January evaluation

So, how has my January plan gone? According to my yearly plan it was the study month. Well... if there's anything I am completely sure this month, is that I have studied. A lot.

I had two exams (subjects A and B), and essay (B) and a presentation (B), plus two more essays for subject A that I did not mention on my plan because I was still brainwashed from all the effort. I did everything I had to do: the end result was sometimes good and sometimes not that good, of course, but for having to juggle the writing, studying and preparing with caring for an active boy, Christmas with the family and traveling, I'd say I did the best I could.

The results? All passed! I did not do too good on subject B, as I got a mere 5/10, but hey, I passed and that's what matters right now! Some years ago I would be all sad and down about this, but I've had to learn that my priorities change, and this reflects it: my kid goes first, even if it takes away time that could have been used to get great grades. Subject A was 6.5/10, so not that bad but not brilliant either. Oh well, at least one of the essays there was perfect! 

The last part of the month was to be spent organizing my computer, and well... I tried. I honestly tried, but I was so tired from the exams (I know, I know... just two subjects, not that many assignments... but it wore me out so much) that I did not do much. My desktop looks way better, and thing are mostly in the folder they should be, but I never even got near the Downloads or Images folders. Oh, well. I can tackle it again on the Odds and Ends month (I think that's December... plenty of time for my files to get really messy!)

Long story short:

• Find or re-download, read and organize all the materials for both A and B. Done!
• Then, study one subject every day, alternating until the 10th. Done!
• Study subject A until the 14, while organizing all the materials needed for B's essay.
  Done!
• From the 14th to the 17th, get all stressed out studying for B and actually writing the essay.
  Done!
• Take the 18th as a free day. Breath deep, resist the urge to cry. Also, sleep a lot.
  Done!
• 19th to 22nd, prepare the presentation.
  Done!
• Morning of the 23rd: do the presentation. Afternoon and evening: breathe deep again.
  Done!
• Then, time to start with the computer organization by:
• Organizing the Documents folder and all it's subfolders (specially the Studies one) The Studies one is done! The rest, not so much.
• Organizing the Downloads folder. This one it's the one that gets worse.
• Organizing the Documents folder again, because I know how I am and it will have been turned upside-down this fast.
• If there's time, start with the Images folder.
• Review the plan, see what worked and what went wrong. Post it to keep accountable. Doing it! 

If I had to grade my work this month... I'd give me a 7 over 10. Could be better, but at least the most important things got done, and got done right!

What have you done this past month?

Oath's Mom

That thing I used to do on Mondays

Have I ever told you that I am not good at cooking for one? Well, just in case I haven't: I am not good at cooking for one. Not even at meal planning just for one. And, if that one is me, all the worse.

Partner is dieting again (or, now that we're two weeks into it and I've seen it work, I should rather say "eating better and healthier than me") so I am quite lost on the eating department.

You see, I am one of the (un)lucky people that do not have much hunger. I crave some things sometimes (mostly Nutella, to be honest), and there's food I like and I don't mind eating. But I don't like eating per se. I can skip meals without a second though, I can even forget that I am supposed to have those meals. This, and the fact that even when I eat much I do not gain weight easily, end up in the fact that I am underweight. And breastfeeding. So I am rapidly spiralling down and loosing too many pounds, too fast, when I should be gaining them. Damn.

So, I can't follow along Partner's diet, because I need carbs to (at least) maintain my weight. I even need junk food (note that junk food for me is, basically, Nutella sandwiches, boxed juices, soda and chips, not "real" junk food) to try to gain a bit.

But, at the very least, what I need is to suck it up, meal plan and follow the plan alone. Even if I don't like to.

Monday

• Lunch: Farfalle with bacon, cheese and Caesar salad dressing
• Dinner: Ham and cheese puff-pastry roll

Tuesday

• Lunch: Rice with a "Taiwanese beef noodle sauce that I don't know the name of".
• Dinner: Fish with caramelized onions

Wednesday

• Lunch: Meatballs with mashed potatos
• Dinner: Chicken fajitas

Thursday

• Lunch: Pasta with tuna
• Dinner: Homemade cheeseburgers

Friday

• Lunch: Vegetables cream (possible brocoly, yuck, but I need to eat veggies too!)
• Dinner: Ramen (with an extra egg, and maybe some Taiwanese sauce).

Saturday

• Lunch: Chickpea salad
• Dinner: Oven chicken drums with onion soup.

