Yep, I'm having 5 whole free days... with only taking 2 days off work: today is Bastille Day, so it's off anyway, I took off Thursday and Friday, and then there's the weekend... Ain't that great? That's what I call "efficiency"! LOL

Talking about efficiency, I really need to get back on track with about a gazillion things, so here's my plan of attack:

• wed am: go to the office to put the camera back and send e-mail to journalist
• clean e-mail inbox and maintain
• clean RSS reader and maintain
• catch up on TDC and SSD
• catch up on PPW, including health PPW
• plan next week's menus and write down grocery shopping list and go shopping
• shop, either online or in Strasbourg (I don't like shopping but it's sales time and I desperately need some new clothes, at least 2 skirts, 1 pants I even got 2, a couple tops and new summer shoes)
• scrap and relax
• catch up housekeeping: bedroom,office, laundry, ironing

That's it for now, pretty good already, uh? LOL Off to take a shower and go to the office!

Monday to do's

Time to check up how I've been doing...

• Morning routine
• Midday routine - especially dishes
• RSS, e-mails and websites maintenance
• Pic of the day
• pick up kitchen and clean dishes
• change cat litter
• fold and put away laundry
• call Mom
• TTC shot
• Evening routine - especially dishes
• Go to bed by 11:00 PM

Weekly plan again

Here's what I want/need to do this week:
Daily tasks:

• Morning routine
• Midday routine - especially dishes
• RSS, e-mails and websites maintenance
• Pic of the day
• TTC shot
• Evening routine - especially dishes
• Go to bed by 11:00 PM

Daily specials:
Monday: pick up kitchen + change cat litter + fold and put away laundry + call Mom
Tuesday: check up at hospital at 8:00 AM + 15 minutes party planning
Wednesday: 15 minutes filing + wash and hang up one load of laundry + green blog post
Thursday: 15 minutes party planning
Friday: plan next week's menus + write down grocery shopping list

Hopefully the weather won't be as hot as it was this last week, I was melting... UGH!!! We have a BBQ party next weekend, so I wanna prepare it slowly and peacefully.

Weekly plan

Daily tasks:

• 20 minutes workout
• morning routine
• midday routine
• evening routine
• go to bed before 11:00 pm

Monday: daily tasks + finish exam registration and mail it + 15 minutes zone (office) work: filing
Tuesday: daily tasks + 15 minutes zone (office) work: "to do someday" pile
Wednesday: daily tasks + 15 minutes zone (office) work: "to do someday" pile
Thursday: daily tasks + 15 minutes zone (office) work: PPW + pick up house if needed
Friday: daily tasks + 15 minutes zone (office) work: "to do someday" pile + plan menus and grocery shopping list.

What an accomplishement!

My RSS reader is finally clean, updated, all posts read, all starred posts bookmarked (when needed). It was a month-long task, but it is DONE!!! I feel so proud and happy! I also did several other "to do's", including grocery shopping, taking pix for work, some paperwork, etc. Pfew, it feels good!

Here are the other things I want to get done this weekend:

• change beddings
• clean cat litter
• 2 loads of laundry: wash and hang up
• 1 post for green blog + plan one for this week
• scrap

Love it when my weekend is that effective!

Friday to do's: how am I doing?

• 20 minutes workout
• morning routine
• midday routine
• 15 minutes zone work: home office: organise other files
• 15 minutes digi-decluttering
• menu and grocery shopping list
• catch up on web stuff: RSS, e-mails, websites
• evening routine
• go to bed before 11:00 PM

Once again, this is the plan, but I'm not sure I'll be able to do it all!

Thursday to do's: how am I doing?

• 20 minutes workout
• morning routine
• midday routine
• pick up house
• 15 minutes zone work: home office: "to do someday" pile
• 15 minutes digi-decluttering
• catch up on web stuff: RSS, e-mails, websites
• evening routine
• go to bed before 11:00 PM

I'm feeling so tired these days that I've even been able to get to bed on time. I know, surprising, uh? Anyway, I think I shouldn't feel bad if I cannot accomplish my whole list, I'm in surviving mode and managing to keep the house liveable is already good!

Wednesday to do's: how am I doing?

