Life is better with a plan.

I am a creature of habit. Always been and probably always will be. I do not get upset if my plans get disrupted but I like planning. It’s comforting, even if most of the time I don’t go through it. But that’s not the point; the point is having it all there put in ink, planned and scheduled and if adorned with colourful stickers and images even better.

For some bizarre reason, Autumn is not only my favourite season, but also my most productive one. The shorter the days, the more I get done. Over the summer instead, with those long days and the sun up to 11 at night, I am all over the place, wasting energy and time, getting only the essentials done and being constantly late with dinner.

To be completely honest, the new productivity season didn’t start at its best and I nearly got discouraged there but then, things picked up. It must have been the new colourful planner with all those funny stickers!

Anyway, the last few weeks I really got myself on the right track and last week was one of a kind. Household tasks, blog, socials, everything was successfully planned in advance and followed through, but the best part was, I ended my week with some extra spare time too.

Then it was when it hit me: having a plan and following it, (as much as you can without becoming a control freak), not only secures you satisfaction and things done but most importantly a good chunk of guilt-free spare time too.

Proud of my accomplishment and my discovery I was determined not to let the guard down, not even at the weekend because keeping up with my planning meant lots of spare time to use as I pleased. Netflix, books, coffee chocolate …. no point in pretending I would use that free weekend time in something elevating me morally.

And so I had my little schedule ready and set in motion. Saturday morning cleaning and baking, afternoon blogging and Halloween shopping, dinner for daughter number two and friends already decided and planned and, finally Sunday free!!!

Amazing what a little bit of colourful planning can make you achieve, right?

That said, time for the inevitable Instagram VS Reality moment now:

Saturday morning I overslept, then I had a longer-than-usual video call with my mom and barely had time for a bit of cleaning. Let alone baking. Not too bad, I could still fit it in later in the afternoon except the afternoon went for an unplanned trip in town with the travelling husband who needed new nightwear. So the Halloween shopping was replaced by boring men’s pyjama shopping. Still, it was shopping and I would have done it over the week anyway so, technically, I didn’t break my schedule but I simply swapped the tasks in it and I was still on track.

Once home I still had time for making a simple cake and the dinner was already set to be put in the oven and while both were cooking I could start the blog. Not bad at all!!!! Well till the oven bell rang and I realised that instead of the main oven, I switched on the grill where I hid from the dogs two bags of frozen berries for the cakes to naturally defrost. And they certainly defrost! Actually, they melted all over the oven and dripped down the floor. The chicken I’m afraid was … still raw and as chilled as a corpse. Well, I suppose it was a corpse anyway. Oh, and the cake…. well there was no cake just a blended mix of butter eggs and flour. But that didn’t matter because I didn’t have the berries to fill it with anyhow.

Not much I could do now right?! Whether Daughter number two and her friends would have to do with a simple “pasta con pomodoro” and a previously baked and microwave-defrosted cake. I still did freshly whip the cream though, probably the only thing that followed the plan that night.

And there was when it hit me, again: planning is important but having a backup plan is essential😉

Enjoy your week ahead and don’t forget to sign up for the October newsletters and take your chance at a welcome to the blog gift🥰

https://linktr.ee/TrulyMadlyOrdinary

Planning Is A Skill (that you don’t want )

And it’s that time of the year again. Time to organise the mother-daughter trip and believe me even this year it was not easy.

There are two mothers, three daughters, one grandmother, and two granddaughters, and all of it in just four individuals: me (mother and daughter), my mother (mother and grandmother), and daughters number one and two (daughters and granddaughters).

As per tradition, I tried to suggest NY, already knowing it was a big “no-no” from my mom, but curious to hear the current reason: we are not staying enough days!

Not dwelling on the fact that we are only shorter of one day compare to last year, I didn’t insist but put my feet down on a no beach holidays destination as we all established by now I am no lizard neither in her or my father image and likeness.

Berlin was threw in the destinan pot, along withVienna, Instabul, Split and Bucarest and the Transilvania that was an other big “ no-no” from Nona, but I suspect more out of retaliation for my constant “no-no” to France and Spain than else.

In the end, considering the restrictions in dates because of the travelling husband’s schedule, and the fact that we had to find destinations where to fly from different countries on the same day and ideally around the same time, our options were not as many.

Finally after weeks of research and consultation and absolutely fake declarations like, ” I don’t mind, really anywhere is fine…” we agreed on Krakow.

Now that we have our destination, we have to plan the trip. And I can tell you, no arguing or discussion there just: “You should book the flights and the hotel. You are good at it “. I have no more skills than my mother or daughters, except maybe be the patience to research and compare, but that’s enough to make me a booking master and take on the shitty task. Because, excuse my French, it is a shitty task, even if the feeling of accomplishment once you have all your flights individually booked and ready to check in along with lovely bedrooms in a central hotel is undoubtedly amazing.

But, my mastering skills, doesn’t stop to booking; I am apparently superiorly skilled in planning itineraries too: ” Oh yes, I was going to look at things to do and see but, well if you do it is even better. ….”

Unfortunately, the itinerary threw us a bit off balance. But no problem because “I am so good at these things that I’ll find PLENTY of alternatives.….won’t I?!”

Have a great week ahead 🥰

https://www.instagram.com/sabina_gabriellicarrara?igsh=MWlyc2x5eWo5c2xsZA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

https://www.threads.com/@sabina_gabriellicarrara?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

https://www.sabinagabriellicarraraauthor.com/

.