Homemaker's Haven--the Reaching Forward Edition

I'm running behind with this week's Homemaker's Haven post. I've had an up and down week all week, and, I'll admit it, a bit of a pity party for myself on a couple of days. Not that things were so bad, I just let myself get caught up in a downward spiral of "oh poor me". Do you ever have days or weeks like that?

I started off well--last Monday I did my Homemaker's Haven post, cleaned out the fridge, caught up on laundry, made a pot roast and generally got my week off to a good start. My plan was to do some shopping the next day--for the recipe/review posts for my food blog that I needed to do, and to start scouting out or gathering things for my budget holiday decorating that I mentioned last week. But as often happens with plans, things go awry in spite of our efforts--my husband made an appointment at the dealership to have some necessary maintenance work done on our vehicle-which meant no vehicle, no shopping for me. Okay, I can handle that. I decided not to start my Christmas baking yet--too early to keep it all without freezing, so that was postponed until late this week or early next week. Next, the weather got yucky--cold and damp and drizzly. I hadn't done any shopping yet, so I couldn't start decorating, or cooking or anything really creative. I got some news about an acquaintance that opened up a big can "what if's" and "if only I'd"--not bad news, just something that made me start to look at my own achievements--and lack thereof. My husband worked some extra hours last week, too, so I was alone most of the time-it was a snowball in the worst way! By the end of the week, I didn't even want to do anything fun or interesting or enriching. And so I didn't. And felt even worse.

I've been thinking for the last couple of days about where I went wrong--I started off well, but went downhill fast--each little thing built on the next--to paraphrase Song of Solomon--it's the little foxes that spoil the vine. I was also thinking about when the apostle Paul wrote (my paraphrase, again) "Those things I that I know to do, those things I don't do; and those things that I know I ought not to do, those things I do". Can I get a witness?!

But God is faithful and brings us encouragement and the good sense to know that His loving kindness is new every morning. And I think about some other words of the apostle Paul, found in Philippians, chapter three--"Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

Going up, anyone?

Until next time...

Philippians 3:14 Friday, June 5

Another Friday has come and gone, time for an update on my efforts to "press toward the mark".

This last week, I did my morning routine at least half the time, but I confess there were days that I lagged a bit and took longer to get actually moving and doing. I got the files moved and the small filing cabinet moved out; purged about 15-20 books; did the daily cleaning/straightening in my bedroom about 3-4 days; skipped the daily stint in the front bedroom several days but added extra time on others to make up for it; and totally skipped the reading this week.

This next week I'm leaving home and going back to Georgia, so my goals are daily ones:

Sunday--pack clothes and personal things to take back with me and get the house ready to close up for the next couple of months.

Monday--travel day

Tuesday-Friday--unpack, start on daily routine, straighten coupon binder, buy groceries, catch up on emails, etc.

For more on Philippians 3:14 Fridays, see Which Proverbs 14:1 Woman?

Until next time...

Philippians 3:14 Friday, May 29

If confession is good for the soul, then I hope a world of good comes from my confession---I've had a most un-productive week this week. I had 10 things on my list for last week, and I did two of them--one of which was to get myself a pedicure! Ever read about the "Slough of Despair" in Pilgrim's Progress? Well, I think I fell into the "Pond of Procrastination" this week. Even this post is two days late!

Part of my procrastination, I've come to realize, is dreading the whole process of some tasks so much that I end up making them much larger in my imagination thant they are in reality. On the other hand, some jobs I put off because they are actually too big for me to tackle all at one time--those I need to break down into smaller, more achievable steps. And last but not least, I procrastinate because I think too long and hard about just the "right" way to do some things--should I file alphabetically or by category? Move everything first, then go back and label and organize, or move one file at a time, labeling and purging as I go? The truth is, there is no one right way to do many things, there's only what works or doesn't work for me as an individual, or for us as a family.

And so I go back to the drawing board for this week:

1. Work my morning routine
2. Work my daily/weekly routine
3. Move the files from the small filing cabinet to the big one
4. Purge 25 books
5. Spend 15 minutes daily cleaning and straightening in my bedroom
6. Spend 15 minutes daily cleaning and straightening in the front bedroom
7. Read one book just for fun

Need help setting goals and meeting goals? Join Philippians 3:14 Fridays at Which Proverbs 14:1 Woman for encouragement and accountability!

Until next time...

Philippians 3:14 Friday, May 22

Goals, what goals?

