In So Many Words

Why is it I can only seem to focus on one area of my life at a time? I’m not complaining, just noticing this to be true.

I have been on a decluttering kick the last couple of weeks and have made some great progress on a couple of areas (not that you can tell from a quick peek inside my home, but I know it’s happening under the surface).

My son and I have actually been through every single thing in his room and he has given up a ton of stuff that he no longer uses or plays with. The gentleman that picked up his old toy organizer and small trampoline today actually has a three year old son who was born three and a half months early and has a trach, along with some other medical issues. It’s great to know that someone else will be getting a lot of use out of them!

Anyway, I got Michael a new cube organizer shelf with some colorful fabric drawers and helped him display some of the items that are more collections than toys, and he loves it! I love walking in his room and feeling the space. Sorry for the lack of photos – my hubby is really the photographer in the family.

Because of all this time spent on organization, I haven’t been on the computer much the last few days and was greeted with almost 200 blog posts in my Google Reader when I checked in this afternoon! Although there are many I would love to visit and comment on, I’m not sure whether I will make it through them all. I’m hoping to have a bit of time tomorrow to catch up on my blogging, but we’ll see how it goes, I guess.

Michael is loving being back at the same babysitter he had last summer and is continuing to show so much flexibility and organization of thought that Bob & I are blown away almost daily by the things he is coming up with. It is such a wonderful thing, and I am determined to enjoy it as long as it lasts (hopefully forever!)

My husband and son went away to Virginia this weekend. They do this every few weeks and it is wonderful. It gives me some much-needed down time without anyone asking for my attention

Sometimes I am able to use this time very well and other times it doesn’t feel like it was helpful at all, and then I end up even more frustrated.

Feeling like I used the time well doesn’t seem to directly relate to how much I got done, but rather to how my mental state is during and at the end of it. If my mind is clear, I can choose whether to relax or to plow through my to do list and feel good about either one. If I am avoiding thinking through the things that are worrying me or that I “should” be doing, it doesn’t matter what I do – I end up feeling miserable.

About a year or so ago, I read the book Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen and it really spoke to me. I have attempted to follow his principles with varying degrees of success depending on the day or week.

Today I saw that he had posted a video of a talk he did at The Do Lectures in Wales, and it was quite good. It only touches on the GTD principles but is a nice introduction to him for anyone unfamiliar with his ideas. Here it is for anyone who may be interested:

If the video doesn’t show up here, you can also see it on the GTD website. One of the comments that jumped out at me was, “Once you pay attention to what has your attention, you’ll find out what has your attention.” I think this is so true for me; until I make some decisions about what I want to happen and what I need to do about the things that are bothering me, I can’t move forward on anything.

I’m not sure what time they are coming home, but I am planning to use the next couple of hours to write down everything that is on my mind and see if I can’t make a bit of clear space in my head. I did manage to do some cleaning up this morning, so at least I feel that I have provided a relatively nice environment for the guys to come home to. I did not get to the writing/blogging I had planned but am hoping that I can set the stage for the rest of the week to be a bit more freeflowing and creative.

I’m wondering if anyone can relate to this and what you do to get yourself organized mentally when you feel stressed out or how things weighing on your mind that you don’t really want to deal with. Anyone care to share?

Wow, the last week went pretty well as far as getting things done – both in regards to paperwork and around the house, and I even did a couple of things I have been majorly putting off.

We have been continuing the decluttering process, and our house is starting to feel a little more spacious. We said goodbye to our overly large glass table last weekend and were able to set up the wooden dining set that was Bob’s grandparents. I have also been able to sell a couple of old tables and a rocking chair, and give away an old TV (with a broken tuner) and some baby/kid things.

Here is what’s on the agenda for the next week:

My To Do List

Spend at least an hour organizing down in the basement.

Clean out old CPUs so we can get rid of them.

Work on selling coin collection.

Finalize ASD HOPE board meeting time/location/agenda.

Get Michael’s hair cut.

Buy gifts for upcoming birthdays.

Schedule next week’s Try This Tuesday post.

Work on blog punch list for an hour.

Plan itinerary for our Illinois trip with Bob.

For more To-Do Tuesday, visit Crazy Adventures in Parenting.

What a week! One IEP meeting turned into three, what with a follow-up to make sure all the revisions were okay and another to start the process for the Functional Behavior Assessment.

So a lot of stuff stayed on my list this week. I decided to just have one big list, but prioritize things so I can see what needs to be done next (and hopefully make myself stick to it that way!).

What do you think? How do you keep yourself organized and on track with what needs to be done??

My To Do List:

Work on action items from ASD HOPE Board Meeting.

Finish guest post for Writing to Serve. (almost done!)

Try This Tuesday for next week.

Work on end of year thank yous.

Work on photo book for Sally. (looks like this is turning from a Christmas present into a birthday present!)

Finish last bit of paperwork for visit to DAN! doctor. (almost done!)

Buy two pairs of kids’ work gloves for VBS.

Copy files from desktop to laptop for backup.

Go through folder of bookmarked post ideas/things to check out.

Start planning trip to Illinois.

