Time Management and Tomatoes, Connected?

When we left off, I was just getting ready to tell you about my newly discovered time management system - the Pomodoro Technique (PT).  (Don't you like the way I worded that to make it sound like I was blogging just a few hours ago instead of ..... longer? "Am I getting good at excuse-making, or what?"...she asked rhetorically.)

 

As one of my astute commenters recognized (Hi, Laura!), a pomodoro is actually a type of tomato, which is an unlikely title for a time management system. Janet and Lea also get credit for already knowing about this system - but points will be taken away for not telling me about it. (So, they're actually running in the friend deficit. Although Lea has accumulated bonus friend-points for all those eggnog lattes over the holidays. And gee whiz guys, I'm just kidding! I would NEVER keep score in any of my valued friendships. At least not on paper.)


Did you notice how I went from time management to tomatoes to friendship to lattes? That's the reason I'm drawn to (and without a doubt need) the Pomodoro Technique. Unlike a few (gazillion) other time management approaches I've seen, this approach doesn't spend much time helping the user define his priorities - don't most of us know what we need to get done today?-  but rather instructs in how to work in focused, short time sprints. It's made for the organized, yet concentration-challenged. 

Francesco Cirillo defined the Pomodoro Technique in 1992 but he came up with the basic idea while he was in college frustrated over his low productivity and unstructured studying. Man, I have some kids who should be able to relate to Francesco's dilemma! His breakthrough came partly thanks to a red kitchen timer shaped like a pomodoro (the Italian word for tomato). He kept his goal realistic and at first attempted to study- really study- for 10 minutes. Time became his friend and his tutor - and the Pomodoro Technique was born, or should that be sprouted?



The book I'm reading, The Pomodoro Technique Illustrated, is written by a guy sharing his experience using the system vs. the guy who came up with the technique.  While the author does a great job explaining the theory and brain science behind why this works, most of the book is spent on how to practically implement the technique. Plus, there are pictures. And the book is short (lest we lose focus, right?) You can read a sample chapter here, and see a picture of the author holding a tomato.

 I got the book from inter-library loan, but I may buy it (and not just because I've extended my due date twice without finishing it.....and definitely not because it's due today and the library closes in 50 minutes.)



 Here's a few lines from the book that explain the simple system, "Decide on a few tasks you will do that day, set a timer for 25 minutes, and then start the first one. Instead of feeling anxiety about deadlines for this hour, this day, this week, or this month, you set the timer for 25 minutes and completely focus on the task at hand. When the timer rings at the end of the 25 minutes and you're still working, it does not mean that you have failed to finish. On the contrary. It is a round of applause for your completed timebox." 

I'm digging the idea of the applause. Hooray for me! I finished a pomodoro! But here's my struggle.  I have no problem making a decent to-do list. I've even gotten pretty good at remembering to look at it :) But I find I err in one of three ways. (1) I spend too much time on a project, to the neglect of some other stuff (aka children/husband). (2) I underestimate how much time I'll need and get frustrated, or (3) I don't even start an item on my list because I don't think I have the chunk of uninterrupted time I might need.

There is much more to the book than just telling the reader to work for 25 minutes without succumbing to an interruption. The author gives instruction on how to handle the inevitable interruptions (aka children/husband), and actually learn from them for the next time; how to figure out how many pomodoros (25 minute slots) are realistic for your specific lifestyle (he doesn't mention children or homeschooling but it's easily adaptable); and the reasons it is not good to work past the 25 minutes without taking a short break.


Part of the system is gaining an understanding of how many pomodoros (or is it pomodoroes or pomodori?) each activity might take. The premise is that if something on your list takes more than 25 minutes you should break it down into smaller increments in order to complete it effectively and realistically.  He had me at 'realistically'.

For example, when I finish this blog post (which has taken a bushel of pomodoro) I am going to plan my co-op lesson for Monday. I have it listed on my To Do Today sheet, but it will most likely take three 25-minute slots. If I follow the PT I will take a 5 minute break after each 25 minute slot. This sounds wimpy to me, but the truth is....if i don't plan those breaks I will most likely lose my focus anyway - and possibly more frequently than every 25 minutes.





As usual, I'm the last one to find out about anything cutting edge (see the post where I "discovered" the Getting Things Done time management plan....on it's 10 year anniversary....), so there are already pomodoro products being produced to go along with the system. You can get an adorable tomato timer here - but the reviews for it are horrible so I guess I'll have to go for a different vegetable/fruit. This lemon one is cute, but made by the same Chinese company that made the rotten tomato one (pun completely intended :)    Never, ever knew there were so many timer choices available! Maybe I should buy the Joie Piggy Wiggy version to tell me when to stop eating the Oreos.



I've practiced the PT several times during the last few weeks - and not done particularly well. I'm pretty sure it's because I have an ugly timer. There's a slim chance it's because I lack the self-discipline to stay on task. Which is why I need this book.  But I need to take it back now because it's due in 15 minutes.


Fortunately I know enough about the system to keep at it without the book. Next time I blog I hope to report on my overwhelming success - or tell you that my pomodoro is rotten. (I am on a roll today, folks :)



P.S. The Pomodoro Technique forms are online here - along with the original (free) book. I like The Pomodoro Technique Illustrated  better than the original book, because obviously there was a need to expound on the first one (and add cute pictures.) 


P.S.S. Even though I'm not trying (very hard) to have a popular blog, I'm also not trying (at all) to have an unpopular blog. So here's some token, success-producing pictures from my recent trip to see my amazingly adorable grandchildren.

Welcome Back, Me! (or is it, Welcome Me Back!?)

Here's something that sounds like a joke, but definitely is not. Q. How do you know when you've been away from your blog  too long? A. You can't remember your password. AND the donuts in your header have been eaten. Seriously, did you notice they're gone?! What kind of a world do we live in when people can steal donuts from a blog header?! 
(Update: Donuts are back; looking no worse for the vacay. And yes, children, I did just type vacay. I told you I was cool!)
 

But I'm smart. So I figured out my password (I use the same two all the time. Please don't tell the blog thieves.) It's not like I've been vegetating while not blogging. I've been learning stuff. Plus, doing stuff. And helping other people do plenty of stuff, too. (But no vocab stuff, obviously.) And I'll get some more donuts. Geesh.

I'm sick of hearing my excuses for not blogging, so I'm sure you are. But here's the thing (...you knew I was going to give an excuse, didn't you?), I stopped because I started doing some Blog Introspection, which led to some Blog Discouragement.  Not because I read a lot of discouraging blogs; quite the contrary. There are so many great ones. And there are plenty of great blogs that are also willing to tell me how to have my own great blog. 

For awhile there it seemed to me like there was no need for me to blog if I wasn't going to attempt to have a Great Blog....with lots of readers (although I did break 100 followers .... while I wasn't blogging....Go Figure.) .... with advertising...and guest posting...and other people linking to me world-wide. 

I get tired just reading that last sentence. Too much pressure. (Too much work.)

Two things worked together to rouse me from my Blog Slump.  (1) Reading my two daughters' blog updates. See my sidebar for the addresses since I don't know how to link to both of them at once. Granted, they are both amazing girls who could totally have World Wide Blog Popularity if they wanted. But they are simply blogging through life...and I'm so happy they are.  I love reading about their lives - and I honestly think their children are going to look back one day and know their moms in a deeper way because they took the time to chronicle their lives this way. 

Sure wish my mom had had a blog. What books would've been on her sidebar? Which of her friends would she have linked to? Would she have put cute pictures of me on her blog? Pictures of me with a tight perm, that I would have later tried to delete?

It'd be like looking through a scrapbook, with digital running commentary.

(2) The longer you don't blog, the harder it is to get back to it. This is true of anything. Exercise. Bible study. Getting dressed :)   And then the project takes on gargantuan proportions so that one might feel like one would never have time enough to accomplish said project. But recently I came across a time management technique (which I am using this very minute to accomplish this long-procrastinated goal of blogging) called the Pomodoro Technique. 

And I'll tell you about it  next time I blog. Because my pomodoro is up.

But in the meantime, the blog experts say I will never have a successful (by their def.) blog without pictures. But when there are grandchildren, there are pictures :)    Top: GrandMama and Sophie at Christmas. Don't you love her 'camera smile'? Bottom: Newest granddaughter, Eleanor (10 days old today :)

Don't Follow Me, I'm Lost

I've always loved that bumper sticker. But it doesn't really fit here because I want you to follow me.


Even though I rarely blog. 


I mean...Should a blogger really have to blog in order to have followers? Obviously not.


 And I have four new followers since I last checked. In fact, they've been here more recently than I have. Which is pitiful, I know. But why would I keep coming here when I know there's nothing new. (just kidding...)


 But, I bet you get tired of me apologizing for my inconsistent blogging. Well, too bad.  It makes me feel better. Plus, it may be the last time you'll ever hear it because of what I'm about to tell you.


I've been listening to a book (isn't it cool how you can do that?) called Making It All Work. It's the sequel to Getting Things Done, The Art of Stressfree Productivity (GTD), which I recently read half of, then immediately started touting to all my friends....only to find out the book was a best-seller.... about 10 years ago.... and everybody on the planet, 'cept me, has already read the book.


(Although I was too nice to mention this to my so-called friends, but wouldn't you think if they had actually read a revolutionary book about Getting Things Done - even if it was behind my back -that I might have noticed a little stressfree productivity going on in their lives? If you get my drift ....)


 Anyway, if you've been in a cave for the last 10 years and have not yet read GTD, don't read it. 


Just get the sequel, Making It All Work, in which he spends the first few chapters telling you how GTD has revolutionized the known world. (Apparently,...Learn Humility, was not one of the things the author was trying to Get Done. But then, the book has sold a trillion copies - A trillion + 1 now that I finally bought one.) He also summarizes everything from the 1st book in the second book. So it was almost worth waiting the 10 years for.


Because I'm super-smart (if not up-to-date on best sellers), I questioned why one would need to write a book called Making It All Work, if indeed one had already Gotten It All Done. But who am I to question a trillionaire?


So, like I said. Don't get the first book (even though it's dirt cheap everywhere...bein' that it's so old news), get Making It All Work. 


Or don't get it. Just wait and see if it all works for me. (And btw, if you follow me, you'll be the first to know...)


One concept from the book that I've already implemented is the idea of Mind Sweeping. 


Do you ever feel like your mind is full of dirt? (Don't answer that.) 


 Mine. is. full.  I needed an industrial size dust pan to sweep it all up.


 The idea is to 'sweep up' all the stuff that's clogging the corners of your head. When all that fuzz is scattered around, whispering Guilt and Overwhelmed-ness at you, you end up discouraged - maybe even paralyzed. So you just try to put it all out of your mind and go have a bowl of ice cream instead. (The author didn't mention that, but I know that's what you do.)


But when you've gathered everything that is making claims on your attention- things you haven't completed or have procrastinated starting on - you'll sleep better, be nicer to your kids, make more money, and be well on your way to establishing world peace. Or at the very least you'll realize you have too many things vying for your attention. No wonder you're not experiencing stressfree productivity! 


 When I did my mindsweep, not only did I sleep better, but I decided about half the stuff in my dustpan needed to be thrown out. My mind was being cluttered up by a lot of stuff I was never going to act on. Some of the ideas in there weren't even reasonable. But they were mixed in there with all the stuff that really needed acting on. And the two were all mixed up like breadcrumbs in a meatloaf (We've been working on similes this week. Isn't that a good one, kids?)


The point of the mindsweep is to take all that stuff you obsess over; the projects, the errands, the books, the chores - and re-locate them to a place where they can be rationally sorted and acted upon. 


Want to try it? Just get out a single piece of paper and a pretty pen, set a timer for 10 minutes, and begin writing. Think about what David Allen calls "open loops" - everything in your mind that's not closed/finished/done. Start with the easy stuff. The project you're behind on. Anything with a deadline. Every thought that makes you "cringe, groan, pause, ponder, or exclaim."


It may take a couple of sweeps to get everything collected. And then you can start processing it.


But if I tell you how to do that right now, you won't need to follow me, now will you? :)


Just go make your list. World peace is waiting on you.

Homeschooling Tips Finale

(Did you notice I changed my background color from Pepto Bismal  to mocha dots? Both go with the donut theme :) , but I like to change things up around here so you don't get bored during the long wait between posts.)

Last time, I promised to tell you about Table Time. And I made some pretty hefty claims about what it would produce. Family unity....enrichment learning....higher IQ's.....better digestion....an end to that pesky climate change dilemma.

Well, how about I stick to the first two claims and define Table Time for you? It's very complex and elaborate, but I think you can handle it if you read slowly and deliberately.

Table time..... is a time .....directly after a meal- usually breakfast and lunch- where we sit.... at a table....all together... and learn.

Take a sec to let that soak in if you need to. Maybe read it again, underlining any of the words you need to look up.

OK, I know. It sounds too simplistic to actually work, but the beauty behind Table Time is that you're already all in one place and everyone is happy (aka full), and ready to learn.

Here's the Why:

As our children get older, they are learning at different levels, reading different materials, doing subjects that take longer periods of time - and it's harder to find shared enthusiasm. It's also harder to squeeze in time during the regular school day for picture study (art appreciation), poetry, Shakespeare, geography, character-building literature (like Lamplighter books), hymn singing, composer study, Scripture recitation, and hygiene (my boy's personal favorite to discuss at the table.)

