Slowing Down a Bit

I've gotten to the point where I really don't like to go places much. Maybe it's the traffic or the crowds. Maybe it's the price of gas. Maybe it's getting older. Maybe it's that our "busy days" are so long and so busy, they absolutely wear me out. Maybe it's a combination of some or all of it. I don't know why really, but I know I'm ready to slow down our weekly trips into Mesquite/Garland.

I checked the Forney library yesterday to see if it's comparable to our favorite library in Garland. It's not. Not by any means. There are two rows of books for elementary/junior high students: one row of non-fiction and one row of fiction. Still, I talked with the librarian about the possibility of getting a library card, but since we don't live inside the Forney school district, we'd have to drive out to our district, get a card from there, then get a TEX-Share Card so we can get things from other libraries in other places.

I was thinking about skipping it altogether, but Billy came up with a good idea. Get the cards through Crandall, then check the elementary school around the corner from us and see if we could use their library from time to time. It's worth a try! They'd have all the books we'd need, and they're literally right around the corner from us. I think we'll look into that next week. If they say yes, great. If they say no, that's fine, too. We don't always make it to the library each week anyway.

The other issue deals with grocery shopping. I love shopping at ALDI. They have great products (mostly) at low prices - lower than Wal-Mart, even. I can usually get out of there with a week's worth of groceries for less than $70. Sometimes I go a little over that; more often I go under it. The things I'm not so wild about there are their white bread (stale from day 1) and their produce. Some of it's okay, but most of it is packaged in bulk (which I won't use in time) or looks a little . . . old. I end up having to stop by Wal-Mart or Brookshire's to pick up bread, apples, lettuce, bell pepper, etc. A lot of what I buy at ALDI keeps for a long time. Billy made another recommendation: Go to ALDI once every two or three weeks and get the things I need that will keep. The other weeks, go to the nearby Wal-Mart or Brookshire's to get the fresher stuff. Problem solved.

Now I just need to work out a schedule of when we're going where. We went earlier this week to the library, but we didn't stay long. It was mostly to drop off some books and pick up a few others. Now that we'll be going less often, I'll need to check the boys' school topics in advance and make sure to be prepared for two weeks at a time instead of one. I guess we'll start our limited in-town time after next week.

I'll also have to get back to more detailed menu planning so I can buy what I need at ALDI and only have to get the produce and more frequent staples on our "off" weeks from somewhere else.

So there's my plan to slow down a bit. I hope to get the details worked out over the next few weeks so that I can actually implement it soon.

Update: I realized this morning (Thursday, Dec. 15) that a lot of it probably has to do with the fact that there's nowhere I really want to go. If I wanted to go somewhere, I'd feel a lot different about it.

Multitasking Mama

A friend of mine recently blogged about taking a Monotasking Challenge. What? A monotasking challenge, where for one day (or hour) you put your complete focus on the tasks at hand, each in its own turn.

After reading that post, I started thinking about it. I thought a little about it while I played a game on my iPhone. I thought about it some more while I was loading the dishwasher after supper, between segments of The Biggest Loser. I thought about it even more while I was brushing my teeth and getting ready for bed. And it was still on my mind this morning while I was getting the boys' breakfast ready, putting on a load of laundry, and preparing their books for school.

I've been multitasking for so long, I don't know if I can monotask! I do know if I monotask in my rocking chair, I'll go to sleep. It happens every time. It's almost like I must keep my hands busy while my brain is busy (or pretending to be) or I'm not functioning.

Let's look at my average day:
*I pray (usually) while I shower.
*I read while I brush my teeth.
*I check my email while I make my bed.
*I read/answer emails while I scan news headlines on the Internet.
*I read in the mornings before the boys get up - between rounds of Words with Friends on my iPhone.
*While the boys are getting up, I'm fixing their breakfast, getting the day's laundry going, and putting away clean dishes that dried overnight. Between bites of my breakfast, I'm wiping the counter and getting the boys' school books ready for the day.
*While the boys are working on independent work, I load the dishwasher, keep the laundry on track, do any other chores, and help with any problems they have with their assignments. Then they play while I check their work and get their next subjects ready. This same pattern continues throughout the school day.
*After they've finished with their work, I sit down for a little while to rest and read or play a little on my iPhone. Then it's back to work on whatever is on the agenda for the day: vacuuming, sweeping/mopping, dusting, cleaning bathrooms, etc. All while that is going on, I'm thinking over what I'm blogging, what I'm reading, the next week's menu and grocery list, plans for the weekend, etc. I stop here and there to email someone or check Facebook or grab a quick snack or blog a bit (like now, while the boys' bathroom and entry are ready and waiting to be mopped).
*In the evenings, I cook supper and grade the boys' afternoon work or play a little Words with Friends. After supper, I usually watch something on TV while I clean the kitchen. I'll read while getting the boys rounded up for showers, homework, and bedtime.

And on and on and on. It's "normal".

I'm so tired when I go to bed at night that I usually drift off immediately - even if I ended up taking a nap sometime that afternoon. If I happen to wake during the night, I'll usually go back to sleep. But on those occasions when I just can't, I'll start thinking through my prayer list and praying for whoever comes to mind. Before long, I'm off in dreamland again. Too soon, it all begins again.

So, in contemplating Leslie's "Monotasking Challenge", I keep seeing where I could monotask, but I wonder if I'd ever get it all done. Then when I think about it a little more, I think how much a better job I'd be able to do if I would just focus on that one thing and not divide my attention.

I might take her up on her challenge. Not for a day just yet, but I think I could do it for an hour.

Now it's time to mop those floors while I think on this some more...

Still Around

I know my posts have been next to nothing this summer. I haven't given up blogging, nor have I melted into the pavement - though I thought I was going to melt in the library last week. Their A/C was broken. This summer has been sooooo busy I haven't had time to blog.

But now we're back in school and staying home most of the week. Yea!!!

I'll try to catch up on all our summer activities and post some pictures from things that went on, but right now it's time to wake the boys for day 2 of school.

We now return to our regularly scheduled programming.