Sunday

• Lunch: Homemade roasted pepper pizza
• Dinner: Fish and cheese sticks, and salad

Linking up at I'm an Organizing Junkie and at Erin Branscom link-up!.

Oath's Mom

Ready, steady... clean! - A 2013 plan

As I promised, I'm posting about my yearly plan to organize my life and mi home. The one which, sadly, consists mostly of cleaning. I am still at that stage where things have to be cleaned/decluttered/found/straightened before they can be properly organized, so no pretty containers or amazing new systems for my linens. I hope someday I'll get to them, and I'll have a pretty home, full of little details that make my heart sing with joy, but today is not that day. This year is the year I do my best to get one step close to that day.

And this is how I intend to do it:

• January. The study month.
• February. The kid's room month.
• March. The living room month.
• April. The kitchen month.
• May. The main bedroom month.
• June. The bathrooms month.
• July. The blogging month.
• August. The bathrooms month, take two.
• September. The bedrooms month, take two.
• October. The kitchen month, take two.
• November. The living room month, take two.
• December. The odds and ends month.

As you can see, I've assigned roughly two months to each room in our house (yes, it's a small flat, there are not too many rooms around here! I am both thankful and sad for it.) This way, I'll make sure they do not get too much out of control before the end of the year, and maybe I'll be able to sneak in some actual organization projects and start the prettifying. A girl can dream, right?

 Also, I might change some months of order (for instance, at first February was the living room month and March was the kid's room one, but my sister will come to stay for some days at the end of February... and the kid's room is also the guest room! I need it clean and nice sooner than the end of March, as you can understand.), but apart from that I'll stick to it. Hopefully. With a bit of help from this blog, I will.

Expect from me, then, at least two posts every month (one the first, or as close to it as I can get; and one the last day of it) about this 2013 plan. Hopefully, I'll have more to share than that!

And, last but not least, if you want to join me, feel free! I'd love to have some friends walking this road with me.

Oath's Mom

My January plan

I've started the year in a pretty organized way, or I like to think so. I'll post about it in the wrong order, though, sharing my January plan first and then, soon, my yearly plan. Which is kind of going backwards, but anyway.

January had to be (and, thankfully, has been) the month dedicated to studying and organizing my student life. This included studying for my January exams (I did the last presentation today, and already have my grades! The teachers have been fast) and organizing my studying station, which is mainly my computer.

So, let's imagine it's the beginning of January, and sharing this makes sense.

The facts:

• I have four deadlines: an exam on the 14th (subject A), another exam and an essay due date the 17th (subject B), and a presentation the 23rd (also subject B).
• It might not seem much, but I have a kid who demands all my time and attention, plus the Three Wise Men and all the presents (we don't do Christmas, the gift giving is on January the 5th), plus visiting family and only coming back home the 11th... I do not have much time.
• I haven't been able to go to class at all this semester (I know, shame on me, but see the bullet point above)
• My documents folder is a mess, which doesn't bother me much except for the fact that I am having a hard time finding my notes and important documents for studying.

The plan:

• Find or re-download, read and organize all the materials for both A and B.
• Then, study one subject every day, alternating until the 10th.
• Study subject A until the 14, while organizing all the materials needed for B's essay.
• From the 14th to the 17th, get all stressed out studying for B and actually writing the essay.
• Take the 18th as a free day. Breath deep, resist the urge to cry. Also, sleep a lot.
• 19th to 22nd, prepare the presentation.
• Morning of the 23rd: do the presentation. Afternoon and evening: breathe deep again.
• Then, time to start with the computer organization by:
• Organizing the Documents folder and all it's subfolders (specially the Studies one)
• Organizing the Downloads folder. This one it's the one that gets worse.
• Organizing the Documents folder again, because I know how I am and it will have been turned upside-down this fast.
• If there's time, start with the Images folder.
• Review the plan, see what worked and what went wrong. Post it to keep accountable.  

Until now it has worked well, we'll see how the actual organizing goes! I have done it before and have a pretty reliable course of action, but it has gotten out of control lately and it kind of scares me. Am I the only one with a terrible computer organization? Tell me I'm not, please...

Oath's Mom

I've been a busy bee (10 things...)

 

By looking at my blog you probably can't tell I've spent the last 20 days glued to my computer, but I have. It turned out that one of my exams, that I thought was on the 21st, was on the 14th, so I had to re-do all my studying schedule and it became hectic. Maybe I am getting too old for this, or maybe Oath is stealing all my attention, because studying gets harder and harder. It's like my brain can't juggle it all.