We've done a different combination of those over the years, but normally we start our time together, during breakfast, by sharing what we've read in our quiet times. This is not a lengthy sharing time; they usually just read one verse that stood out to them and sometimes I ask them why. 

Occasionally, they'll have a question that tempts me to want to preach/lecture/exhort/chide - but I try to keep that to a minimum...which they greatly appreciate. However, I love to share with them something the Lord brought to my attention during my own quiet time - and without Table Time, I doubt I would remember to do this. The Scripture tells us a student is not above his master, which is an admonishment to teachers not to expect more from their students than they're willing to give themselves. I want them to know the Word is my lifeline.


By this time everyone has finished eating (or the food is gone), but we stay at the table - not even stopping to clear - and I usually do a character lesson. We've used Doorposts material as well as Character Sketches and Character First booklets. We end the morning time by praying and singing a hymn. We sing the same hymn every day for a month, every verse :) and easily memorize 12 hymns a year. The first time we sing it, I usually have one of the older children read aloud some background information about the hymn and the writer. Some of the stories behind the lyrics are amazing. 


(I should add here that the children I currently have at home are not good singers, but I don't let that stop us. My first four, now grown and singing hymns elsewhere, were very good vocalists and they spoiled me.)

A good source for choosing hymns to learn is your Pastor. I gave ours a list of possibilities and he chose the ones he knew we would be singing regularly at church, along with the Doxology and the choruses we sing after the offering and the end of services. I love watching a child's face light up when a familiar hymn is sung in church. A good hymn for all ages is "This is My Father's World."


One of our favorite morning Table Time reads was Everyday Graces, which combined etiquette lessons with snippets of classic children's literature. We also read The Goops 
a few years back - and the poems we memorized in that book are still (unfortunately) with us. 

Lunch is pretty much the same scenario (without the cereal), but I usually eat before them so I can talk without food in my mouth. While morning Table Time is usually the same thing every day, the lunch subjects change according to the day.
Last year we did Art appreciation and Shakespeare on Mon/Wed and Geography/Health on Tues/Thurs.   Fridays are always read-aloud time. Usually a historical novel (Henty?) or a longer classic.  I used to wait to read until after lunch when we would all retire to the living room, they would color or draw, and I would occasionally fall asleep mid-sentence. I still let them color on Fridays while I read. It keeps their hands off each other, and it gives the older kids a chance to color without feeling silly :)  I get great, educational coloring books from Dover.


For picture study/art appreciation I simply pass around a work of art (from a book, a postcard, a calendar,...) for the children to look at for a minute or so each, then we talk about how the picture makes us feel, what colors stood out to us, and whether we liked it. Many times, after the picture has gone around the table, I ask them to describe it. This helps them work on their attention to detail. As with the hymns, we try to study the works of one artist for a month. If you can study artists that correspond with the historical period you're studying - great. If not, no biggie. Table time is not something to stress over. It should not take lots of planning.
There is no right or wrong way to do it.


For geography, we've used blank maps or library books, or a globe and a cd of songs. The point is just to have everyone working on the same thing (unity, remember?) and to use small increments of time to consistently cover a subject. One year, we did Anne VosKamp's Geography of the World and we absolutely loved it! If you choose something structured like that, don't give in to the temptation to keep the kids at the table for hours. Just take your time and enjoy it! It may take you two years to get through it but that's better than never getting around to it, right?

Well, I hope this little mini-series of homeschooling tips has been helpful. It's been a nice refresher for me. If you're in the Tallahassee area, come hear more of this life-changing information at the September TEACH meeting where I'll be the featured (meaning..only) speaker.  



I always hate to make promises, but I got some great pictures of my newest granddaughter while she and her mom and brother were visiting me recently, that I'm itching to show (off.) We are now calling our home the Haven from Bats. I'll explain later (maybe even this week....although probably not.) .Hey, maybe I can add Blogging to our Table Time. They could all sit around (silently) and watch me type.




 

My Book Club is Hot!

Here is a very bad picture of a pretty good book. Crocodile on the Sandbank, by Elizabeth Peters.



My book club met at the beach this month, so fittingly we read a book set in the arid climate of Egypt. And the title had sand in it. Literally.

I hate to brag (cough:cough), but my book club is the best book club ever. We read the best books. We have the best discussions. And we eat the best snacks.

