No More Manic Mondays {link up}

I originally started this post to be a real, true link-up.  But I confess: I’m struggling a bit.
with what I want this blog to be
with what I believe is really important
with what I really want to write about and be known for
with eliminating from this post all of the struggles of the past week because I’m becoming too concerned with creating something else

I’m struggling with the technicalities of blogging, how in the world do I create a button?  should I just pay someone to do all this for me?

But mostly, the past two hours (give or take the ups and downs to get milk and applesauce and change a diaper) I’ve spent working have not been fun.  They’ve been stressful.  They’ve been frustrating.  They’ve been work.  I didn’t create this space to be work.  I created it to be freeing, to be my voice, to be real.  Today it’s not being real.  So forget the link up.  If you want to tell me about your Monday, leave a comment and a link back to your site.  If you don’t blog, leave a comment anyway.  I know I don’t always respond back, but I read all my comments (here and on facebook) and treasure them all.

Here’s a bit of my Monday for you.  I’m off now to actually do the things that can make it less manic.

It’s raining. Again.  But I guess rainy Monday is better than rainy Saturday, right?  Plus keeping us inside should be helpful in my quest to cross “tag consignment clothes” off the never-ending to-do list.

Around here, Mondays have always been a bit manic.  Productive usually because I’m fresh from weekend extra rest and daddy help, but manic nonetheless.  But today I thought, what if I made an effort to change that thinking?  What if instead of rushing through the manic, I reveled in it?  At that point wouldn’t it cease to feel like a burden and instead become a blessing?  Maybe….

So welcome to my first-ever linky party: No More Manic Mondays!  Let’s build a community together and let Mondays become days we anticipate rather than days we agonize through. Write up a little post about your Monday plan to keep life simpler and link up below.  And, listen, I know sometimes we’re still going to have that day, so let’s write about that, too, and then you can take a deep breath and let it go.

where I spent a little time before I got this party started working always on patience…

I discovered this morning that I am definitely a creature of habit.  Tucked in her carseat for the brief ride over to our early morning workout, Amelia lined out our day, “First we got to jazzercise, then we go to grocery store, then we go to bank.”  Well, if last week had been payday, she’d have been 100% correct, but as it is, today was just a bare bones grocery run and no sucker from the bank.

I think routines are good and the teacher in me knows how much kids thrive in routine, but the scattery-disorganized-overwhelmed mama in me struggles with forcing routine upon myself.  Because what inevitably happens is life and then I get all flustered and can’t figure out how to get everything done that I had planned.  But routines that grow naturally out of everyday habits suit me well, like Monday morning workouts followed by Ingles donuts and Starbucks.

The best thing I’ve done so far to keep Monday (and all the other days) from being less manic is menu plan.  This week is incredibly simple and tonight is leftovers from Sunday dinner.

This is Tuna Bake with Cheddar Cheese Biscuits from Jane over at Thy Hand Hath Provided.  Joshua gave me her cookbook for Valentine’s Day and we’re trying new things.  Verdict?  A great success with all the kids and even the daddy, who doesn’t love tuna.  I used 4 cans instead of the 2 called for and made my biscuits from scratch.  I also used homemade cream soup substitute and frozen peas and homemade baking mix…..otherwise it was exactly the same as hers 🙂

So tell me, what would make your Monday less manic? And if it’s already there, tell us all about that, too!

Next week I’ll work on a button…one thing at a time, folks.