I use to have it all together....

I used to have it together. Well, what I mean, is  I used to have the time to get it together. Really.  But as I get older each day becomes  a precious commodity. I seem to find fragments of it here and there, but nothing sustainable. Most often I feel like I'm grabbing the loose ends and gathering it all up at the last possible moment. Can you relate?

Time has been slowly draining away for the past couple of years. But now it feels like a downpour. It really doesn't make sense to me because I thought that after my children left the home that I would have oodles of extra time.  Well, I have learned that just isn't so.

I remember my life when my oldest barely fit into his first pair of shoes. I had time then. Loads of it. Time enough to play ball with him.  I felt like time was going so slow.  Now he lives in the Middle East and I would love to be able to play ball with him. Now my youngest is growing up so fast and I am running just to keep up with her. Somewhere between the then and now, time melted away.

Do you ever get a brain cramp just from looking at your calendar? Can I possibly be the only one? Surely not. Surely I'm not the only one who wants to grab her family and fold them into the stillness of time. To shut out the crazy and soak in the calm. Surely that is you too.

So, what's to be done now? I wish I knew. Life is still life. Schedules must be kept and oh how I wish I could form a good carpool or two so I didn't feel like I was driving Kara all over the valley.  Homework still arrives daily and dinner must be fed. There is no getting around it all. Maybe that's my problem. I'm trying to weave around life. I'm spending all my energy chasing every corner and task, but never really catching up.

I believe the answer lies in the stillness. The one that rests in between the driving, the cooking, the errands and the list making. It resides there, just waiting to be found. What if we spend our energy finding those spots? What if we look for the quiet admist the noise? I'm guessing we just might find time again. At least a cherished portion of it.

I think I'll stop trying to get it together. Reality is, as soon as I do, it will all untangle again. Don't you agree? So, I think I'll try standing still for awhile. Not long, but long enough. Surely if I'm quiet and turn my eyes away from the calendar, I'll find time waiting. Mine for the taking.

Let's all be still. Then we can find time together...

Some organinzing pictures

In another blog post earlier I talked about how I had won some help with an organizing project with Ann.  What is so cool about organizing is once you get started you want to do the whole thing. One problem, or possibly positive thing about me is that once I start something I want to totally finish it all the way through.  I really get the bug.  I would probably make a really bad addict if given the opportunity because I almost become borderline obsessed, but if channeled the right way this can also be a good thing. 

One thing about my home is I have never been a messy person.  In fact I  can't stand clutter or having my home messy.  I really struggle with being too clean and cleaning too much that I could forget to stop and enjoy life. But my biggest problem was not having a home for everything.  And since I didn't have a home for everything my children didn't know where things go either so that the problem was just perpetuated.  Well it is now almost November and my home has still stayed organized.  This is the longest I have ever stayed organized.  Now, I don't spend as much time looking for things like I use to.  It has been great to have my home organized.

Craft closet on the main level.  This is just one side of it, but it is so functional.

Downstairs pantry.!  If you want more ideas on organizing my friend Ann's blog is one of the ones I follow!

Upstairs hall closet

Bedroom closet.  I love labeling everything.  It is highly addictive, so beware!!!

Menu Plan for Dinner

Sunday-Crock pot

Pot Roast/Turkey/Swiss Steak/ Flank Steak/Pepper Steak/Ham/Beef Brisket		Homemade Rolls		Peas Caesar Salad
Monday-Chicken Chapala/Chicken Alfredo/Lemon Chicken/Swiss Mushroom Chicken/Chicken Foil Dinners/Hawaiian Haystacks/Chicken Lasagna/ Chicken Parmesan/Orange Chicken/Chicken Cordon Blue/ Cream Cheese Chicken/Southern Fried Chicken/Cashew chicken		Muffins: Applesauce Pumpkin Blueberry Oatmeal		Broccoli/Cauliflower	FHE Treat
Tuesday-Easy Sloppy Joes/Swedish Meatballs/Impossible Pies/Meatloaf/Spaghetti/Turkey Roast/Hamburger Helper/ Tater Tot Casserole/Cheeseburgers Tacos		Biscuits		Mixed Stir Fry assortment or Asparagus	Pears
Wednesday-Soup Corn Chowder/Chicken Noodle Soup/Potato Cheese Soup/White Chili/Broccoli Cheese/Vegetable Beef/Stew/Taco/Clam Chowder/Minestrone/Tomato Bisque/Ham & Cheese/Canadian Cheese/ Beef &Bacon		Breadsticks		Raw veggies assortment w/dip Blue Cheese Salad
Thursday-Beef/Seafood Shepherd's Pie, Dinner on a Breadstick/ Lasagna/Beef Stroganoff/Beef Manicotti/ Halibut/Salmon/Fish Tacos/Cod/		Garlic French Bread		Green Beans Veggie Salad	Applesauce
Friday-Quick/Date Night (just for kids) Fish Sticks/Bagel bites/Pizza rolls/macaroni &cheese/pizza/chicken patties	French fries/Tater tots		Ice Cream
Saturday-Sandwiches/breakfast for dinner Pulled pork/Grilled Cheese/Ranch chicken wrapped/Pastrami Sandwiches/BLT/ Caesar salad wraps/ bakes submarines/ hash brown quiche/ham quiche/ stuffed French toast/omelets/ Crepes/ Eggs Benedict/Biscuits and gravy w/ sausage/	Buttered toast	Hash Browns	Popcorn

I taught a class about how to organize menu planning for a Relief Society Enrichment activity and I just wanted to put it on my blog so I can add it to my digital scrap book and so when I am old I won't forget. I am betting there is a chance I very well could! Doing it this way has made my life so much easier and I rarely ask the question at night, "What is for dinner?" I came up with this idea when I was living in Olympia, WA and I have tweaked it to what has worked for me. Since I have done it I have seen a lot of people do variations of it that have worked, my favorite being someone named something Ricks~~there goes my memory. I only did it because I was struggling with dinner and needed help and this was soooooo much easier than what I had been doing.
I really try to go to the grocery store only once a month for my big shopping trip in the beginning of the month and I save a lot of money because of that. I still go once a week for coupon specials and to get produce, but I don't go more than that except for great BARGAINS because I LOVE saving $$$$$ I have some categories where I don't have to make something the same for three solid months. So it gives us a lot of variety!!! Here is the menu for March below:

1. Pasta
2. International nights (Chinese, Mexican, German etc)
3. Vegetarian
4. Seafood
5. Try a new recipe night

March 2010
Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
	1Cream Cheese Chicken	2 Hamburger Helper	3 Chicken Noodle Soup	4 Shepherd's Pie	5 Fish Sticks	6 Pastrami Sandwiches
7 Flank Steak/Red Potatoes	8 Coby's Birthday Celebration	9 Tater tot Casserole	10 R.S Meeting Chicken Salad Croissant Sandwiches	11 Beef Manicotti	12 Bagel Bites	13 Biscuits and gravy
14 Swiss Steak	15Orange Chicken	16 Spaghetti	17 White Chili	18 Salmon	19 Pizza rolls	20 Stuffed French toast w/ hash browns
21 Pot Roast	22 Chicken Alfredo	23 Swedish Meatballs	24 Tomato Bisque	25 Fish tacos	26 Chicken Patty sandwiches	27 Grilled Cheese w/tomato
28 Turkey Breast	29 Parmesan Chicken	30 Sloppy Joes	31 Taco Soup