Happy last Monday of the decade! With Christmas and New Year’s Day falling on Wednesdays this year, the holiday weeks seem very long and less well-defined. It’s interesting how the way Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day fall on the calendar can make such a difference in how we perceive the holidays. I mentioned to David that since Thanksgiving was so late, it seems too soon to take down our Christmas tree. It feels like it’s barely been up. We often have it down by New Year’s Day, but this year I think we’ll keep it up until at least next weekend (unless I hit that moment where it HAS to come down because seeing it is making me melancholy).
We have almost nothing on our schedule this week and so I have only two big plans. First, get a lot of work done. Two, clear out a lot so I don’t have to take it into the new decade. I’ve already started on both, but here are my three goals for the week.
Goal 1 – Continue (and hopefully finish) cleaning out all the files in my office. I started on this yesterday and I was ruthless. My plan today (if we don’t lose our power from the snowstorm and wind) is to finish going through a pile of file folders on my desk and either throw each thing away or make a plan for how to use it on my website.
Goal 2 – Finalize my goal list for 2020. I don’t make resolutions because they don’t work. I make detailed lists of goals (personal and work) I can cross off because I need to see things crossed off to remain motivated. This works for me because when I’m tired, unmotivated, or uninspired, I can usually find something on the list that I want to get done and do it. So it helps me focus and do worthwhile tasks related to the big picture of my life goals and dreams rather than just turning on a video or something less worthwhile.
Goal 3 – Clean out the linen closet. It isn’t messy but actually quite organized. The thing I need to tackle is older sheets, blankets, mattress pads, etc. that we don’t use and will probably never use. In the past, we often had overnight visitors, but that almost never happens now. We sadly do not have a guest room which makes it very difficult to host people. I had mentioned in the forum about wanting to learn to make a braided rag rug out of sheets. I have a collection of older sheets in dark greens, whites, green and white check, green and white floral, pinks, and such that would harmonize really well. So I’m going to drag it all out and see what I should do with them. I have no plans of starting the rug. I simply want to decide what to do with all the extra bedding that just sits there.
So those are my ambitious goals. I truly love weeks like this that are wide open – no meetings, no plans, no homeschooling, etc.
What do you have planned this week – big or little? I hope you’ll share your three goals with us in the comments and then come back and let us know how it went in the Friday Follow-up post. If you need inspiration, check out the inspiration in The Simple Life Library as well as A Quiet Simple Life Planner & Guidebook.
Have a great day and week – however you are using it!
Delayed Blessings – Streams in the Desert
Hmmm….. My goals are going to be odd.
1. Organize our fabric. We do a movie marathon every New Year’s Eve, and I think I’m going to spend it folding fabric and getting it all put away as I watch the movies.
2. Get Christmas all cleaned up.
3. Get school planned for January.
Ticia,
Any good movies to recommend?
What is most of your fabric for? Clothing? Crafts? Quilting? Historical things?
Sallie
A little bit of everything. Some is from historical patterns I’ve done, others are from quilting, and others are just random clothes I’ve made or craft projects.
We do a movie marathon each year, and this year we watched the Firefly TV show and then the Serenity movie.
Previous years we watched Star Trek, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, we did a movie inspired by each kid.
I will be taking down the Christmas tree and all the decorations. We usually wait until after New years day to take everything down. We want to declutter. We are rat packers.
Marilyn
Hi Marilyn,
Good for you with the decluttering goals. I hope they go well and propel you forward!
Sallie
1) Deep clean my school room. This has been getting easier, but still not “cleaning itself” via routines. The kids are getting older, so maybe within the next 5 years we’ll get there.
2) Make definite plans to host a family for dinner, even if they don’t actually come this very week
3) We’re opening gifts gradually through the Christmas weeks, so my goal is to get each day’s gifts and wrappings put completely away without stifling my kids’ joy in their new things.
Hi Sarah,
I can’t remember how old your children are off the top of my head, but it does get easier with the picking up routines. Did you ever see this post I wrote? It might be helpful (or not!).
Sallie
My kids are 8, 6, and 3. So still very little, I have to keep reminding myself. The main problem is that I’m a very messy, creative, spontaneous person who likes having everything out so I don’t forget where it is. This style of “organizing” is not working well for me anymore (ha ha), and it’s been a long, slow struggle to change how I do things to make our home easier for everyone live together. Taking time each month to think back over what I’ve done well and not so well has helped make this not so overwhelming.
