If you’re reading this, you probably aren’t traveling today. Are you back home? Are your guests gone, or staying for the whole weekend?
Tonight I will have a little bit of time for myself. Time to relax by the fire, catch up with my catalogs and magazines, and get just a few little projects out of the way. I’ll eat leftovers, wrap some Christmas presents, do some extra exercise, and write some holiday letters.
QUICK THINGS TO DO TODAY:
- Shovel sidewalk if applicable. You’re exercising and working off those Thanksgiving calories, too!
- What did you use up yesterday, or notice you were out of? Add to your shopping list.
- Need to launder your kitchen towels? We went through a lot yesterday!
- Did you call all your relatives yesterday to say Happy Thanksgiving? If not, be sure to make some catchup calls today.
- Write a thank-you note to your Thanksgiving hosts, if applicable.
- Clean up kitchen if you cooked yesterday and didn’t clean up thoroughly last night.
TODAY’S PROJECT: Winter Car Emergency Preparedness
If you live in an area where you have bad winter weather, do you have a blanket in your car? An extra coat, at all times, in case you run out of your house without one on? (I sometimes do that when I have a warm sweater and it’s “only” 45 degrees. I feel warm without a coat, until I leave the car to go into a store and realize how cold it really is!)
Do you have a pair of gloves in the trunk, and boots? Do you have an ice scraper, kitty litter or other traction aids? First aid kit, flashlight, matches? Do you leave home with a full tank of gas? Do you have your cell phone with you, charged, at all times? Do you have a $20 (or more) in the car, and some change, for emergencies? (Picking up a snack at a gas station while you are waiting for a tow truck, making phone calls from a pay phone, etc?)
Do you have a bottle of water or two, and some granola bars or other easy-to-transport snacks? If you have pets who ride with you, do you have water for your pets, and snacks for them?
Also, do you keep a pen and notepad in your car at all times? Fingernail clippers, hand lotion, breath mints?
LOVELY LIVING: Trying to Win the “I’m So Busy” Award?
I’ve been watching an always-stressed member of my extended family slowly lose her circle of friends (and family) over the last few years, due to her inability to make time to see people or accept invitations. She seems to take on more than she’s asked to do, filling up her time and schedules with (seemingly) unimportant things. I guess they’re important to her.
It makes me really sad, but also frustrated and discouraged. She seems to be trying to win an illusory “I’m busier than everybody else” award, and it’s dragging her down and making her life unhappy. She can’t possibly socialize with her friends because she “works so many hours” a week; she’s “so busy with the kids” (two grown college students) that she can’t really do anything on weekends. She rises at 5am, four hours before she actually needs to be at work, and therefore has an 8pm bedtime that makes it virtually impossible to invite her out to dinner. Every phone conversation one has with her, she seems to feel the need to remind you how much busier she is than you or everyone else is.
Don’t get me wrong – it’s great to be active, doing things you love, and keeping busy so you aren’t bored or aren’t a couch potato. I just think it’s not good when you are taking on so many things you can’t schedule a lunch date any sooner than two months out.
I wonder if it’s a self esteem thing, or a lack of being able to honestly say “You know that doesn’t sound like fun, so even though I’m not busy, I think I’ll pass.” Or just bad time management skills? Or unable to delegate tasks?
Regardless, I have learned that I don’t want to live like that. I don’t want to win any competitions involving being busy. I don’t want to spend time complaining about how busy I am – I have the same 24 hours a day everyone else does. How we choose to fill that time is up to us. I’m going to make time for friends, actively reach out and take time to see family. I’m also going to make time for myself. So maybe I won’t be going on a fancy European trip next year, because I won’t be taking on overtime work to make extra money. I’ll have time to stay home by the fireplace reading a book now and then, because I’m not “too busy.”
The following links have helped me understand those people who try to be so busy:
Are You Suffering From I’m So Busy Syndrome? (Divine Caroline)
Curing the “I’m So Busy” Disease (Wise Heart)
Do You Suffer From I’m-So-Busy-Itis? (The Happiest Mom)
I’ve Just Been SO Busy Lately (The Art of Non-Conformity)
The “Too Busy” Syndrome (Connect Moms)
LOVELY BLOGS: Cutest Food
Who doesn’t enjoy looking at pictures of cute food? Today I’m loving pics of glittered cupcakes, pineapple cupcakes, colorful panda-shaped gummy bears, and oh-so-adorable otter cupcakes. This link is going into Lovely Living’s sidebar links collection!