Monthly Musings-February

It's the last Thursday of the month which means it's time for our Monthly Musings hosted by Patty (Good-Better-Best Life Blog). This month's topic is:  ways we make our weeks easier. 

Easier. Hmmm. Is life in retirement hard? 

No, not really. But also yes sort of. This season is much like every other season of our lives, except there's a lot more health related stuff and a lot less 8th grade algebra homework to stress you out.

No we're not running out the door early morning with kids in tow heading to high pressure jobs and juggling all the balls in between. But it's also not all late morning lattes wondering what in the world you're going to do today. 

I mean to be honest some days it is that, but mostly life in every season means dealing with things both large and small that vary in weight and importance. There's still laundry (a surprisingly lot of it for two people not working!), still meals to plan, shop for, and cook, still all the mundane household tasks, car repairs, taxes to file, blah blah blah. The kids may be grown and flown, but there are now aging parents to worry over. 

Also...about those grown children? They now have children of their own which adds a wonderful, lively,  takes- you-back-to-your-own-early-days-of-parenting sort of vibe to your days, and all that to say life is still plenty busy. It's just a different kind of busy. 

1. Paper planner, digital calendar, or other option. 

Don't come at me, but I use both paper and digital. I know,  I know... I should choose, but y'all I just cannot give up my paper planner. When I make an appointment or we have plans, travel, whatever, I do add it all to the digital version, but I update that paper planner regularly too. 

Digital might be handy, but it's not pretty and doesn't give you the same sort of satisfaction holding an actual product in your hand does. 

2. Meal planning, meal prep, or wing it. 

I plan meals, weekly for the most part. We're always up for spontaneous dinners out with friends, but I  still need to have a rough menu for the week. I would find not having a plan to be unnecessarily stressful. 

I can cook so if I need to wing it I will, but that is so rare. I make a menu for. the week, shop for ingredients, and for the most part stick pretty closely to that menu. 

3. Do you choose your outfit the night before? 

Nope. If I have an appointment, or we have church the next day, then yes I think ahead of time about what I'll wear, but life is super casual on the lake so dressing doesn't require a lot of planning. Swim suit-check. Cover up-check. Let's go. 

4. Tips for managing laundry and ironing. 

Throw a load in first thing in the morning and follow it through all the way to the putting away part of the job. Don't let laundry get away from you. 

Here's my tip for ironing-marry a man who excels at ironing. Works for me. 

5. Grocery shop in store or online. 

In store. Hubs likes to say I need to handle every single piece of produce before choosing the exact right one, and he's not wrong. For the most part I don't mind grocery shopping. 

6. Best tips for getting out the door in the morning without the chaos. 

Retire lol. 

7. Share your easiest dinners for crazy weeks. 

Tacos, breakfast for dinner, rotisserie chicken with some rice and veggies on the side, pasta sauce that's been frozen in batches to pull out when you're too exhausted to cook. Same with soups, chilis and stew. Make enough for two meals,  eat one when you make it and freeze the other. 

8. Best tips to keep your house organized during the week. 

Having grown kids certainly helps. Course then they have kids of their own and when they bring them to Nana's house all bets are off. 

9. Share your easiest breakfast. 

I make hard boiled eggs and keep those in the frig for an easy grab and go early morning protein.  I always have fruit and yogurt in the house. 

10. Share your best overall tip not covered. 

Set a timer for ten minutes and do a speed clean/pick up of an area that's making you twitch. 

Don't go to bed with dishes in the sink or crumbs on the counter. You might hate the idea of doing one more thing, but waking up to a sink full of dishes is a sad way to begin a new day. 

Prioritize sanity over perfection. 

You're doing great!