For more To-Do Tuesday, visit Crazy Adventures in Parenting.

Yesterday morning another one of Michael’s former TSS’s came for a visit. We had a nice time sharing what we have been up to and talking/playing with Michael.

Her daughter’s family has recently moved back to Pennsylvania from California, and she mentioned needing to go shopping for warmer clothes for the kids since they don’t really have anything suitable for winter. Well, it turned out that the two boys are 2 and 4, so I was pretty sure I still had clothes in those sizes up in my attic.

When I went up the ladder, I was amazed at how many boxes of stuff were there. They must have multiplied on their own, because I certainly don’t remember putting that much up there myself! I was also shocked by how many clothes I still had, even though I have given quite a bit to other friends in the past. I started thinking about pulling it all out and getting rid of it, but I know I don’t really want to lug it all to a donation center.

So I brought down the 2T and 4T clothes that I had and we went through it to find the fall/winter items. I actually had a winter coat in each size! My plan for the rest of it is to bring it all down and schedule a couple of mornings where any of the moms from church can come over and take whatever they can use. I’m not sure how long it will take me to actually organize this, but I think it will be a lot of fun!

In case you are looking for me today, I have somehow managed to be in two places at once, sharing two of my passions.

As you may know, I read books – a lot of books. My husband has commented on several occasions that I would be happy just sitting in our room while he shoveled books in for me to read. My answer – throw in the Mountain Dew and I’m there! So my first stop today is 5 Minutes for Special Needs to talk about my two latest finds.

Another thing I do compulsively regularly is make lists. But then I get frustrated by the lists themselves being messy or disorganized and I write a new one. Thus my second destination, Created and Called, to share the solution I have found to this problem.

Well, I’m off to help my son with his latest passion, finding Waldo.

No, I haven’t lost any weight yet; this is a list of the various items that have gone missing around my house in the last few months. Although our house has gotten less organized as I have been pulled in more directions, I have always been the type of person that could picture where things are or visualize what I last did with them. Lately my mind is a complete blank when I try to focus on any of these items, which is more upsetting than any of the things that are missing.

So here’s the list (recorded here mostly so I can get it out of my head and stop worrying about it):

• My bottle of Mary Kay Journey perfume that I won at the ASD HOPE winery fundraiser last year. I took it with me to my BIL/SIL’s house for Christmas and could not find it once we returned. They said I did not leave it there, and I have searched the suitcases three times and have no idea what I did with it.
• My earmuffs, which I have had for three years and are so much better than just a scarf. I have found that if my ears are kept warm, I can handle cleaning snow and ice off the car without minding the weather.
• One of Little Guy’s blue mittens. I am pretty sure this one was lost out of the house, so it is probably gone for good, but I am sure it will turn up if I throw the other one away!
• A booster seat for the car that my neighbor gave me a couple of years ago when they didn’t need it anymore. It was an extra one and more portable than the high-backed boosters, so I wanted to ask our TSS if she wanted to keep it in her car (or at least stick it in the back of the wagon so it is easily available). I have looked through the basement twice and can’t find it – maybe it is in the back of Happy King’s car?
• Blossom (although Little Guy technically lost her, it falls on me to find her, of course!) In case you don’t know, Blossom is one of the Powerpuff Girls; the toys aren’t in the stores anymore so the Easter Bunny brought him a set of cake toppers last year, and they have become three of his favorite toys (the other two are Bubbles and Buttercup, but Blossom is the leader). Blossom has been misplaced before and located behind the couch, so I think we just need to move all the heavy furniture to find her.
• The handouts from the Rebecca Klaw seminar I attended last year on avoiding meltdowns in people with ASD. I know I had made copies last fall for our BSC & TSS and thought I refiled them. I have looked through the entire file cabinet and just don’t know where else to look.
• The big one, which I would be more upset about if I allowed myself to dwell on it, is the maroon three-ring binder with every (and I mean EVERY) piece of paper related to the Little Guy’s Behavioral Healthcare Rehabilitative Services (BHRS). It has all the evaluations, treatment plans, correspondence with the agency each time they switched his TSS on us – everything! I last saw it at his psych eval in January and couldn’t find it a week later when I needed it for an ISPT meeting. The psychologist said no one found it at the office. I am pretty sure I had it when we got home, but the BSC and TSS were both there and we were talking and I can’t remember where I put it.

That’s all I can think of. I’ll let you know if any of it turns up.

Edited at 3:27 pm on 2/23/08: I found the earmuffs! They were in a bag of stamping stuff that I had taken to Hands-Free Heart’s house to make valentines.

Edited at 10:14 pm on 3/17/08: So far, we have also located the mitten (in the back of Happy King’s car), the booster seat (while spring cleaning the back porch), Blossom (in the van he rides to/from playgroup), and the binder (turns out that someone telling you “no one found it” does not mean someone actually looked for it!! Oh well, I’m just happy to have it back.)

My BSC said she will make me a copy of the copy I gave her from Rebecca Klaw, so the only thing left is my perfume. Thank you Lord for helping us find all of this stuff, and I would be so grateful if we could also find the perfume!