Being Intentional About Christmas

Today blogging feels a like that treadmill I’ve been ignoring for a couple months – it’s not that hard when I do it everyday, it feels really good when I do it, and I feel better about myself after. But I keep staring at that treadmill like maybe I’ve really forgotten how to treadmill properly. So here I am, hopping back on the blogging train. I have so much to TELL you!

Beginning with my game plan for Christmas this year. Honestly, I’ve been feeling not-Christmas-y. I’ve been slower than usual getting decorations up. I’ve been staring at the tree extra critically this year. I’ve actually had a few moments of sympathy for the Grinch – I mean, the Who’s DO celebrate their festivities fairly loudly, don’t they?

My December issue of Better Homes and Gardens came (and this is not a paid advertisement, by the way) and I was struck by some of the advice in the Sanity Savers article about holiday organization:

“Before you launch into holiday planning, ask yourself: what do I love most? What do I dread? This exercise will help you decide what belongs on your to-do list and what needs to be simplified or deleted altogether. If quality time is a priority, put it on the calendar, just like you would any other important activity. Pick an evening to munch cookies, sip cocoa, and watch a favorite holiday film… Don’t get caught in the trap of doing something just because it’s what you’ve always done. Only commit to activities that really matter to you and your family.” (Thanks to B&G writer, Berit Thorkelson, for the wisdom. I’m taking your advice.)

So with this in mind, Kyle and I made a list of Christmas activities that actually matter to us. We have until December 31st to do it all…but if we don’t, that’s okay too.

Okay, your turn. What’s on your Christmas list that you REALLY care about? I can’t wait to hear.

love, elizabeth

PS: I’m also taking Berit’s advice about Christmas cards this year: “Defer sending greetings until another holiday such as New Year’s or Valentine’s Day, when both you and your recipients have more time to enjoy the sentiment.” So if you ordinarily get a Christmas card from us, be checking your mailboxes in February instead!

moh-tuh-vey-shuhn, noun, from the medieval latin mōtīvus

Uhhh, you know how bloggers, lots of bloggers, get into a rhythm and a schedule? Like they post every day and they plan ahead and work it all out? This is not one of those posts. I just needed someone to talk to.

I am really flagging when it comes to my personal motivation lately. I have a reading list the size of Mars and the end of summer is looming ALREADY and I can’t summon the energy to clean the apartment or empty my inbox or study or ANYTHING. I want to be successful, I want to buckle down and get stuff done. But right now I feel like I’m just watching the calendar pages floating away like they do on old Saturday morning cartoons and I just want to stop the clock for another five or six weeks. WHEW.

I just needed to get that out there into the universe. This weekend, I plan to clean the apartment until it squeaks. And then maybe that reading list will seem more manageable somehow. I just can’t think inside the mess.

Alright. Make me feel better. What helps you get re-motivated when you’re in a slump?

love, elizabeth

Girl Confessions

Alright, Sunday. I have a confession to make…I have been trying to write this blog post in my head since yesterday and stuff’s just not flowing like it should.

1. My to-do list keeps getting longer without ever getting shorter. This does not speak well of my productivity or motivation.

2. Never watch Mad Men when you’re trying to fall asleep. Last night I dreamt about an ad campaign that combined perfume and eating by the pool that Betty Draper was somehow running. And then I turned into Betty Draper. Yeesh.

3. I’m nervous to be going home. I haven’t been back to Colorado since we moved out here and I am anxious about it. I’m nervous to see people. I want them to be proud of me, to think I’ve done well, that I haven’t let myself go or changed too much or not enough. I don’t know. It’s freaking me out a little.

4. I’m on a quest to like my hair again and trying really hard not to just be sad every time I look at how short it is. So I’m experimenting to find something to love about this haircut. Any tips?

5. I really need to be reading faster. My candidacy exam is going to be here faster than I can possibly imagine and I am so not ready.

6. My neighbor Melissa is moving to South Carolina in a few weeks and I am so freaking sad about that. I am reallyreallyreally going to miss her.

Also, she would be super mad if she knew I posted this picture. So…Melissa…if you’re reading this…hi.

