In So Many Words

Well, the morning routine has definitely paid off.  We got a call earlier this week that my husband’s parents were coming up to the area on Thursday and wanted to have dinner with us and give Michael his birthday present.  All I had to do Thursday morning was add a quick vacuum and take out the trash, and the house was ready!

Michael got three new Webkinz (one from Grandma & Grandpa, and two from Bob’s brother’s family).  He was totally excited, and even more thrilled when Grandma took him out Friday morning and bought some clothes for his new friends.  We had a very nice, although short, visit.

Last night there was a volunteer appreciation reception at our church.  In the past, they have had a sit-down dinner at a hotel, but that is a big expense, I know.  It was so great that they found a way to do it that was affordable but still very fun.  The best part is the entertainment, which is provided by the church staff – this year was a 50s theme and they did an awesome job!  (Actually, the best part is that our local respite program has been reinstated and we were able to have someone watch Michael last night while we went out.)

Hope everyone has a fun weekend!  I had to work four hours today, but now I am done and the only other things on the schedule are church and soccer.  I am hoping to do some writing, so we’ll see how that goes.  I’m sure Michael will want to go on the Webkinz site with him.

This is the first chance I’ve had to post all weekend, although I am hoping to have a bit more time going forward. I have been looking over all of my various commitments and responsibilities since the beginning of the year to see how I could make life a little more sane for myself, and I think I am making a bit of progress.

What I’ve Accomplished So Far:

• I got all but two writing commitments finished and off my plate. I am very happy with the results so far but am not planning on taking on any more in the near future.
• I have said no to several opportunities within the last couple of weeks, even though they were good things and seemed interesting. I forced myself not to think that, because they were in the future, they wouldn’t really be that time-consuming, and to realize that when the time came I would be feeling just as stressed out as I have been.
• Last week I stopped a volunteer activity I had started, realizing that there are too many other things calling on my time and that I just couldn’t do it, even for a friend.
• And, the biggest one for me, I cut back my contribution to 5 Minutes for Special Needs from twice a week to once a week. Since my passion for sharing ideas and resources with others is what intrigued me about joining the team in the first place, my focus going forward will be on the Try This Tuesday column/meme.

For my last regularly scheduled Friday post at 5MFSN, I decided to honor some of my loyal commenters as part of the new Say It Forward Carnival from 5 Minutes for Mom. Although I’m not locking myself into anything, I think it’s a pretty neat idea and will probably participate in it here in the future. And I love the banner they made for it: