How many to do lists does it take to get something done?

I often wonder what life would be like without a long "to do" list.  I don't think it is even possible for me not to have a list in my head, on my phone, in my email, on my desk, in my car, at work etc. etc.  They often say the same things and I often lose them, re-write them and lose them again. I tend to think about making the phone calls on the to do list at either, lunchtime when no one is in the office or 5:15pm also when no one is in the office or if I'm super efficient at 7:30am when, you guessed it, no one is in the office.  Why I can't think of making phone calls at 10am or 2pm is a mystery of the universe.

I am an organizational product junkie, this is not to say that I am exceedingly organized, because I am not.  I love the IDEA of being organized, I love to read Real Simple magazine and buy the Real Simple products at Target and dream of a day when everything I own has a label on it.  I own a label maker, tons of file folders, boxes, bins, color coded this and that and still I have to hunt for pieces of paper, I take UPS items to the post office, I upend drawers looking for my septic plan and that was all just since Friday.  I have fantasies about a place for everything and everything in it's place, I periodically subscribe to www.flylady.net and get all gung ho about her ideas (which are fabulous and work if you do them) and then get overwhelmed and unsubscribe and go back to my unmade bed and my unshined sink with hotspots chasing me around the house threatening to burn me alive at any moment.  I have lots of books about clutter but I don't know where I put them.

I used to be organized, back before I had children I had it all together but then we moved to a giant house, I had twins, my son got diagnosed with autism and real life where you have more to do than time to do it, set in.  I have some systems in place that work for me, I have a "control journal" (ala Flylady) where I keep phone numbers, menus and a sheet protector for each member of the family, I keep schedule items in there and it works pretty well.  I make lunches and pack backpacks the night before, I lay out clothes the night before, in these ways I am organized.  But I am only as strong as my weakest link and my weak link (dh) packed the lunches last night and forgot the boy's cheese for his sandwich (realized this a.m. AT SCHOOL, guess it's PB&J for him today!). 

Every week I want to start fresh, I want to get my lace up shoes on (seriously, check out flylady if you have no idea what I'm talking about) and tackle some clutter but first I have to find my new color coded paper I bought so I can make the best to do list ever!

Mindfulness...

I think the universe is trying to tell me that I need to slow down and pay attention.  After a very mindful day on Saturday at Reiki training I've been thinking a lot about "stuff" and thinking I should start journaling (like I tell my clients to, you know, "Do as I say not as I do.").  I have also been listening to Louise Hay's book, "You Can Heal Your Life" an oldie but goodie that I highly recommend.  I ordered the paperback as well as the companion book to use at work.  I also downloaded some meditations.  I really WANT to meditate and be zen but that will involve sitting still and not getting distracted so I bet I'll need some practice and I thought guided meditation would be the way to go. 

Then today I went to a training for work on DBT (Dialectical Behavioral Therapy) and wouldn't you know it but the whole first part was about, can you guess?  Yup, mindfulness.  Last night I originally came into the office to find a journal but got distracted by writing a blog about getting distracted so I'm still without a journal.  BUT as soon as I finish up here I'm going to make myself be mindful long enough to go to the closet and find a journal to use.  Maybe tomorrow I'll be mindful enough to write in it.  Babysteps, babysteps.

Now I lay me down to sleep...no wait, now...no...now...

I was just reminded of the difference between how a mom goes to bed and how a dad goes to bed.  I'm sure you've all seen the joke make the rounds but in real life it really is like that!  Dh decides to go to bed, he gets up, brushes his teeth, takes off his clothes, sets his alarm and goes to bed.  I have to...tuck in J., this can be a long process depending on how many worries she is struggling with, whether or not she knows what she wants to wear, whether or not we can FIND said thing she wants to wear, feed her fish (I know she should do that but she has killed fish from overfeeding so it's easier to do it myself), maybe do a little "Ree-kay" on her (to help with the worrying), kiss her a bunch, hug her a bunch, help her find her sleep mask and her friends she sleeps with and finally shut out her light.  Then I have to go check on Max (who is long asleep), cover him up, check out the temperature in his room and turn on or off the fan, rearrange his pillows, and shut off his light.  THEN I have to pee, pick out what I'll wear tomorrow (hunt down items sometimes) right down to shoes and underwear (it's bad when I leave all this till morning), put on my pj's, take off my earrings, take off my makeup, put on moisturizer (it's hell to get old), brush my teeth, take my pills, inevitably go downstairs to put something on my "launch pad" (it's a www.flylady.net term for items you need to take with you) or find something, come back upstairs, pee and finally get into bed where I fall asleep with the tv on (much to Larry's irritation).  It usually takes me at least 3 nights to get through one 60 minute show because I keep falling asleep.


So who's with me?  Does it take you that long to get to bed?  Do you follow flylady?  What's your best tip for getting your morning off to a good start?  Mine is laying out clothes the night before and packing lunches and backpacks the night before.

It's 10:20pm and about 1/2 my list is done so I better shut off the computer.  I have to pee and then I have about 15 minutes of Top Chef waiting to lull me to sleep.

Oh the energy...

