Whenever we head away for a family holiday, Jacob will book the week after (or before) off. The intention is to help me get ahead with some writing for my blogs (so he can look after the girls and do their drop offs and pick ups) and get some house maintenance jobs done. Often our list is longer than the time we’ve allowed for and we don’t always get done what we had planned. (I still didn’t get ahead with my writing!) Having said that, I have been able to write a bit more frequently during the week.
Last week seemed to fly because we were busy, tackling our very long to do list. Jacob worked on the backyard, and I tackled areas inside the house that have been bugging me for ages.
Here’s a list of what we got done:
1. Tidied the veggie garden and planted more veggies.
2. Pulled out all the dead leaves and the 100 outdoor toys that had been thrown into the back garden. This took a few days.
3. Added hay to the garden to tidy it up.
4. Washed and vacuumed the car. Even behind the car seats. What a delightful buffet of food that was found behind there!!
5. Purchased new plant for dining table. Repurposed the old fern that was looking a bit worse for wear. Fingers crossed this one stays alive till Christmas.
6. Cleaned out the pantry and container cupboards.
7. Tidied the top of our drawers.
8. Purchased new indoor plants for our bedsides.
9. Tested new mattresses in stores as we need to replace our current mattress. Bought new pillows and added to bed.
10. Tided top drawer of bedside drawers.
11. Cleaned windows.
12. Washed the outdoor furniture covers and cushion covers.
13. Swept and cleaned the alfresco area.
14. Sold some decluttered items on Facebook Marketplace.
15. Bought a new BBQ.
In amongst the cleaning and culling and tidying, my dad came over to take all the garden rubbish to the dump. It was a full load.
I also got some personal jobs done for myself like updating media kits, writing down content ideas and catching up on emails from being away for a week.
Doctors’ appointments were also booked to get skin checks done and a test for myself. Both of us are all good for another year.
Let’s also not forget the washing that had to be done during the week from being away too.
Putting aside a week to get all those niggling jobs done feels good. It’s something we now do because it’s often too much to do on a weekend. Putting a week aside helps us get jobs done that get neglected over time.
The list will be ongoing. There’s the driveway that still needs to be fixed, a termite inspection that needs to be booked and sorting through more areas in the house that could do with a bit of culling.
I always think of the stuff that still needs to be done, rather than feel proud about what was achieved last week. Do you do this too?
I have to remember that the maintenance on a house never ends, and when you have kids, you need to allow extra time to get it done.
