Project of the Month

Well I didn't exactly accomplish my February Project of the Month: Repaint the Hall. BUT we did repaint the master bath or at least did touch ups. So I am gonna count that.

My March Project is going to be to get ready for the local Spring Consignment Event. I hope to sell enough of the boys old clothes and toys to pay for their Spring wardrobe. We'll see....

Familytime Friday

Ok, I have really been slacking in this area the last 2 weeks. I have let "busyness" take priority over familytime. My lack of sleep and never ending to-do list have left me short tempered and impatient with the boys on what is supposed to be "Mommy Days-" days devoted to just me and the boys. In March I must do better about not letting other things crowd out my familytime. After all, the whole reason I started this blog to begin with was to hopefully replace my income so I could eventually be home more with the boys!!! I think the quote on my friend Kelly's blog says it best (Kelly has one of those cute blogs I was telling you about earlier)

"You're gonna miss this, you're gonna want this back

You're gonna wish these days, hadn't gone so fast

These are some good times, so take a good look around...

You may not know it now, but your gonna miss this"

I tear up every time I read that! How many times have I been told that "they grow up so fast" and yet I take my time with my children for granted instead of treasuring each moment. My ultimate goal this month is to slow down and just spend more time "playing" with and enjoying my family.

Thrifty Thursday

Thrifty Thursdays in March will continue to host the DRS Couponing 101 Lessons for the next couple of weeks. I hope someone out there has found the lessons helpful!

My personal goal for the month is to get back on track with my budget. I am officially nervous about meeting my annual $5000 goal because I truly thought I would be caught up by now. And I'm almost out of all that chicken I bought in January! BUT I'm NOT giving up! The good news is I have almost $60 coming my way from Walgreens' rebates so that will really help the budget if I spend it wisely.

I do love hearing about all your savings success stories so keep me updated!

Wellness Wednesday March Goals

One again I have to confess that although I have dished out the Wellness advice faithfully I have not been taking care of my own wellness.

• I have yet to follow through with my January Wellness Goal to schedule a doctor's appointment for my back. Goal: Call next week- REALLY!
• Although I did much better on my sleep as a whole, I still broke my midnight curfew at least 2 times a week. Goal: This month I am going to move my bedtime goal down to 11:30pm. We'll see......

What about you? How are you doing on your own personal Wellness Goals?

Day Task Reminder

Day Tasks are weekly chores or activities, not included in the zone work, that are assigned to specific days of the week.

Monday: Library Day, Pay Bills and Office Filing

Tuesday: Vacuum or Swiffer floors throughout house

Wednesday: Clean inside Microwave and Mop Kitchen Floors

Thursday: Date Night (in my dreams!), Swish Toilets (swish v. 1. the action of inserting the toilet brush into the toilet bowl and swirling it around thus cleaning the toilet bowl)

Friday: Errand Day, Project Day, Feather Dust House

Saturday: Change Bedsheets, Family Fun Day, Clean out Refrigerator, Grocery Shop (if grocery game posts early enough)

Sunday: Cut up fruit and vegetables for snacks, Iron clothes for coming week, REST

Daily Routine Reminder

Morning Routine- usually 7am - 8am (Please note I am NOT a morning person, therefore I try to keep my morning routine as light as possible):

• Quiet Time
• Breakfast
• Take Vitamins
• Get dressed for day
• Get kids dressed
• Dishwasher emptied and refilled
• Clothes in dryer
• Crockpot turned on (if applicable)
• Kitchen and Bathroom counters wiped down

Afternoon Routine- usually take 1-2 hours (this is done during rest time for boys or after work on days I work)

• Zone Work (Flylady says to spend no more then 15 minutes on this)
• Day Tasks
• Fold laundry
• Prepare Dinner
• Straighten up all rooms
• Return phone calls and check emails

Bedtime Routine- this starts after supper

• Clean up supper
• Pack lunches, backpack and diaper bag for next day (only on work days)
• Start Dishwasher
• Boys bathtime
• Start load of laundry (I do one load a day and alternate between permanent press and regular- but NEVER take laundry advice from me- I am horrible!!!)
• Wipe down toilet (this is done everyday because I live with 3 boys), sink, counters and Spray Shower Cleaner
• Bedtime routine with boys
• Gather up stuff for next day ex: phone, planner, etc.
• Lay out clothes for next day (work days only- I totally wing it on days I am home:)
• Plan for next day
• Reading time

