What I want to do right now

This is a list of my short-term goals--things I'd like to accomplish within a few months. They are what I'd like to do with my stay-at-home momhood, which is so new and exciting to me. Later I will do a post about my long-term (life) goals.

1) Learn to cook. Jordan is the cook in this family. For some reason, I never learned how to do much in the kitchen. I'd like to start by getting a few healthy, simple recipes that I can follow without screwing up. I need things I can throw together in a hurry so I won't be tempted to buy convenience food. I'd like to figure out how much of these things to fix so we'll have a couple of rounds of leftovers or a little extra to freeze. Once I have this under control, I can branch out and have more fun with cooking. I hear it's gratifying to cook and see how nice it turns out when you're done, but to tell the truth, this hasn't happened to me a whole lot!

2) Get a schedule going. I'd like to designate one day a week to do certain things. Perhaps one day I could let Suzi have Grandma and Grandpa Day and I could go grocery shopping. (taking her and Ivey to the store alone for a lengthy shopping trip would surely end in an embarrassing tantrum.) Then I could have cooking day, cleaning day, and laundry day. I'd also like to have Suzi day--one day when I can just relax and do something with Suzi that we'll both enjoy. Which leads me to #3...

3) Spend more time with Suzi. I spend all day with her most of the time, but I am not focused on her the whole day. Now that I have Ivey, I need to put more effort into making time for Suzi. To start, I'd like to clear one day a week to do things with her. It wouldn't mean not getting anything else done. Suzi enjoys helping me bake (if I let her stir). Instead of putting on a video and trying to get things done while she watches, I could let her help me. It would take longer, but it would be fun and she would learn. Suzi also needs to get out of the house more. I want to take her to the park and on walks somewhere other than in the neighborhood. I want to schedule playdates. What do you do with your two-year-olds? I need some ideas!

4) Have more patience. I have an infant and a two-year-old and not enough sleep. Patience has never been my strong suit. I need to work on this. Slow to anger... Slow to anger... Slow to anger...

5) Stay on top of things. I am a binge cleaner. I wait around until the house is a total disaster, no one has any clean clothes left to wear, and if the doorbell rang I'd break out in a cold sweat. Then, either when I can't stand it anymore or company is coming, I clean until I nearly collapse. By the time I finish I'm too burned out to keep things maintained, so the cycle repeats. I hate this. I want to do FlyLady's 27 Fling Boogie. I want to do the dishes every day and clean the fridge out regularly so we don't have science projects in there.

6) Find new ways to save. We have pared down our spending and are pleased with ourselves, but we can always improve. I want to learn how to make the most of coupon shopping. I want to figure out even more things we can cut out of our monthly budget--preferably things we won't really miss. We are doing okay already, but Jordan and I both enjoy finding ways to save money and it will help us with our goals of paying off our van early and building up our savings. Another read-through of the Tightwad Gazette books will help, and I'm always reading frugality-focused blogs and articles.

7) Learn to make more things. I enjoy sewing, but in the past I haven't found much time to do it. I want to learn to make gifts, and also clothes and things for the girls. This will help with saving money, too. What I need is to pick a few projects, get the directions and items I need, and find time to do it. Trial and error will help me get where I want to be. I learn by doing--and, frequently, by doing it wrong and finding a better way.

I will let you know how I'm doing on these.