The new 8 week plan

[Chicken lady]

So, the last 8 week plan was in organizing your life, but that forum is actually more “organizing your environment” so I moved up here.

8 weeks seems to be a pretty good chunk for me.

so, for the next 8 weeks, ending just before new year:

Work:
keep up with my classes and students, ideally getting a little ahead on lesson planning.
continue working on resolution of project I am pushing, but recognize that I do not have ultimate decision making control and therefor cannot make my desired outcome my goal. Only “do my best”

home:
clean and organize main living areas before winter holidays
plant fall bulbs asap (it is still warm enough)
get the barn in better shape for winter

Health and fitness:
continue yoga 3x a week except when travelling
swim twice a week on school weeks (6 of the 8 weeks)
make healthy food choices and not gain back the 3 lbs I have lost.

pottery
complete current class
have a successful fall sale - this hinges on really focusing the next two weeks in production and planning.
make work to use a credit I have for a particular type of firing before it expires (at the end of the 8 weeks)

Personal
decorate and bake for holidays at a reasonable level that I can enjoy, focusing on areas people care about:
pies for thanksgiving
fudge for the solstice/Christmas celebration with friends
more pie and some breakfast cakes for christmas
cutting and decorating a big tree
shopping for or making and wrapping a reasonable number of gifts for the kids and hopefully finding one cool thing for dh.
shopping for angel tree kids
remember to relax and enjoy time off with family and friends

i have three dates with dh and a party scheduled.
i am going to cut back on the foodbank (going Monday but making no further promises - they get lots of help this time of year and I know I can’t go on the 12th because I have to drive dh to a medical procedure and I will be exhausted on the 19th.)

I had some more thoughts, but reading that, that is enough!

[Zoe Girl]

Okay that is a lot, but I realize it is for 8 weeks. I used to do more of that, post brain meltdown I am finding that I feel a pressure in my head when I push too much and I get an immediate sense of what is too much. It is good but a huge change for me.

Here is my basic list right now, not organized (too much stress to organize) but at least down on paper

Done yesterday
* coaching session over the phone
* run/walk
* rented a pick up, took my daughter to put futon bed in storage, bought new ikea bed, delivered it, returned truck and built bed with her
* ate noodles and co food
* bought melty beads to make a large celtic knotwork melty bead project

Today-ish
* announce closing of meditation group on FB
* run/walk
* clean up room!
* clean up car!!
* take out trash (in car we don't have trash pick up)
* find a new place to live
* lead a dharma phone call
* finish melty bead project (btw it looks great)
* work on handwriting my crochet patterns into one notebook


Week ish
* keep going to work
* adjust schedule to stay late and paint cabinet with chalkboard paint
* schedule staff trainings
* get parents to pay by Friday
* pack up crap
* sew curtains
* Sunday go to retreat center for work day
* oh yeah, have a birthday!
* cook my own food
* continue to find new place to live


I am feeling tired so I am going for a run, or working on melty beads

[mschrisgo2]

CL, initially looks like a long list, but in reading it, it seems very sane and balanced.
I don't see finishing of the addition on there, is it done, and I missed it? I remember DH was ordering wood trim, and you were without floor covering last holidays.

ZG, you didn't write as disorganized as you might have thought you would. You have short and long term projects, and it all sounds very reasonable.

Good luck to you both!

[Yppej]

In the next 8 weeks I want to:

Start regularly walking indoors. As it got cold I had slacked off exercising, but I have a three story house and can get a workout at home.

Get some contractors in to clear up a backlog of small projects. However, it can be hard to get someone to do little jobs in a strong economy. I will do my best.

Keep my head down at work. Explore new opportunities that may come my way, but I do not have the time or energy yet to seek them out, and no vacation time left for interviews. Most places will not do them after hours.

Get gifts for and celebrate multiple birthdays and Christmas, attend the company holiday party, and depending on the weather go on a short birthday trip.

Read lots of good books.

[Chicken lady]

Yay! I am happy to have company.

Mschrisgo2, the addition is not finished. The floor is in boxes in the barn. The window trim is partly up and partly on order. Right now dh is working (not very hard) on the covers for the ceiling beams. It will not be done this year. That is ok.

zoe girl, your list looks like a lot to me. But it is pretty organized. I am laughing that you are going for a run because you are tired. Remember you can not control the parents - only do your best.

yppej, I like your last goal!

i got a lot of pottery done today. Tomorrow is the last day I can do wheel work and have it done, and I need to finish my ornaments ASAP. Also tomorrow I will go to the food bank, and then not again until maybe December, but perhaps January.