• 20 minutes workout
• morning routine
• midday routine
• declutter fridge
• 15 minutes zone work: home office: organise "work" files
• 15 minutes digi-decluttering
• catch up on web stuff: RSS, e-mails, websites 1 site done
• evening routine
• go to bed before 11:00 PM

Tuesday to do's: how am I doing?

• 20 minutes workout
• morning routine
• send health papers that I hadn't time mailing yesterday
• call pharmacy for my treatement and pick it up after work
• midday routine
• 1 load of laundry
• 15 minutes zone work: filing
• 15 minutes digi-decluttering 
• catch up on web stuff: RSS, e-mails, websites
• evening routine
• go to bed before 11:00 PM

Monday to do's: how am I doing?

• 20 minutes workout
• morning routine
• midday routine
• mail health PPW
• 15 minutes zone work: "to do someday" pile
• 15 minutes digi-decluttering
• evening routine
• go to bed before 11:00 PM

Ugh, I had a doctor appointement I totally forgot about today. Thank God for beeping PDA that reminded me about it. I was soooo sure it was in July. Anyway, we made it there almost on time, but the doc was even more late than us, so she didn't notice! LOL! Lesson learned: always double check your calendar on Sundays!

Weekly plan

Daily tasks:

• 20 minutes workout
• morning routine
• midday routine
• 15 minutes zone work: home office
• 15 minutes digi-decluttering
• catch up on web stuff: RSS, e-mails, websites
• evening routine
• go to bed before 11:00 PM

Monday: daily tasks + mail health PPW + zone work of the day: "to do someday" pile
Tuesday: daily tasks + 1 load of laundry + zone work of the day: filing
Wednesday: daily tasks + declutter fridge + zone work of the day: organise "work" files
Thursday: daily tasks + pick up house if needed + zone work of the day: "to do someday" pile
Friday: daily tasks + menu and grocery shopping list + zone work of the day: organise other files

Busy weekend

Yesterday was absolutely packed, but with so much fun in there that I enjoyed every minute of it.

I got up, exercised (which is something I don't like doing on weekends! Yay for me!), went to Strasbourg grocery shopping, stopped at Ikea to get new boxes, had lunch with my friend Laura, Jaime and their daughters Regan and Riley, came back home, took pix for work, shopped some more for Laura's mom (chocolate mousse she can't find in the US), put away groceries and picked up home, started a load of laundry, took pix of another event for work and had dinner with Laura and her family. It was just a fantastic day and we had a great time together. I will probably never see them again since they're moving back to the US, so I really enjoyed to be with them one last time!

Today is much more quiet, but really enjoyable too. So far I built up the boxes I bought yesterday and organized my office, read and relaxed, unload the laundry and washed another load, pampered myself a little bit, cooked and ate lunch, got caught up on my RSS reader and browsed the internet a bit. Here's what I want to do before tonight:

• get my hair done, get dressed (yep, it's 15:30 and I was in PJs until now... looooove it!)
• hang up the 2 loads of laundry
• take pix for work
• prepare the health PPW I want to mail tomorrow
• get caught up on my favorite websites
• write and post one message on my green blog, plan another one
• plan my to do's for the week

Friday's to do's: how am I doing?

Daily tasks:

• 20 minutes workout
• morning routine
• midday routine: clean dishes after lunch!
• zone work: plan menus for next week
• 15 minutes decluttering RSS starred posts
• maintain e-mails, RSS and websites
• evening routine: clean dishes after dinner!
•  take pix for work
• go to bed before 11 pm!

Thursday's to do's: how am I doing?

Daily tasks:

• 20 minutes workout
• morning routine
• midday routine: clean dishes after lunch!
• 15 minutes zone work: clean pots and pans' drawers and cupboards
• 15 minutes decluttering RSS starred posts
• maintain e-mails, RSS and websites
• evening routine: clean dishes after dinner!
• ironing while watching TV not done (DBF watch the soccer game... yuck!) but I did some more digi-decluttering instead!
• go to bed before 11 pm! once again, I won't be successful: it's already 11:14 pm

Wednesday's to do's: how am I doing?

