Planning

I am SUCH a planner! I can’t leave the house without a plan. If Mr. JCrew wants to get out of the house, I can’t leave right away! I don’t like to waste time. And if I’m going to get out of the house, I’ve got to make it count! Two babes on different schedules means we have a two-hour window to work with.

I love coming up with plans. Sometimes nothing comes from them, but I enjoy the planning phase of anything.

Areas that I plan:

1. Budget. I have a balance sheet that I create a year at a time, but I also have a five-year plan.
2. Landscaping. I had fun coming up with a plan for my house and then made another for my parents’ house. I’ve even come up with another one that I love!
3. House Projects. I space out the projects around the house so that there is always something to work towards.
4. School. Mr. JCrew is still in school. He’s changed his major countless times, and I keep coming up with plans. I remember I liked planning my class schedule in college.
5. Houses. In Shop Class in sixth grade, we had an assignment that focused on house plans. I still remember the symbols used. I had so much fun creating a house plan and laying out the electrical work that went with it. I even created a house plan for my dream house! It was so much fun to work on. Maybe I should have been an architect?
6. Parties. I don’t have to be in charge to plan. I plan my piece of the responsibility.
7. Meals. Our family eats uniquely for this period in our lives. I’m taking advantage of the ease before my kids are older. We can pretty much feed Little JCrew part of our meals and doesn’t require us to make more portions than we would have. Mr. Brigglesworth is fun to make meals for. Little JCrew makes it a little more difficult.
8. Family Making. Some things are out of your control, but I knew that I wanted two kids close together. I wasn’t expecting 13 months, but I was elated!
9.  Disney Trips. We are already planning for the perfect time to take the family to Disney. How young is too young without getting too old?  I miss living in Florida! Disney trips were big, but you didn’t have to rent a hotel room. Same with the beach. The beach was a day trip. Now it takes half a day to get to the nearest beach. L

Below is an example of house projects I planned.

I seriously do one of these for everything! It makes me happy. If Mr. JCrew comes up with an idea, I have to visually lay it out before I can give an answer on what I think about it. The downside to this, is I can’t give a quick answer to someone. My plans don’t take long to create, but it’s slower than just saying the word, “yes.”

I have accepted there are many areas in life I can’t plan. They are just guidelines. I’m not offended if things don’t work out, but there are a lot of benefits to planning. If anything, I enjoy the planning part of things most. It gets you pumped up and excited! Oh, that’s just me? 

Yeah, I’m a blue-blooded nerd. Mr. JCrew will give you a bargain of a trade for me!