The Sunday Night Rush.

I'm totally over here weeping because my two week vacation is coming to an end. No more late nights, slow mornings, endless hours with Javi, traveling, binge-watching netflix, etc. etc. etc. Hold on -- I need to grab another tissue.

When I am working there are things that I need to do on Sunday nights to make sure the rest of the week moves along smoothly. I'm out of the house for about 12 hours a day during the work week so there's not much time to do anything after work besides the typical -- play with Javi, eat dinner, relax for a bit and go to bed on time. For me, that's key. I don't want to waste the few hours I have with Javi and Sean during the work week because I need to do things that easily could have been accomplished during the weekend -- and even then I leave most things to Sunday night. Call me crazy, but I'm motivated when my time is running out. :) Plus, I don't want to do this stuff on Saturdays!

1. Laundry -- I typically do 4 loads of laundry every Sunday -- 3 for clothes, and 1 for towels and sheets. I hate doing laundry during the week and when I don't have time on Sunday and end up doing it during the week -- well that's when I don't put it away and we end up sleeping amongst piles of clean laundry and then it falls on the floor and we have endless conversations about what's clean and what's dirty. And then we never catch up and it's a never ending cycle of scary laundry. No good.

2. Pack bags -- Javi has a bit of a confusing schedule but on the days he is with family he uses one bag and on the days he goes to school he uses a different bag. On Sunday I make sure both bags are packed accordingly with everything he needs -- so then all I have to worry about each evening is his food. I also pack my bag for work -- and make sure I have everything I need -- especially my keys! The worst thing in the world is not being able to find keys at 5AM.

3. Clean kitchen -- Including dishes. I always like to wake up to a clean kitchen but it's important to me that we have the appropriate dishware to bring lunches during the week. Some days we bring sandwiches or salads and some days we bring leftovers. But one thing I hate is when the dishes I want to use are dirty. I get so frustrated! This is also why we run the dishwasher every day. Most often it's full anyway but it's the worst when dishes are dirty.

4. Prepare food -- Everyone needs to eat! I like to make sure Javi has all his snacks and food for the next day and since his bags are already packed I just replenish every other night of the week. I also get together food for Sean and me. I need breakfast, a snack, lunch and usually another snack :). I make sure everything is ready to go so I can just grab it in the morning. Sometimes we meal plan on Sunday and we make lunches for every day, too. Those are always easier weeks. Another thing we do, regarding food, (we actually do it on Saturday) is that we buy all of our stuff for the week -- food, paper goods, cat food, etc. -- one day during the weekend (or we order it from amazon and have it delivered during the week). This helps because we plan all our dinners, portion out the meat in ziplocs and write (for example) "Monday - chicken parm" or "Tuesday - pizza". It helps so much! And there's no reason to stop anywhere after work -- we don't have time!

5. Collect trash -- Our trash day is Tuesday but it's terrible to collect trash on Monday night after putting Javi to sleep. So we try to empty most trash bins on Sunday. That way when Monday comes along we just have to do the kitchen trash (and the litter boxes because that's an every day thing -- you know what I mean if you have cats).

6. Clothes -- Always pick out clothes for the next day. I get dressed in the dark -- literally, I don't turn on the light because Sean is still asleep. I use the flashlight on my phone to be nice -- though he recently told me it shines in his eyes (here I was thinking I was being a good wife). On particularly busy weeks, I pick out all 5 outfits for the week -- I dress in layers so the weather doesn't really matter. I also put whatever shoes I plan to wear near the door. And ALWAYS match your socks when you put away laundry -- especially if you get dressed in the dark like me because all socks look the same and you'll inevitably be mismatched in the light.

7. Go to bed -- Especially on a Sunday like tonight (coming off a 2-week break) but really every Sunday, I feel a little more amped up and not necessarily like I want to go to bed. But when I do go to bed before 10PM -- I feel so much better waking up the next day. Oh, and always set your alarm before falling asleep. Because it's terrible to oversleep on a Monday morning. It throws off the whole week!

What do you do to prepare for the week?