Hi!

Minor details, right?

Okay y’all… closets cleaned? Check. Kitchen cabinets decluttered? Check. Retired sheets, towels, and that crusty old throw blanket from 2003? DOUBLE check. ✔️✔️ I’ve KonMari’d the heck out of my house, and now we’re sitting pretty in what I like to call organized chaos (the “organized” does a lot of heavy lifting, but still).

Work? Also somewhat under control. I’m trying. I mean, I color-coded some in my Notions calendar blocks 📅, added some new projects (aka kids, moms and work stuff) so… that counts, right?

Now, the latest update: my sweet mom is healing, thank goodness. She still needs support but not the full-time superhero daughter treatment like a few weeks ago. Which means—I’m finally back in my own bed every night. Insert angels singing here🎶. But also… I can feel work tugging at me like a clingy toddler. It’s time to go back full-time. Cue the world’s tiniest violin.

I swear, it felt like I was living in a sabbatical dream 🏖—playing house, making real dinners, and finally matching Tupperware lids to their containers. But real life is knocking. So rude.

Honestly, it’s giving major 2020 throwback vibes—remember when the world stopped, and suddenly we all remembered how to go on long walks, play board games, make bread from scratch (cause none was left on the store shelves), and actually eat dinner together at the same table? Those first few weeks felt like a snow day for grown-ups and kids. Our spring break just… kept going. And I was into it.

But of course, not everyone had it easy. We were lucky. We didn’t lose anyone close to us. Friends of ours did, and it was heartbreaking. If you lost someone — my heart goes out to you, truly.

So now we’re back in that post-chaos rebuilding phase. And you know what’s saving my life right now? TIME BLOCKING⏰. I live by it. Breathe it. Worship it. If I don’t block it, it doesn’t happen. Period.

Since I live closest to my mom, I’m the default almost daily checker-in-er. It’s like I got volunteered without ever raising my hand. But hey, she’s Wonder Woman with a slightly lower battery right now, and I’m happy to plug in and help. 

I can swing by after school drop-off, during my lunch break, or even in that weird in-between hour when it’s too late for coffee but too early for wine. Thankfully, my office is halfway between home and her place, so it works. And my siblings? Bless them—they’ve offered to cover evenings and help with dinners and groceries. Team effort, baby.

Here’s the thing—I’m an ADHD girlie. So routines? I hate them. But also? I need them. It’s complicated. I want predictable patterns, but I also want spontaneous brunch dates and a surprise road trip every third Tuesday. So time blocking? It’s my goldilocks solution. Structured and flexible. Efficient and whimsical.

I block everything: work, mom check-ins, friend catch-ups, my kids’ activities (because even if they don’t need rides, they still want an audience for their marching shows, flag tosses, jazz hands, and Shakespearean monologues). I’m there with bells on. And probably snacks.

If you’re curious how I juggle it all with a smile and only minor wine dependency, let me know! I’m still building my Notion’s world of lovely togetherness for my chaos—half planner, half magical fairy dust. And half considering making a template for you all. Stay tuned.

In the meantime, I’m off to color-code my calendar and pretend it’s a hobby like scrapbooking, only digitally and with fewer fun photo moments. 

Life is getting real around here, my summer is coming to a close… school starts on August 12th. PEOPLE when did school start so early? I feel like I was just at the BBQ for 4th of July and now I’m speed-shopping for back to school because its so darn early. Pumpkin-spice is coming, I can smell it like a rain storm. 

Before I forget, this coming school year will be amazing! (or sad, depending on how the wine hits) One is graduating from college (YAY), just in time for another to graduate from high school and start college. DOUBLE-TROUBLE-🎓SENIOR-YEAR🎓-TIMES-TWO👩🏼‍🎓👩🏼‍🎓! WHOA!

Tips for Time Blocking

• Color Code – Family vs Work vs School (and maybe by activity)
• Use one main calendar! Don’t try to track work and family – you will drop a ball! I know!
• Life is a series of projects – so use project management tools. Each of my kids is a project with a budget! So is my house and my job!
• Don’t check email all day – set aside time for it and set a timer. Nothing will wreck your day more than email!
• Social Media is not a task – it’s for fun, so it only happens during fun time, not all day long. Unless you have nothing else you could do while riding a bus while chaperoning! Then enjoy!

Ok, off my high horse soap box… this is ideal but not hard and fast. What’s that saying… “If you don’t make a plan, then you plan to fail.” So don’t me 7 years ago with no plan. Ok, next time let’s have fun? Back-to-school shopping drama, she said what?! Nothing makes a Mama more scared than to see what a 17-year-old deems “in style” for 1st day of school. My heart is already racing…

If you have any advice, let me know! Would love to add more tips!