Make It Matter Monday - Time and Money

Recently I had a startling revelation. The year end is fast approaching. However before that happens my sister is having a wedding. Which means we get to have a little two week holiday driving over and back to Cairns. It will be the first time Mr Awesome and I will have travelled some of these roads so it will be super exciting to be showing it to our children.

Thankfully the girls enjoy the long empty roads as much as we do. Perhaps it is just in our blood? I have always loved the notion of being distantly related to the gypsies...

Anyway I suppose you are wondering how or why any of this matters. Well it goes a little like this. Obviously said holiday will cost some money. Money that will need to be saved. Money that I thought I still had plenty of time to save in.

Turns out the wedding is next month.

Yep. Just a few short weeks away.

Now before I create to much of a panic I must put things in perspective. I have quietly been stashing money here and there. Only it is in one of those tins that you only ever use once. I can't open it till two days before we go. It is essentially our petrol fund.

So here is what I need to focus on at the moment.

TIME - I must use it wisely, get done as much as I can. Waste as little as possible.

MONEY - Put as much of it as possible aside. Save, save, save. Must not spend.

All sounds pretty simple when I put it like that doesn't it. I think this calls for some iAssistance. Surely there is an app out there that can help me save money and organise my time? Please if you know of something that might fit the bill please let me know.

Even though it has been a while since I last did a MIMM post I can vaguely recall that what was meant to be mattering had to do with Miss Eleven. No seriously I know it was about using the language of love on her more. Which I did for a while, but could still certainly do with a bit more time in the forefront of my mind.

It sounds terrible, but it is something I need to keep reminding myself to do. Like yesterday when I discovered she had forgotten to bring the water cooler to the car. Any chance I ever had at Mother of the Year awards just got blown to smitherines.

All she had to worry about was putting the water for our picnic in the car. And yet somehow that was too hard. I went ballistic. To say the least. 

I had even asked her on the way, while it was still possible to go back and get it, if she brought the water cooler with her. She assured me she had, in her blase I'm so awesome because I'm 11 kind of way. 

I thought I was going to strangle her when I discovered she hadn't.

By the side of the I berated and carried on like an I don't know what but something pretty darn awful. I can't believe I let my anger and frustration explode forth from mouth like that. All over a stupid water cooler.

Sure she had done the wrong thing, and sure it had already been a more than trying morning, but still...talking to her in that manner was not exactly what a model mother would do. You know the one we all strive to be despite her existence being impossible to say the least.

Thankfully she is a forgiving soul and all was mended before too much further damage was done. She agreed that she was at fault. It serves as a reminder though of how constant mothering is. Especially when trying to change past behaviours and feelings. Though that is a post for another day.

What about you? What are you going to make matter this week?

Make it Matter Monday

Welcome to the first edition of Make it Matter Monday here at Making Time to Make it Matter.  (say that 5 times really fast if you dare)  I am still not entirely sure what shape this is all going to take I just know I need to do something.  So here it is.

As you may recall Making Time to Make it Matter was spawn from all the benefits I gained from being a part of The Mother Experiment's Me & YOU link up.  I am still amazed at the accountability I gained for myself by sharing what I needed to do with my readers.  It was like, well I put it on the Internet and my page hits tell me people at least looked at it and some of them probably read it so I better stay true to my word.

Lately I have not been partaking in my weekly recording of what I did and what needs to be done.  I got to big for my boots and thought I had it all under control.  I couldn't have been more wrong.  I may have briefly, at some point had something under control but I was by no means ready to fly solo all the time and just do everything that needed to be done.

In recent week the washing has over taken a number of areas.  The kitchen table, the laundry, the back veranda, the bathroom floor.  There have been baskets of washing, both clean and dirty, laying all over the place.  In fact about the only place it hasn't been is folded up nicely in the cupboard.

As for the dishes.  Well.  I have never seen towers like them before.  And so regularly as well.  In fact, it feels like ALL the time.  It's like someone is just coming along and making them all dirty just for the fun of it or something.  Like they think I like washing dishes.  Or perhaps it is they think I like towers of dishes all over the kitchen?

Anyway I am sure you get the picture.

Let's just say I have been struggling a little of late.  Not as much as I once did but it hasn't been as easier as it was when I first set out.  Which actually happens to be a bit of a common thread in many areas of life of late.  I know that persistence is the key and persist is what I will do.

Yet again I find myself stuck with the knowledge that I need to firmly establish some goals, only I have know idea where to begin or how to go about it.  I don't want to be setting goals I can't achieve because they are unrealistic.  I also don't want to be setting goals that are to simple or without challenge.  I want authentic and achievable goals that are planted firmly in reality.

The other week the lovely Jess posted about how she had enlisted the help of her husband in the role of a manager.  Which let me tell you is just brilliant.  I haven't quite got around to it yet but I have been thinking about getting Mr Awesome to aid me in something similar.  After much thought I began to wonder if what I was lacking was accountability.

Maybe one of the reasons why I am so lax with my household chores is because there is no accountability for my actions.  There is not task master telling me off for not having a clean kitchen at the start of the day.  Nor is there anyone complaining about the delays in getting clean clothes to the the cupboards.  It is tough though, for as much as I don't want someone telling me I have to do all these things it perhaps appears as if I may need someone giving me a little push here and there.

Just another one of life's many juggling acts I guess.

The first thing I am going to concentrate on this week is setting myself up with a weekly schedule that allows time for the following

• running
• writing
• quality family time
• housework
• helping at the school
• socialising

From there I will stop and reassess where everything is and choose the right direction to head forward in.  All sounds pretty simple when I say it like that doesn't it?

What about you?  What is going to matter to you this week?