1. Spot cleaning of the rugs; the spots pre-date Christmas.
2. Get our utility closet back in order.
3. Move at least three big outdoor toys from the garage into basement storage.
Hi Peggy,
I’ve got a few little things to do that pre-date Christmas as well.
I like having the holidays as a built in excuse to not get to some things. LOL!
Sallie
My goals this week are to: 1) put away piles sitting around in my office. 2) make this new soup recipe I found online “Crack Chicken Noodle Soup” (by the way I abhor when they use the word “crack” in recipe titles…nothing innocent about crack cocaine) It has cream cheese and ranch dressing mix as some unique additions…3) I plan to really enjoy the week in my cozy zone….lots of reading to catch up on, Yankee candle mistletoe, lots of classical music and hymns and as many naps as I need <3
Your #3 sounds brilliant. We spent the morning making crafts, putting together a puzzle, and listening to my new choral sacred music CD. It was great.
Hi Kelly,
I agree with Sarah. Your #3 sounds lovely. One thing I came away with from the holiday season is David and I really need to take one week off. We generally work through the entire holiday season because of deadlines, work flow, etc. But it would be nice to have an actual week off.
Sallie
Happy Friday evening! I normally post this in the morning, but we had errands to run today so those came first. We had a few things to exchange, return, and so on from Christmas shopping and also needed to find some other items. Then when we got home I needed some time to decompress. LOL!
I admit I’m feeling rather sad about Christmas all being over before it felt like it ever began. We still have all of our decorations up. It just now seems like Christmas should be happening since we usually have our tree up for a much longer time before the actual day. My sense of seasonal flow is just all off. Sigh. There’s nothing that can be done about it, but this was one of those holiday seasons that just wasn’t very satisfying in many ways. And so life goes some years.
So on to the goals for this week. Mine were the following.
Goal 1 – Continue (and hopefully finish) cleaning out all the files in my office. Partially done. I prioritized the product creation David and I were working on this week since his other work was slow. We also get our taxes done next week so we need to get all that organized for when our tax preparer comes (a week earlier than I expected!).
Goal 2 – Finalize my goal list for 2020. Done.
Goal 3 – Clean out the linen closet. Not done or started. We opted to do other things while David was available. This one will get moved to next week since any time I have this weekend for such things will be given to putting the Christmas decorations away and cleaning the house afterwards.
And that’s how I did!
I was excited to stay on track with the goals I made for January – in clean eating, working out, studying Psalms (my focus for this year after a year in the Gospels), reading a book (not done with it, but about halfway through already), getting all my steps in, and putting together an at-home date. I’ve also returned to full time work (covering a maternity leave) after four years of being a stay at home wife/working from home, so to get up early, pack lunches, and get housework done in the cracks of time also felt like a big accomplishment!
Hi Bekah,
Congratulations on the teaching position! Just working and taking care of you family is a lot. Be gracious to yourself with whatever you can accomplish. Maybe try to set one tiny home or personal goal each week so you still feel like you have a little bit of that connection?
Sallie
Hello!
I agree with you.
This Christmas season came and went so quickly, and I too am sad it is over.
That said, I am ready for the calm and quiet that is January.
Always enjoy reading here, even if I am not good about commenting. : )
Hi BillieJo,
Good to see you! It looked like you had a lovely Christmas with your steadily expanding family. 🙂
Sallie
I made progress on all of mine! That’s a first.
I got 3/4 of the way through organizing the fabric.
We started putting away Christmas.
And January is mostly planned.
Considering how this week went, I did amazing!
Woo hoo! Those weeks that have a bit of flow are so satisfying!
Sallie
I did a much needed project that I had not planned to do, which was organize half of our bedroom..so I was pleased that I got that done. Clothes inbetween the closet clean and washing machine dirty tend to get hung over the cedar chest. (anyone else deal with this? ) They are in limbo so to speak…being worn a second time. I missed Christmas entirely. Did not decorate and didn’t have a meal. Hubby had to work. I didn’t mind this year, needed a break.
Kelly,
The older I’ve gotten, the more I realize that every Christmas is going to be different. There are too many variables regarding weather, health, money, other people, etc. There is nothing I can do about it and it can even be good if I keep the right perspective.
We have a couple of traditions that are just for the three of us that only depend on us. And our decorations are consistent because those have hardly changed in twenty plus years. Otherwise, it really does requiring adapting plans year to year.
Sallie
1) organized and cleaned the school room
2) made headway in setting a dinner date with friends. We have three possibilities, now to pick one and make it happen
3) continual Christmas straightening and fun family time. This went well.
Sarah,
Glad to hear your family fun time went well!
Sallie