I Need a Plan...or do I?

If I learned anything from my girl, disconnected experiment, it's that I stink at time management. I actually do manage to cram quite a bit of stuff into my days. I never missed deadline or projects when I was working. And currently, I do manage to get all my shop orders out, keep the house from exploding and everyone fed, clothed and somewhat happy.

But I still feel majorly stressed. I've tried a variety of schedules. It's hard to have ANY schedule in the summer when my boys are out of school, but what about the school year? I have YET to stumble upon one that works for me. The same thing every day? Or do I chose a "day schedule" like, monday is cleaning, tuesday is shop stuff, etc. Or do I go with the flow and do what works best in the time I have??

I know this much...sites like cozi.com, sparkpeople.com, etc don't work for me. It feels like such effort to get so streamlined and organized. I prefer a plain ol' notebook and written to do lists.

So maybe you guys can help me sort out my brain. Here are, on average some of the things I need to do in any given day or week:

Clean
Grocery shop/Plan Menus
Create/List/Network/Package/Ship/Manage all things for my business
Tend to the dog (usual pet chores, walking, pick up poop, etc)
Tend to the kids (usual kid chores, walking, pick up poop...oh wait.....)
Bible study
Reading (for fun...it is possible)
Writing (blogs and fiction)
Cook daily dinners and bi-weekly potluck food for church
Photograph (creative and handmade)
Friends/Social Networking/Calling Friends
Running errands with Dad
Exercise

Then there is the little things, the tv watching, driving in car for errands, taking the boys on fun trips, etc.And of course all the little things you do every day you don't even calculate...eating, showering, etc.

HOW do you possibly schedule all that? I'm contemplating just flat out spending a few weeks just letting things go with the flow, not TRYING to schedule anything....but will it backfire? It simply has to be possible to schedule it all in...somehow...

To Join a Gym or Not to Join a Gym.....that is the fat butt question..

So, I'm feeling a little squishy. A little too squishy. And unlike my friend Dee's 3 month old who I affectionately call Squishy....I'd rather not be so pudding like. I'm not overweight, and I'm sure many of my friends would say, "getouttahere" but Yeah..I need to lose a few.

I'd actually lost all the baby weight by taking up sewing and running my business. But as the business had grown and it's more about keeping it afloat than spending hours sewing (because apparently, once you actually do good at your shop, you no longer have time to SEW!) But 8-10 lbs have crept back on. Mama not likey.

So, to decide. Now, by the grace of God and hard work, we have paid off all our medical bills and credit cards. This is quite a feat as I racked up almost 3k myself in 2008 when they wrongly diagnosed me with MS only to say, oops, you don't have it. (A good mistake, I know.) We also racked up 2k more in the boys for Eli's Autism diagnosis and Harrison's cat allergy diagnosis. I'm not complaining, we had coverage, they got help and it's done. But Praise Lord it's PAID FOR!

Sooooooooo, I am the spender in the family, no question about it. But I am better than my 10k in debt days of post-college. So I'm contemplating joining a gym. Not a fancy 100 a month gym, but one of those Anytime Fitness places. It's a reasonable fee. But my husband has made me a worry wart.

What if the heater breaks this winter? (It's over 18 years old). What if the hot water heater breaks (also original).? What if my 96 car needs major repair? I'm a worry wart now, he's done that to me!

I suppose I'll experiment, if I can stick with working out at home, maybe I can see enough reward there and one day do the gym. It's hard to even consider until school starts again, the boys are so all consuming. I have to wonder, can it all really fit? Kids, House, Husband, Work, Exercise, Cooking/Cleaning, FUN? Where does it all fit in??

I think my first experiment will be to get up early, before the man and go walk. It should be cooler then and maybe if I can force myself to do that, I can get to BED at a decent hour!

We shall see.....