Wow!  Thank you guys so much for such GREAT feeback to my last post!!  I feel like I'm really blogging, here!!

I'm not going to post the next stepping stone today- I'm going to do a follow-up on the last one of "Do What Matters Today".  I decided, feeling inspired here at the onset of a new year, to sit down and make myself a calendar/notebook and create a weekly "routine" that will give me direction and perspective on my life.  It was slow going initially, but then things really started to clarify of how I wanted to use my days- and how I didn't want to over-clutter my days, allowing spontaneity (from God, perhaps?) to occur.  I thought I would share.

I came up with a morning routine, for starters (btw- check out the link for Fly Lady to get inspired and motivated to create some routines for yourself.  I am loosely adapting her ideas to my life.).  I have one for the days I work (typically 3 days/week) and one for the days I do not.  It just basically goes something like: Get up/ drink a glass of water/ shower/ eat breakfast/ take vitamins/ get dressed...  I am in the process of creating one for p.m.

Then I came up with a FOCUS for each day of the week:

• Monday- I am calling this day "Focus on Home" Day, aka KICK BUTT and CLEAN HOUSE Day.  haha!  Laundry and clean a "zone" of the house (am using Fly Lady's zones for this).  This way, one part of my house gets super-cleaned each week, and after several weeks of this, my house will always feel nice and clean!  (I have about killed myself cleaning my kitchen top to bottom today!!!)  I am also going to start going to an evening exercise class on this night. 
• Tuesday- I work on these days, so not much else on the schedule, except for a Bible study in the p.m.
• Wedneday- Work.  Exercise class in p.m.
• Thursday- I am calling this my "Self-Expansion" Day.  This is a day to do things to broaden me, such as go to a museum, to a park, to a matinee, out to lunch with a friend, to a class, etc.
• Friday- Work.
• Saturday- This is my "Get Personal" Day.  I am leaving it open to work in the yard, attend church functions, sporting events of grandkids, etc. or just do home projects around the house.  It is also the day I do all my "weekly maintenance" stuff to ME.
• Sunday- RELAX Day.  I do not have to feel like I "should" be doing a single thing on this day (excpet, of course, attend church!)

It really does help to wake up each morning, knowing that each day has it's own purpose!  I can work all day on my kitchen (yuck!) knowing that this is the only day this week that I have to knock myself out doing this kind of work.  I still have the challenge of figuring out how to plan meals, etc., especially since I am adding some evening activities to my schedule that weren't there before.  But knowing what each day holds simplifies that.  There will, of course, be the "wrenches"- like when I have to work a Monday to fill in for someone, etc.  But I figure that will just be a week that gets messed up, and we'll start again the following back on plan!

p.s. my nails are RUINED after today, too!!  haha!  I started out with gloves, took them off at one point... and that's all she wrote.  <sigh>  I never learn!