[Zoe Girl]

zoe girl, your list looks like a lot to me. But it is pretty organized. I am laughing that you are going for a run because you are tired. Remember you can not control the parents - only do your best.


I just need them to pay or cut off childcare. I am doing well being firm on everything so far!

I even ate food I made today, a baked potato with brocolli and cheese, and lentil soup with toast. Okay a little tea with sugar and a piece of chocolate also. Packed 2 boxes and got a special bag for all my hair stuff to make it easy to move, or live out of a suitcase if I want.

[Chicken lady]

Zoe, cutting off childcare would be hard for me! Good luck.

Told the food bank I would be gone for a while and met my goals on pottery yesterday.

Meeting on the work project today also pulling my pottery from a local store for a few weeks - sales are non existent and I want the inventory for the pottery fair. May take some stuff back after.

yoga yesterday, swimming today

house is slowly getting worse, so I need to set a little time aside for that. Dh cooked and cleaned up the kitchen last night.

i have been fasting during daylight this week, which has been a bit of a distraction, but also bumped my weight down. I don’t know if the loss will stay when I go back to normal eating patterns. I do know that I am not tempted to snack when I am working in the studio, so I need to respond to the urge to snack as a reminder to go work in the studio! That would be a great place to recover some of the time I can’t seem to find to get my work done. Any weight loss would be a bonus.

[Chicken lady]

I think I am going to skip my class this morning. The project we are working on today is not high on my priority list, and I am falling behind. The key will be to focus on producing work at home and getting my class stuff in really good shape for tomorrow, rather than dribbling the time away on whatever catches my eye.

A key obstructionist (I mean player - insert rolling eyes) in the work project cancelled the meeting on Tuesday and wanted to reschedule for today, but I said no. His concern is that I “have my facts wrong.” I asked that he please send me an email with the correct information. The facts are independently verifiable, so I will simply call and verify his facts before the next meeting. If needed I can get the truth in writing from the agency in question. I am not going into work early so that he can tell me i’m Wrong in person.

i picked up my pottery. I want to continue my relationship with the store, but there are significant pricing issues. One of them is that a co-owner of the store is mixing in used items as her own personal tag sale - so my hand-thrown bowl is competing with her fiesta ware bowl and hers is $4. Many of the crafters are also underpricing their work. It makes me grateful for Ben who runs our fall and spring sales. He says “you should have ONE $5 item. (One product, not one piece) if you have anything priced less than $5, I need to see it.” Last year he made a vendor put away a box of work that he was trying to sell for $1 each because the glaze color turned out odd. Ben told him “these require the same amount of work as the ones you like. When you put them out, you are undervaluing the work and talent of every vendor here. Have your clearance sale somewhere else, or reglaze them and charge what they are worth.” He ok’ed some $2 items from another vendor because they agreed that she could easily turn out 8-10 of them in an hour.

keeping up with exercise.

[Yppej]

One week in and I am walking indoors on weekends, need to add weekdays.

Struck out with three different plumbers, so DS and I are switching gears and will try an electrician next. When people first turn the heat on for the season and discover problems with their furnaces plumbers get swamped. Hopefully things will calm down later.

I have a call with a recruiter after work but don't have any expectations. She is based in NH but occasionally has jobs in MA.

Got Christmas gifts for two people.

I am reading lots.

[Chicken lady]

Yppej, that sounds like a good start.

way to go on the walking! And the shopping.

you are doing the best you can with the things that are not in your control.

i am still doing “just in time” planning for my classes. But i bought some materials that should help with one of them. My project is in the hands of other people right now.

my home and barn are a mess. I did not get the bulbs planted and now it is too late. They will have to wait for spring.

exercise is going well, food choices are variable. I regained the fasting weight, but am still down the original 3 pounds.

i fired my kiln yesterday and am glazing work this weekend for my sale.

I found a gift idea for dil yesterday.

dh and I went out last night and had fun, but I am tired. Sleep is losing out lately, and I need to work on it, because I know it affects everything else. My biggest mistake s staying up and snacking when I am tired instead of going to bed, which I do because dh is not ready to go to bed.

[iris lilies]

Yppej, that sounds like a good start.

way to go on the walking! And the shopping.

you are doing the best you can with the things that are not in your control.

i am still doing “just in time” planning for my classes. But i bought some materials that should help with one of them. My project is in the hands of other people right now.

my home and barn are a mess. I did not get the bulbs planted and now it is too late. They will have to wait for spring.

exercise is going well, food choices are variable. I regained the fasting weight, but am still down the original 3 pounds.

i fired my kiln yesterday and am glazing work this weekend for my sale.