So yesterday was our Reiki I/II class.  It went all day and we did not look like dumb-asses, hooray!  It was a long, emotional and powerful day.  I can't speak for anyone else but I left feeling very excited about learning more and getting better at doing energy work and I also felt completely drained by the day.  I was supposed to drive home afterward but ended up calling home and the sitter was willing to stay one more night, (yay Heidi).  It was heaven to get to sleep instead of driving two hours. 

One of the very cool things about Reiki is that you can send energy out into the world and there is one method of "clearing the way" so you can send your energy and intention out in order to improve traffic, clogged drains, busy signals etc.  After we returned to my sister's house and picked up my niece we decided we were starving (Reiki makes you hungry too) so we set out for Longhorn Steakhouse at 7:00 on a Saturday night, in the big city.  We got there and found a very, very full parking lot.  My sister and I looked at each other and decided to try to "clear the way" in the hopes that we wouldn't have a long wait.  She hopped out to check on the wait and I kept sending our message.  As she went in several large parties started coming out of the restaurant, one group got into their car right in front of where we were waiting and got ready to leave.  Then my sister came out with a big grin and said, they can seat us right now!  I parked in the now vacant spot right in front of the door and in we went to sit right down.  The restaurant was very full, there was a party of 8 waiting to be seated and people who came in after us were given pagers for their wait.  I uttered a prayer of thanks and we ate.  Was it coincidence?  Was it Reiki?  Was it luck?  Who knows.  We both became so overcome with fatigue during dinner that it was hard to enjoy, we couldn't wait to get home to sleep. 

This morning we both felt good and I headed home.  Since returning home I dug out hubby's old table from medical school (he is a D.O. and they had to do OMT (spinal manipulation) so he had a table similar to a massage table.  I did a treatment on my daughter and she was very curious about it all and said she liked it and it felt very relaxing.  I am eager to get better at it and feel like I know what I'm doing.  The classmate I practiced on told me that I was a natural and did everything perfect and it was the greatest thing since sliced bread (my words not hers) who knows, maybe this will be my next calling.  I guess the next thing to do is to practice, do more reading and try to learn to do a session without the aid of my manual

So I shall practice on the willing little girl, the skeptical husband and the unsuspecting son. 

On the road again...

One of the frustrating things in my life right now is all the time I spend driving.  Poor Max has had so many trips to the ENT 2 hours away as he's had to deal with nosebleeds and then getting his nose cauterized TWICE.  We splurged on the factory installed DVD player in the new van which is great when there is a second person to run it.  Almost all my trips with him have been just him and I which means he either has to suck it up and watch the show he chose originally or he screams till I can't stand it and pull over and change the show.  This stop and start makes an already long trip even longer.  So today we go for our (hopefully) last trip to the ENT for his post-op follow up.  All signs look good that this last cauterization did the trick so I'm VERY hopeful that we won't have to make this trip again anytime soon. 

So today after I get home from that 4 hour round trip I get to head off in the opposite direction 2 hours to visit my sister.  We are taking a Reiki I/II class tomorrow in Downeast Maine and I couldn't bear to leave my house at 4am so I'm going tonight.  I am grateful that I have some new books on the ipod so I can at least be entertained during my travels.  I think I'm going to start with, "The Year of Living Biblically", it got lots of good reviews and some friends suggested it as well.  I'm hoping it's entertaining.  Anyone read it?

I'm very intrigued by the Reiki class and am going into it with an open and curious mind.  I am hopeful that it will help me be more centered and less frenzied as I cope with everyday life.  I'll keep you posted on how that goes, it's a pretty tall order!  My sister and I are just hoping that we don't look like dumbasses and if we do I'll leave that part out when I tell the story :-)


Ready, set, zoom...here I go...

What have I done?

So is it ultimate narcissism or cutting edge trendiness that causes one to start a blog?  I guess time will tell.  I wanted to start a blog because I often think that I should have my own reality TV show and since that bitch Kate won't step aside to let the TLC cameras follow my (much more interesting and less prolific) family around, I had to take matters into my own hands. 

Take today for instance.  My son, M,  is very good at creating what would be "must see TV".  I left him unattended (he's 10) for about 20 minutes while I did important household tasks (read: update facebook status and check online bank statement) and returned to find that he had gotten a cantaloupe from the counter, bored a hole into it with his picky fingers and proceeded to eat the all the innards with his hands.  I found him with seeds and juice and pulpy bits all over his face, hands, clothes, TV, laptop and the living room floor.  Now before you judge a 10 year old for such poor manners I must let you in on the fact that he is quite severely autistic and his favorite pastime is stealing food.  Our kitchen looks like Fort Knox with a chain and padlock on the refrigerator and child safety locks on all the cupboards.  Sadly tonight I forgot the lonely cantaloupe on the counter so it was Son: 1 and Mom: 0.  After sucking cantaloupe seeds from the laptop and out of the front of the VCR it was definitely time for bed.

The other players in my cast of characters for my "show" are my 10 year old daughter, J, (twin of my son) who is typically developing and my husband L. who is a Dr. and is working nights this week.  We also have a very old cat with a thyroid condition who needs meds 2x a day.  Add to this my part time job as a therapist, my kids extra curricular activities, a large house and a garden of "abundance" and you'll see why I need a camera crew.  At the very least they could alert me to unlocked cupboards and mischief on my son's mind.