Spring is in the air 2023

[sweetpumkinpye]

It is here! Friday sees us at September 1st and it means Spring for us here in Australia. The Winter was actually quite a mild one and was not too bad at all. I think with the mild Winter and the temperatures that you have been enduring that we will be in for a hotter Spring and Summer. They are already saying that the bushfire season will be a bad one. I will use the time that I have over the next few months to be as prepared as I can for Christmas and the hotter months ahead. I will be working 4 days this week but will be back to my normal hours at work very soon. I am pleased, I have a lot to do over the next few months.

Daily:
Water throughout day, especially as we have the heating on.
Shower/bath at night,
Moisturise, brush teeth, lip balm, hand cream
Clean kitchen and DW on before bed.
Read and sleep at reasonable time

Weekly:
*washing (X)(X)
*fold washing (X)
*vacuum floors ( )
*clean bathrooms (X)(X)
*meal planning ( )
*general tidy up (X)
*clean fridge/freezers ( )
*tidy pantry/stockpile (X)
*make work lunches (X)
*shopping list (fortnightly) ( ) grocery shopping (fortnightly) ( )

Quarterly/Seasonal Goals:
September, October and November.....Spring
*Baking days leading up to Christmas....we have several scheduled
*Continue with wrapping party dates ( )
*Christmas prep....focus on this ( )
*Target savings in bank ( ) Save for cruise. Have full payment by December.
*Review word of the year (X)
*Prepare house/papers/emergency kits for upcoming fire season ( )
*Start decluttering for move next year ( ) I have a plan for this at least, will ramp up during HGP
*House inspection September ( )
*Mini vacation to coast September ( )
*At least one no spend day/week per month ( )( )( )
*Annual Bathurst day October ( )
*Day light saving October ( )
*Organise Family get together for November ( )
*Complete the HGP ( ) This is a must this year
*Start thinking ahead for Spring/Summer meals ( ) plans ( ) celebrations ( ) goals )

Extras:
Fun/Christmas prep:
*tidy gift closet ( )
*update planner ( )
*do something that is just for me ( )
*start/continue/finish one craft project (X) Using up scrap wool
*start/continue/finish one book/magazine ( ) Goal for the year is to read 10. I have read 10
*continue looking for stocking fillers, gifts and supplies ( ) My challenge for 2023 is to do great stockings, useful and interesting items.

This week:
*Connect with family via phone, email or text (X)
*Work Mon, Tues, Wed and Thursday (X)
*At least one no tech night (X)
*HGP Room Friday and Saturday (X) Bathroom this week.
*Harry's surgery follow up Friday (X)
*Dinner with DSIL Saturday (X)
*Harry physio twice a day (X)(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)

5 Small chores:

 

[Holiday_Mom]

I'm hoping our winter is as nice as your winter seems to have been! Where I live, it's been a mild summer compared to others in the US. Our biggest issue has been the smoke from the Canadian wildfires. We have four weeks of summer. I take my morning coffee and breakfast outside and do a garden walkabout about 6:15 am. I noticed that it's been getting darker each morning. I may be eating breakfast by candlelight soon.

I've added some things to my daily and weekly lists as they are new habits to help ease the transisitonal stress. Last night I was working on menu planning for the next few weeks. I found it so stress releasing just putting dinner ideas and recipe links together. I think I will continue to do that idea this week and see if I can come up with a quarterly menu plan based on seasonal eating. I also would like to do as much food prep such as cutting up onions, peppers, batch cooking, etc. on the weekends as I can. It would be nice at 5:30 pm to pull out the food and get it together by 6 pm.

We have a dress code at school. The clothes I have were fine for remote work. I went out and bought a whole bunch of new clothes. Since menu planning is helpful, I am doing outfit planning for the week ahead. That way, I'm not wasting time in the morning deciding what to wear. I've also decided that breakfast will be the same all week. Lunch will be the same all week. I's like to prep ahead of time either in a big batch for the week and portion out the night before or do individual portions for the whole week on Sundays. I guess that depends on when I do grocery shopping and how much food is in the house on Sundays.

Daily:

• Exercise
• Prayer
• Calendar Review of Appointments/Meetings
• Reading
• Writing
• Coffee Prep for the next day
• Lunch Prep for the next day
• Breakfast Prep for the next day

Weekly:

• Outfit Planning for upcoming week
• Menu Planning for upcoming week
• Meal Prep for upcoming week
• Dust/Vacuum/Mop
• Bills
• Laundry
• Groceries
• End of Week Reflection
• Set Research/Writing Goals
• Weed Garden

Monthly: Bedroom

• Dust.
• Vacuum.
• Clean Windows.
• Declutter room.
• Shred papers.

