That time again - My To Do List!

My mind is all over the place lately so I need to sit down and concentrate on one thing at a time.  Unfortunately that means deciding on what those things are and setting some priorities.  This will make my husband very happy as he is always rabbiting on about if there is a job to do then "Write it down!". The things that get forgotten and weeks may pass before I get around to doing that five minute task which nags me constantly.

So in the spirit of starting off with a positive attitude, here is what I've achieved so far:

1. Made a dental appointment for my daughter during the holidays (long overdue!).
2. Made a doctors appointment for my pap smear (about six months overdue - and in the interests of my fellow bloggers' reminders to us all to get checked, consider this a reminder to you too!).
3. Made an appointment with my optometrist for my checkup (about a year overdue).
4. Get my dog's hair cut (except he now looks like a skeleton).

Poor cold Sydney!

This is all I've come up with so far.  Now here's my To Do List (funny how this subject crops up before school holidays almost every time!):

1. Do product reviews that are in the pipeline.
2. Read some of the books that are piling up around my bedroom (damn those school fetes!)
3. De clutter desk (supplied before shot below, I haven't even sat at it yet, probably because I haven't got a chair).
4. Clean out wardrobe (and hopefully discover a big gap that needs to be filled with new clothes!).
5. Decorate garage so the kids actually want to use it as a rumpus room.
6. Make our home more stylish, or at least make an attempt at decorating it the way it deserves.

This is disgusting, nothing like the ideal I pinned here

Some of these things I can solve by just getting stuck in and also by getting advice from blogs such as My Big Nutshell and Urban Style Hunters (which had their pop up store launch last Sunday and which I attended and am excited as to where they are heading with just the kind of lovely things I adore).  They also told me the four little, old Sebel chairs I have in the backyard are quite valuable!

Found thrown out at school. Aren't they cute? (Please ignore the weeds)

This will hopefully put some things out of my head tonight and leave the final week of the school term free to actually achieve things off my to do list at my day job!  

So do you have a to do list which just happens to turn up just before the holidays, every time?

*Joining up with Essentially Jess for IBOT*

Some success of sorts

What ever way you look at it, my progress on my to-do list on this post was not exactly stunning.

For example, the first thing was to sort out my wardrobe. Well I managed to empty it on to my bed, sort the trousers from the skirts, the jackets from the cardigans, the tops from the dresses and put them in neat piles.  I then had to go and pick someone up or drop someone off (can't quite remember now, hopefully dropped and picked the right kids!).  Then there was dinner to do which is always followed by cleaning up and checking out the day's emails, tweets and blogs.

By 10.30pm I went downstairs to jump in bed and it was only then I remembered my abandoned project.  I considered just slipping in the other side of the bed (Mr Moneymaker was away that week) but knew I wouldn't be able to sleep feeling that annoying pile next to me (the clothes, not the husband).  So I stuck in and proceeded to rehang 98% of the clothes back in the wardrobe. I succeeded in throwing out a HUGE number of clothes (OK, only four items but that was painful enough - you never know when you'll use a furry, cow print mini skirt).  I was able to co-ordinate shirts and jackets on the hangers and ended up with 26 leftover wire hangers(?).

So I'm counting that job as done.  Don't judge me.

As for the other jobs on the list, best not to ask.  I did manage to scrub the floors but they still look the same.  As for the cobwebs, we had a lovely big storm which washed them all away (bye bye itsy bitsy spider). So I'm claiming that one as done too.

The baking wish has been fulfilled by my daughter, but it was cupcakes, not cinnamon scrolls  or date scones.  What was I thinking?  I don't bake.

And finally, my desk.  Mr Moneymaker has finally entrusted me to go and buy my own little desk rather than an offcut of his big monstrosity.  I would rather find a beautiful bargain somewhere that speaks to me than run off to Ikea and get one off the conveyor belt.  I wonder if that beautiful old dark timber one with a dozen little drawers is still on the corner of the road I saw on the way to work this morning?

Wasting time or just chillin'?

So it's the school holidays again and as I'm really fortunate to work in a school (no, not a teacher) I get to stay home with the munchkins.

This can be a really good thing if I don't waste this precious time off.  I will start off with great intentions, which turn into good intentions and a mental 'to-do' list and after two weeks I realise I've done ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!

Well nothing constructive except maybe reorganise a kitchen draw (just did that in record time of three minutes and only because I was looking for the local plumber's business card) or go to Ikea and bring back something absolutely unnecessary (which I will probably do tomorrow).

I also end up spending way too much time reading blogs and entering online competitions.  Which actually is quite rewarding so I will not class that as wasted time (thankyou Jaquie from Under the Shade of a Bonsai Tree for my win today!).

I will plan another trip to Taronga Zoo next week (even though my complimentary membership ended two days ago - thanks to me misreading the letter from Soup *woops!*) as that not only entertains the kids, it satisfies my almost-obsession with animals.  Did you see me at the Easter Show's Animal Nursery on Monday? Those ducklings are lucky they are counted at the end of the day or some may have ended up in my showbag.

But as I keep telling myself to sit down with paper and pen and write my Holiday To-Do List and then never doing it because I've usually only got the laptop in front of me and not a pen in sight, I will record it here.

Becci's Holiday To-Do List 

(which will not be too overwhelming so as to be achievable):

• Clean out and re-organise my wardrobe (I have had lots of inspiration to do this from fellow bloggers like Styling You and A Beach Cottage and The Organised Housewife just to name a few.

(what it looks like now eewwww!)

• Bake something yummy like Date Scones or a Cinnamon Scroll. After reading blogs like Frills in the Hills I am craving hot, sweet, yummy stuff out of the oven.  I'm more of a casserole and baked dinner kind of cook so anything sweet coming out of my oven is not exactly worthy of repeating, but I keep trying.
• Remove all the cobwebs that have suddenly appeared in and around my house.  I feel like we are being prepared for an Arachnophobia horror film - WTF? Is it spider season?  And they're not little thin cute spiders, they are big brown and black ones with about half a dozen red backs populating a village in the pool fence!  Unfortunately every time the Nugget sees a spider he screams and then cries if I kill it. He's even been known to try and save ants. I heard a broom with lemon essence on it works to prevent spiders coming back so I'll give that a go.  If you know what really works, please let me know.
• Scrub my floors!  They are disgusting even if I sweep them everyday and the occasional mop, I cannot make polished concrete floors look clean.  Once again, if you know how, tell me please!
• Get a desk just for me!  Mr Moneymaker's desk is huge (that's not meant to be a euphanism), he has told me he can take part of it off the end to give to me as soon as he finds some spare legs to hold it up (no, still not a euphanism!).  At the moment the office part of our bedroom looks like this:

(My half on the left of the window, his on the right)

and I want my half to look like this:

From Stylizimo

(iMac, one day you will come)

I will need this transformation to happen with the minimum of cost so the designer chair is out for a start (I have agreed to share the existing office chair as there is no way in hell we will be able to work in the same room at the same time anyway).

So there's my list.  I don't think it's unachievable but I better get started on it soon, it's almost the end of the first week already!

What's your to-do list for the holidays or do you just chill (which is probably the smarter thing to do)?