thinking out loud

Well, we are all settled in - everyone is loving their space. I cleaned on Friday night and realized how much I really love to vacuum (I am my mother's daughter in that way). It wasn't too bad to clean - sweeping, mopping and dusting pretty much cover it, then there are the bathrooms - not too bad after the first week. I expect cleaning to become a little less fun each time, especially, with work starting this week.

I truly am a creature of habit. I like to do household things the same way and at the same time, so I have come up with a weekly schedule. Deep cleaning will take place on Friday nights (this worked well in the past) so that I have all weekend to enjoy the clean house. Laundry will be done on Tuesday and Saturdays. Everyone will get clean sheets on Sunday. If I could plan when to run the dishwasher I would schedule that, but I guess that chore can be spontaneous. Especially since my cooking is a little erratic :0) So, I plan to kick off this new schedule this week and see how it works out. Let me know if you need any advice for implementing a household routine :0)

Along with cleaning, there are also bills to schedule. I like to use http://www.mycheckfree.com/ for all the e-bills that they offer. It really helps force me to pay them on time by scheduling the payment rather than having to remember to pay them. I get email notifications when bills arrive. I have also created a spreadsheet that lists all bills and when they are due. I have a projected pay date column with the date I plan to get each one paid. I have also started writing down the dates that we get paid and what we can pay at that time. This keeps me from overspending and I get things paid on time. Which, I have struggled with in the past. It was much more fun to spend money than to pay unwanted bills! Today, I scheduled September bills.

One other thing that I am fixing to work on is my lesson plans for the first week of school, meet the teacher night brochures and miscellaneous things that come up between now and then. That is, after the nap I need to write in for Sunday afternoons...

I am obsessive compulsive about having a routine , using a calendar and making lists. It works for me :0)