I found a gift idea for dil yesterday.

dh and I went out last night and had fun, but I am tired. Sleep is losing out lately, and I need to work on it, because I know it affects everything else. My biggest mistake s staying up and snacking when I am tired instead of going to bed, which I do because dh is not ready to go to bed.

why is It too late to plant bulbs? I am still planting alliums and lilies. My ground isn’t frozen is yours?

[Chicken lady]

Yes. If we get a “warm spell” I may still try, but the 10 day forecast doesn’t look good.

[Chicken lady]

My last glaze load for the sale this weekend is in the kiln. I broke an ornament this morning rushing because I was trying to fit too much in - getting the kiln loaded and through the first, interactive, phases of firing before I need to leave for class; getting the milking done in time to chill the milk in the freezer for an hour before I leave; making dh breakfast and packing his lunch before he left....

and when it happened, I told myself “stop. You have just wasted almost an hour of work. The road is covered in ice. Dh will probably go in late. Even if he doesn’t choose to, there is no universe in which it is a crisis if his breakfast is ten minutes late. Or he stops for a bagel, or he goes out to lunch. You can always give the milk to the chickens. You have plenty. You won’t miss it.” And then I made myself slow down and focus on loading each ornament until I was done.

i missed yoga on Monday because dh didn’t feel well and didn’t want to do it. The yoga routine is on his iPod and I literally have no idea how to hook it up to the stereo and find the right track. I need something I can access alone.

i am skipping swimming tonight because it is supposed to start snowing on the wet road during the evening commute.

But my weight is holding steady and my food choices are still ok.

[nswef]

Chicken Lady, I am proud of your "thoughts re set!" It's hard to do that in the middle of rushing, so you deserve a big pat on the back. I bet your husband will be happy to show you how to access the yoga. Seems like a smart move to skip the swimming...but I am very chicken about driving in the snow and now even the dark, so I fully understand skipping. How many ornaments did you make? Would you be willing to post some photos? I'm curious about them.

[lmerullo]

Maybe you can stream something, cl? See the frugal thread for my win - partially inspired by you!

[Chicken lady]

Yay Imerullo!

yoga that is free and low environmental impact - double win!

i made 30 ornaments. Last year I sold 24. They are flying pigs, which are a thing here. Pictures are hard for me and I do not have time to struggle with them right now. I’m sorry.

much might be about to change - there is a possibility that I am going to be able to help homeschool my heartgrandson. Life is full of interesting twists - there was a job I wanted and did not even get considered for, and I was upset. If I had gotten it, I would not be free for heartgrandson, so it might be a blessing. (Or, as my heartdaughter said “holy cow universe!”)

[Yppej]

On my fourth try I got a plumber to come out, but he didn't do one of the things I wanted. I hate dealing with contractors and so does DS. Probably I will push off other projects until the new year.

I haven't been walking but tomorrow I will be shoveling.

I have ideas for everyone now though I have not gotten around to buying all the gifts.

Spoke with a recruiter but she has nothing in my area.

At work I am trying to keep my head down but when the office bully, who knows the hours of my group, accosted me work papers in hand 15 minutes before starting time before I even got my jacket off I reminded her of my starting time.

I am still reading lots.

[Chicken lady]

Yppej, how are things going at work?

my project is currently at a standstill, but I told the person whose hands it is in now to let me know if and when I can do anything. Now I will totally stop thinking about it. I plan to get a little ahead on lesson plans over the break.

I am working on my barn and house today.

Skipped swimming once last week and yoga again this morning because we were both tired and not up for it - might try to fit it in tomorrow.

food choices are going well and my weight is down a bit.

I am a little behind on my pottery class and may not catch up.
I feel really good about my lead up to and execution of the sale. Sales were a little below what I hoped, but not bad - some things are out of my control. I already have good notes and plans for the next sale, and I unpacked my inventory neatly already.
next focus is work for my firing credit.

Started my Christmas shopping from other potters at the sale and have nice gifts for each of my girls.
heart- daughter and grandson came by to see me at the sale, and dd1 stopped in to help for an hour or so.
still have one more date with dh and a party on the social calendar.

i should know more about ❤️Gs (tired of typing that out, let’s see if the emoji works) by Wednesday, but at the moment it looks like I will have him all morning tu/Th and be responsible for math and language arts. Currently i’m Planning to cut the food bank out of my schedule to accommodate that.

