Catching Up to My Dreams

I can't be the only one out there who has way more ideas than followthrough! Today as I was sitting and catching up on Facebook, and drifting to check out Etsy, I came up with several neat ideas that I could probably do for some cash on the side. Just little things...crafty things...smart things...

All things that I'm sure somehow, deep down, I'm capable of. And then it dawned on me that I haven't even finished my list of things I already have written down. Things I need to take care of.

So. Today I decided that I need to focus, get my butt in gear and get a few things off my To-Do List before I start scratching more onto the bottom of it.

One thing I did actually complete just a couple days ago was a collection of Photobooks. My hubby and I figured that it would be nice if the kids actually got pictures of their lives. You know, so they can remember past the mundane chore lists, and the boring day to day things and back to the fact that yes, we did actually do things.

As I was putting the books together, I came across things that even I forgot about! We found a turtle in my garden in 2011. That's kinda cool!

I made each kid their own books, with pictures primarily of them. I made a book for 2009, 2010 and 2011 for each of them. Plus we took the kids to Disney World in 2011, so that was recreated in a separate, and identical book.

Why 2009? Well because that's the year I met my stepson, ergo I have pictures of him. Eventually, I will go back in time to finish my daughter's books, but I don't really have any other pictures of my SS before that period of time and my husband didn't have a whole lot in his boxes either.

They will get those books as Christmas presents and from this year on, will get a book capturing the previous year's shenanigans. So next year, they will get 2012 and so on.

So that's ONE thing off my ever-growing project list.

When I quit my job in May to focus on our side business as well as somehow develop a more efficient home I had grand ideas. Get this. One of my great ideas was to bake every other day. Maybe even have healthy, yummy snacks for the kids when they got home from school. I also planned on having suppers ready every day for my husband when he got home. Well, that one I'm pretty good at, but there are occasions I melt down halfway through the day with other things going on and my wonderful husband comes home to rescue the supper burning on the stove or with a pizza in hand.

Well, actually I very rarely burn anything. I'm a very good cook, but you get the idea.

The moral of this story is that life is BUSY. Life is full of distractions. Take today. My goal today was to clean up the house, take the youngest dog to the vet for socialization (because she is afraid of every blinkin' thing and wets herself over anything), and maybe get a workout in. What is actually happening...well, I'm blogging. But after that, I'm hopping in the shower, heading down to my mom's to take pictures of her Bible Study group, picking up a Notice of Assessment from my accountant, stopping by the bank to get a letter, squeaking back in the door to hopefully organize supper and head out the door for Advent Day 7. So...things don't happen as we plan.

That all being said, we all have things on our To-Do Lists. I need to plan out my kitchen for future renos in February. I wrote a book years ago that my husband wants printed so we can give it to friends of ours who had a baby last year (it's a kids book). I have to de-rust my bathroom (hard water. You know.). I have to take the dogs for a walk consistantly. I have to catch up on my paperwork for the business so I can get the taxes filed. I have to start preparing for my personal taxes. I have to wrap Christmas presents....

I have to. I have to. I have to!!

So many things. Too many things. I need to stop chasing 100 things at a time and focus on one thing. Focus on one thing and finish it. Then move on. It's so overwhelming thinking of the meal plans to make, the chores that need accomplishing, the dreams that need fulfilling. If I find the time, I find I'm often aimless because I have no focus. So then the time I have steals away and I still have the exact same list I started with.

So. Today is December 7th. This week, I am focusing on finishing the children's book that my husband is pushing for me to complete. It's not getting professionally done, so it won't have the same finished look, but I've entered most of it onto an application called Blurb and it'll be nice.

December 13th is my official deadline. I have that time to make the edits I need, to increase the page length creatively (the book has to be 20 pages to print. I'm at 14 pages. Arg.), and to get it ordered. December 13th.

And now every time I have a grand idea floating around in my head, I'm going to create a list. A list that each week I will tackle something on it. It won't be overwhelming because it'll be written down AND I'll be crossing something off.

December 13th, expect a post about the completion of the book!