I clicked over on Kate's Philippians 3:14 Fridays post on Which Proverbs 14:1 Woman? to find that she's in basically the same predicament I am. I had a busy week, but failed miserably at keeping on point with several of my goals.

• I did catch up on my couponing--clipping, sorting, filing--I was a couple of weeks behind in clipping the inserts, not to mention pulling the ones that have expired. It took several hours, spread out over an evening and the next morning. I finally gathered up the remaining coupons for things I'm not as likely to use and stuck them in some baggies which I'm going to "file" in the back pocket of my binder.
• I did go to the Explorations of Antiquities Center in La Grange, Georgia, and took lots and lots of pictures--that deserves a post all on it's on, which I'm planning for sometime next week!
• As the rest, well--I grocery shopped and cooked and went to church and packed to come back to Louisiana and drove the 10 hour drive and helped unload the truck and got mostly unpacked again. But the rest of the things on last week's list are, well, strangely unaccounted for.

So for the next week, I'm setting fewer goals and hopefully working harder at them:

1. Get a pedicure. It's a tough job, but someone has to do it.
2. Clean off my dresser, including clean and straighten the drawers
3. Clean off my chest of drawers, including the the two shelves behind the mirrored door
4. Move my files to my new-to-me filing cabinet (Remember I mentioned in an earlier Philippians 3:14 post that I needed a larger, better grade filing cabinet? Guess what we found at a neighbor's garage sale the very next day?? A 4-drawer, business grade filing cabinet for $15! A similar size and grade with a lock (this one doesn't lock) retails for about $180. What a find!
5. Buy and hang curtains for my son's room
6. Buy a couple of new hair accessories for me--my barrettes and clippies are sad.
7. Buy seeds, dirt, etc, and start some herb pots
8. Work my morning routine
9. Get my daily prayer-and-Bible reading back on track
10. Fast one day

And that's it for this week.

Do you struggle with setting and meeting goals? Join Philippians 3:14 Fridays at Which Proverbs 14:1 Woman? as we offer encouragement and accountability as we "press toward the mark".

Until next time...

Philippians 3:14 Friday, May 8

Time for today's weekly update on setting and "pressing on" toward our goals. I've had a busy, productive week in many ways, thanks largely to my husband. He amazes me. He doesn't get to come home as often as I do, but when he's here, he works on home projects the whole time. Our "home" home is an older house, and there are always repair and maintenance items that need to be done. He usually runs out of time before he runs out of tasks.

The differences between us is readily apparent on a week like this one, where we're both home and both working on our respective projects. I'm a thinker, he's a doer. I think about what needs to be done, plan, try to decide what is the absolute best way to organize and place every item related to the task. I rely on him for inspiration--how can I not do something simple when he's doing so much? But practical help as well--not only do I rely on him for most of the heavy lifting, moving things around, and reaching those hard-to-reach places; but he encourages me to keep at it, one small step at a time, when I get overwhelmed my the sheer amount of stuff that needs to be sorted and tended to.

So how have I done on my weekly goals that I set?

1. I've managed meals pretty well this week. We've gone through a lot of groceries this week, because we're all here, all day. Some days it seems we barely get through with one meal when it's time to start at least thinking about the next, but we've definitely not gone hungry.


2. Morning routine, done most days.


3. I've lost track of the number of hours I've spent in the front bedroom (by faith I'm not calling it the junk room anymore!) I've cleaned out papers and documents from years of accumulation and careful saving. At some point you just have to let go. My filing is on hold until I can get a business grade filing cabinet; the old household-grade-from-the-discount-store just won't do. Holiday items are repacked and ready to be taken to the shed. I've culled out at least 10 books so far, and will finish pulling out at least 15 more by the end of the day.


4. Chest of drawers, not done yet.


5. Books not yet sorted.


6. I have taken some, but not all, of the donation items to their respective destinations. Some are loaded ready for delivery, the others should be finished today.


7. I "read-at" a book, but I still didn't take the time out to really read one front-to-back.


8. Ate my fruit and yogurt about half the time.


9. Read my Bible, but not daily


10. Continued prayer journal.

We have through this weekend to get everything done and get ready for our trek back to Georgia. Due to some scheduling issues, I'll be coming back to smalltown sooner than we'd expected--I'll only be spending about 10-12 days in Georgia before I'll be Louisiana bound again; this time for about two weeks. So while I'm trying to wrap up my projects, I'm figuring out my strategy for next time so I can complete the things that I don't get done this time.