[Teacher Terry]

My mom sold crafts and I always enjoyed helping her with the fairs. That’s great you will be teaching your HGS.

[Yppej]

Work is busy and the same person is occasionally hovering over me trying to micromanage me. I do not report to her and am getting better at ignoring her.

This year I am thinking I will forego the brownnosing group gifts to higher ups and only get things for people I genuinely like. The hoverer is the leader of the brownnosing group, so this may annoy her and get her to give me some space as rather than bothering me she runs around the office gossiping about me instead.

[Chicken lady]

So, I gained 4 lbs over thanksgiving at ds’s house. Did a little bit of lesson planning in the car. Another gathering with the girls tomorrow and today I am shopping, baking, cleaning up, and decorating.

[Yppej]

I am done with birthday gifts and have one Christmas gift still to get. I am thinking I will give a larger gift to my son and skip a stocking as that is a lot of shopping for small items to fill it up.

Every day I am not working I walk indoors.

The plumber came out. Next I need the furnace guy but I am waiting fir a better time for DS to be home.

[Chicken lady]

Reflecting on today.
i got up, did chores, unloaded the dishwasher, ran some laundry, and headed out shopping - driving the farm truck which has no suspension and steers like a boat for reasons involving one of my kids, two flat tires, and an electric car.
bank, to get money for farm sitter,
pottery studio to buy lots of treats for me and a couple for my class,
spice store to replenish spices
grocery store to buy food and wine
art fair I happened to stumble across on-line where I bought ddil a camel and was offered an artist in residence position and talked for far too long. (Not taking the position - requires a commitment from noon to 5 Saturday through Tuesday)

home, unloaded car, tired from stores and people and truck beating me half to death.

more laundry. Planted about 125 tulips (about a third of them?) in mud because we had a thaw and it is not raining.

Haven’t baked. Haven’t cleaned. Haven’t decorated. It is not even 6 yet, but it is now dark and I am dragging.

[Tammy]

The tulips alone are a day’s work

[mschrisgo2]

CL - Laundry, shopping, planting tulips- that's a lot!

How did your pottery sale turn out? Or is it upcoming still?

[Chicken lady]

The sale went well. I would have liked it to go just a little better, but overall - good. I have a lot of ideas for new things I want to try for the next one. I feel like i’m developing my “voice”. (Have thoughts about your crafting thread to share when my brain is more clear. - good luck. Have fun!)

just to be clear, I did not hand dig 125 little holes and carefully place each bulb. - I scooped up a shovel of mud, dropped in 3-5 bulbs, and slid the mud back off the shovel. - step to the left, repeat....

also, all the clean laundry is just piled in baskets and the nonperishables are still in the bags.

cleaned a little. Going to bed and baking and maybe decorating and/or cleaning tomorrow.

[iris lilies]

That is the only way to plants bulbs—in a group, in one hole dug by a shovel.

Those bulb planting devices are ineffective.

[Chicken lady]

Did a little cleaning and decorating yesterday.

most important, there was pie and cornbread.

dh just left and will be gone for work until late Thursday night. So I will be lonely, but for the next 4 days I have no food duties - simply take something out of the overly full fridge and eat it whenever I get hungry.

we did yoga again this morning and I noticed the reduced flexibility from skipping a week. I’m trying to come up with something for Wednesday. I might be able to just do as much of the routine as I remember without the music and instruction.

my Christmas shopping is about half done. Today is a home studio focused day.

[Teacher Terry]

You are a energizer bunny! When my husband is gone the first 2 days it’s nice to have the house to myself. After that I miss him everyday until he gets home.

[Gardnr]

You are a energizer bunny! When my husband is gone the first 2 days it’s nice to have the house to myself. After that I miss him everyday until he gets home.

Ditto. DH is flying out early Sunday for a work conference. I'll be super ready to see him when he returns Thursday night. I will however, thoroughly enjoy Sunday/Monday!

[Chicken lady]

So, dh is home, but we are not doing yoga because he injured his hand. I swam 2500 meters last night. I am swimming farther because it helps with the stress around d❤️Gs, whom I will not be tutoring for the foreseeable future.

my Pottery class got cancelled yesterday because my teacher hurt her back. I went over to d❤️D’s house, took out her trash, and washed some of her dishes (I have a key) her dishwasher is broken and it was something small I could do to lower her stress. I didn’t have time to get to the pots and pans though.

i have one more thanksgiving decoration to put away. I am still doing lesson plans at the last minute. Actually looking forward to the weekend this week, so today’s might not be very good. (Too much assessment related stuff I think.) I am usually excited about my day on teaching days.

