planning Archives - The Mom Maven

Goals for December 2015

cindy — Tue, 01 Dec 2015 19:00:07 +0000

November didn’t go at all as I had planned it. I didn’t plan on my dad spending 9 days in the hospital. I didn’t plan on my dad passing away on November 17th and I didn’t plan on having his memorial service on the 20th. I didn’t plan to spend Thanksgiving without my dad or to skip our annual tradition of Black Friday shopping and our daddy-daughter breakfast date. I didn’t plan any of it. I do know that God had it planned, and as hard as it is to accept sometimes, I rest in the fact that daddy’s name was written in the Lamb’s Book of Life and he is now breathing freely again in heaven.

I almost didn’t write this post because I missed most of my goals for November but, I made a commitment to myself to document my goals, successes and failures for a year so, here it is.

Review of November Goals

Business

Pageviews to 15,000 and uniques to 13,000. I don’t know how, but I did it! Pageviews 18,762 and Uniques 16,254. My best month this year!
Book 3 vacations. It’s not too late to plan a Cruise or Disney vacation for the holidays!-I quoted a few vacations but no one booked
Sign 2 new Plexus Ambassadors and find 5 new customers.-nothing

Personal

Walk 5000 steps a day. I’m doing a 21 day walking challenge with Leslie Sansone’s Walk at Home program.-Nope
Drink 100 oz of water a day.-no
Lose 5 pounds-I haven’t gotten on the scale.

Spiritual

Work through Good or God?: Why Good Without God Isn’t Enough by John Bevere. This may take more than a month.-I haven’t started this book yet.

Household

Menu plan-Already done!
Daily Chores-I’m trying a new way to organize these.-New plan didn’t work
Decorate for Christmas the week before Thanksgiving!-Didn’t get done

December 2015 Goals

Business

Pageviews to 20,000 and uniques to 18,000.
Book 3 vacations. It’s time to plan your spring getaway!
Sign 2 new Plexus Ambassadors and find 5 new customers.

Personal

Walk 5000 steps a day.
Drink 100 oz of water a day.
Lose 5 pounds

Spiritual

31 Day Christmas Scripture Writing Plan
Advent/Christmas Devotionals on the YouVersion App

Household

Menu plan-Already done!
Daily Chores-Trying a 3 a day method this month

I’m praying December goes a little more as I have it planned than November did. If you blog your goals, please add your post to our linky!

An InLinkz Link-up

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Vacation Preparation

cindy — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 21:43:20 +0000

I have been home from Izeafest for 4 days and in less than 2 days I leave on a 5 night cruise with my husband. I don’t usually have the opportunity to travel much so this tight schedule could cause a lot of stress if I wasn’t organized. So, how do I organize for a trip like this? Lists!

This trip is different from any we’ve ever taken because the kids are going to be staying at different places while we are gone and this adds on more to the organizational end of the trip preparation. Saturday and Sunday the boys will be staying with Nana & PopPop. They will ferry them to all of their Sunday church activities. Monday morning when Nana takes the boys to homeschool bowling, Jordan will have all of his things with him because he is spending Monday-Thursday at his best friend’s house. Aaron will leave from bowling as he does every Monday and got to SCF for his dual enrollment classes. On Monday & Wednesday his best friend drives him to and from classes but Nana or PopPop will be playing taxi on Tuesday and Thursday. Aaron will be spending the entire week with Nana & PopPop. Add to this the fact that both boys have an Economics class at church on Tuesday and rehearsals at church on Wednesday night, it is getting busy. Oh, and I forgot to mention that Jordan takes the PSAT Wednesday morning too-I hope he remembers his #2 pencils! Thankfully the boys are each packing for themselves and each will have a key to the house in case they need anything.

Ok, now that the kids are taken care of I need to organize clothes for daytime, shore excursions and dressy evening clothes for my husband and I. We also need to pack all of the toiletries, make-up and medicine e may need. I have learned that it is best to pack in outfits so I have a list with each outfit, accesories, undergarments and shoes all listed so that nothing will be forgotten. Once this list is comlpete then I go over it to see where some things can be condensed. Do I really need 3 pr of Crocs, 1 pr black heels, 1 pr Teva and 1 pr brown flats? Umm, yes. Ok that was a bad example but you get the idea.

Packing for my husband is a whole ordeal in itself so he gets his own list. I create the list and then I have him approve/edit the list and then we work together to get his stuff packed.

Whew! All that work just to go and relax! Yes, but it is worth it. I know how expensive things are on a cruise so I don’t want to be caught mising an important part of an outfit and having to purchase something on board.

I am so excited to have this opportunity to get away with my husband and relax. I will try to post a few times from the ship but Internest access is expensive so I’ll do what I can.

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Thrive Throughout the Christmas Crunch

Cindy — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 20:46:00 +0000

There are two and a half weeks until Christmas. This is crunch time. The calendar is full with parties, rehearsals and activities. How to we get it all done, enjoy the holiday season and continue with our normal responsibilities as well? It isn’t easy-but it can be done. I am currently using a few different organizational tools to keep me on track. I am using Google calendar for my main calendar, I’ve even created sub-calendars for my husband and the boys (now if they would just use them). I am also using a service called Remember the Milk. It is a free online task prioritizing and reminder service.

Here are some ideas to help your holiday planning go smoothly;

Plan your week in advance. I try to put all my know tasks for the week into RTM (Remember the Milk) on Sunday evening. Then I have the RTM widget that displays in my G-mail so I know what I need to do when. I schedule my blog posts, special activities and planning I need to do for upcoming events. So far, it is working.
Have a daily focus. I tend to work well my compartmentalizing things. Monday’s focus is Girlfriends Unlimited planning, Tuesday’s focus is Works of Wonder Planning etc. Now don’t get me wrong, there will be some tasks that don’t fit the main focus but have to be accomplished on a certain day and that is fine. I have always loved checking things off my to-do list so checking the “completed” box in RTM makes me feel good.
Keep the kiddos schedule as close to normal as possible. Children thrive in a scheduled environment. We know rigid scheduling is impossible to live with but keeping nap time, bed time and eating times as consistent aspossible-even while traveling and visiting relatives, will cut back on tantrums and cranky children adding to the holiday stress.
Allow yourself to take a time out. Watch a holiday movie with the family, read a holiday themed book, soak in the tub, breathe deep and relax for an hour or so. It is amazing how much more productive you will be when you get back to work.
Focus on the real reason for the season. Worship together as a family. Read Luke 2.
Make memories. My kids favorite Christmas presents have always been activities we do together not toys they play with for a week and then gets lost under the bed for 6 months. A few years ago we let our passes to Disney World lapse. The boys were 11 and 13 and all they wanted for Christmas was their Disney tickets back. When I asked them why, their answer was simple, “We like having fun as a family.”

I pray you thrive this Christmas season. When that stress starts creeping in, breath deep and thank God for his Son; born in a manger, died on a cross and saved me from my sins-the true meaning of this Christmas holiday, Love.

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