In fact my book club is so good that these pictures of them don't even need captions.
(And it's after midnight and my Staycation has started so I'm too preoccupied to think up witty little captions to go with them.)

In lieu of captions, let me just tell you that
(1) We all enjoyed the book.
(2) We all loved being at the beach.
(3) We loved having a beach neighbor come and join us for our book discussion, especially since she has been to Egypt and seemed to know a bit about the tombs and mummies - and she's writing an opera, which means she must be very smart and talented indeed.















Stay tuned for pictures of my Family Staycation. Sixteen of us are here now - waiting for the other three. We had a Kick-Off dinner tonight - and my sweet readers, Sarah and Leah, will be happy to know I took pictures!

Pictures I will post Sunday night after church. Have a restful, worshipful Sabbath!

My Talent Has Been Exposed

(Kelley, Mary, and Laura ....You may want to skip this first paragraph and go straight to the pics. I know how my popularity bothers you :)

I thought there must be some kind of mistake when I got my sitemeter report for yesterday and it reported 200plus visitors (!) My previous high for one day was in the seventies - and although I'm sure I sounded very nonchalant when I mentioned it here, I knew in the internet-est parts of my heart, even that was a higher number than I deserved or warranted.

After all, I don't really cook, I haven't written a book, and I don't sew. I write about my life, I brag about my children, I move furniture around and take pictures of it, and mostly I just tell people what to do. Pretty much what any mother blogger could do.

Certainly, nothing that would draw 200 readers to my blog. (Hey! Maybe it's the donuts....I did notice they are not flat anymore. Thanks, Hunter!)

To solve the mystery of Why The Masses Are Flocking To My Blog, I took a cue from Mary and went to the sitemeter section that tells you where the visitor originated from. I'm telling you, girls, they came from all parts of the country. And beyond! Guam, South Australia, Liverpool, and even Houston, Texas (and shouldn't they be on the road evacuating instead of reading blogs?)

And the one thing most of them had in common is that they came from here...

And not because my POOPIE was so great, either. The winner's POOPIE was way better than mine, which I actually don't mind all that much, because the Nester did quote from my blog!!!!!!! She even called me by the very personal, pet-name..."one reader".

I suppose the witty writing (or the sarcasm) drew them to click on the link to me.
And the next thing I know I have hundreds of visitors to my blog (all of them staying about 2.5 seconds...but hey!)

I can't deny it. I liked it (a little Too much).

I envisioned myself as the next BooMama, going on trips to Africa to blog for all my adoring masses. Getting 30 or 40 comments just by talking about fried chicken (or 100's if I posted during American Idol.)

Yep, I enjoyed every minute of my 15 seconds of fame (actually that doesn't add up, does it?)

Even if my totals are back down today, it was fun while it lasted.

But I don't post just for strangers (although they're welcome!), I post for the faithful readers (who are mostly related to me, and about 1/2 of whom I have personally given birth to). And to show you how much I appreciate your faithfulness to me, I am going to reward you by showing you some of the kosher food we ate last night at Book Club (see lame post from yesterday for the kosher explanation.)



The girls in my book club are ever-so-creative. (Last month we read an adventure about a Mt. Everest climber, and everyone brought "survival food". Next month we're reading The Tipping Point and we're bringing "dipping food". Get it? tipping...dipping...)

Look closely above and you'll see challah bread, Jewish sweet noodles with fruit (which I neglected to get the name of), Hebrew National pigs in a blanket, kosher salt potato chips, hummus and bagel chips, and even kosher candy (which is most candy, in case you're wondering.)




This beautiful photo, taken by the beautiful Lea, is of some yeast-less chocolate cake that was AMAZING - and Jodi's unbelievable Mitford orange marmelade cake. It took her 6 hours to make it - and it was worth every minute (for me, anyway, since all I had to do was basically chew and swallow and make yummmmmmmmm...noises.)


And just so I don't lose points for going "off theme" for two days in a row, I'm posting a few more house pictures.













Tomorrow I'm posting my "Final Answer" to the Question: How will Debbie's kitchen finally look when she gets done moving things in and out, in and out, in and out? And perhaps more importantly, How is her marriage surviving all the changes? And....Does she or does she not have a kitchen table anymore? (Or...All they all eating on that one comfy chair and the desk?)

Please excuse our mess....

I'm tempted to count Hunter's "work in progress" post earlier today as my contest post of the day. But lest "someone" try to use this technicality to knock me out of my #1 spot, I'm going to post another quote from the book "Keeping House". I must admit, in the beginning of the book I was a little cynical of the author's way of spiritualizing every household chore.

