Blogging - Should Not!

I have tons to do other than blogging. I should not even be logged in. Just trying to get myself motivated to do what I need to do. And there are a lot that I need to do. Some of these I think I've already listed somewhere in this blog. Nevertheless, I'm going to post some of my to do's to get me going:

1. Plan next week's menu - I mean really plan it. Write it, Go grocery shopping. Prep it, and actually cook it.

2. Finish up Sower's Scrap Book. - I am procrastinating on this. Maybe because it's a reminder of them moving far away :(

3. Call Mom and see how she's doing (Hubby's mom). Work on the digital picture frame we need to mail her for her birthday. Want to know a secret? This digital photo frame is supposed to be a Christmas Gift! We bought it last year but never got to input the photos therefore never mailed. Yikes! Yes, we're bad procrastinators.

4. Mail card to Joseph. We tried this afternoon. There was a glitch.

5. Put away folded laundry. I should be thankful it's already folded (Thanks Nanay)

6. Give out invitation to G's birthday - This is another thing we're always late (sending out invitations).

7. De-clutter - Oh this is never ending! I know I need to be specific. Work a little at a time so I won't overwhelm myself.

That's enough list for now. There's actually more (a lot more).

Come to think of it... I should be thinking about what to cook for dinner tonight. And actually cook it.

OK, ok, I'll log off... (for now ;))

Thank You Note

I have a confession to make: I am very bad when it comes to sending thank you notes. Emily Post would be horrified. If I would be "judged" using Emily Post's guidelines on etiquette, I would miserably fail. I would be classified as "lacking etiquette", I maybe called "ungrateful"....

Could it be cultural? Growing up, I don't recall us sending a thank you card or notes after receiving a gift on different occasions. We are obliged to "say" thank you... and I have always said thank you from the bottom of my heart when I receive a gift...but sending a note after is not something we did.... Is it just our family? Although it is a very nice gesture, in the Philippines, a "thank you note" is not "expected" as much as here in the United States. I am posting this post on the Pinoy Moms network to get a feedback and find out if what I am saying is true...

However, at this point it does not really matter wether "sending a thank you note" is a custom or not in the Philippines. The fact that I have been living here in the States for 13 years is enough reason for me to follow the "etiquette rule" of sending thank you notes. I should be teaching this to my kids also. Sadly, I have not. year after year when my kids receive birthday gifts and holiday gifts, I told them that we would be writing thank you notes and letters, but we never did. Bad, bad, bad.

And why am I being so hard on myself now on this? Because I have seen first hand the difference. Here's an example: In the company I work for we build quality affordable housing. Because the need is huge, we receive hundreds of letters from people asking for consideration. I have five huge binders of letters of requests. Many of those who wrote had been given a chance to buy these affordable homes through our bosses' discretion, in response to their request. Now I have one very tiny binder of thank you letters... and I often thought that it's interesting to see the difference of those binders. More request, less thanks. It reminds me of that story in the Bible when Jesus healed the 10 lepers and only 1 of them came back to thank Him. The other nine didn't.
Many of my friends send thank you notes. I feel guilty every time I get them because I know I should do the same when I get gifts but I don't. Oh, always planned on doing it... but I rarely do. I am disappointed with my self about not sending thank you notes.

What happens is that I get stuck. In my mind I don't want to just send a thank you card and sign my name. I always want to hand write a long note expressing how truly grateful and thankful am, and how the gift touched my heart, and how I really appreciate it. The problem with that is that I end up not writing and not sending. I should just really keep it short and send it right away....

And why am I posting about this now? Because I have received a lot of wonderful gifts for my birthday this year. It's really very humbling. You see, I am not very good at giving gifts either. That's another "issue" that deserve another post...but my point is my friends gave me these generous gifts not because they felt obligated to because I gave them nice gifts before...they gave these because they love me and I really want to send them note to tell them how much I love them and appreciate them as much as I appreciate the gifts they gave me.

So, before I get sidetracked on "just posting" about thank you notes, I should end this post and start writing my notes lest I'll end up not doing it again. In fact, I would once again do a "self imposed restriction" to myself: No Blogging until I finish writing the thank you notes (and not just writing but actually mailing them. It's it's not mailed, it's not done yet and I cannot blog:).