Daily tasks:

• 20 minutes workout
• morning routine
• midday routine: clean dishes after lunch!
• go to shop with Chantal to have her invitations printed 
• 15 minutes zone work: clean tupperware's cupboard
• 15 minutes decluttering RSS starred posts
• maintain e-mails, RSS and websites
• publish green blog's post 
• evening routine: clean dishes after dinner!
• iron while watching TV
• go to bed before 11 pm!

Tuesday's to do's: how am I doing?

Daily tasks:

• 20 minutes workout
• morning routine
• midday routine: clean dishes after lunch!
• change cat's litter
• unload dishwasher
• laundry: wash and hang up one load
• finish Chantal's invitations + go to print them will do that tomorrow
• 15 minutes zone work: kitchen - clean around stove
• 15 minutes decluttering RSS starred posts
• prepare food for the week
• maintain e-mails, RSS and websites
• evening routine: clean dishes after dinner!
• go to bed before 11 pm!

Monday's to do's: how am I doing?

Daily tasks:

• 20 minutes workout
• morning routine
• midday routine: clean dishes after lunch!
• 15 minutes (or more if needed) zone work: pick up kitchen
• 15 minutes decluttering RSS starred posts
• maintain e-mails, RSS and websites
• prepare food for the week
• evening routine: clean dishes after dinner!
• finish Chantal's invitations
• go to bed before 11 pm!

Weekly plan

Here's what I want to do this week:
Daily tasks:

• 20 minutes workout
• morning routine
• midday routine: clean dishes after lunch!
• 15 minutes zone work: kitchen
• 15 minutes decluttering RSS starred posts
• maintain e-mails, RSS and websites
• evening routine: clean dishes after dinner!
• go to bed before 11 pm!

Monday: zone work=pick up kitchen + prepare food for the week + finish Chantal's invitations
Tuesday: zone work=clean around stove + go to print Chantal's invitation
Wednesday: zone work=clean tupperware's cupboard + 15 minutes ironing + publish green blog's post
Thursday: zone work=clean pots and pans drawers + cupboards
Friday: zone work=plan menus for next week + take pix for work

Weekend organisation

Here's what I want to accomplish this weekend:

• finish Friday's to do: clean handbag and wallet, check next week's calendar, plan menus, write down shopping list
• 20 minutes workout Saturday and Sunday
• send card to Papy
• take pix for work (Sat. morning: kindergarten's party the show was so freakin' adorable!!, Sun. morning: church's party)
• go to hospital to see Aunt Berthe
• go grocery shopping, don't forget film to develop
• catch up on health PPW
• catch up on other PPW
• 2 loads of laundry: wash, hang up, put away when dry
• pampering time
• call Nanie and Mom
• scrap and post at least 2 LOs + scrap Chantal's invitations 1st done
• catch up on P365 for march
• RSS reader: catch up on all starred posts not completely done, although I did a great job!
• maintain e-mails and RSS reader, check TDC and SSD daily.

Friday's to do: how am I doing?

Daily tasks:

• 20 minutes workout
• morning routine
• midday routine
• 15 minutes zone work: PPW
• 15 minutes digi decluttering
• maintain e-mails and RSS reader, catch up on SSD and TDC
• evening routine

Friday's specific tasks: handbag and wallet + menus and grocery list + take pix for work

Thursday's to do: how am I doing

Daily tasks:

• 20 minutes workout
• morning routine
• midday routine
• 15 minutes zone work: PPW
• 15 minutes digi decluttering
• maintain e-mails and RSS reader, catch up on SSD and TDC
• evening routine

Tuesday's specific tasks: pick up house + ironing while watching TV

Wednesday's to do: how am I doing

Daily tasks:

• 20 minutes workout I got  to bed too late and didn't got up early enough, I'll try to do it tonight though... NO MORE EXCUSES!!
• morning routine
• midday routine partly done, I'll finish tonight
• 15 minutes zone work: PPW
• 15 minutes digi decluttering
• maintain e-mails and RSS reader, catch up on SSD and TDC
• evening routine VERY PARTLY DONE, we had a terrible storm and had to shut the power down to avoid any electric damage. Romantic night with candles...

Wednesday's specifics: ironing while watching TV

I just got some bad news about my grandpa, he has a heart problem and will have to have a surgery, so I'll try to write him a sweet card tonight so that he has a love note to welcome him in his summer home when he arrives there this weekend.