But a few chapters into the book, I began to be energized by the reminders. An eternal perspective is hard to come by on days that start at 6:15a.m. and end at 11:00 pm (after helping with two 500 word essays and a 2nd graders timeline of her life.) Mrs. Peterson's continual emphasis of God's design for house keeping has become a welcome prodding.


Today's quote is from the section on Clothing a Household.

"In all of this there are echoes of the familiar themes of Christian theologies of work. ....Most individual householders no longer make most articles of clothing, but the assembling of a wardrobe stocked with clothing or a linen closet stocked with sheets is still akin to the work of creation. Laundry is a work of providential care; mending is restorative or healing; ironing is an act of perfecting."

"Even so seemingly nontranscendent an act as putting clothing away can be a gesture of memory or of hope. We put laundry away in drawers and closets in the expectation that another day or season will come when we will need these things again."

"Alongside all of this,of course, lies the reality of clothing as a simple necessity and the act of clothing others as a work of mercy. People have bodies, and our bodies need clothes. Our households thus need routines and practices that provide for these needs and for the needs of the house itself - sheets for the beds, towels for the bathrooms, a cloth for the dining table - routines rooted in the recognition that as we do such work, we are engaged in the essentials of life in the body and life in the community."



Tomorrow I'll resume posting pictures of 30 Corners of My House. I changed my kitchen All Around - so, yes, Kanani - I do have Kitchen Addiction (vs. Addition).

Ever since we moved into this house I have been trying to find a way to get a desk in the kitchen. I think that's a natural place for a woman to have an "office", since much of her work revolves around the kitchen (no laughing, Jodi!) Our kitchen windows also have a beautiful view, so I wanted a comfy chair to sit in and gaze out. Unfortunately, in order to add the comfy chair and the desk, I had to remove something that "some" (aka husband) would say was an essential kitchen furnishing.

So we'll just have to see how it goes without the table in there for now :)

Don't you think eating at an actual table is way overrated? We are so spoiled here in America.

Keeping House - reading about it, not doing it

Even though apparently only other bloggers read blogs on the weekend, I still want to share some quotes from the book I mentioned yesterday.


Oh wait! Nobody actually GOT to the bottom of yesterday's post to notice the book I mentioned. Everyone stopped reading and commenced to commentin' at the fact that I divulged my sitemeter statistics of 77 visits per day last week - average.

I knew all this Truth in Blogging and Transparency would some day blow up in my humble face. I guess there are just some things you don't share in a public forum. We live in a number-phobic world, girls.

Let's not let our worth be tied up in other's approval, OK?

It is OK, isn't it? Because if you think it's not I'll delete it right away! Seriously, just say the word. (insert big grin, here..because I don't know how to do html yet..)

Back to the book, Keeping House: The Litany of Everyday Life by Margaret Peterson -
these next passages are from the section on "handling emergencies and disruptions in the home."(I'm skipping a lot of her introductory remarks - You really need to get the book...Or borrow it from me ...in a couple of weeks. But if you buy it from amazon, wait a day or two until I take Jodi's advice from her comment yesterday. I just might be able to profit off of you and your desire to be a godly homemaker.)


"Routines are obviously a good thing on routine days- days when nothing out of the ordinary happens, when no circumstances arise that make it difficult to go through with things as planned. But what about when such circumstances do arise? Life is unpredictable, after all."

"A truly human life is one that is lived not only in life's strengths but in its weaknesses as well. A well-kept house is thus a house in which it is safe to be weak, because the members of the household take care of one another. And in a more everyday way, it is a house in which it is safe to be hungry (there is food in the cupboard), safe to be tired (there are places to sit and places to sleep), safe to need clean socks (there are some in the drawer)."

"Efficiency can be the enemy of hospitable housekeeping, especially in the face of small or large emergencies. All too often, efficiency is just another name for being spread too thin. A few years ago there were massive cascading power failures all over the eastern United States that were eventually attributed in part to design features meant to make the distribution of power as efficient as possible. It turned out that because all parts of the system were working at maximum efficiency all the time, the system as a whole had no way to adjust to problems, and small-scale disruptions rapidly became large-scale catastrophes.

Maximum efficiency in housekeeping routines can have the same effect. If we are working as fast as we can, all the time, there is no way to adjust to the inevitable disruptions. Moreover, maximum efficiency easily turns into no rest for the weary.

