4 (more or less) week plan

[Chicken lady]

So, working around the points of the year is really working for me. The next is imbolc, which is more or less 4 weeks, depending on wether you mark it at the astronomical point or traditional (St.) Brigid’s day.

my goals -

Home:
put away Christmas decorations
fill the 5 trash cans every week unless it takes more than an hour of sorting and organizing per can (I may run out of trash, and 5 hours a week is enough work)

Work:
turn in my class proposals for for next year (due Jan 15)
finish my 1st semester evaluations (Due Jan 28)
catch up on grading and get two weeks ahead (stretch goal) on lesson plans

Health
return to swimming 2x a week
do more yoga
plan and eat healthy food
make doctor’s appointment

garden/yard/barn
include these spaces in the trash hunt
plan and order plants and seeds

pottery
clean and organize studio during trash hunt
wedge every week
throw every week

there are other things I want to work on, but these are the core.

[Chicken lady]

I have had two successful trash pick ups of SIX cans or the equivalent (big black trash bag)
dh told me I didn’t have to start taking the Christmas decorations down until today (he knows I love Christmas decorations)

Made some progress on grading and had some conversations to help me choose which classes to include in my proposal

swam and did yoga as planned
ate a bunch of vegetables and snacked less, but didn’t do any actual meal planning

Cleaned up one area in the yard,
starting to see a difference in the animal barn

started cleaning and organizing studio

three more weeks.

[early morning]

Wow, you have accomplished a lot. I vaguely remember a time when I was organized and had lots of energy, but it's been quite a while ago. We've improved our eating habits, and I'm trying to address some sleep issues. I thought this would make me feel better, but so far, not so much. Not that I feel really bad, just not really good, either. Anyway, congrats on your goal-work. Working on new habits (or returning to them) can be difficult - for me, anyway!

[Chicken lady]

Two words - blood work.

it’s my new soap box since I can’t believe how big a difference one tiny iron pill a day makes in my life - or how long I let it go and how bad I let it get.

i was never organized. My father used to say the glory of a mispent youth was that middle age looks pretty good.

[Chicken lady]

Turned in my class proposals.

put away all the Christmas stuff from upstairs, bedrooms, bathrooms, dining porch, den, and kitchen.

still have a tree, a train, and a few outdoor decorations (we have 8 inches of snow - I am not setting up a ladder in 8 inches of snow to get three bows and a wreath off the top of the garage.)

i told dh I would clean up the tree and train tomorrow. He said I can just do the train and keep the tree until Saturday! I love this Christmas tree. It is 11’ tall and it has all of my ornaments on it at once, and it is just so pretty! January is so hard. It’s really sweet of him to let me keep my tree.

[Chicken lady]

Train us put away.
12 of 93 evaluations are done.
did a longer yoga session this morning.
made my Dr. appointment.

[Chicken lady]

3 yoga, including the longer one on Monday, 2 swim. Discussed adding a weekend yoga with dh but we haven’t figured out where it fits.

Got six cans up this week

have done 46 of the 93 evaluations

Most of what was in the cans came from the pottery studio area

that’s it for this week.

[Zoe Girl]

You always impress me, i am still writing my new years cards!

I did finish one hat, start a comission hat, am testing the pattern for the fingerless gloves by doing the second one and planning to teach a couple bours next sunday.

I also did the 2 hour board meeting and made a preliminary treasurer report. I should get a template of what we have used before to really follow up. Apparently in the chaos of the Santa Rosa fires some things were lost.

What i need to do today and tomorrow
10K steps for a challenge this week.
New years cards
Donor letters for the non proft
Dental appointment tomorrow

[nswef]

You two are moving ahead marvelously! I've been focused on writing activities but the house is not doing so well! computer desk is tidy and my goal today is to organize passwords....my bane of existence in the tech world. I did sign in to all the financial places to check up and make sure the password still works. Tax papers loom. But I did set it up last year and have maintained it, so it should go quickly. The big thing for me is I made phone calls to people I love and that I put off. My goal this year is to keep contact beyond email. Use the PHONE and TALK. So, we'll see how long it continues.

[Chicken lady]

Thanks Zoe Girl and nswef,

when i I look at that, I mostly see that I haven’t touched clay outside of class. That I haven’t done any menu panning. That i’m Still planning lessons at the last minute, and that evaluations would be a whole lot easier if I had kept up with grading.

The exercise is supposed to make me feel better and have more energy, but I feel like half the time it just makes me more tired.

i feel like I keep lowering my expectations and still not meeting them, and I can’t see much progress.

zoe girl, you work a lot more hours than I do.

nswef, it sounds to me like you gave your priorities in order.

[Teacher Terry]

You all are doing great. CL, you are always too hard on yourself.

[Yppej]

It’s really sweet of him to let me keep my tree.

It's your house too. Why wouldn't you be able to do what you want?

[Teacher Terry]

Because there are 2 of them so compromises are necessary. I wouldn’t want a tree up for 2 months. In any good relationship you have to compromise in order for both people to be happy. The tree staying up was a gift to her which is sweet.

