I’m not sure where the time has gone. It hit me when my lease was up for renewal at my office – had it been a year already? Personally I don’t have time for the holidays. I’ve been so busy with work and kids and parent/teacher conferences and half days of school that the notion of slowing down and enjoying the holidays is freakishly gluttonous to me. Can. Not. Do.

But on the upside, we’ve decided that as a result of being so busy that something has to ‘give’ – and first on the list is cleaning the house. Cleaning service came over last night to set up a schedule starting right after Christmas. Since we can’t outsource the raising of our kids to someone else (unless you count elementary school, preschool, and my mom!) other things that we can easily replace (and not empty our bank account) have to be considered.  Household issues are usually what causes the most stress – mostly because it’s a thankless, boring, repetitive job.  Not anymore! I promise to be very thankful to the ladies that come and clean my house!  After we adjust to ‘cleaning for the cleaning lady’ and get that part of our lives in order maybe we can reassess and see if we need to let go of more things in order to have more time.  It’s a crazy balance that I’m sure no one can ever perfect.

With all that, I can finally say ….. ahhhhhhhh.  Big sigh of relief.  Since our biggest sticking point was cleaning, we are hoping it makes the biggest impact in our lives.  What kinds of things have you decided to let go of in your life (or work) and how has it been working out for you?  Did you get a book-keeper to keep your bills paid and your taxes organized?  How about someone doing your laundry?  We can’t do it ALL – what has to ‘give’?