We don't have much planned for the week, trying to conserve cash, but I think we're going to go to Menchies later in the week.
Sunday
5:52 pm - Vacation quickly draws to a close. It was really nice being able to enjoy a weekend at home. I wasn't always in the best of moods, but the book I just finished really convicted me to approach frustration, anger and disappointment differently. It's not a new concept, more of a "duh" concept, but, yeah, need to take it to God in prayer. If for nothing else than the fact that I need to change my attitude towards those around me. I am apprehensive about work tomorrow, but I will at least have plenty to keep me busy - close to 1,000 unread emails (only 200 are high or normal priority, the other 800 are almost all low priority and can be dispatched with quickly), a number of meeting requests and plenty to do. Since I'm checking in late, I don't have a lot of progress to show, but I got quite a bit done today, lots of stuff that won't show up again for 1, 2 or in a few cases, 7 months. It's nice to get that kind of stuff off the list instead of just carrying them every day. I liked this approach of looking at an entire week. I think I will do that, the day-by-day look was too close up and as helpful as the month-long look was, it might have been too far out. The week might be the sweet spot where I can see what I can reasonably do and plan to do and what I just can't get to and might have to actually coordinate and schedule to get done.
9:07 pm - End of the line. This turned out to be a useful experience. I am going to do this again. Next week, exercise and bad behavior. That is, I'm going to track my exercise and diet and I'm going to track when I sense behavior or emotions in myself that I don't like so that I can figure out why and how to head it off.
Chores due before 4/8 (Remember the Milk) -
Chores completed (cumulative) -
Feed.ly Unread - zero!
Mail (Gmail+Mailbox's Later) -
Unwatched TED Talks - 52
Ibuprofen/etc. consumed - 1600mg
Coffee Brewed (cumulative) (5.5 oz) - 42 + 1 Caramel Macchiato + 1 Fluffy Bunny
Jumping Jacks (cumulative) - 550
Pushups (cumulative) - 240
Situps (cumulative) - 240
Mileage (walk/run) this week for exercise (cumulative) - 3.84
"Not So Big Remodeling" -
"Vertical Church" - completed
Laundry washed (cumulative) - 9 loads (not doing any more until Monday)
Saturday
9:02 am - Last full day of vacation (since I'll be working in both church services tomorrow). A combination of action and rest, excitement and calm. It's already rained quite a bit today but I see sun burning through the clouds now. Cool.
3:28 pm - Menchies - done. Tasty, but Ben made it clear he didn't want to be there and made it hard on us. As such, it felt rushed and got a nasty headbutt for my troubles. On the plus side, we took an expired $10 Groupon, knowing it was still worth the original $5. She took it in the back room to her manager and then came back out and gave us the $10 value and an admonition to watch our expiration dates better in the future. That was really nice, they so didn't need to do that. On the chores front, getting down to the ones that will still be here at the end of the week. This was the first week looking at this stuff for a whole week at a time. Even though I'll be leaving a bunch incomplete at the end of this week, it was helpful in prioritizing and looking at what I truly need to do.
10:35 pm - A quiet end to the day. Tomorrow will really feel like back to the routine, I'm sure. Well, it was a fun vacation. Finished the book. The review will be published in a week. Time to focus on the next book on my nightstand, one that's been there way too long. It's also non-fiction, but it's about renovation and remodeling and has lots of photos. It'll be inspiring. I'll probably need to start over, but it's easy reading. This is sort of like accountability to make sure I'm actually reading. This is great.
Chores due before 4/8 (Remember the Milk) -
Chores completed (cumulative) -
Feed.ly Unread -
Mail (Gmail+Mailbox's Later) -
Unwatched TED Talks - 61
Ibuprofen/etc. consumed -
Coffee Brewed (cumulative) (5.5 oz) - 38 + 1 Caramel Macchiato
Jumping Jacks (cumulative) -
Pushups (cumulative) -
Situps (cumulative) -
Mileage (walk/run) this week for exercise (cumulative) - 3.84
"Vertical Church" - completed
Laundry washed (cumulative) - 9 loads (not doing any more until Monday)
Friday
9:54 am - everyone's waking up slowly today, all hoping we're not sick, but some of us definitely aren't feeling well. We all also slept poorly last night. Coffee's brewing.
3:06 pm - Then again, maybe no Menchies. The day has remained slow though everyone seems to be feeling better. We may just be too lazy to actually leave the house, though. But that's good, right? Too lazy to eat frozen yogurt that just has the potential to make us more lazy. Ben's having some quiet time in his room and Lori's having some quiet time riding the exercise biek. I was going to say that Rachel was in her room having some quiet time as well, but then she just came down making a bunch of noise. I've gotten through a lot of my reader, some of my inbox and some TED talks. Also gotten a lot of chores done. No reading yet. Non-fiction's a lot harder, need more uninterrupted quiet time, which I don't necessarily have.