March Cleaning Schedule

Effective Dates (Tuesday - Monday); Zone; Supplies

March 3 - 9, Office and Playroom, Windex, Dusting Spray, Electrical Appliance Cleaner, All-Purpose Cleaner or other Sanitizer, Swiffer Wet and Dry or mop and broom, vacuum, paper towels

March 10 -16; Outside, Garage, Laundry Room; All-Purpose cleaner, broom, mop, leaf blower (optional), windex, coins for the car wash, vacuum, trash bags, containers to sort: donate, garage sale, keep, etc., paper towels

March 17 - 23; Kitchen and Dining Room; Windex, All-Purpose cleaner, Oven Cleaner (I have an older oven with no automatic oven cleaner), Turtle Wax (to shine sink), broom, mop or Wet Swiffer, vacuum, paper towels. Dusting Spray or Furniture Polish (ex. Pledge)

March 24 - 30; Bedrooms and Closets; Windex, Dusting Spray, vacuum, Wet and Dry Swiffer (we have stained concrete in our bedrooms), paper towels

Remember to check out flylady.net for the ultimate cleaning plan.

Ultimate Long Term Blog Plan- Phase One

Aaaaand I'm BACK! Sooo I was just about to tell you about phase one of my Master Plan to Make this Blog profitable:

In a word.... CUTE! That's right- I think it's my blog's lack of curb appeal that is holding me back from making the big bucks (even $1 per day would be nice). From my statcounter website I have been able to click over to other DRS readers' blogs, and let me tell ya- they have got it going on! No generic blogger templates there- nothing but genuine CUTENESS! I'm talking Pizazz! Being on their sites just make me want to smile and stay awhile. Then I come back over to DRS and if it wasn't for the picture of Donna Reed herself, I think I would fall asleep!

Therefore, in order to create a more enjoyable DRS experience for you dear readers, I am going to invest in a new Blog template that better reflects the DRS personality. In the redesign I also hope to accomplish a better layout for the blog that will enable easier navigation around DRS. However, my "Ultimate Long Term Blog Plan- Phase 1" plan does not allow me to go forth with the redesign until I have had 50 return visitors for 5 days (does not have to be consecutive). My goal is that this will happen by April 30th (my birthday) and I can relaunch the "New Face of DRS" that weekend! So tell your friends and tune in often! please

I do realize that this is extra dorky that I have guidelines for when I will allow myself to "cutify" my blog- But does it surprise anyone?! All you cool people out there with your cool blogs- cross over to the nerdy side- I dare ya!

Ultimate Long Term Blog Plan

Well you know I can't do anything without a plan, and here lately I can't make any plan without telling you about it, so here it is......... I'm going to let you in on my Ultimate Dream for this here Blog........... Now don't laugh.................

My Ultimate Goal for this blog is not only to educate the world about DRS, a disease that so often goes undiagnosed, but also to eventually make a little money off the process. Now I have been told by a number of professional bloggers that this is a far fetched dream BUT they don't understand the power of a DONNA wannabe with a PLAN!

You will notice on my sidebar I have a couple of different ads. As of right now, that is my only source of income from DRS. Every time someone clicks on one of those ads or purchases something from amazon from this site I get a tinsy portion. Let me give you an idea of how this is working for me: As of February 27th I have made a total of $5.95 for the Year! Woo Hoo!!! If you break that down to an average profit per day I am racking in a whole $0.10 per day! So you can see I'm a loooooong way off from being able to quit my day job. BUT my DRS makes me think that this whole dream could still work..... with the proper plan, of course.

I am not ready to present the full master plan of how I plan to launch this whole DRS business (partly because I haven't yet figured that out myself) but I do want to let you in on the first phase of my plan............................................. AFTER I COME BACK! Cue music. (Sorry I just got done watching the DVRd American Idol's Result Show- Go Kris Allen!!)

Super Saturday!!!

It's that time again! Time to roll out the master plan for the NEW month. Each new month brings hope and a fresh start to the DRS afflicted. Through our DRS tinted glasses we see the new month as our opportunity to get it right, to get it all together, to get reDONNAfied. For those of you that have practiced safe blogging and have avoided catching DRS- you know that in reality there is no way this side of Heaven any of us could achieve full Donna Reed Status but ain't it entertaining watching us try!

Stay tuned for a post packed day here at DRS central!