[Yppej]

All birthdays are celebrated except mine. I will monitor the weather to see if I can go on a short trip. The holiday party was last night but I left early to avoid freezing rain. Last minute rooms were $400.00 a night, pure scalping.

[Chicken lady]

Holy cow Yppej!

My schedule is still shifting around because of the whole custody/school thing. I’ve pretty much been focused on my heartfamily. My eating hasn’t been great, but I have lost some weight mostly from the stress.

The thanksgiving decorations are put away and dh and I are going to get the Christmas tree this morning.

i have some extra cleaning up and organizing to do because I pulled everything off a shelf to take the shelf to d❤️Dd’s house to help organize there.

[Yppej]

All Christmas gifts are purchased now. I am checking long range forecasts for a possible birthday trip.

[Chicken lady]

I am sick. I can’t go to school. I hate it!
i am going to call in to my last class of the day to lead a discussion.
this was supposed to be a really fun week and I am missing everything - my classes, the party I wanted to go to tonight, baking (can’t bake for other people when you are sick) can’t even exercise - my head is stuffed up. wah, wah, wah.

the only good part is that nothing tastes good, so my weight is actually drifting down. Totally not worth it.

i am mostly cleaned up and decorated, but I may or may not get to do the last minute shopping dh and I had planned for tomorrow. I can wrap though - that is my afternoon - wash hands and wrap, lather rinse, repeat.

[Teacher Terry]

That’s terrible! Last year I got the flu really bad and spent 3 weeks in bed. I hope you are well quickly.

[Yppej]

Hope you are better soon.

[Yppej]

The government shutdown is impacting my desired trip to a national park. I am thinking of a Plan B.

[Chicken lady]

Oh dear Yppej, I hope things work out for you. :(

So, I am, done (?)
it has not been quite 8 weeks, but I made it through solstice. Being sick at the end of the year threw a huge wrench into things, but I got to enjoy a wonderful New Year/Christmas party with chosen family yesterday (at my house, everyone came knowing I was sick, and I just kept some distance and three of the “girls” took care of the cooking) of course, I am now completely exhausted.

how It went

Work:
keep up with my classes and students, ideally getting a little ahead on lesson planning. - kept up, did not get ahead
continue working on resolution of project I am pushing, but recognize that I do not have ultimate decision making control and therefor cannot make my desired outcome my goal. Only “do my best” - this May be dead due the politics and egos, I have stopped putting energy into it.

home:
clean and organize main living areas before winter holidays - came really close
plant fall bulbs asap (it is still warm enough) - planted some.
get the barn in better shape for winter - barn is horrible

Health and fitness:
continue yoga 3x a week except when travelling - I thought doing yoga with dh would make me more likely to do it, but it turns out relying on dh makes it less likely. Still did ok.
swim twice a week on school weeks (6 of the 8 weeks) - almost made it, but I got sick
make healthy food choices and not gain back the 3 lbs I have lost. - lost even more weight from being sick, currently struggling to eat anything. (I’m not sick to my stomach, but everything tastes bad, I have no appetite, and I ate so little for so many days that now my stomach hurts when I eat.)

pottery
complete current class - done
have a successful fall sale - this hinges on really focusing the next two weeks in production and planning. - sale was good.
make work to use a credit I have for a particular type of firing before it expires (at the end of the 8 weeks)- let this go.

Personal
decorate and bake for holidays at a reasonable level that I can enjoy, focusing on areas people care about:
pies for thanksgiving - done
fudge for the solstice/Christmas celebration with friends - daughter made fudge
more pie and some breakfast cakes for christmas - nobody wants me cooking
cutting and decorating a big tree - done and really enjoyed.
shopping for or making and wrapping a reasonable number of gifts for the kids and hopefully finding one cool thing for dh. - doneexcept the wrapping
shopping for angel tree kids - skipped it and used the toy drop barrel this year
remember to relax and enjoy time off with family and friends - my focus for the next 8 days.

i have three dates with dh and a party scheduled. - enjoyed all
i am going to cut back on the foodbank (going Monday but making no further promises - they get lots of help this time of year and I know I can’t go on the 12th because I have to drive dh to a medical procedure and I will be exhausted on the 19th.) - leaving the food bank for now.

i will replan in 2019.

[Teacher Terry]

Y, sorry that your plans are not working out. I hope you find something else fun to do. We have plans on the 24,25 and 27th so looking forward to it.

[mschrisgo2]

CL, you did really well with your plan, in spite of being sick. Congratulations!