Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Productivity and Perspective


Happy Almost Thanksgiving, everyone!

I wonder why it is that most days I am feeling like I never get anything accomplished. If I really analyze my day, I am getting WAY more done on my mental to-do list than I ever used to before Kaylee joined us. For example, Monday night, I felt like I never got much done with my day, because every couple hours I had to repeat the Kaylee routine - pick her up when she either woke up or started crying, change her diaper, fix a bottle and feed her, burp her, interact with her (eithery playing, or talking, or tummy time or something), and then set her down somewhere so she can also just watch what I'm doing or play by herself or fall asleep or whatever. This routine is time-consuming and repetitive and very familliar to me, and sometimes it feels like it's all I ever do.

I guess the constant interruptions and having to get things done in small chunks makes it feel like I never get anything finished, and not getting anything finished in one session must make me feel like I'm not doing anything productive.

However, I steal moments when she is sleeping or quiet to get small tasks done. And I guess for the most part, I have broken most of my to-do list down into small tasks. And I haven't written a to-do list out on paper for a long time.

But here's what I got done Monday:

-unpacked my suitcase and Kaylee's diaper bag (we were out of town)
cleaned off kitchen counter (I have a catch-all/drop-off space that gets cluttered every couple days)
-re-packed and organized Kaylee's diaper bag for everyday use
-three loads of laundry washed, folded, and put away
-changed our bed linens and added electric blanket to our bed
-cooked 2 meals
-loaded/unloaded dishwasher
-looked for and brought winter gear upstairs from basement
-completely rearranged and organized one of our storage rooms downstairs
-uploaded almost 600 mb of photos for printing online, edited crops on 400 photos and submitted order

I guess I wasn't a total web-surfing slob on the couch all day, after all.

Got lots done Tuesday as well:

- dishes
- bills
- submitted monthly tax deposit and organized pay statements for LLC
- washed hair
- got Kaylee cleaned up and ready to go out
- went to Walmart and got groceries with Mom and Kaylee
- put groceries away
- cooked a fabulous supper (teriyaki sesame mandarin orange pepper beef and rice, anyone? mmmmm)
- matted and framed a picture for Kaylee's room

I don't know why it is I derive self value and justification for existence based on my productivity. So what if I spend a day on the couch web-surfing and in a trance in front of the television? :P

Saturday, November 01, 2008

Just a few thoughts...

I have been working on Kaylee's blog, so hers is more up to date than mine... you can visit it here:  www.kayleejohns.blogspot.com

Just trying to get ready for winter to hit here.  Ugh.  I still need to secure a snowplowing contract.

My brother's kiddos that live in Plaster Rock are moving to Alberta next week along with their mom and stepdad.  I'm thrilled for all of them, and I will miss being able to see them relatively often.  I believe that they will do well and have a better life out there, and I am glad they will be a lot closer to Jeremy.  I know it's been hard for him to be so far away from his kids.  After having one myself, I would be out of my mind if I had to leave her behind and consider only seeing her once or twice a year.

Kaylee is so cute - she is trying to imitate our facial expressions and vocalize.  Check out her blog for the latest picture of her facial expressions.  We're slowly getting with it as far as pictures, videos, and blogging goes.  It's been a couple months trying to get into a routine and now that we're getting there, I need to get other stuff caught up that's been on hold.

Everyone got their Christmas shopping done yet?  :)  Yeah, it's that time of year.  I'm trying to get most of mine done online.  I can't BELIEVE it's the first of November!!!

Until next time!

Monday, October 27, 2008

Making Progress...

Yesterday I played around in Photobucket and got a lot of pictures uploaded.  I'm still learning this blog environment as well as Photobucket's user interface, but I promise some fabulous pictures of Kaylee are going to be available soon.  Until then, hang in there!