The work week was exciting and my new co-workers are amazing - but it was busy and I find myself attempting, once again, the balance of work in an office and life. It's not going very well. My first day of work, we ate dinner around 9:30 p.m. and I forgot to feed the dog.
But I know it will get better. And I know I will be happier.
In the meantime, I've become the kind of person that lives for the weekend (so that I can catch up on everything else in my life). This weekend was busy, busy, busy! On the plus side: it included dog grooming, some house cleaning (changing bed linens and cleaning the bedroom and kitchen), patio furniture washing, patio and driveway sweeping, book-keeping for my husband's business, book-keeping for my business, laundry, breakfast at IHOP, trips to Lowe's and a local nursery, and massive amounts of outdoor landscaping (done mostly by my husband as I did all of the aforementioned cleaning/financial tasks, but I helped a little). I had many more thinsg on my "to do" list, but I'm beginning to realize that I was optimistic in my thoughts.
I'm thrilled about the the outdoor work - we now have a vegetable garden that includes tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes, bell peppers, spaghetti squash, cucumbers and various jalapenos.
And we removed a crazy-ass bunch of weeds from one of our side-flower beds (ironically, the only bed that cannot be seen from the curb) and landscaped it with perennials.
Step 1 - find a cleaning person!
Congrats on the new job! I am sure you will fall into a routine and it will make everything a lot better/easier :)
ReplyDelete1. Crock pot.
ReplyDelete2. Do stuff when you get home from work before you sit down to relax. At least for me, once I sit down, it's really hard to get back up and do anything before bed.
Congrats on the job.
ReplyDeleteI love that you have room to garden like that now. I have no place that gets enough sunlight to have a full bed. (sigh)
We're planting a garden this year too! Yours looks great! Hope things start getting a little easier this week!
ReplyDeleteWow. My one-and-only suggestion, sad as it may be, is to set the bar lower. There is only a finite number of hours in each week, and when you have to devote a significant portion of them to work, it's easy to fill up the rest with things that "must" or "should" be done.
ReplyDeleteFor me, I find that I am not very happy if I don't set aside time to relax (reading, movies, spending time with our doggies) and to spend time with my husband and friends. Perhaps not the best use of time, but these things keep me sane. ;-)
So if doing things that bring you joy mean household tasks must wait. . . so be it.
P.S. Our yard is all desert-landscaped, but I really want to get a big planter and plant some spring flowers. Your garden looks great!
Congrats on the new job, but man I hate the 9-5 life!
ReplyDeleteSome things I've slowly learned, do one cleaning task before bed... for example I will clear off and wipe the bathroom counter, or dust the coffee table, then the next morning, even if the rest of the house is tidy, I'll at least have one clean place to look and not feel overwhelmed.
2) Always clean up immediately after eating, for the first 3+ years of our relationship the PBF would cook and then we'd watch TV or walk the dogs, leaving the kitchen a mess and dirty dishes everywhere, and then you don't want to clean it up later. The best habit I've formed in the last year is to get up immediately from the table and clean the kitchen before doing anything else.
3) learn to live with a little mess, and learn to rotate cleaning tasks. my house doesn't get cleaned everyday, but you can bet every other Saturday I'm moping floors or doing landry, or whatever else gets done... during the week I just try to keep it liveable
And finally don't bring work home, in our society with laptops and black berries it is so easy to get caught up in being constantly available to work, so set those boundaries now... sure there will be times when things are urgent and you have to work late, but those are EXCEPTIONS.... be willing to stay late and help out once in a while, but that you won't be available 24/7 because your life needs balance...
Congrats on the new job! I've been so out of the loop on twitter and on blogs - I'm so happy for you!
ReplyDeleteI had to do the transition, too, when Steve lost his job and I gained mine. I wish I had infinite advice, but I'm still struggling with a messy house and dinner at 9. I do recommend a crock pot though!
CONGRATS! So exciting, and I'm sure busy for you! Your yard looks great - ours is a vast landscape of dirt and rocks with some cactus and scrub thrown in.
ReplyDeleteAs for adjusting to 9-5...I agree with many about the 'lower bar' - at least for day to day (i.e. the clutter of mail on our kitchen bar). We do better when we start dinner immediately after work rather then sitting down to "relax". We also split chores, I cook while hubs walks the dog and he'll do the dishes afterward. We concentrate on keeping the kitchen and bathroom clean and save deeper cleaning for ..well, when people visit!
Congratulations! That's great!! I've never been good at the balancing act--well, that's not true, for like 6 months I was then my job went to hell and so did everything else. Anyways! I'm no help, but, love the flower bed and the vegetable garden--I wish we had room for that--I would love to grow my own veggies!
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the job! I am sure you will ease into it in no time, just give it time.
ReplyDeleteHello~Nice to meet you~..................................................
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the job! I like what S said about setting the bar lower. I've been trying to do that myself. There are only so many hours in a day.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I'm not a morning person so I find it helps to do as much as I can the night before. Making coffee, packing my lunch, and choosing my clothes.
It does also help to get a few things done as soon as I get home. Also, I try (key word being try) to meal plan so i have an idea of what to cook. And, I leave reminder notes. For example I have a sticky on the fridge to take out some chicken to thaw for tomorrow's dinner. Otherwise tomorrow I'll be upset that I forgot and we'll end up with take out.
Let us know if you find any other great tips...
CONGRATS on the job... I haven't checked in a while, but I still read you (just through a feed reader!) I have plenty of tips on how to transition back to a 9-5 job, as I just went through this in 2009/2010... I still don't have it totally figured out, but I can give you a few tips. Email me!
ReplyDeleteTAHNKS FOR YOUR SHARING~~~VERY NICE.................................................
ReplyDelete只有尋常才幹，但具有不尋常恆心的人，一切皆可獲取..............................
ReplyDeleteHey stranger! I hope things are going well with the new job and the doggy! If you're working downtown and ever want to get together for lunch let me know. I'm right by the Capitol.
ReplyDelete辛苦了！祝你愈來愈好！........................................
ReplyDeleteSending you a smile and hopes the new job is going well, your mother is doing fine, and everything is just crazy busy.
ReplyDeletetp
pleasure to find such a good artical! please keep update!!.............................................
ReplyDelete能付出愛心就是福；能消除煩惱就是慧。........................................
ReplyDeleteOK, so I'm in trouble for not keeping up, bout you are DEFINITELY in trouble for not keeping me posted on the new job! A VERY belated congratulations!!!! I miss you!
ReplyDelete