[Yppej]

The way this reads though is that he has greater rights to what he wants than she does. Imagine Congress and the President agree to end the shutdown. Would you say one side is sweet and magnaminous for compromising?

[Chicken lady]

I had agreed to take it down.

you know, sort of like if you said you were going to sign a bill and then you didn’t?

[Teacher Terry]

I’d be happy if the government comprised and ended the shutdown. Marriage is not 50/50. Sometimes it’s 90/10 which is fine as long as the person getting 90 changes.

[Yppej]

I’d be happy if the government comprised

Were comprised of what?

[rosarugosa]

I’d be happy if the government comprised and ended the shutdown. Marriage is not 50/50. Sometimes it’s 90/10 which is fine as long as the person getting 90 changes.

Or as long as it isn't always the same partner who is getting the 90%. I think it is OK to take turns.

[Teacher Terry]

Compromised.

[early morning]

I hear you about the tree, CL. I love Christmas trees and really don't like taking them down, but we do try to get them out before they turn brown. I feel bereft for several days, and the living room looks very stark and empty (which it isn't - quite the opposite! :|(). I don't usually take down the lights on the porch until they start to fail, which is generally mid-spring. I do bring in Bob the Minion and change the santa wreath to something else - a heart, a plain grapevine wreath.... but I've not done that yet, and everything is covered in ice today - so sparkly and beautiful!! - so I'm not doing it today, either.

Seems to me you are accomplishing a lot, and many of those things take time - yoga, swimming, filling 5 trash cans weekly! You can't create more hours in a day. I know. I've tried, lol!

[Tybee]

CL, can others join in with 4 week plans? What week are you on?

[Chicken lady]

For sure!

um, week 3? My next astronomical point in the year is February 3rd, but st. Brigid’s/candlemasss is the 1st and Imbolc hits the 1st or 2nd this year depending on your longitude. So I will try to make my next plan some time that weekend. And it will be a 6-7 week plan to get me to the equinox. People with other rhythms or holidays are welcome to make shorter or longer ones (lent, Passover, Easter, calendar months, academic quarters....)

[Tybee]

Okay I will plan a sort plan and then join you around the atart of your next six week plan to the spring equinox

[Chicken lady]

The Christmas decorations are mostly put away. - there are 2 sets of lights in the house that are just white and always stay out at least until valentines. One stayed up all year last year. It’s around the ceiling of the dining porch- works for summer too.... and there are three outdoor bows that blew down into the mud and I want to see if I can clean them.

i only put up one can of trash this week, but I passed on 3.5 big bags of insulation. Dh said it was good progress.

class proposals and evaluations are done. I have 9 papers to grade from yesterday and have not done most of next week’s lesson plans yet.

we did an extra long yoga on Sunday and skipped Monday, regular on w/f, and I swam twice this week.
i also planned, cooked, and ate one healthy meal.

my dr. Appointment is Monday.

my yard has been pretty much under snow all week and I have barely thought about the garden. I cleaned up a small amount of barn stuff.

i cleaned off a small counter in the studio, but have not done any wedging or throwing. Today I signed up for a free continuing Ed workshop next weekend to try to jumpstart myself.

[mschrisgo2]

CL, your steady progress will get you the results you seek.
I know you are relieved to have class proposals and evaluations done.

Did you run out of trash, or you needed to spend that 5 hours on schoolwork?
Sounds like you got all the low hanging fruit/trash in the first 3 weeks. Good work!

[Chicken lady]

I did not run out of trash, but I ran out of areas that have a lot of trash, or easily accessible trash (for example - there are two more broken buckets in my garage, but there are plants in them. There is shredded black plastic in the yard, but it is covered in snow...)

and, I used the time for a lot of things, but it was the big increase in school load that really set me back. I could have given up swim time, or put off laundry, or spent less time reading... but I prioritized exercise and housework, and a chance to rest and recharge, so I only worked for about 1/2 hour. This week should be better. I’m hoping dh will work WITH me eventually. There are workshop areas that also need purging.

[Tybee]

Okay, here is my one week plan to get me to feb 1--then new plan to follow:

Finish organizing family letters and rebox in something plastic to guard against future mice.

Teaching: regular grading and teaching for two classes; revise one discussion board for future weeks, using available videos on youtube.

Shed organization: Take one box a day in from shed, cull through, repack with notes for possible movie.

Diet: substitute a protein shake for one meal a day.

[Chicken lady]

The bows are washed and put away.

only one can up again this week - it was too cold to go out to the barn during most of my available time. But today I used my snow day to work 4 hours and filled 2/3 of a can plus nearly as much recycling.

still have not done any clay work - my workshop is tomorrow.

i am caught up on grading and have lesson plans for half of next week. After tomorrow I expect to have lesson plans for all of next week.

Only two yogas and one swim this week because if weather and uncooperative dh. My bloodwork from the doctor came back good. I’ve been eating “what’s in the fridge” not bad, but not great.

no yard or barn work except getting firewood due to weather. No garden planning due to other focuses.

i have my workshop tomorrow and my heartgrandson all day Sunday, so I will post my new plan Sunday night or Monday morning. Anyone who wants to start a new thread before that, feel free!