In some respects I feel guilty that I didn't accomplish some of my seemingly simple goals. But I think I grossly underestimated the time factor involved in clearing out a decade, sometimes more, of accumulated trash and treasure.

My goals for now are short-term in nature:

• Finish purging books
• Dust and straighten the bookcases
• Finish my bedroom clean-up--I think I can get that done in an hour or two.
• Pack for the Georgia trip

Once we get back to home-away-from-home in Georgia, my goals are:

• Unpack
• Get my daily routine going
• Catch up my blogging and email
• Do some advance posts to help with the time I'll be back in smalltown on a slow internet connection

And that's all for me for now!

To see how everyone else is handling their goal setting and "pressing toward" their goals, see Philippians 3:14 Fridays at Which Proverbs 14:1 Woman?

Until next time....

Philippians 3:14 Friday (er, Saturday) 5/2

• She looketh well to the ways of her household

This week marks the end of one month and the beginning of another, not just on the calendar, but for Philippians 3:14 Fridays, as well.

Several of my weekly goals were met along the way, but I don't think I did so well on the monthly goals. In one sense, while it seems like a failed experiment, it really hasn't been on several levels.

"How can that be?" You may ask. Well, I'll tell you!

Long ago (in a galaxy far, far away!) I used to be a fairly organized person. In recent years...well, who's kidding who, for the last 20 years or so, I find myself on a downward spiral of being less and less organized, of fighting a constant, losing battle to keep up with work, home, church activities, even personal things I used to do for fun--crafts and reading for pleasure, just to name two.

It got even worse instead of better when I started staying home last year--instead of filling my days with the activities I loved and always said I would do "if I had time" I slipped into even worse habits of ennui and drifting through days and weeks without accomplishing much except the most humdrum of necessary activities. Every so often I would surface for air, with all kinds of intentions of starting anew and "this time I'm gonna____________"(fill in the blank--get organized, keep the house cleaner, take a class, you name it).

One of the things that I like about Philippians 3:14 Fridays, is that it helps me to at least put it "out there". Write down all of those little things that I always intend to do but never seem to get around to completing. Set some goals. Realize that the way to achieve those goals is to break them down into manageable pieces. (Joke break--How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time)

If you don't have a particular destination, how will you know if you get there?

So, on to Philippians 3:14 Friday Saturday.

For my weekly goals from last week:

1. I did trim my hair and give myself a manicure of sorts--no polish, but I clipped and filed and buffed and used cuticle oil;
2. I cleaned out 85% of the old craft materials--giving some away and throwing some away--I have a few more things to sort and make decisions over;
3. I did some shredding and trashing of paper items, but not nearly enough;
4. I accomplished two speaking engagements in one week when one was unexpected rescheduled;
5. I did my morning routine about half the time.
6. I didn't get my bedroom finished, but I cleaned out a cabinet and two drawers in my kitchen, plus bathroom vanity underneath the sink.
7. I found our old Atari and games to donate to the youth center. Goodbye, Space Invaders and Pacman. And yes, there are kids in this era of Xbox and Playstation Whatever that find it fascinating and even fun to play these "old" games!

Monthly goals were not so well done:

Blog goals: I've had internet problems a lot, even the poky old dial-up was pokier than usual, and when I went to town to find Wi-Fi, one of my spots only worked about half the time. In another 10 days or so, I'll be back to high-speed internet and hope to accomplish my blog goals at that time.

Physical: Monitored my blood pressure and sugar fairly regularly; did not lose weight. Better luck next month.

Spiritual: I did not get to the Hallel, but did prepare and give two messages; started my prayer journal; fasted two days

Household: EEK--morning routine, so-so; lets just skip the rest!

Mental: I "read at" a couple of books, but did not read one front to back to completion

New Goals

I'm home in small town rural Louisiana for about 8 more days, so my goals are going to be for now until I leave for the big city.

1. Feed my family regular, healthful meals
2. Do my morning routine
3. Spend 5 hours this week working in the front bedroom/junkroom (broken into multiple days) Finish sorting craft materials, clean desk area and replace printer, get rid of at least 25 books, work on filing system, repack holiday items and put in the shed
4. Clean out my chest of drawers
5. Sort books to take back with me
6. Take donation items to youth center/library/Goodwill
7. Read one book this week--just for fun
8. Eat my fruit and yogurt daily
9. Read my Bible daily
10. Continue my prayer journal

Need some accountability to help you as you work toward your goals? See Philippians 3:14 Friday at Which Proverbs 14:1 Woman?

