Last week, Michelle at Scrapability wrote an entry on her organizational attempts and Tara Whitney had a post on not being able to remember things. Lately I feel as if I have been floating along with the current, no control. I thought to myself," I really need to grab hold if I wanted to enjoy the Holidays with out an anxiety attack."
After failing year after year, trying to be prepared for the Holidays, I have challenged myself once more to this "Do or Die" situation. I reviewed the regular sites like Flyday and Organized Home and there programs. Each has it's pros and cons and Flylady's program seems to be the most doable.
I have also dusted off my Pocket PC to be "Holiday Plan Central". I have brought my Dell Axim back to life for it's the ability to set alarms and reminders for myself. I need constant reminding, even if it's only a reminder to look at my lists everyday. I have aptly named my PPC "MY BRAINS". My real ones slip up on me from time to time. Some people say it is because I have to much in it and it just cuts out on things no matter the importance.
My Goals:
1) A CLEAN HOLIDAY HOUSE
*A Clean Holiday House: A house clean enough for visitors to come inside, not just visit on the porch. A house where my face would not be stuck with horror trying to remember if the bathroom was picked up if someone asks to use it.
There is a list template at the List Pro website for free download similar to the Flylady's Routines. Most all of my list are going to be in List Pro so that I will be able to edit them on the computer or my PPC.
2) A PREPARED KITCHEN
*Clean out Kitchen and cupboards. Discard unused appliances and food items that are just taking up space. Here comes the Flylady's routines and 27 Flings. I have resubscribed to the email list for more reminder support.
*A Stocked Pantry: Last night I picked up Rachel Ray's new magazine: Everday with Rachel Ray . They have an article "The Every Day Kitchen" which has a compiled list of "52 basic startup ingredients". The list seems to follow pretty closely with what we eat so I am going to put the list in List Pro to be synced with my Pocket PC.
3) A CHRISTMAS THAT WILL NOT BREAK THE BANK
*Follow and track a Budget: I do not want to guess weather I will make the bills or wonder if I will have enough money to buy presents at last minute. The budget will go on an Excel spreadsheet until I can get my Pocket Quicken to work.
*Christmas Gift List: On List Pro, I have a list of people and the gifts with notes that could be added. It will even keep a running total on the money spent on gifts. There is a column for the hiding places and check boxes for being wrapped.
4) MAINTAIN A CHEERFUL, PEACEFUL MIND
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*Keep a Calendar. I have reloaded Agenda Fusion on my Dell Axim in order to keep every ones's schedule including my own on track. Plus I can set this up color coded and use great little icons for each member of the family. I have to have something that will keep my attention.
*Keep a To Do List. Make sure those To do's are scheduled in Agenda Fusion with alarms to remind me of them before it is too late. Add hints from other resources as I come across them. Sophia (http://sophiacorbridge.typepad.com/sentimentsbysophia/) has posted an entry on her blog a description of her Holiday Planner with lots of tips I want to include in my Holiday Planner
*Keep a list of traditions that we have and a list of traditions I would like to try. I also have a column here for notes to keep for scrapbook journaling I might want to include on my digital pages.
*Keep reference lists: A checklist of what I need in my photography bag, a list of what I need in my car at all times, a list of what should be in my pocket book, etc.
This is a tall order and it's not going to happen over night. But if I work from my list a little each day I should be able to accomplish enough to enjoy the Holidays and keep the real reason for the Season in my heart.
(8:30pm I am publishing this thru The Journal program with pictures to see if it works)
(9:20pm OK, the pictures didn't post with the words and the links are printed, so I have went back thru Typepad and uploaded the pictures and re loaded the links. I guess you can't have it all but atleast I do have all my text backedup on my computer with the pictures.)