early rising

Since the Dawn of the Puppy about 2 months ago, Brian and I have become unwilling early risers. And as it appears that waking up at 5:30 is something deeply engrained in Rory's soul, I am faced with two choices:

1. Continue to have us stumble around in the dark, trying to shush her for an hour and a half; taking her outside to potty when it's urgent which involves the putting on and taking off of many layers; and generally being cranky between the hours of 5am and 8am (at which time she has most of her just-woke-up energy burned off); OR

2. Start getting up at 5:30. Me, the night owl. Me, the girl who goes to bed early so that she has plenty of time to read under the covers...until 11 or 11:30.


I have been leaning more and more toward the getting up early part, because I think it would be better for me in that I could get some actual income-earning work done -  because, let's be honest, not much of it is getting done during daylight hours. Having that hour or two before Brian gets up and moving could make a world of difference, if only I could be disciplined enough to make it happen. And I know it could work, because when we first moved here I was up by 5 or 6 most days anyway just because of the time zone change. And it was AWESOME.

And speaking of Brian - I know it would be good for him too, to be able to sleep until the alarm sounds instead of playing the your turn, my turn, up and down game we play the first two hours of the day.

We already turn in between 9 and 10 most nights anyway, so a major evening routine change wouldn't be necessary. Except I wouldn't be able to stay up late reading, but it wouldn't be hard to read during the day instead.

On the other hand, waking up when I don't want to or plan to is HARD. And one silver lining in the whole taking turns to address the puppy plan is that Brian and I spend those hours cuddling, and I would miss that.

Have you ever tried to implement an early rise schedule? Or had one imposed on you by puppies or babies or construction next door? What are some things that work to get you awake and moving when the rest of the world is still asleep?

booking through thursday

The Setup, from the Booking through Thursday website:

Okay–here was an interesting article by Christopher Schoppa in the Washington Post.

Avid readers know all too well how easy it is to acquire books — it’s the letting go that’s the difficult part. … During the past 20 years, in which books have played a significant role in both my personal and professional lives, I’ve certainly had my fair share of them (and some might say several others’ shares) in my library. Many were read and saved for posterity, others eventually, but still reluctantly, sent back out into the world.

But there is also a category of titles that I’ve clung to for years, as they survived numerous purges, frequent library donations and countless changes of residence. I’ve yet to read them, but am absolutely certain I will. And should. When, I’m not sure, as I’m constantly distracted by the recent, just published and soon to be published works.

So, the question is his: “What tomes are waiting patiently on your shelves?“

The answer:

SO MANY. There are so many books I have kept around because I am just waiting for the day for the right mood to strike, the right amount of free time, and optimal interplanetary alignment to cause me to pick up "that book" and get it read.

I appear to have made the commitment to read more books this year, as evidenced by my have-read list (look over to the left), which is already tremendously longer this year than it's been in a long time. The majority of these are books that had sat on my shelves, through two moves, just waiting to be read. Some are books from the library that I'd been meaning to read for years (the Narnia books, Friday Night Knitting Club, Kitchen Privileges). Only three of these books are new acquisitions (Wild at Heart, Sushi for Beginners, and Balzac) through PaperBackSwap. Peace, Evensong, Monk and North Haven are required reading for the class I'm taking. All the rest are mine and had been mine for quite some time.

You should probably know that I cull my books at least once a month. I've also stopped requesting books on PBS unless I really need or really want them - no more 'hey that sounds good' requests. My ultimate goal is to have my collection whittled down to just the essentials - the most loved, most useful, and most sentimental books.  And I'm proud to say that the out-going stream is a little swifter than the in-coming one.  I'm also making good friends with the neighborhood library branch.  In the meantime, I've got shelves and stacks and piles to get through.

Right now most of my reading is for my Theology in Literature class. It's a great class and I love the reading list, but I do have a moderate amount of baseline frustration that I'm not making any "progress" (and in fact, I'm ADDING to the list of tomes I ultimately want to read). But with that said, a sampling of the titles up to bat once I finish the class include:

First Things First, by Stephen Covey

The Artist's Way, by Julia Cameron

Blue Like Jazz, by Donald Miller

As usual, we'll see what book ends up screaming the loudest when I'm browsing for a new read.

bragging rights

I would just like to say that I am so proud of my husband.  He's really been through the ringer the past few months, and the past week especially.  A bomb went off in his face Thursday that would have sent most people to the loony bin, and he's been able to find more silver lining than gloom.

I won't go into details because I am so pissed off at TIIC that I'm seeing red, but I am very impressed with the way that he has dealt with this unpleasant situation.  He's been upbeat, motivated, reasonable, and anything but 'disrespectable' in trying to figure out a solution. After having all weekend to ponder his next steps, he had about 4 hours to wield a machete through some Grade-A Presbyterian order (aka bureaucracy) and I'm encouraged to see that the administration supported him the whole way.  I couldn't be happier to be his wife.

There are a few more things to tend to before everything is back on track, but I know he will come out on top.  I am sure of it.

I'm so proud of you.

the power hour, and i don't even mean televangelist kind either

Earlier this week I shared about the tickler file I built as a result of the time management class I took a few weeks ago.

The instructor, who is wonderful, by the way, has a blog where she periodically posts about topics related to her field of study, which is psychology (surprise) and more specifically, the application of psychology in the workplace.  (How many points for that sentence?)

I came across a post about what she calls the power hour. In this, she describes a practice her friends have, which they've dubbed the power hour.  Through the week, they keep track of all the stuff that needs to be done around the house - repairs, special chores, whatever.  Saturday morning, they set a timer for an hour and they go around doing stuff on the list, task by task by task.  When the timer goes off, they stop.  Anything that didn't get done goes on the list for next weekend.

May I exclaim for a minute?  This is an AWESOME idea!

It harkens to some of the FlyLady principles - especially the part about setting the timer and stopping when it goes off.  And then BEING OK with the whole list not being done.

And because there are two of them puttering around doing stuff, they're getting two hours worth of work done.  Who has time in their schedule to spent two hours on housework?  But an hour on a weekend is something that most folks could make happen, I'd wager.  And do you have any idea how much you can get done in an hour, when all you're doing in that hour is getting stuff done?  It's HUGE.  Note: having the time limit ensures your whole weekend isn't swallowed up by to-dos.  Doesn't that spell relief?

Plus, what a great reason to procrastinate productively!  It's so easy to see a need for something - a repair, a fix, a hack, whatever - and get sidetracked by it.  Either you're distracted by it, trying to remember to get it done and wondering when you'll be able to make time and feeling guilty by not getting it done already, or you have to bring everything to a screeching halt and fix it immediately.  Neither of these is a good option. Take three seconds, write it down, and trust yourself to take care of it in the right time. Having a list, and a set time to handle the list, is a great option.  

This is a fine example of teamwork, too, for all us cohabitants.  I haven't had gobs of marital experience, having been married less than a year, but I have learned by now that teamwork is a great way to approach things, especially shared things like a home.  In doing so, the pressure is off of me to do everything, and it's off him too.  We aren't martyrs to our roles and we support each other equally.  I don't feel like I'm coming home to a second full-time job, and he doesn't feel like he has too much on his shoulders, either.

We're young.  We don't have a whole lot of money.  And we're both busy with semi-erratic schedules.  We're just getting started in our lives together and we're figuring things out.  What are some of YOUR life-hacks to take care of the odds and ends of living while you're too busy having a life?