Until next time....

Philippians 3:14 Friday, April 24th

• She looketh well to the ways of her household

This week was not good for me as far as meeting my monthly/weekly goals. Again. Last Sunday I woke up with a head cold, which turned into one of the worst-while-it-lasted head colds I remember in a while. I didn't sleep well because I couldn't breathe lying down, and most days I was exhausted, so I didn't do much. I did, however, accomplish a couple of things.

1. Re-establish that morning routine I was working on While there were a couple of days I felt so bad I barely got dressed, believe it or not, I found that getting up and doing my morning routine made me feel better, even if I collapsed into the recliner immediately afterward and didn't move from there for the rest of the day
2. Clean out old craft materials in the closet Craft stuff is out of the closet, and while I still haven't actually gotten rid of it, I've got it semi-sorted according to trash (T-shirt paint that's at least 15 years old) to give away (ribbons and lace and pretty things for my crafty niece)
3. Work on the paper tiger--sorting, shredding, discarding, and filing Nope. Nada thing done on this
4. Add a piece of fruit and one serving of yogurt to my daily diet If dried cranberries and yogurt-covered raisins count as fruit, then I did this everyday. If not, then 4-5 days
5. Get my hair cut or trimmed Didn't want to spread my germs, so I didn't do this yet
6. Start on my message for a speaking engagement I have coming up I had an unexpected opportunity for an additional speaking engagement for this weekend, so preparing for both of these was my main focus for the last couple of days.
7. Check out venue(s) for the Praise and Coffee event I want to host while I'm home Nothing on this one--I was too germy feeling to go a food service place of business--this may have to be postponed until I get back to Georgia.
8. Catch up on the assignments for the 31-Day Build a Better Blog Challenge I did mail my partner once this week, and read a couple of the assignments, but without high-speed internet some of these are really difficult--it takes a long time to download some of the pages I'd like to read, so this was has been slightly postponed, as well.

New goals for the coming week:

1. Continue morning routine, add weekly jobs--dusting, floors, etc.
2. Work on the paper tiger--sorting, filing, shredding
3. Get some donation items ready for the youth center
4. Clean my bed room well--I started this already, but need to continue
5. Continue prep for next speaking engagement
6. Remember--veggies are our friends
7. Get my hair cut or trimmed
8. Give myself a manicure

I know that sometimes it seems that I fail at my goals more than I succeed, but even in areas where I don't aways accomplish what I set out to do, I can still see positive trends.

What are your goals for this week or month? Join Philippians 3:14 Fridays, hosted by Kate at Which Proverbs 14:1 Woman?

Until next time...

Phillippians 3:14 Friday--April 17

• She looketh well the ways of her household

This week has been a total disaster as far as working toward my goals. Absolutely the only thing I did toward anything at all was take apart our old computer and redistribute the parts--some to the trash, some to storage--to clear off the desk in our front bedroom/junkroom/office/library/everything room.

In my defense, my son was home from college on spring break, so I spent most of my time with him in one capacity or another. We didn't do anything particularly "spring breaky", but we had a good time driving here and there, looking up old haunts and searching out new to us places where some of our family has history.

My goals for the coming week are:

1. Re-establish that morning routine I was working on
2. Clean out old craft materials in the closet
3. Work on the paper tiger--sorting, shredding, discarding, and filing
4. Add a piece of fruit and one serving of yogurt to my daily diet
5. Get my hair cut or trimmed
6. Start on my message for a speaking engagement I have coming up
7. Check out venue(s) for the Praise and Coffee event I want to host while I'm home
8. Catch up on the assignments for the 31-Day Build a Better Blog Challenge

How have you been about setting and meeting goals? Need to get it "out there" for accountability? Join everyone at Which Proverbs 14:1 Woman for Phillippians 3:14 Friday!

Until next time!

Philippians 3:14 Friday- April 10

I like having a "to-do" list, the only problem is, if I do something that isn't on the list, I want to add it so I can cross it off. This week has been like that. I've accomplished a little of what I set out to do, but some of it has been sorely lacking. My justification is that I've did some additional things that weren't on my list (!) so that should count for something, right?