8:41 pm - It was difficult finding time to get any reading done today (I didn't). Hopefully this evening. Raining like crazy outside again. Yay. Laundry is all done and almost everything is put away. I don't plan on going near the washer and dryer again before Monday. Woo. We're going to try again tomorrow for a family movie afternoon and Menchies.
10:46 pm - it is nice to now think we've got the entire weekend ahead of us. This has been a great week. Here's hoping for a better night's sleep.
Chores due before 4/8 (Remember the Milk) -
Chores completed (cumulative) -
Feed.ly Unread -
Mail (Gmail+Mailbox's Later) -
Unwatched TED Talks -
Ibuprofen consumed -
Coffee Brewed (cumulative) (5.5 oz) - 38 + 1 Caramel Macchiato
Laundry washed (cumulative) -
Jumping Jacks (cumulative) -
Pushups (cumulative) -
Situps (cumulative) -
"Across the Universe" - completed
"Vertical Church" - 210 (of 306)
Thursday
8:23 am - Leaving in a few minutes to go get some Starbucks and then it's off to church for a meeting with our Associate Pastor. Not sure what about exactly, but Lori and I decided that I needed to talk to someone besides my friends, co-workers and her, so hopefully the Spirit will lead us to a conversation that's helpful to me and not a waste of his time. (We'll, he's getting coffee out of the deal.) It rained overnight. I get to cross "water lawn" off my to do list. :)
1:27 pm - Had a great meeting with Pastor Joe and then barely time back at home to try to capture some notes and then back out again for a farewell lunch for one of my co-workers. Well, two actually. One has his lunch tomorrow which I won't be able to attend, so I had to wish him well today as well. I did write a blog post between the two and it got some nice responses while I was out. Makes me wonder if I should be scheduling posts for later in the day. Also made me think of a third possible post I might want to make - one of the two I said goodbye to today I'll see all over the place on social media. The other, probably not as he's not on social media. Also, can't believe that Accuweather is still predicting snow. Not buying it.
11:13 pm - This was an OK day. There were some great points - a really clarifying meeting with my pastor. I didn't know what we'd actually be talking about, but I prayed he'd have some wisdom or insight. He asked some awesome questions that really helped me clarify some things and gave me a lot more to think about it. I also got invited to a networking group on LinkedIn and I've met a two people who have been asking me leading questions helping me with clarification as well. That's been great. Oh, and got two new recommendations on LinkedIn. I think now whenever I feel sad or down, I'll just go read those. People have said some nice stuff. Went to a lunch with co-workers and said goodbye to two people are retiring - one because he's finished his working career, the second because she's expecting her second child and can't balance a hard 5x8 workweek with raising her children. She'll be missed, but she'll do awesome - she's already turning away freelance work. Saying goodbye was less great. Then I didn't do well this afternoon - you'd think I hadn't gotten great sleep or something but I didn't have a lot of patience for my children. Maybe it was after having a morning where the focus was on me or having the morning and lunch where I was just with adults or maybe it was that I wanted to get stuff done but couldn't or maybe it was a really awful children's show that was on (it's probably a perfectly fine show but it was obviously designed not to be watched by anyone over the age of 13). So I was a bit crabby. And then I had to take Ben in to get a blood draw late in the evening. That took over an hour, mostly just driving. He did well and we had a nice walk to and from the car, even stopping to jump in puddles, but he managed to get hurt while we were checking in (he tried to flee and when I hooked my arm around his stomach it stopped him so quickly that his arms flew up and the toy in his arm clocked him in the forehead - felt really bad about that). But dinner was good. Lori made eggs and bacon and toast and I got Ben to (eventually) eat lots of eggs off a fork by himself (I would put the eggs on the fork and then set the fork down) by giving him tiny bits of bacon for each bite of egg he fed himself. That was cool. Oh, and then after they were in bed, I went and ran 2 miles. That was also cool. (Yay me.) Now we're dealing with Rachel who slept for an hour or two and then woke up and is now fighting sleep. I am just dreading what I expect to be a difficult day tomorrow. I'm fully prepared to learn that she got up after we turn off our lights and then played all night long. If that happens, she will miss out on Menchies but Lori and I will not. Lori thinks rain isn't good Menchies weather but I was promised Menchies this week, darn it.
Chores due before 4/8 (Remember the Milk) -
Chores completed (cumulative) -
Feed.ly Unread -
Mail (Gmail+Mailbox's Later) -
Unwatched TED Talks - 66
Ibuprofen consumed - 400mg
Coffee Brewed (cumulative) (5.5 oz) -
Laundry washed (cumulative) -
Jumping Jacks (cumulative) -
Pushups (cumulative) -
Situps (cumulative) -
"Across the Universe" - completed
"Vertical Church" -
Wednesday
9:20 am - Just finished the book. I'd recommend it. I liked it. I recognized some simalarities/influences, but it's still it's own effort. It's taking everyone a long time to wake up this morning. Not surprising, it wasn't a good night of sleep. Actually, Rachel is up and has been for awhile, but she's in her room playing/reading quietly. Ben and Lori seem to still be asleep. Ben was up again and quite upset in the middle of the night. Lori got up with him and he had another meal and I actually fell asleep while she was doing that. Then at 5:30 this morning someone from Miami called ("Do Not Disturb" on my iPhone doesn't seem to actually work) and I ignored the call. The voicemail was someone saying something quickly, annoyedly into the phone in I think Spanish and then hanging up incorrectly as there's 2.5 minutes of random noise (I didn't listen to it all). Today I think we're going to go check out a park that our friends suggested along with lunch from Subway if we can find our gift cards and some coupons.
