Work, Play and Accountability

I’m finding that I’m not getting the things done this summer that I wanted to do. No surprise there. My past summers have been spent mostly blogging, checking social media and getting to the beach more than once. My kids have been free to sleep late, watch TV and get together with their friends. This summer is just so different.

I haven’t been blogging as much as I’d like to. Work takes over a lot of my day (not that I’m complaining, I love what I do), but when I do have free time, I find that I want to run around and spend time with the kids, do some home projects, or just relax. At night, when I crawl into bed, I’ve made it a goal to read more. Even if it’s just half a chapter, I hate that I’ve become book-lazy when it’s something I enjoy so much.

So blogging takes a back seat. And I’ve certainly learned a few things from that.

1. I love to write. I miss it, I really do. I can think up posts in my head all day long, but they never seem to get down on WordPress. Maybe a voice program where I can just talk my post and it automatically writes it for you would be a good idea. A friend mentioned she skipped out on work one day just so she could stay home and write all day. Yes… I think I would like that.

2. My blog needs a serious re-design. I’ve been complaining about that one for the last year or two. It’s the designer in me that gets bored easily with the same space. I want something completely different that what I have. What’s stopping me? The fear of really screwing it all up. And the fact that I’m cheap and don’t want to pay for it.

3. I have always been a Lifestyle blogger (I write about anything and everything) and while I don’t ever want to change that, there are certain directions I feel compelled to go it. I need to take the leap.

I’ve also been stressing over our living arrangements. We’ve been in our house longer than I’ve ever lived anywhere else - 15 years. I’ve outgrown it - physically and emotionally. I’m ready for a big change… but that probably won’t come for several more years. So, in the absence of a new home, I’m on a mission to make this home more manageable and I want to write about the process. The plans so far are:

1. Redo the master bathroom. We’ve talked about this for years and haven’t gotten off our lazy butts to do it. We are going to replace the vanity, add glass doors to the tub/shower and replace the closet doors. And repaint. And hopefully not screw up the tiled floor so we have to replace that too.

2. Kitchen. Our kitchen is outdated, falling apart and just plain icky. It’s way too small for a family of 5 who tend to cook every single day. While there isn’t anything I can do about adding more room on, I’m finally going to tackle painting the cabinets and de-cluttering 15 years worth of mixed matched plates, cups, mugs and pots & pans.

3. Bedrooms. I have to finish painting Temera’s room (which I started months ago) and touch up paint in Amanda’s and Lauryn’s room. My kids are HARD on their spaces. Then I need to figure out a way to get them all organized because if I have to see clothes and books and toys on the floor one more time I’m gong to lose my mind. Our house has NO storage whatsoever. Time for a trip to Ikea.

4. Outdoors. We so need to clean up our backyard. I think it’s time to take the play set down. The kids haven’t played with it in a year and it’s taking up precious backyard space. I’d also like to finally (maybe?) level off the yard since it’s kind of sloping and that’s not good when it rains. If it rains. Will it ever rain again???

Yep… I do this every summer. I list my projects and then nothing gets done. So I’m going to try my best in the next month that the kids are still home, to at least tackled a few things. Okay, I’d be thrilled with accomplishing at least ONE thing.