These are the areas from my monthly goals that I've worked on:

For my Blog:

• Participate in, and complete, the 31-Day Build A Better Blog challenge.
• Take this opportunity to refocus on my original goals for A Virtuous Woman.

Although I haven't posted about what I'm doing for the 31DBBB challenge, I am doing the activities behind the scenes, and I've begun the refocus, as well.

Physical:

This is my weakest area--the only thing I've done so far is try to be moderate in my eating most of the time.

Spirtual:

I started my reading at Psalms 111 and haven't progressed to the Hallel yet, but I'm almost there. I attended a Messianic Passover Seder Wednesday night---participating in the "appointed times" ordained by the Lord have an especially profound impact on me becuase it isn't something I was raised up doing, it's something that I believe the Lord has brought me to, and that I do with purpose and thoughtfulness.

Household:

• Establish a morning routine
• Clean and organize the front bedroom/junk room
• Fix my broken filing system--sort through and file/shred as needed

I posted Monday about my morning routine--I've been successful on most, but not all of these points this week-getting up at a regular time, making the bed, straightening the bathroom--I haven't always gotten dressed within an hour, or done my Bible reading and prayer before I leave the house, but overall I'd give myself a 75/100.

In the front bedroom/junk room, I put our old computer back together so I could get some documents/files off of it before I find a new home for most of it. Once that gets moved out of the way, my next task is to organize the desk area and re-establish a filing system. I need to clean out craft supplies for things I no longer do, or are outdated, and then the hardest task of all--purge books.

How have you been about setting and meeting goals? Need to get it "out there" for accountability? Join everyone at Which Proverbs 14:1 Woman for Phillippians 3:14 Friday!

Until next time...

Challenges

This month will be one of changes and challenges for me; some circumstantial, some self-imposed.

The first challenge is circumstantial--I've left my home-away-from-home in Georgia, and returned to home-home in small-town, rural Louisiana, where I'll be for the next several weeks. It's definitely a different life here, with fewer stores and a different household dynamic, not to mention change in scenery!

Some additional challenges are self-imposed.



I'm participating in the Phillipians 3:14 Bloggy Carnival, hosted by Kate at "Which Proverbs 14:1 Woman?" This challenge is all about setting goals and holding ourselves accountable by posting about them and sharing our successes, and, dare I say it, failures, for all the bloggy world to see. Or at least as much of the bloggy world as cares to read about it. This was supposed to start Friday, but that was my travel day--I drove the 10 hours from home-away-from-home to home-home all my myself. More on that later. Needless to say I did not post afterwards. And while I meant to get my Phillippians 3:14 Fridays post ready the night before, I didn't actually do it. More on that later, too.

In addition to the Phillippians 3:14 challenge, starting Monday I'll be participating in the "31-day Build a Better Blog challenge", sponsored by Darren Rowse at ProBlogger. Susan at Craving the Savings is my partner for this challenge. This challenge of this challenge will be compounded by the fact that at home-home I have dial-up internet access, unless I take my lap-top to town to find a wi-fi spot, or borrow someone else's computer who has high-speed internet to do my posting. We aren't home enough to justify the expense of maintaining satellite internet, which is the only high-speed internet we country gals have access to, at least in my neck of the woods.

So, here are my goals, in no particular order:

For my Blog:

• Participate in, and complete, the 31-Day Build A Better Blog challenge.


• Take this opportunity to refocus on my original goals for A Virtuous Woman.


• Find, create, build, or buy, a logo design for A Virtuous Woman.


• Find, create, build, or buy, a logo design for Secrets of a Southern Kitchen.


• Find, create, build, or buy, a logo design for the weekly Mission Possible post.

Physical:

• Lose 10 pounds


• Monitor my blood pressure and sugar at least 4 days a week


• Do something about my hair. Cut, color, style, something needs to give.

Spiritual:

• Read and study the Hallel--Psalms 113-118


• Start a new prayer journal


• Fast at least 3 days

Household

• Establish a morning routine


• Clean and organize the front bedroom/junk room


• Fix my broken filing system--sort through and file/shred as needed


• Replace kitchen curtains


• Establish daily and weekly routines

Mental (?)

• Read one new book

I think I'm all over the map with my goal-setting--I've read that in order to be successful at meeting goals, you have to be specific--"exercise 3 times this week" instead of "exercise more this week", and I can see that I've failed miserably at being specific in I didn't exactly do that for some of these. But, since this is an ongoing project, and I'll see what I can do to fix that by next Friday.

Until next time...