Morning!!

I think that, for me, how I start my day sets the tone for how things will go for the remainder of it. I have had to persist, but I have been able to get into a morning routine.
I like a schedule and I like to be able to get certain things done early on.
On weekdays, because we homeschool, I need to make sure that I have my act together before the rest of the family gets going. This means getting up a bit earlier, so that I can get my exercise and personal things done, and then be ready to help the kids start their day.
I get my walk in, shower, check my email, and then I get the kids up, fix breakfast, and get the dishes done and out of the way before we go downstairs to hit the books.
After I get everyone started on a subject, I go to each room, gather laundry and get a load in the washer. Vacuuming and dusting goes on around assignments and corrections.
If I stick to this routine, a lot of what I need to do for the day gets done before about 10:00. If I don't, I have to play catch up all day.
There are days when I just don't want to get going, but when I think about how things are going to be going by lunchtime, I am much more inclined to drag myself out of bed.
I have just learned that we are all at our best when I am at mine.
It only takes a few weeks to set a habit, and when you start to see benefits, like having more time at the end of the day because of the way you started it, you are much more inclined to keep at it.
Maybe today is the first day of a habit that YOU want to start!
Make something work better today...

Away From Home

I am posting from far away. I have been traveling with my three boys for a week now, and it has been a great experience! As with anything, planning and foresight make any endeavor more enjoyable.
I have become pretty good at packing and getting everything ready to get us out the door.
I use the guest room togather everything that we are taking, and I have a checklist that I use as I pack. By the day we leave, I have things ready to go into the car in a certain order.
The other thing that makes traveling easier is having as many of the household management details available online as possible.
This is extremely helpful in making your trip more relaxing because you can deal with any issues that come up immediately.
I forwarded all the calls to my home to my cell phone, and yesterday I got a call from a biller that told me that a very substantial check hadn't cleared. Since I had all my banking information at my fingertips, I was able to clear up the situation and go back to enjoying my family. If I had gotten that call and had to call the bank, or worse, hadn't gotten the call at all and had been greeted with a major problem upon returning home, it would have cast a pretty big shadow on the trip.
We are having a great time...And I am posting a blog entry!