11:27 am - It's remained a quiet morning, Lori and Ben were able to sleep in. Now we've got a few things to take care of today some errands and some family time and then a birthday party.
8:21 pm - A park, a walk, a Subway cold cut combo. A visit to the doctor (to have some of Rachel's stitches pulled out) and a birthday party (Happy 2nd., Z!) And now back home. Tired.
10:56 pm - Closing this out a little later than I'd like. The party meant everything was later in the evening than planned (children to bed, exercise/TV, nighttime cleaning, etc.). But that brings us to now. I've come to realize that this little diary of my days this week has been great at helping me to stay on task and focus on the things I'm trying to be vigilant about (like crushing my email and reader and reading books instead of playing video games). Supposed to have rain tomorrow. Bring it.
Chores due before 4/8 (Remember the Milk) -
Chores completed (cumulative) -
Feed.ly Unread -
Mail (Gmail+Mailbox's Later) -
Unwatched TED Talks - 66
Ibuprofen consumed - 400mg
Coffee Brewed (cumulative) (5.5 oz) - 24
Laundry washed (cumulative) -
Jumping Jacks (cumulative) -
Pushups (cumulative) -
Situps (cumulative) -
"Across the Universe" - completed
"Vertical Church" -
Tuesday
7:53 am - A few moments of peace and quiet to myself. Cat was meowing to come up from downstairs and Rachel's up, but she hasn't come out of her room yet. She wants to see Two Towers today, but that's only if we see good behavior all day and if she stayed in bed and tried to sleep all night long (didn't get up and play). Coffee's brewing and a load of laundry's already running in the machine. About to pick up my book. Listening to Dean Martin on Saturday Morning Coffee.
11:32 am - What a nice morning. I started with coffee and my book. After while, Lori came down and sat on the other couch and checked her email and we hung out and talked. A little while later, Rachel came down and joined us. Lori went to get ready to go do some shopping and I got Ben up and he hung out on the couch drinking his juice and waking up the rest of the way. Rachel's done all her responsibilities for the day and just had a nice second breakfast with Ben while Rachel does Khan Academy.
2:58 pm - The day has remained calm. We're watching Two Towers and I'm doing other stuff like chores and email and Google Reader. The gray has not burned off yet, so I haven't been looking outside wishing I could get outside and work.
9:47 pm - A nice day. Lori was able to take a short nap after the movie and I got the children started with dinner. After dinner, I mowed the two back lawns and edged the lower back lawn. Lori pruned all the stuff in front. Finally getting a few moments to do some work in the yard now that it's light after the little ones are in bed. Now watching Person of Interest. Then some more reading and off to bed.
Chores due before 4/8 (Remember the Milk) -
Chores completed (cumulative) -
Feed.ly Unread -
Mail (Gmail+Mailbox's Later) -
Unwatched TED Talks -
Ibuprofen consumed - 400mg
Coffee Brewed (cumulative) (5.5 oz) - 16
Laundry washed (cumulative) -
Jumping Jacks (cumulative) -
Pushups (cumulative) -
Situps (cumulative) -
"Across the Universe" page number -
Monday
8:48 am - Not feeling so great. Coffee is brewing and I've taken some Airborne and Ibuprofen. Food is being microwaved (leftover French Toast Casserole from Easter Brunch.)
9:20 am - Feeling better. Coffee. Rachel's laundry is all folded.
5:10 pm - Ok, some errands run, some chores taken care of. Feels like I didn't get as much done today as I'd liked to have, but on the other hand, I am on vacation, right?
8:35 pm - Two (of four) lawns mowed and fertilized. More chores done. No running/walking today, no reading so far (but it will happen). Fortunately, some of the chores are one-time or at least less than once-a-week in nature, so some progress made. Also today, got Lori's mom's cable and internet hooked up and spent time in the car with a fussy child while Rachel and Lori perused the library. Only two or three work emails that I really wanted to reply to, but I resisted.
11:01 pm - Just finished watching two episodes of Person of Interest. Won't be in bed by 11. Also started "Across the Universe" by Beth Revis. Lori got it from the library but said she thought I'd like it. Liking it. All the laundry in the house is washed except anything new from today. Mine and Rachel's is all folded.
Chores due before 4/8 (Remember the Milk) -
Feed.ly Unread -
Chores completed -
Mail (Gmail+Mailbox's Later) -
Unwatched TED Talks -
Ibuprofen consumed - 400mg
Coffee Brewed (5.5 oz) - 8
Laundry washed - 2 loads
Jumping Jacks - 50
Pushups - 20
Situps - 20
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