I just snapped my stuffing tool while trying to stuff a doll leg. This did not make me happy, but I decided to push on--only to have it snap again. By the time it was in three pieces, I gave up. It will go to the great stuffing tool (or broken knitting needle, I guess) heaven and know it served me well.

Luckily, I have the unbroken knitting needle to what once was a pair, so I can continue without having to resort to other measures. The little knob on the end will just be an annoyance until it snaps off and I have my nice tool again. (Yes, I know I could snap it off myself. But that's not how things work around here.)

It's the end of October already. I should be sewing together the doll I just stuffed, or eating lunch, but instead I'm sitting here writing this, because I think it's important enough to write about.

As usual, this year I had the obligatory two page long list of things I wanted to get done for the craft show.

Notice that I said wanted. Oh, and had.

It was long, and involved, and would have worked (probably) if I didn't have a day job or if I was Superwoman, but since neither is likely to happen anytime soon, I've had to scale back my list a bit, because stressing myself out about something that I knew was coming is just, well, stupid.

So. Deciding that got me to thinking about what I do with my 'spare' time, what I'm likely to be doing in the future, and what I'd like to do/start/etc. sometime soon.

And the #1 problem I have is TIME.

I have a day job. That takes up about 50 hours each week, with commuting, working, and getting ready. I'm in bed by 10pm most nights, and I get up at 5am to leave at 6:15, so I get 7 hours of sleep a night. (If I went to bed any earlier, I'd have even less time to do things in the evenings.)

I have a house. That means I have to do chores, like mowing (not anymore this year! Yay!) and cleaning and the dishes. That also means things like painting, and stripping wallpaper and repairing plaster and old windows. That means cleaning gutters, etc., etc., etc.

I have pets. That means feeding, watering, playtime, and sleeptime. That means cleaning up dog puke and hairballs. That means cleaning out the litterboxes and refereeing during spats. That means making sure my darlings have no marbles to roll down the stairs at night.

I have a book to finish. That means I need to make time to write, and I write during lunch, so that's a good thing. But after that book is finished, I have other writing-related stuff to do, like finish another book, and start revising Fire and Water. And figure out where to send Heart's Desire. And suchlike.

I have dolls to make. That means sewing. And sewing. And sewing. And sewing. And painting. Etc. And after I make those dolls, I need to make more dolls, or else I won't have any sort of customer base to buy my dolls, and they've waited long enough. :)

I have other stuff I want to make. Like quilts. And I want to utilize my loom a bit better. There's the pile of fabric in my office that needs to be sorted and put away. There's the pile of crafty stuff in my bedroom that has been sitting there for months, waiting to be sorted and put away.

(There's the kitten who insists on trying to get me to pet him while I'm typing.)

There's laundry that needs to be done, and recipes that need to be tested. There's crocheting to do and I really should do something about my pledge to do yoga before it's this time next year. There are edits to finish and cover art to create. There's a website to update and auctions to post, because my house is cluttered enough with the things I want to keep, darn it all.

I don't understand how some people do it. How some people can be gone every night without fail (to some function or game or whatever) and still manage to keep things on track. I don't understand how people can drop everything to attend convention after convention after convention, club after club after club, class after class after class, and still manage to get things done.

(Okay, he's getting a bit annoying now.)

And maybe they aren't getting things done. Maybe on the days they have nowhere to go, they're cramming everything in and spending their days in an exhausted haze. And they're probably deeply in debt, or are living without health insurance, or are worried about financials instead of enjoying the fall weather. Or something.

I don't want to do that. I want to continue to enjoy to create, and play with my cats and Miss Mabel and everyone else. I want to relax, and not have to worry about things if I want to take a walk in the woods or pick apples, or whatever. I want to continue to feel that sense of accomplishment when I dig up another 14-inch sweet potato or taste that first tomato or figure out a tricky pattern piece for a new creation. I want to continue to be able to wake up in the morning, stretch out my hand, and pet someone's head. (Whoever is closest, usually.)

So.

At the moment, I'm working on a schedule of sorts for Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays. I've tried it for a week without too many issues (except for the fact that the plants don't need to be watered three times a week) and I'm going to expand it a bit, just so I can cover all the bases. My goal is to work on something cleaning-wise almost every day. My goal is to chip away at the piles bit by bit until they are gone--and make sure they don't return.

(He's sleeping on my hand now. It's getting hard to type.)

I'm going to post my schedule somewhere, probably upstairs in my office, just so I can remember it, but essentially, it's going to be little stuff every day.

There are twelve rooms in the house. If I subtract Bekah and Ethan's rooms, that makes ten. (I am counting both bathrooms and the laundry room as rooms, since for this they would be separate rooms.)

(Now his paw is on my hand along with his head. I think he's trying to tell me something. Like, STOP!)

Saturday and Sunday are obviously going to be the days with extra rooms. Monday could be too, provided I'm off.

So here's the schedule, room-wise:

Sunday: Kitchen and Downstairs Bathroom
Monday: Entry Room and Upstairs Bathroom
Tuesday: Bedroom
Wednesday: Office
Thursday: Green Room (This is almost a free room, since all I have in it is the cat food table and the litterboxes. But I could sweep around that area.)
Friday: Living Room
Saturday: Dining Room and Laundry Room

And other wise:

Monday: Water plants, clean out litterboxes, do dishes
Wednesday: Auctions, check plants, clean out litterboxes, do dishes
Saturday: Clean out litterboxes, do dishes

I've already started the Monday/Wednesday/Saturday schedule. The daily room schedule won't be started this week; I'm aiming for a start date soon, though, since I have to do some stuff on the porches first to get them out of the way. (Like *cough* cut up and throw away my Christmas tree from last year before it's Christmas again. And go through some boxes.)

All I have to do is do something in the assigned room per day, not counting what is already listed on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Hopefully it will work.

And on that note, here is my list of things to do today:

--Laundry
--Take a shower
--Get dressed
--Water plants
--Clean out litterboxes
--Finish 1 doll
--Start on next doll
--Finish Budget Cuts edits and send to Sandy
--Finish dishes
--Clean off kitchen table

We'll see how far I get.

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