4 Down 1 to Go

I accomplished another urgent and important task so I rewarded my self with 2 postings (the Sunday Scribbling and this). I know... I am cheating. I said no blogging until after I accomplished the 5. But at least I am accomplishing them. 4 down, 1 to go....

To Blog or Not To Blog ...

As much as I would want to believe that Blogging falls in the category of "URGENT AND IMPORTANT" in my life, I know I am only deceiving my self. It may be one or the two at any point in time. Urgent when I need to de-stress, and important when I need to de-stress...but really...I have about 5 (maybe 10) really URGENT AND IMPORTANT task I need to accomplish. Yes, more than blogging (can you believe that?)

SO..... I am putting another restriction to myself. Remember the time I told myself I can't blog until I pick up that Thyroid Pill prescription which I procrastinated on doing for weeks and only did when I threatened myself of "no pill no blog"? I am doing that again. If I don't accomplish the 5 URGENT AND IMPORTANT things on my list, I cannot blog tomorrow...and cannot blog any day after that until I accomplish my 5 UAI TASKS.

Oh please...oh please... pray that I accomplish them or I'd exhibit blog withdrawal symptoms...

Tyranny of the Urgent

It's 5:19 AM. This does not give me enough time to post a reasonably long post. This is once again going to be a quickie.

As I mentioned on my previous post, I am intending to complete my Urgent/Important Matrix to try to organize my chaotic schedule. Guess what? I have not done it yet. It seems like the "tyranny of the urgent" has overtaken my life. I need to re-group. I must do that TODAY!

I'll be back tonight.

Where Did My Time Go?

5:30 AM - woke up; made coffee, blogged, listened to Christian teaching on radio.

6:30 AM - got ready for work (shower, etc.), got kids ready for school - breakfast, packed snacks, etc. (Hubby was off to work by 6:45 AM)

8:20 AM - in the car; dropped off kids to school; Drove to work.

9:10 AM - at work. I was late. I was supposed to be at work at 9AM. work; work; work.

4:30 PM - left work to pick up kids. Stopped at "Minute Stop" to buy Fried Chicken and Potato Wedges for dinner.

5:15 PM - at school - picked up kids from A+

5:25 PM - at home, Dinner, talked about how school went; G got ready for Taekwondo

5:40 PM - Hubby arrived home from work; quick dinner,

5:45 PM - Hubby brought G to Taekwondo; N decided to go with them.

6:00 PM - Good thing I didn't cook - no mess in the kitchen to clean except for a few plates and glasses used for dinner. Put them all away in the dishwasher. Hey, I could walk in the threadmill! I did.

7:15 PM - Hubby and kids arrived. We ate the left over chicken and had ice cream for dessert (family time - yehey!). Bath time for kids. Hubby hopped on the threadmill.

8:00 PM - Kids did homework; Reading time

9:00 PM - Time for Bed - prayer time, etc.

9:30 PM - Liza Blogged.

10:30 PM - I should go to bed.

10:45 PM - Liza still blogging. I should really go to bed.

Time Management Part 3

How did I do with my "Time Use Analysis" yesterday? Poor! I didn't even log my time use. I know I did a lot. I went to work, dentist appointment, cooked a good dinner for hubby, taught my son multiplication table x3, and I even did my walking exercises on the new threadmill we got. I actually used my time wisely yesterday. But the point is, I committed myself to doing a time use analysis and I didn't do it yesterday - bad! bad! bad!

I'll try again today. For a start I woke up at 4:15 am. Got out of bed at 4:30. Started blogging at 4:35....

Time Management Part 2

How did I do with my "Time Analysis Log" yesterday? Fair. By 1:30 pm I stopped logging. Partly to due laziness, maybe partly due to avoidance....

I will do it again today. Hopefully I'd do better. I can already see the benefit of this. Yesterday I became aware of how much time I waste, just with the half day of logging what I do....

I will be blogging my progress (for accountability)....

Time Management

That's it! - I need to do something to improve the way I manage my time. I always feel 24 hours is not enough. Being a "working mom" who is trying hard to do most of everything a "stay at home mom" does for her family...I usually find my self in a stressed out mode - a good candidate for burn-out. I did well this Christmas season because i took a couple days vacation from work. When I get back to work tomorrow, I know the stress of my hectic life will resurrect. At this point I need to find out how i am currently using my time. I will commit to logging my daily activities for the next 3 weeks. I found some tools in this website on Time Management. I will start my "Time Use Analysis" today....Wish me luck!