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.