Finding Time For Everything

Posted on Friday, February 8, 2008 at 01:26

I wonder if any of the other ladies here sometimes find themselves wishing for an extra moment or two?  I have to admit, now and then, I just want a bit more "down-time."  It seems that I am sometimes running behind on chores and school time, and even "hubby and me" time.  And of course, there is needed time for visiting friends, church activities, and time to just work on a craft project or two.

So, in the interest of maintaining sanity, I think I need that down-time, lol.  What about you? What do you do to carve some time for crafts, visiting or just taking in a movie with hubby?  I have a little list of criteria that  thought I might share that is slowly helping me to find a few extra minutes in the day.  I thought I would share it.

In the morning, I am getting up thirty minutes earlier to have devotional time with my Father.  That is one thing that is an absolute necessity for my day.  I need that time to just read and pray, dedicating those moments to Him, and renewing my heart and mind for the busy day to come.

I am taking one day a week to work on making "TV dinners!"  Not really!  What I am doing though is taking either Wednesday or Thursday each week to "cook up" some extra entrees.  For instance, I will make a stew to simmer in the slow cooker and a casserole for the oven at the same time.  Not only does it save me time on cooking, it keeps clean up chores to a minimum.

In the cleaning department, I am learning to do some things like ironing and laundrey chores in a more orderly fashion.  Instead of letting the clothes wait until the hamper is full, I am now washing a load of clothes each day, ironing and folding them while hubby and I relax in the late afternoon (when I am home), or early in the morning, before the Pumpkins greet the dawn.

Another big help has been to cut our town trips by half.  Instead of going weekly or by weekly to get our staples, I buy in bulk,  saving me money and time.  You should see the looks I get sometimes when I buy twenty rolls of paper towels or twenty four of TP.  One of the checkers asked me how many children I had, lol.  Of course, it might have had something to do with the fifteen or so bottles of Juicy-Juice I bought too!  Our downfall is Juicy-Juice!

As far as craft time, I have to admit, I need some real organization there!  I paint, sew, do stained glass, cross-stitch and write.  All suggestions are welcome. lol.  Oh, I also make jewelry!  I am left-brained I guess, or is that right-brained...hmmm, anyway, I just love to do anything creative.   I guess my biggest problem is figuring out a way to keep all of my craft projects organized and neat.  You should see my office...ummm, no on second thought, you shouldn't!  Like I said, all organization tips are welcome!

Have a great day HSB and God bless you all.

Hi Misty! :0)

Posted by wstoller on Friday, February 8, 2008 at 02:22 - Link

I totally relate to your post! I don't even seem to have much time to check the blogs anymore unless hubby works late - then I use our time to read blogs. I have no life - other than currently we are attending our local co-op for the next 7 weeks. I go to church Sundays. Each weekday I do office work for hubby, a little housework each day, wash dishes for probably an hour or two a day total, run after the kids, laundry I try to keep up with. We generally put our kids down to bed at about 7:30 and then we go to bed at 9:30. That is "our time" generally or Bible reading time. I try to do a little housework each day, some days use the crock pot to cut down on my one hour of dinner prep time, etc. Anyway - as the kids get older and can help with chores -and don't create more chores so much.. (LOL) I think twill see a turn in our days, possibly!!! :0) and it's all part of life - think of how Carolyn Ingalls managed! we've got it made!!

Same Wave Length

Posted by browns71280 on Friday, February 8, 2008 at 05:29 - Link

Ooohhh, we must be on the same wave length. I just blogged yesterday about not having enough me time. Well today I got me some and totaly enjoyed it. I am getting ready to redo my freezer and am thinking about making some meals ahead of time. I buy the foil containers with cardboard lids, and it holds enough for the two of us for supper. I love them because they can stack so well in the freezer and you write on the lid what is inside and date it.
Debbie

Untitled Comment

Posted by jodalton on Saturday, February 9, 2008 at 04:13 - Link

Hey, thanks for stopping by. I appreciated your coments. Last night when I was reading your post, I thought back to the days when I had so many little ones runing around. Some days I would think of how nice it would be if I could just freeze everyone while I caught up with my work(lol). Since I couldn't do that I did find a few ways to meet my need for time to do things that I wanted to do. I loved to make my childrens clothes and with so many girls in a row, I sometimes liked to make them dresses alike. To get 7 dresses made within a reasonable time I would sew at least one seam a day. We had converted the garage into another bedroom and pantry with a little space for my sewing machine. Every time I needed something from the pantry(well almost everytime), I would sit down and sew a seam. It only took a couple on minutes and I would then continue on with what ever I was doing. I have continued on that way over the years, I crochet on the half hour trip into town and the half hour trip back. I do little 10 minute things that help me prepare for a bigger project. It is really fun to think of ways to economize my time. And organizing my sewing room is done in little bites after big projects like Christmas. Hope this helps some. jodalton