Lovely, just lovely!

Which actually right now is a pretty accurate description of the weather we’re having right now. It’s gorgeous! Spring started at 1:32 yesterday afternoon, and you can absolutely tell.

My son spent the entire day outside, practically. And today my kids went to this huge castle park that’s about an hour away. They left around 2 p.m., and haven’t yet returned. I’m sincerely hoping they’re so exhausted that they fell asleep in the car and my husband has to call me to come outside and help carry them in.

The good weather has me thinking about all the things I want to do to the house this summer. Since we bought it at the start of fall, we didn’t really have a chance (or the funds) to do any sort of anything last year.

I want to:

• Get the windows fixed – glazing, sashes repaired, the two broken panes replaced
• Get someone to look at the roof and estimate when it needs redone, and how much it will cost
• Get the tile in the bathroom fixed so it doesn’t leak into the dining room any more

(Speak of the devils – they just arrived home at 8:30 – what a day!)

My husband also mentioned getting the wallpaper off the walls, and we toyed with the idea of exposing the brick on the interior wall, upstairs and down. I think it could look truly awesome. My husband, I think, was just going along for the ride. It’s okay – if he hates it, I’m sure he’ll let me know.

But that may be a project for another set of funds. Until my youngest is in school, daycare is sucking the life out of us. A familiar tale. Perhaps someday when I have more time I’ll find a solution for that.

Actually, completely going off on another tangent, having a daycare exchange – where say two families work out flexible work schedules and then the kids spend time at everyone’s house in a rotating schedule for only the cost of food and supplies would be ideal, really. But ANYWAY…

So now that spring is here, there are things to be done. Money to be saved and spent, projects to be started and hopefully completed.

Yay, spring!

I want to learn how to design with WordPress, and come up with a completely custom theme.

I want to learn how to sew, and make my own curtains for the house.

I want to write every evening at least 500-1000 words to prepare for National Novel Writing Month in November, when I’ll have to be writing 2000 words per day.

I want to build a successful blog with more than two visitors per day.

And that’s not even the projects that involve my family. Those are the projects that I have three hours a day for, after everyone goes to bed.

I also want to read to my son and daughter every night, so they grow to love reading as much as I do.

I want to go to bed early once in a while with DH, who falls asleep with the kids.

I want to help my son with his homework, and take him to Boy Scouts, and live through church on Sundays.

Some of these things I can do, but not all of them at once. How does one decide, then, what is the most important? Obviously, family comes first. And taking care of myself and doing things I enjoy is important as well – I’ve seen what happens to people who sacrifice themselves for others all the time.

But where does the line get drawn? I’ll be honest, I don’t have the answer to that question. Everything I want to do right now, everything I’m trying to squeeze in, seems equally important.

Dear Advice Nicki,

I can’t organize my personal projects into the time I physically have available in each day. How do I squeeze in everything I want to do without sacrificing my health or my family?

Sincerely,
Confused Nicki

So, you know you’ve taken on too many projects when you start writing yourself advice letters, and then plan on answering them the next day in your next post to get some perspective.