You are never done because the plan is never to be done; the plan is to be working at something or other, full speed ahead, all the time. And maximum efficiency tends implicitly to devalue the work itself or to reflect its devaluation by others. You are working as fast as possible and doing as little as possible - - why? Perhaps because you are inclined to think the work has no intrinsic value or pleasure associated with it. Or perhaps because you know that no one is going to help you, so it does not seem feasible or worthwhile to give any more time to it than absolutely necessary."

"Nurturance and caregiving are notoriously inefficient. Insofar as housekeeping participates in and forms part of the infrastructure for nurturance and care, it makes good sense for housekeeping to be designed not for maximum efficiency but for appropriate redundancy. We need to plan to take enough time to do the work - perhaps not always as much time as might be ideal but enough time that on a normal day most of the things that need to be done can get done and on a hard day there are corners that can be cut."


The part that struck me in what Mrs. Peterson said was the erroneous mindset of thinking work has no intrinsic value and no pleasure can be gained from it. A "just get it done and move on" attitude. I must admit, for me there is great pleasure in the "fruit" of a job well done...but not necessarily much pleasure in the performance of the job itself.

That's definitely my attitude about cooking - and maybe that's why I don't enjoy it more. I work hard at it (because it does not come easy for me) and the family eats it - and then it's gone (hopefully.) And then they're hungry again a little while later and the process continues. "Appropriate redundancy"....hmmmm.. I need to think about that for awhile.

And seeing work as part of my nurturing and caregiving should bring more of a sense of purpose and pleasure, maybe even worship, since it's the job He's called me to do. Right?

This book has inspired me- and I'm going to try an attitude change this week and see if it makes a difference in my cooking.

Is there an area of housekeeping that could use an attitude adjustment on your part?

Confession is good for the soul, friends. Let us know what area you'd like to work on seeing more as a part of your nurturing and caregiving and less as something to do quickly and efficiently in order to get it out of the way.

Justification....or Rationalization?

Whew! I only have 59 minutes left before I turn into a pumpkin,....but more importantly, before I miss a day in the September to Remember contest - and give Lea, Mary, Laura, Lori, Jilma, or Kanani a chance to slip by me into the #1 spot.
(You did know I was in the Top Spot, didn't you girls? :)

Why am I so late tonight? Inquiring minds want to know (and so does my husband...who is waiting for me to make the bed so he can get into it.)

Well, there are two possible reasons.

(1) I got my weekly sitemeter.com report and noticed that my average number of readers this week was 77 per day. However, the number for today was only 33. So, being the Brainy Blogger I am, I figured most readers must take the weekend off.

So, why blog into thin air?, I not-so-humbly asked myself.

On the other hand, I realized that perhaps one of my sly competitors might have rigged the sitemeter thingy to throw me off. Mary's very good at computers...and Kanani is a math whiz... Either one of them are capable of something complex like that.

And Laura's very competitive (even used to be in the armed forces),so maybe all the stress of the contest got the best of her. Heck, even Lea isn't above trying to get the edge on me. After all, this contest was her idea and she's putting a ton of time into her (very lengthy and sentimental, picture-laden) blog. She's going to feel awful when she loses to me.

Jilma or Lori?....Nah...Jilma is too busy with her mega-babies to even post daily. And Lori...well, she's blogging about Scripture memory, for heaven's sake (literally). No way would she do it. Her blog might get hit by lightening or the ground might open up and swallow her laptop.

(2) If it's not a plot to destroy me (and deprive me of my rightful grits), then it could be because I spent 3+ hours tonight Blog Hopping on different decorating blogs.

I'm pretty sure it's (1).

So, I don't have pictures of a corner of my house tonight. Although I could show you a picture of this comfy chair my behind has been sittin' in for the past 180 minutes.

But instead I offer you a few paragraphs from a book I'm reading to justify...er, inspire me in my current House Focus/Infatuation.

It's from Keeping House by Margaret Kim Peterson (and even though time is ticking and I now only have 42 minutes left, I'm going to link you to amazon, because I care about you (and there may be a tie-breaker where you'd have to vote - so I need to keep you firmly on My Side.)

Uh, Oh...I just wasted 10 minutes trying to choose from the pages and pages I'd like to quote from.

This book is SO GOOD.

I've been especially convicted by the chapters on food. I've been surprised to read how much the Bible has to say about food, not just the eating of it, but the choosing and the preparation also. Jesus used food in many analogies. One of the fundamental characteristics of humans embodied nature is that people need to eat, and they need to eat every day.

OK, I give up. Tomorrow is the Sabbath and that would be a better day to quote from this book anyway, since it's all about the sacredness of keeping a house.

