Manic Monday-To Do Lists

Happy Manic Monday friends!  Most of you know that I am on a journey to change my life.  One of the things I am tackling is organization.  I have been trying to find a way to better manage my time by clearing out the clutter and keeping myself organized. Creating daily routines is another way I am keeping myself organized and using "to-do" lists is a way I am working on my time management.


Over the past couple of weeks I have been trying out different sites dealing with time management and calendaring.  I am still trying to find just the right site that does all the things I need it too.  The closest one I have found is To doist.com.  Sign up is free and although it takes a little time to set up, it is a really helpful tool in keeping your time organized.  It also has plug-ins so that you can access Todoist from your browser or mobile phone.

Some of my favorite features is that you can create projects like, clean the bathroom, and then break up that project into all the steps to completion so that, if you are like me, you can click off each specific task as you complete them creating that wonderful sense of accomplishment you get when crossing things off your to do list!

Another helpful feature is the reminders, you can set up your reminders anyway you like, from specific dates/times, daily reminders, weekly or monthly. What I am still trying to figure out is how to link it to my outlook.  I'm hoping that my reminders can be on my desktop as soon as I log into my computer in the morning and I am thinking that if I can link it into my outlook then I can get that to happen.  Anyone out there know if that is possible or am I living in a Utopian fantasy???

Spirit Sunday-Grace

My friend, Lois, over at Walking on Sunshine had a wonderful post last Sunday and it stayed with me all week.  Her post was about grace in our weakness. 


What does grace mean to you?  Merriam-Webster says it's: unmerited divine assistance given humans for their regeneration or sanctification.  The bible says, by grace we are saved. (Ephesians 2:8, For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God. NIV) It also says that God lavishes His grace on us. (Ephesians 1:7-8  In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, NIV).  In 2 Corinthians 2:9,  it says, But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. ” 

I thank God each day for His grace, for it is only by this grace that I can get through the day.  Thank you Lord!

Movies...Knight and Day

We have a free weekend of premium movie channels this weekend and I have finally gotten to see Knight and Day.   I have to say, I really enjoyed it.  It had a nice mixture of comedy, action and romance.  I think it is a good family rental with exception of younger members due to some language and the obvious violent content.  

What I would love is to discuss this movie with any readers that may have seen it.  Although the story is pretty straight forward, there was this one part at the end that I have a theory about because it wasn't really spelled out in the movie.  I just love that!  I love when movies leave little holes in the story that leave your mind to wander and create alternative endings or places for open discussion.

What movies do that for you?  And PLEASE, if you have seen this movie, leave a comment, I have a question for you...

What's For Dinner?

What's for dinner?  Last night it was roasted chicken pieces with my easy roasted potatoes and green bean salad.  I love these recipes because they take almost no time at all and can be put together a variety of ways.

First, the oven roasted chicken pieces.  Last night I made a few boneless, skinless breasts and some chicken legs.  Sometimes I use split breasts, or you can use thighs.  The basic recipe is always the same but you can mix it up using whatever your preference or what you have on hand.


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and lay the chicken pieces onto a foil lined cookie sheet. (Foil first makes clean up easy later). 

Season the chicken on both sides with Adobo and then drizzle a little ranch dressing on each piece.  I like to do this to add flavor and keep the chicken moist.  Here is another place where you can change it up again.  Use your favorite creamy dressing like balsamic or thousand island, you can't go wrong here. 

Next, sprinkle the top of each piece with Panko Bread Crumbs and bake for 25-30 minutes or until the bread crumbs are golden brown.

Next, my easy oven roasted potatoes.  Sometimes I like to use a combination of red bliss and yukon gold potatoes for this recipe, but last night I had yukon gold so that's what I used.  Any type of potato will do, whichever you prefer. 

Scrub the potatoes clean and cut into bite size pieces being careful to ensure that they are equal in size so they will all cook at the same time. You can peel the potatoes or leave the skins on, as I do.  Remember, there's no wrong way.  (If you  peel, there is no need to scrub.) Then place in a microwave safe bowl.  Rinse and drain, leaving as little moisture in the bowl as possible.  Season with Adobo or just salt and pepper.  Here is another place where you can change it up.  I sometimes add thinly sliced onions and season with any variety of Mrs. Dash or bacon pieces and cheese, anything works here.  Then add 2T of olive oil and 2-3 pats of butter (butter optional) and microwave on high for 6-8 minutes at a time until potatoes are fork tender.  Then add to a foil lined baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes or until the potatoes are golden.

