Weekly Wrap-Up

This week started off with some excitement! Monday we had our new living room set delivered and the landlord finally sent the people to cut down the tree branches. There was one branch in particular our neighbors needed us to cut down due to it being right over their roof. On days where we get interrupted like that, though, it’s hard to stay on task! So I took advantage of the new living room furniture and lounged with the kids on the new couch! Wow, what a blessing! I actually had avoided sitting on the sectional we had. It was the type of sectional that requires pillows on the back, and the pillows were now gone. The cushions have had holes in the bottom for the past 3 years, and now springs were actually sticking out. It was beyond a reupholstering job at this point and so uncomfortable it actually made me sore to get on and off it.
The other addition we picked up yesterday. We bought a package deal with the furniture that included a nice TV. We haven’t had a TV in a while. We were using a projector and big screen, but our projector broke during the move. We were blessed with a used TV from my aunt that we have been using, but it did have some pixelation issues, and they were getting worse. The TV arrived yesterday, so we picked it up and got it set up! Wow, what a difference! It’s a “smart TV,” so I hope to play around with it and see what all it can do, too! I’m thinking we can make use of it for homeschooling during the day besides the educational videos! We’ll see!

Wrap up!

Highlights in Our Life:

• I just feel like we’re finally getting somewhere with the house now! The boys’ room has space now, the living room is done now (mostly) and ready for my “before and current” post, and we’ve started our gardening for the Spring!
• We got a new cage for the gerbils and will be converting our BioBubble into a fish tank now!
• I’ve decided since my current method of organization isn’t going so well, I’m going to hit it with every angle. I’m going to keep up with my To-Do list and Evernote, but I’m also going to use physical planners and binders as well. I’m not sure how much this will help since my biggest problem is actually the fact that I don’t check these things every day, but I’m hoping, if anything, I will at least get into a good routine. I’m DESPERATE for a good routine. If anything, I think using all of them may help me to better streamline what I’m doing with my “paperless” version, and I will be able to go back to that but have better organization with it. We shall see! Maybe I’ll figure out such a great method, I’ll create my own ultimate organizer! 😉 I have so many resources to which I have access, though, I get so frustrated that I can’t “get it all together.”

Homeschool Highlights:

• The kids have really been glad to be back on track with Ooka Island again. I’ll be sharing another review and giveaway soon, so stay tuned! Our preschooler has also been really involved this time! He asks to get on it every day! I’m so excited that he’s so on board with learning this year!
• We’ve been trucking along in the other subjects and didn’t really do anything out of the ordinary this week. Boring, I know!

Blog Highlights:

• I finally feel like I’m caught up! Now I just hope to stay that way! I still have quite a bit on my editorial calendar and need to set dates for a lot of things, but everything I was behind on is now finished except one, which I hope to finish tomorrow. Phew!
• I have a TON of blogger opps coming up this week! Woo hoo!
• I am hoping to get back on track with the planners and in Evernote so this doesn’t happen again and have started keeping better notes for things I would like to see happen on Pea of Sweetness so when I have free moments here and there I can work on those things!
• I switched my comment form from Disqus to CommentLuv Premium for a couple of reasons – you don’t have to sign in, and if you’re a blogger, you can also leave a link so it will show up. I love to support other bloggers, and I think it’s a great way to do so. I did have Guest options set up for Disqus, but I don’t think many people know that, so I’m hoping this will encourage more comments as well. I got a few other plug-ins included with the Premium package that I haven’t had time to play with yet, so I’ll have to see what they’re all about! I am annoyed that my theme doesn’t display boxes, though. If you click, it’s there, though!
• I had many requests this week for people that basically expect me to work for free. This isn’t only insulting, but it hurts me, too. I work so hard at what I do. I work into the wee hours of the night until I feel sick sometimes just to get things done. With my husband not being able to get a job as a Disabled Veteran yet still fighting with Social Security still, our family depends on me and what I do. It’s upsetting that others cannot understand that. I also have had people requesting me to post things that are unethical like paid posts without disclosures or with “do follow” links. I clearly ask them multiple times to read my advertising page and Terms and Conditions which clearly states there WILL be a Disclosure and “nofollow” links, and yet we get to the final stage (after they have been asked to read it at least two times), and they then say no, they can’t do that. It’s disappointing that people cannot respect my time and waste theirs as well. Those days I have to remember what I’m working for. I have to remember God called me to this for a purpose – that it helps our family, helps others, and it’s worth it to keep going. I’ve had to remind myself of that a lot this week because sometimes it feels like it’s not worth it, but I know it is.

Goals This Week:

• Work out my editorial calendar for upcoming posts.
• Put my housekeeping organizer to use.
• Still figure out how to make it possible to post and participate in Wordless Wednesday linkies in a way that isn’t too time consuming. I wasn’t successful this past week either!
• Share the updates on the house!

So tell me what you’ve been up to! How do you stay organized?