Extra: Think about what day(s) to work on the HHP this year.

 

[sweetpumkinpye]

We have a dress code at school. The clothes I have were fine for remote work. I went out and bought a whole bunch of new clothes. Since menu planning is helpful, I am doing outfit planning for the week ahead. That way, I'm not wasting time in the morning deciding what to wear. I've also decided that breakfast will be the same all week. Lunch will be the same all week. I's like to prep ahead of time either in a big batch for the week and portion out the night before or do individual portions for the whole week on Sundays. I guess that depends on when I do grocery shopping and how much food is in the house on Sundays.

Mary, you are so organised, I love all of your tips and hints.

*Dress code. When I wore my own clothes to work I would look at the weather forecast for the week and organise my clothes accordingly. I would hang them all up in my closet in order of days. I would make sure that everything was there, bra, undies, socks and a cardigan, gloves and coat if the weather called for it. Half an hour spent on Sunday was so much easier than trying to decide every morning.

I think by having an idea of what you want to eat every day and preparing it ahead saves not only time and stress but also money as you are not tempted to grab something from a restaurant every day. Even buying a coffee daily adds up.

 

[Ahorsesoul]

Mary, you are so organised, I love all of your tips and hints.

*Dress code. When I wore my own clothes to work I would look at the weather forecast for the week and organise my clothes accordingly. I would hang them all up in my closet in order of days. I would make sure that everything was there, bra, undies, socks and a cardigan, gloves and coat if the weather called for it. Half an hour spent on Sunday was so much easier than trying to decide every morning.

I think by having an idea of what you want to eat every day and preparing it ahead saves not only time and stress but also money as you are not tempted to grab something from a restaurant every day. Even buying a coffee daily adds up.

That extra prep sure does save a lot of time and stress. Hard to get it started because we think it will take a long time but once started it goes fast.

 

[Holiday_Mom]

*Dress code. When I wore my own clothes to work I would look at the weather forecast for the week and organise my clothes accordingly. I would hang them all up in my closet in order of days. I would make sure that everything was there, bra, undies, socks and a cardigan, gloves and coat if the weather called for it. Half an hour spent on Sunday was so much easier than trying to decide every morning.

Oh, looking at the weather forecast on Sunday is brilliant! I hadn't gotten that far in my thinking. I'll be outside in all kinds of weather. On those colder days, I'll need to be sure I have gloves and a scarf when we are on the playground. I need to buy an umbrella since I'll be helping outside with pick-up and drop-off. Thanks for the tip!

I'm so glad that I prepped my lunch for the week on Sunday. It's basically a green smoothie in a mason jar. I eat it like soup. What a time saver and also an energy booster. I've been forgetting to set up the coffee at night but honestly, it's simple enough that it doesn't mess me up too much. I eat breakfast at 6:15 am and my lunch break is at 1:10 pm. Monday was rough. I added more protein to my breakfast on Tuesday. It was better but not good enough. I increased my protein even more this morning and it made a difference. I got to lunch without a loud rumbling stomach.

 

[sweetpumkinpye]

Oh, looking at the weather forecast on Sunday is brilliant! I hadn't gotten that far in my thinking. I'll be outside in all kinds of weather. On those colder days, I'll need to be sure I have gloves and a scarf when we are on the playground. I need to buy an umbrella since I'll be helping outside with pick-up and drop-off. Thanks for the tip!

If you have a storage space at school it might be an idea to store a few things there. In my locker at work I have an umbrella, deodorant, some ibuprofen and a few snack bars and a package of instant soup.

 

[Holiday_Mom]

If you have a storage space at school it might be an idea to store a few things there. In my locker at work I have an umbrella, deodorant, some ibuprofen and a few snack bars and a package of instant soup.

Some more great ideas are here that I hadn't considered. I traditionally get migraines in the middle of the night or early in the morning so I can take Excedrin then. Sometimes I have to take another dose in the middle of the day. I'll definitely add that this week. It would be horrible if I had to deal with that during the day and had no recourse. We made a space on a small shelf big enough for me to lay a tote bag down. That bag holds my lunch bag and pocketbook.