7. I’ve had less desire to blog this month than normal. Maybe it’s the lack of stress I suddenly feel. Maybe it’s the lack of structure in my summer days. Maybe I’m feeling reluctant to be vulnerable lately. I’m looking for my spark. Maybe I’ll find it in Colorado somewhere.

So what’s your girl confession this week?

love, elizabeth

Dropping the Ball

You know that feeling…

Where you feel like you’ve been juggling a million things…but don’t remember which things exactly…

And you’re pretty sure you dropped the ball…

But you just aren’t sure which one…

Yeah. That feeling.

 

Hey, Monday…let’s do this.

love, elizabeth

Scary Stuff on the Internet

Yesterday, I saw this.

And this.

Photo credit

First of all, I am throwing my Neti Pot out. Right now. Bye-bye, irrigated sinuses! I’ll take that horrible cold over a brain-eating amoeba any day! I like my brain. I need my brain.

Secondly, I have a lot of important things to do today like scrubbing every inch of my house before my parents get here on Monday and mailing Christmas cards and making every last effort to decorate our apartment windows for the holiday decoration contest in our complex (judging is on Monday night – I’ve been scoping out the competition and it doesn’t look good for us, you guys…).

How is your Saturday? And THANK YOU for the blog recs! Expect a visit and a comment this weekend.

love, elizabeth

Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to do the laundry or not do the laundry

So here’s a question for the pondering…is “being productive” a by-product of productivity itself or the superpower whereby things actually get done? Think on it. Get back to me.

Anyway, today and tomorrow I need some of this “being productive” juice in my life. I give you…my to-do list. If it in any way scares you, well, be assured…it scares me, too.

Source: media.photobucket.com via Jaimee on Pinterest

To-Do (the hyphen makes it more serious)

1. Laundry

If anyone would like to commiserate with me about the horror of communal laundry rooms/laundromats, feel free. I found short black hairs ALL over all the washing machines when I went to start a load this morning. This is inexplicable. And gross.

2. Grocery-shopping

I have been putting this one off so that I could clip coupons. This is my first serious venture into the coupon-ing. It could get ugly. But I need to do it soon as there are about three edible things in my fridge and one of them is ketchup.

3. Paperwork/filing

This one boggles the mind. Seriously, HOW do I accumulate so many random things to be filled out, filed, stamped, mailed-in, returned, printed, and photo-copied?? I don’t understaaaaaaaaaaaaaand.

4. Donate to Goodwill

Kyle and I cleaned out our closets and storage pretty well this summer. And somehow all the donations pile has taken over our hallway and is just sitting there, mocking me. It needs to go.

5. Food bank donations

I have nothing snarky to say about this except that, while it was very nice of us to buy things for the food pantry like baby food and evaporated milk, it is not nearly as nice to leave it in the trunk of your car for a month. I’m sure all the food bank visitors will really be able to appreciate it there.

6. The dining-room

Notice the lack of verb. It’s because I don’t have one right now. Something is just WRONG and needs to be corrected. I’ll let you know when I figure out what.

7. Update day planner and wall calendar

My days and nights are about to get 1,548,972X more interesting (read: insane). This does not bode well for my Sharpie’s longevity.

8. Organize the pantry

I’ve recently discovered extra room to store canned food which is really good. In theory. Maybe this one deserves a post when I’m done.

9. Plan my curriculum for Wednesday nights

I’ll be teaching a little theatre class for 6-11 year-olds in the afterschool program at our church. Or I will if I actually get my act together. Get it. Act.

10. Enjoy Doppler 10 Chief Meteorologist Chris Bradley’s Columbus forecast: “Temperatures will rise into the 80s on Monday and Tuesday before a strong cold front brings fall-like weather.”

Chris Bradley, has anyone ever told you how handsome and distinguished that blue screen makes you look?

 

Source: None via Elizabeth on Pinterest

 

I realize that this is riveting reading so you’re if still awake, lay it on me! What’s on your to-do list?

love, elizabeth

PS: Stay posted for giveaway news. Um, yeah. It’s going to be magical.