Now that I’m back to blogging I’ve been thinking about doing a weekly post on my intentions for the coming week. It’s purely for my own benefit in hopes that if I actually sit down for ten minutes and think about what I want to make happen over the next seven days, I’m more likely to follow through. Ever since school started this year I’ve been such a disorganized and scatterbrained mess. I have way too many things I want to accomplish and no organized plan to help me reach all my goals. This is not the way life was supposed to be once my kids were in school full time! Maybe if I strive to start living my life with real intention I’ll actually get more done and be happier with my accomplishments, instead of always feeling like I’m not doing enough, not being enough.
This Week’s Biggest Goal: CHRISTMAS PREP
I’ve been reading a lot about the importance of doing Christmas prep throughout November so your time and mind are freed up to actually relax and enjoy the holiday season. Unfortunately, I didn’t do that great of a job preparing. But it’s not too late! I’ve been madly planning out Christmas gifts and online shopping. I fully intended on cutting back on gifts this year. There are just so many people we need to get presents for and after buying a house and going on two major vacations, things are a little tight this year. But gift giving is my main love language and it’s really hard to eliminate people from my gift list! So instead I’ve been trying really hard to focus on purchasing quality, unique, and special treasures for the people in my life. My goal was to be done Christmas shopping by December 1st. I THINK it might actually happen! I’m planning two shopping days this week at stores I don’t usually get a chance to go to to finalize my shopping lists.
Besides gifts, I want to take a good look at our December calendar and try to plan out special family times. A night to go look at lights, movie nights, maybe a concert or something. Oftentimes our nights and weekends are great bonding time for Greg and the boys while I’m always off in another room getting things done. Why are to do lists always never-ending?! I’m hoping I can force myself to slow down and make family memories that I’m actually included in this coming month.
I’m also hoping to organize a fun party or two. Last year I held a Favorite Things party with my friends that turned out to be a lot of fun. I’d like to do it again if I can get organized! I’m also contemplating a bigger open house style party. Our Christmas decorations look so nice in the new house that it’s starting to feel a little sad that all of our main Christmas gatherings are done elsewhere!
Second Priority: Christmas Annies
Once again I had the best of intentions for sewing up tons of Christmas dolls and here it is the end of November and I’ve barely begun. I hate that you always need to be well into the next holiday or season if you want to keep up with shopping demand. By mid December nobody will want Christmas Annies and I should be started on Valentine’s Day! I suppose I did do better this year than last with a batch of Christmas elves and a huge batch of ornaments. But I need to make other sized Christmas dolls before it’s too late. I’m hoping by the middle of the week I can get a good start on that. I’m also hoping this month I can start to really think of sewing as my DAY job. Do as much as I can while the boys are at school and then be done for the night. Way too often I fall into the habit of sewing for hours at night while I work on everything else during the day. But then, as mentioned earlier, I miss out on a lot of family time. I want to get a lot better about treating Heartstring Annie as my job and not my life.
Other Intentions
December 1st marks the start of our true Christmas season! Twinkle the Elf will be back with his usual bowl of powdered sugar donuts and hot chocolate. I also need to have the Advent calendar filled with treats by Thursday. We got it out the other day and Shepard asked me at least twenty times if I put the candy in yet.
I need to get back on track for my walking goal each day. This last week I’ve really fallen off the wagon. It’s hard to make time for long walks when there’s so much to do, places to be, and family members at home. But I want it to continue to be a priority in my life. Thursday night is also the start of another Drumfit session. I’m looking forward to another six weeks of drumming!
Meal Plans
Just for fun! Meal ideas for the week.
Sunday – Snack night. I bought a lot of fun snacky foods for when we set up the tree Friday, but we ended up just having leftovers and popcorn throughout the day.
Monday – Thai Pomegranate Enchiladas. If we have enough turkey leftover I’m going to use that in place of chicken. I love this recipe and don’t make it nearly enough. It’s just such an interesting and different flavor compared to the kinds of foods I usually make.
Tuesday – Pickle Chicken. I’ve never tried this recipe. But we all like chicken and we all like pickles, so might as well give it a go!
Wednesday – Pepperoni Calzones. I almost never make pepperoni pizza anymore because Shepard always wants buffalo pizza. But I have pepperoni and sauce that need to be used, so why not calzones?
Thursday – Easy night. Greg is going to be gone, so we’ll probably just have chicken nuggets or leftovers.
Friday – BBQ Pizza. With my Aunt Rhonda’s Sweet & Heat BBQ Sauce. Guys, this is like the most amazing bbq sauce to combine with cheese. It’s completely addicting. It’s the only one I use for bbq pizza. I also love it on quesadillas or nachos. Amazing.
And that’s about it! It’ll be a busy week. Hopefully I’ve inspired you to come up with your own Sunday intentions! 🙂