Anyway, the exams are all done now and I can focus on Oath. These weeks haven't been how I'd have liked to start the year. I have done nothing to start on my twelve new year resolutions, but I'm not going to give up: I'll start tomorrow (it's easier for me to start on a Monday. Does it happen to you too?) and to make up for it, here are 10 things I intend to do before the end of January:

1. Start a treasure basket for Oath.
2. Do all the laundry and get my laundry routine back. It's been quite random lately, so this is definitely needed.
3. Take 10 photos worth posting on this blog.
4. Post said photos here. My blog is sad without photos!
5. Show you my January crochet.
6. Go to the post office to send two parcels.
7. Look through Oath's clothes and store the ones that no longer fit.
8. Prepare and do a presentation (the last thing left to end my exam period, though not exactly an exam)
9.  Draw a city map for a friend, or at least start working on it.
10. Get my February attack plan ready!

Not my usual "10 things..." list, I know, but hey, my brain-well of ideas is quite dried-up!

I hope you all have had a better start of the year.

Oath's Mom

On to 2013

We have a tradition of eating twelve grapes, one with each ring of the midnight bells, on the last night of the year. Years ago, somebody told me that if you wished something different with each grape, and you managed to eat them all without choking (not a small feat), they would become true during the new year. I've been perfecting my grape-eating technique for years, and many of the things I wished for came true, so this year I hope I can end up with twelve wishes granted.
This past year has been both difficult and amazing, and I feel it has put me in a path of life that can lead me somewhere great. There are lots of things I have to change, though, and also I like to indulge my planner side. So, my wishes have been:

1. Get the house company ready. One room a month (so I get two tries for each room, in case the first time around does not go well!), so I can go slow and keep up with everything, but not so slow I am tempted to stop. I'll have to plan it so the living room is ready for Oath to start moving on his own... pity that I do not know when that will happen.
2. Re-design the blog. I have ideas to make it a bit more personal, and I need to dust my Photoshop skills so they do not rot more than they already have. Time to bring out the graphic tablet and get the creative juices flowing!
3. Keep the blog running and post more often. Specially post more often (that will keep the blog running, won't it?).
4. Start working out some. I am actually not looking forward to this one: I am a couch potato, and now with Oath I am doing more exercise than ever, but my body seems to be getting weaker. I carry 10 kilos (that's the baby) around all day every day, but the only thing I get out of it is tiredness. Maybe (hopefully!) some exercise routine will help.
5. Do more activities with Oath. I have to use my degree! I feel like I am not doing enough for my son, and that I am letting him watch Pocoyo a bit too much. True, it's the only way that I can do anything (make the bed, cook dinner, go to the bathroom...), but I have to wean him from it. I know plenty of things to do with babies, I just have to get around to doing them with my own baby (which is harder than it sounds).
6. Crochet! As in, crochet a lot. I'd like to finish, say, 12 projects. One of them, a big king-sized blanket for our bed. I love the feeling of a heavy blanked over me when I sleep, but I have none now. It can even be my next years Christmas present!
7. Get out of the house more often. Another one my couch potato self does not look forward to, but I need it. Maybe I can start just opening the windows and imagining I am outside instead of actually doing it... (kidding!)
8. Write some stories for Oath. I love writing, I love Oath, I love telling stories. How nice would it be if I managed to create (and illustrate, while I'm at it) some special stories for him? Maybe I can even do it during NaNoWriMo. Which leads me to...
9. Finish the *¡#$∞% NaNoWriMo story. I know it has potential, but it just does not want to flow. I must write it, it is personal now.
10. Take photos. Maybe try a 365 challenge again: last year I did not get much farther than 10 days, which is a complete fail I need to erase from my list. I have not brought my camera with me to my mother's house, but I have my sister's ready, so I can start already with this one.
11. Get a solid cleaning routine going. I nearly had it this year, but lost it towards the end. I have to try it again. And succeed.
12. Plant the plants. I have had those seed packets for a while now, and the dream of having fresh herbs for way longer, it is time I do something about it. I know that starting them from seed it's not the easiest way, but at least I have to try.

Be prepared to read my giving in to my planner side, because I feel it stirring inside. Maybe this year my do-er side will kick into action too!

Of course, I also wish this year is filled with love and joy and good things, that goes without saying!

How about you? What do you wish your new year to bring?

Oath's Mom