Full Time

family….work…home…self

“Me” Time

           I love Scrabble.  One of my Christmas gifts was the electronic version of Scrabble for playing on the laptop.  I had a chance to enjoy it a couple of times in the week between Christmas and New Year’s, but haven’t played it much since.   As I said in my last blog post, with the demands of work, school and home life, there just isn’t enough time in the day to get everything done and still have a few minutes left over for pursuing my own interests.  I’m not whining about it.  I’m just stating a fact.  It’s true for all working moms – we tend to give up some of our own time in order to be good employees at work and to keep our households in order.  In the scheme of priorities, our own interests and hobbies are outranked by almost everything else.

But this week, I’m going to try something new.  I resolve to carve out one hour per day for myself.  I feel giddy just thinking about it!   If the weather is nice, I’ll take a walk or sit on my patio (after I get home from work and dinner is over) and enjoy the evening sky.  If it’s rainy, I’ll curl up on my sofa and read or maybe play some electronic Scrabble.

Off to a good start

Since Sunday was such a gorgeous day, I decided to walk at one of my favorite spots – Pennypack Ecological Trust in Huntingdon Valley.   It’s a green, forested oasis in the middle of my township, only minutes from where I live.  The trees form a cool canopy of shade and the creek babbles through the forest.  It’s an amazing place and if you live in the Philadelphia area, I highly recommend it for walking, bird watching, hiking or biking. Read the rest of this entry »

No Comments »

Time is more important than money

I wish I had more time.  Maybe then I really could do it all – work, study, enjoy my family, exercise, talk to friends, clean the house, and even get some sleep!  But there’s no denying there are just 24 hours in a day, which breaks down to only 1,440 minutes.  When you think about it that way, it easy to see why time is invaluable.

Since I started working full time a few years ago, I’ve gradually come to the realization that it’s okay to trade dollars and cents for time.  I think of it as outsourcing.  It’s not for everyone, though.  Paying someone else to do a job can be worth the cost, but every working mom has to decide how much outsourcing is in the budget

Today I’m going to talk about a chore that I outsource regularly – grocery shopping. Read the rest of this entry »

2 Comments »

Organization…a few strategies to make life easier

My life is crazy!  I’m often at work for ten hours a day.  I’m in school part time. And most importantly, I have a busy family with two teenagers, a husband, two dogs and a cat.  Without structure and planning, I would completely lose my sanity!   Luckily, I’m pretty good at staying organized so that tasks are completed, deadlines are met and dinner is on the table every night by 6:30 p.m.   But I wasn’t born that way (well, maybe I was – I used to sort my Barbie shoes by color!)  Instead, I’ve developed a few strategies to manage the chaos of daily life. Read the rest of this entry »

4 Comments »