Happy Monday!

I'm not really doing Making Your Home Sing Monday, but I still want you to head over and get inspiration from the bloggers who do have posts participating. I love that Momstheword is reminding us each week to stay focused on the power we have to create loving, warm, and welcoming homes. This week she's tackling the idea that maybe, just maybe, you should actually be home. This idea is dear to my heart, so I'm giving her a two thumbs up on this one. Running around all day might be fun, but it isn't necessarily good for your homelife.

So, why aren't I doing it? Well, I really have a system set up and for me, it is all about maintenance. My posts will fall under these three categories: 1) Already doing everything well and we're having a good week, 2) Falling off the wagon in some areas and trying hard to hold on, or 3) We've lost it and I need to refocus my efforts on keeping things in line. Nothing new here.

The truth is, I love Mondays. Seriously. I think it is the OCD in me, but I love when the house becomes my domain again, when our social life settles down, and routine can be in place. Don't get me wrong, I love the weekends, but I always feel scattered and disconnected during weekends. Weekdays follow a certain routine that works for me and that is just the truth. I've decided it is okay to be a girl who likes routine, who thrives under routine, as long as I don't get rigid. I don't want to be the "we're having meatloaf, so it must be Tuesday" kind of wife and mother, but I do like order and routine.

So, I have no new inspiration for you on MYHSM, but I do urge you to do what works for you, reject what doesn't with no apologies, and read about what others are doing to keep their households running smoothly. After all, we can always learn something new, can't we?

Today feels like a Monday...

After a three-day weekend that included a much anticipated birthday, today is definitely feeling like a Monday. The high point here is that Superman felt the same way, so I got two dates this week, rather than one! (For anyone who's counting, I've now had 16 Egg McMuffins in 2009--I've definitely slowed down since the January feasting!)

Since I homeschool Valiant and Buttercup, I've found Mondays can go one of two ways: 1) If everything stayed relatively calm and relaxed over the the weekend, the kids just sail into their school week; or 2) If everything stayed in a high state of chaos for the weekend (like with a much anticipated birthday), schooling barely gets started, as the chaos of the house must be put in order before their minds (and mine) can be calm and focused. Guess which kind of faux Monday we're having today?

So, while little schoolwork has been completed, the bathrooms are scrubbed, the bedrooms cleaned, Valentine's day decorations are removed, three loads of laundry have been done, Valiant (oops, excuse me!), the Red Fox and I have exercised, the dishwasher is unloaded, the furniture has been put back in position after some much needed carpet cleaning got done before bedtime last night, and we are all finding our groove.

Because it is, in fact, Tuesday, this is going to make for a tough week...I don't modify the weeks based on decisions like this...the schoolwork still gets done, just at a different pace. (No matter how busy Superman's weekend was, his work has to get done, so the kids might as well get used to those expectations for them now.)

Since I'm playing household clean-up, I though you might enjoy some interesting posts from some blogs I read. Go check out Lara's post at The Lazy Organizer...she's made some interesting changes in her diet and shares her results with us all. I admit to being intrigued. She's also the one who gave us all the link to this amazing (cautionary?) story about plastic from Discover Magazine's May 2009 issue: The Dirty Truth About Plastic. Pretty Organizer at Pretty Organized Palace has some terrific tips to get a lot done with minimal effort in this post. Finally, Mary at Owlhaven.net saw her first child married on Saturday and has a post about the clever things they did to make it special and frugal at the same time. The real value in the post, though, is the love you "hear" as you read her description of her daughter's wedding day. It will bring tears to your eyes (in a good way!).

For now I'll leave you all with that, while I continue to restore order and harmony to my home. (But I'll be back later tonight to show you Valiant's birthday cake...I tried something new and exciting and it actually turned out well!) Until then, have a terrific Tuesday-that-feels-like-a-Monday!