Focus on the Positive

It's springtime, which is lovely, but I always seem to find myself overwhelmed and stressed at the end of the school year. There are more things to be done than I have time to do, and it's easy to get discouraged. A few weeks ago, Louie gave me a pep talk about not focusing on all the things I *don't* get done, but rather being happy about what I *do* get done each week. So I asked him, "What *one* thing do you want to get done this week?" And I picked one thing. I wrote it on the board attached to the entryway / garage door.

For the week of April 3-9
This week, I would like to:
Louie - take apart the shelving for transport to the lake
Jeanne- email March MQ hours to Rebecca

I was so excited when I got this done that I crossed it off and put

burn Aladdin CD

And then I did that, too!

paint eggs (the plastic ones I bought for the lilac Lent branch thing)

Then hot-glue strings onto eggs.

I think Louie and I finished these on Sunday, April 10th, but we did get our "one thing" done! And it felt good.

April 10-16
This week, I would like to:

Jeanne - write a letter to Konrad

Louie - sharpen at least one set of mower blades

We both finished (and I had been wanting to write to Konrad since well *before* his dad died) and that felt great!

 April 18-23
Louie - Paint the skylight

Jeanne - wipe down all baseboards and stairway woodwork

We were having our AIM group over for dinner and wanted to do more than the usual housework (admittedly not very wonderful - ever). Louie spent a lot of time that week getting rid of the peeling tape, re-taping, mudding, sanding, etc. It definitely looks a lot better! We still need to deal with the woodwork, insulation, etc., but it is much, much nicer now.

I did not love crawling around on my hands and knees trying to wipe down the woodwork, but it definitely needed to be done! It's something I should definitely do more often.

April 25-30

Jeanne - finish binding one full edge of Unity (Alex and Stacie's wedding quilt)

Louie - church mower blades sharpened and back on


Again, we were motivated and got these things done! It feels so much nicer to focus on accomplishments than on what is not getting finished.

I won't post pictures anymore (they're simply not that interesting) but I'm going to try to document our project more. It's helping me to pick one thing each week that I truly want to accomplish and to keep my focus on getting that one thing done.

For May 2-7, I put my thing as "Get a good gift for Louie" and he put "Replace board under deck." I have succeeded! I still need to wrap stuff - perhaps I'll do that as soon as I log off. I have tried to facilitate his project, but since tomorrow's his birthday, I think he might not get this one thing done . . .

I looked for the house paint we used on the exterior. I took out everything in the paint cupboard. We do not have any of that paint left! I told him to just use a different color, but he said no. I said no one goes under our deck and behind the firewood to look at the bottom board under my window! He said no. He hasn't gotten the board out or cut it to size . . . . and I'm not sure I'm interested in trying to find and buy paint to match what our house has. Ah well. He gave me crap about my goal this week, but I was seriously concerned. He got me wonderful gifts for my birthday; how could I be empty-handed tomorrow? It matters to me to try to bless him. I love my husband!