A perfect balance

When we lived in Houston I found myself always busy, always stressed and never enough time to breath. Now that we live in a place where I don't have much of a social life things are pretty easy. There isn't any traffic, not much socializing to do on the weekends and I only stress about where playgroup is, what's for dinner or why the house is a mess.
My good friend Jenn recently posted on her blog about this very topic. When we were talking last week I told her that the only reason my house is clean, the laundry is done and dinner is cooked is because of "the list" When I get up in the morning or the night before I make a list. It is basically a to do for the day. If I have to pick Ashley up from somewhere I use that as an opportunity to run into the store for some thing. Leaving the kids in the car with her makes a 30 min shopping trip more like 10.
Normally my list might have floors, laundry, dust, hot tub, windows, grocery items, things I need to google or maybe just a scrap book title floating around in my head.
Either way when I complete my list I reward my self by getting on the computer. I feel like if I get sucked into the computer first thing in the morning I will waste time when I could be doing something constructive. Isn't it sad that I put more pressure on myself than anyone does? I figure Aaron goes to work everyday to provide for our family there is no need for me to sit home and be lazy, though I could be but that pressure thing gets in the way.

Back to basics

So I admit I am not a huge fan of Oprah, in fact she irritates the snot out of me on most days. I dvr her everyday anyway. I was catching up last night and one show really made me think. It was Monday's show about living a simpler life. I loved most of the things that were incorporated and think all families could benefit from these, not only in a tough economy, but always!

*family meals- I love this and we eat as a family every night. We even eat breakfast together on the weekends. I think time spent around the table is some of the best memories I have with my family.
*T.V- more and more families these days spend too much time in front of this distraction. I would love for families to turn the tv off and pull out those old pictures albums/year books/baby books, play a game, read books or take a walk.
*Talk to one another. With the internet, texting, blogging, facebook, blackberry technology we have today it's a wonder we even know how to have a conversation anymore. Take time to talk to each other. I try to call my mom every other day even if it's just to say hi and to hear her voice. Aaron and I both make it a point to ask Ashley how her day was and to see what's going on in her world.

I hope that despite the tough economy families will be brought closer together.

Give me your tips on what brings your family closer.

Thrifty tip

I was reading a blog and came across this terrific site <-----click, that gives you cash back on your online purchases. You just go to the website see if your store (over 900) is there and click on it. 4 times per year they send you a check or direct pay into your Paypal account. I wish I would have found it before I checked out on some of my favorite online stores but hey being in Canada I am sure there will many more online purchases. Be sure to check it out it really is cool and couldn't we all use a few extra bucks!!!
Now back to my online Christmas shopping.