Berlin is getting ready for the Christmas season. Christmas, people!! Time flies when you’re having…well, no time for anything, really. It looks like this year will be the first Christmas that we will actually be spending in Berlin - I am always extremely excited about this time of year, but now that we have our Munchkin around I just want things to be perfect. I truly hope I can spare our daughter the constant bickering and negative feelings that have been associated with this festive season in my family for decades. I will not have Christmas spoiled for her. I just can’t stand the thought of my little girl being just as disappointed and heartbroken as I have been many a time in my childhood and even in recent years.

Anyway, things are still in desperate need of some sort of organization around here. My To Do list has gotten so long over the past five months or so that I just feel overwhelmed to even think about it. So baby steps it is - my first task will be to sift through all my lists and general paperwork. I need to have an idea of what exactly needs to be done, so I can prioritize. I’ve come to realize that I need a clear plan of action and certain time frames in which to do things. For example, household tasks used to barely ever get done any more, cause I just felt overwhelmed. I’d start cleaning and clearing everywhere at once and never had the time to finish anything, because eventually the Munchkin would demand attention. When I’d get back to cleaning, my routine would be all messed up and I never really had anything done to my satisfaction, so at some point I just started procrastinating - thereby obviously not achieving anything whatsoever. Apparently this kind of situation can only continue for so long before you drown in your own mess. So last week, I started taking on one task for the duration of 30 minutes every evening. It actually works out fine: whatever I don’t get done in those 30 minutes, I will do the next day. I don’t feel like I have to do everything all at once - et voilà, we’re slowly getting somewhere.

Speaking of getting somewhere, I very much need to get to bed at the moment. Sleep well!