Weekend Warrior, Now Open For Business

We also say hello to a new friend - meet Dorothy Dumpling,
a rescue from ReTails, 100% rescued pets.

At long last, our family has a two day weekend for the first time in a while, hurrah!  Part of balancing work and family is working through temporary imbalances due to busy seasons of the year.

This weekend I am resisting the temptation to make up for lost time by working through a 48 hour long "to do" list.  In the past, I would judge the success or failure of a weekend based on how many things I got done.

Not so beginning now!  Instead, a quality weekend is based on discerning what is most important and doing those few things well.

The familiar cliche "work smarter, not harder," applies here.  On one hand, I don't want to miss out on quality family time.  On the other, maintaining a household does involve some discipline.

Here's what I mean:  What to do during two days off in a row?  How about a list long enough to choke a horse?

• Clean garage
• Clean camper
• Go to Meijer - update a list (thanks to our neighbor who surprised us with a gift card for watching their dogs recently)
• Reserve campsite for Jenn's birthday in October (October sites go fast!)
• Organize camping supplies
• Work in garden
• Cut grass
• Help Grace with essay
• Work on High School blog with Ryan
• Target shooting with Trevor
• Grill out - charcoal
• Finish AWANA Journey lesson preparation
• Watch ME TV - Get Smart, Batman, Lost in Space (the great thing about classics is that we don't worry so much about inappropriate junk)
• Sunday morning church and Sunday School
• Rescue a cat (oops...already did that last week...help new cat assimilate to us...)

And get reunited with an old friend - almost ready to go!

All work and no play makes us dull boys and girls.  So how can we make this more manageable?  Here's the plan:

Darling Bride and I want to grill out.  Therefore, we will prioritize that.  To grill out, we need charcoal and a grill brush, so Meijer is on schedule Saturday morning.  Before dinner, one last push to finish Grace's essay, already about 98% done.  

Get me out of here!  Thanks to in-laws for lending us
some garage space for the winter.

Cleaning the camper and replenishing camping supplies are fun, work.  It is a good feeling to be prepared to go camping at a moment's notice, so I am eager to get that done.  

Speaking of camping, Autumn is prime camping season, so to get a prime spot when we go for Darling Bride's October birthday, booking a reservation sooner rather than later is wise.

One nice thing about the Friday's rain is that the grass is too wet to cut (bummer).  Worry about that later.  What about the garden? Depends.  They can drop off the list.

By the time we get to Saturday night, the whole family likes the 1966 Batman series, on the air 7pm Saturday nights.  I think some TV time as a family is OK.

Sunday morning is set aside for worship, and later I'll finish my lesson preparation to present to the high schoolers.

Everything else will fit in as we can.  The desired result is a healthy balance of chores, errands, and play!

Here's a challenge for you:  How can you balance your weekend?  Have a fine one!