Last but not least, my green bean salad. 

Take a can of french cut green beans and drain well.  Then place in a bowl and season with Adobo and add 1/4 cup of ranch dressing.  Here is another place to switch it up.  Change the dressing or add other vegetables like shredded red cabbage, or thinly sliced red onion.  If you like a crunch, feel free to add sunflower seeds, pine nuts or slivered almonds.  The possibilities are endless.

I hope you'll try out these recipes and let me know how you changes them up.  Buen Provecho!

Slacker

Boy, have I been slacking off?  Sorry readers, these past few days have been a bear to get through but I am hoping that I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, even if it is only a pinhole!

So most of you know that I am on a journey of organization.  I have found several resources to guide me along the way,  FLYLady.net, Organized Home.com, & Life Goes Strong.com, just to name a few.  I've noticed, especially over the past few days, that in order to create change you need to remain motivated.  I think my biggest problem has been that things got so hectic that I lost my motivation to continue to change my routines.  I sank back into the old routine of barely keeping my head above water, not a place I like to be or care to be.


Woke up with the sun today with a fresh outlook and renewed motivation.  Spending some time organizing my tools like my "to do" lists and my Control Journal and slowly integrating the things that need to be done today and in the next couple of days into my routines.  Will update you on my progress in the coming days.


In the meantime, I'm planning "What's for Dinner?".  I have some voice lessons today so I'm going to keep it simple.  I'm making chicken pieces, potatoes and a vegetable, will share pictures and recipes on tomorrow's blog.  Hope you'll stop by and leave a comment.

Re-Connecting

Wow, sorry I have been MIA.  Had a family wedding this weekend and I was completely occupied with catching up with out of town family members, the wedding and then catching up with my boys.  


Manic Monday was exactly that.  Spent time reclaiming inoculated surfaces, and catching up on some phone calls (which of course ate into my decluttering time) but the best thing was that I got to reconnect with a cousin that I haven't spoken to in over 8 years. We have had some minor communication over Facebook but haven't actually spoken to each other until yesterday.


It was a lovely time of reminiscing hearing all about his life. He told me about his new career, his daughter and caught me up on some of the family gossip.  We promised to make this a regular thing and I believe we will.

It may seem strange to most, but my family, on both sides, has never been the kind that was very close.  My mother is the youngest of 5 and all of her siblings live far from each other.  I was closer to my aunt & uncles while I was younger but now it seems like we are limited to a series of long distance phone calls and chance visits if anyone of us can be lucky enough to travel near any of the other.  Having relationships with my cousins has been nearly impossible.  Growing up estranged from my father made any relationship with his side difficult but as an adult, I have been able to forge my own relationships with my aunts and uncles and my adult cousins.


If you are not careful, life can get in the was as it did with my cousin Joseph, and before you know it, it can be 8 years before you have spoken.  


What do you do to stay in touch with the people you care about?

Changes-Back to Basics

So I followed the Fly Lady's advice and wrote out my Morning Routine.  It made such a difference this morning, even when the boys tried to rattle me, I was able to stay on track and get to things that needed to get done.


Change is hard and going through life with conscious thought is even harder.  As crazy as it may sound it's much easier to try and get by just riding the wave of a hectic life instead of having a plan and a purpose.  The latter just creates more chaos with important things falling through the gaps and only makes things more hectic where (and I am hoping this theory will be proven right in my life) having a plan creates order in which life can be purposeful and with the important stuff handled, more times that can merely be enjoyed.

In addition to the morning routine, she recommends a  Before Bed Routine which I have also set into motion.  It's amazing how much having a checklist to go by makes things go so much more smoothly.  Of course, every night is a little different, especially with the boys, but I try to stick to the basics and everything falls into place.


What kind of routines do you have in place at your home?  What are your "back to basics" routines?