And that gives me another day of blogging material, without having to upload any pictures or clean any corners of my house to be photographed.

Like I said, I am One Brainy (rationalizing) Blogger.

Sabbath Reading - and an epiphany

In our effort to make the Sabbath a delight, a delight that might glorify God and help us enjoy Him forever (see catechism Q.1), we try to read certain books on Sunday afternoons instead of our usual weekday fare of school-related books or fiction, twaddle, etc. We're not legalistic about it, since the words that feed one person's soul might leave anothers hungry.

For instance, today Molly chose "A Child's Garden of Verses". Not exactly a theological treatise, but she said the poetry makes her feel close to God (and it is her mother's favorite poet.) I'm not one to argue (cough:cough:gag),and she also had an Uncle Arthur's Bedtime Story book in her hands, so I sent her off to her Sabbath Rest Reading with my approval.

Mary-Faith is reading The Holiness of God for her summer school reading, so I could hardly object to her using a Sunday afternoon for "academics".

Daniel always naps with me (he thinks this is a privilege, but I know he will fall asleep next to my warm, flabby body vs. being kept awake by his noise-making brothers in the Boys Dorm.) He's reading Prince Caspian (again...) This would not be soul-feeding to me, but he struggles to read anything at all, so again ...I'm not complaining (yet.)

Justin sleeps every Sunday afternoon. The whole two hours. He says his soul needs rest more than literature. He is the most phlegmatic child In.The.World.

Alex, who is a great reader, listens to tapes on Sundays because he says reading makes him sleepy (which I need to remind him, is a perfectly acceptable and even highly recommended Sabbath activity.) Today he listened to some Adventures in Odyssey bible tapes.

Andrew, who should be watched like a hawk at all times, chose Hank the Cowdog for his Sabbath reading. At best, an amoral book. And that's being gracious. Hank can at times be disrespectful and rude (and is absolutely hilarious!)

When confronted about the inappropriateness of his choice, Andrew responded, "I also read Click, Cow, Moo: Cows that Type - which we got from ChickFilA, which is closed on Sundays...so I thought it would be OK." He may be deceptive, but he should get some credit for thinking on his feet.

Winston did origami in his bed today instead of reading. He didn't even try to make up an excuse. He's at that 16yo age where he'd rather just take some reprimanding than use the energy to defend himself.

All that prelude just to prove that my choice for today wasn't so bad. I've been reading "Recovering the Lost Tools of Learning", by Douglas Wilson, in preparation for the kids to take classes at a local classical school.

It's overdue so I couldn't renew it online, and I'm feverishly trying to finish it up before Monday. While reading into the wee hours last night, I came to a chapter called "The Student in Adam", which I purposely saved for my reading time today.

I was feeling a bit hypocritical, perhaps stretching my logic a bit to justify my choice - but I feel redeemed because the chapter contains many soul-instructing pieces like this (if you put 'parent' in place of 'teacher', and your children's names in place of 'student' it will make more sense):


"...each child still bears the imago Dei, the image of God. That image has been marred and defaced through sin and must be restored in Christ, but it still remains. Although students are sinners, desperately in need of the grace of God, they have true dignity. J.C.Ryle addressed both aspects of man well when he said, 'We can acknowledge that man has all the marks of a majestic temple about him - a temple in which God once dwelt, but a temple which is now in utter ruins - a temple in which a shattered window here, and a doorway there, and a column there, still give some faint idea of the magnificence of the original design, but a temple which from end to end has lost its glory and fallen from its high estate.'

"This Christian perspective of man as a transgressor against the law of God does not destroy the concept of human dignity. Because man is fully responsible in his rebellion, he is treated as a person. His personhood and dignity are gifts to him from God and are to be respected. In education, the teacher must maintain, at all times, this respect for the student. For example, humiliating discipline should not be applied in front of the other students. Name calling should not be done at all. The discipline is to be administered privately. The student belongs to a sinful, fallen race, but the teacher came from that same race, and they both bear the image of God."

While I'm glad the teachers at the classical school have been required to read this book, the passage spoke to me as a parent. I confess - I don't think about my kids bearing the image of God and my need to respect them for that particular reason.



Brite, Shepherd, Jacqueline, Hunter, Winston, Mary-Faith, Justin, Alex, Andrew, Molly Grace, and Daniel .....and their parents, Temples of God - made in His image,
to be respected and treated with dignity in all our dealings - even during this slow walk towards sanctification. And only accomplished through the grace of God.

Hoping this new insight makes a difference in the way I view my family, warts and all....

Debbie