Already Done!

That is the kind of list I made yesterday, an "Already Done" list. This whole week while we have been on our Fall Break, I have been frustrated by my lack of completing everything on my "To Do" list each day. I have planned way more than I have time for this week!
So yesterday I decided to try something new. Just when I got out my paper and pen to make that "list", I decided to leave it blank. I just stuck it on my calendar and began working. Each time I completed a task, big or small, I wrote it down. I tried to fill the entire page! (It is a small 4 x 6 sticky note page). The already done list really won't work for me on a regular basis---I need to make sure that I don't forget something important, but for yesterday....it worked great!
Here is what I did:

read Bible
cleaned schoolroom bathroom
made my bed
tidied up my bedroom and bathroom
entered October receipts into my excel budget spreadsheet (all of them! I had gotten really behind!)
paid bills
reconciled 2 months of bank statements on Quicken
vacuumed the kitchen, eating area, den, basement stairs, and the entire upstairs
mopped basement stairs
shopped with Jimmy (alone) for running rain jackets---it is supposed to be cool and raining for our half marathon tomorrow
cleaned the kitchen 3 times
watched The Spirit of the Marathon with the entire family--the girls and I folded about 6 loads of laundry while we watched it
put away my laundry plus Jimmy's, Leah's, and Sam's

It was a productive day!

A couple of side notes:
While I spent 2 hours at the computer working on the budget, paying bills, reconciling the bank statements, entering dates on my calendar, etc., I kept Leah and Sam busy and happy by giving them all of the trash mail. As I opened up a bill I gave them the envelope plus all worthless inserts, receipts, and junk mail. They had a ball! They spent the entire time playing "office". They found empty boxes to put all of their "mail" in. I also gave them some return address labels that they loved. Sam spent a good bit of time shredding his mail, but that was ok. The first thing I did after playing office was vacuum!

The Spirit of the Marathon was an excellent movie! It followed several people as they trained and then completed the Chicago Marathon. The people ranged from elite runners to novices, with a few people that fell somewhere in between. I did not see the homeschooling mother of 5 children featured! I guess I am off the hook for running a marathon! (Although a friend of mine who is a homeschooling mother of 7--the youngest of which is only one year old! just completed her first marathon in September and will be running another marathon in December!!!) I have often said that I just don't have the desire to run a full marathon, but after seeing these women from all walks of life and of all ability levels train and complete a marathon, I think I may change my mind. I have two friends (one that I just mentioned) that set and met a goal of running a marathon before they turned 40. Well, I missed that milestone! So maybe I will set a goal of running a marathon before I am 50!
Jimmy is running his second marathon in December!