Back to the Old Schedule: Just What February Needs

Of course it's February. I didn't catch onto that fact until I hung up from calling my dad today. Immediately after hanging up, I said out loud--no one was with me--"Can I talk to Mom?"

Every year at this time automatically, my heart goes to my mom. EVERY year. It's now been 14 years. It never fails. I become very down.

It wasn't until I said that in the car today that I realized what was hanging me up. Well, duh! It's February. Nothing else need be said than that.

The happy thing is, I'm not even half way through the month, and I life is already looking up. I resurrected this schedule and started following it yesterday. I feel a bit more in control now. It was sitting in the Annex blog, so I needed to repost it here, so I don't have to search there for it anymore.

5:30am

• Pray
• Scripture study

6 to 8am

• Shower
• Wash face/brush teeth
• Get dressed
• Make up, hair, earrings
• Straighten bedroom
• Make bed
• Start laundry
• Make breakfast
• Dishes
• Straighten kitchen
• Clean sink

9 to 11am

• Straighten house
• Sesame Street (one episode together)
• Read with kids
• Today's mission (see below)

11am to 2pm

• Make lunch
• Clean kitchen
• Clean sink
• Read, sing, and pray with L/L's naptime
• Laundry
• Free time

2 to 4pm

• Prepare snack for kids
• Time with kids

4 to 6pm

• Prep for dinner 
• Kids' jobs

6 to 8pm

• Dinner
• Clean up
• Straighten house
• Shine sink

8 to 9:30pm 

• Floss, wash face, brush teeth
• Wipe bathroom sink
• Jammies on
• Last load of wash into dryer
• Lay out tomorrow's clothes
• Check calendar for tomorrow
• Set up schedule for next day
• Pray

Missions:

• Sunday - planning day
• Monday - laundry and upstairs
• Tuesday - grocery prep and kitchen
• Wednesday - desk tasks and downstairs
• Thursday - catch up 
• Friday -  errands, car and date night
• Saturday - deep clean and family fun

I originally shared this schedule back in August of 2009. This works for me. I'm glad I had written it down. It was nice to have it there when I needed it and not have to go reinvent the wheel.

Life is just good if I can get going before the kids are up. I've also learned that I can't follow a strict schedule. There are just too many other schedules I have to work around at a moment's notice. What works best for me is to have broad times as guidelines and a list what I need to do during that time. If I do this, I don't feel so stressed. 

So, bring on February. This year, it's not going to get me down. This year, I'm on top of it. Thanks to a blog post written three and a half years ago. Yay!