Hard work pays off.

Ryan has always been a good influence on me when it comes to shutting work OFF (back in the days that I used to work... or more specifically, when I had work on my brain 24/7).  For years, we both held the same position.  Both district managers for Starbucks Coffee Company.  Both had the same number of direct reports, similar geographical spans- in other words, the same exact work load.  But he had this AMAZING ability to leave his laptop shut when he walked in the door (This was back in the glorious days when our mobile phones were not inundated with texts or email... when their sole purpose was for *phone calling*... Sadly, keeping the laptop shut nowadays doesn't quite do the trick of 'shutting work off'...).  So, thanks to him, we do weekends pretty well. 
 
But for the same reasons mentioned here, old habits have returned -in the form of laundry, dishes, paperwork, inbox-clearing, garage-cleaning...  But when spring break ended last week, and I wrote that post (declaring to GO more... see more, try more, DO more), I vowed to take our weekends back to a time for play... for togetherness... for rest~ & rejuvenation.    
                                                                         
On Friday, I read this article~ "What The Most Successful People Do With Their Weekends".  ~my thoughts exactly.

I worked hard during the week, and in fact- by the time I read those words, laundry was done.  Any that built up over the weekend could (& did) wait until Monday.  The must-do's of the week were done.  Still a million TO-do's.  But those could (& did) wait until Monday.

Hard work really does pay off.  The absence of laundry alone made a world of difference.  Some of our time was spent doing "work"~ making pizza, digging dirt~ but of a different variety.  {...a variety that also pays very well.}  

                  

 {...one of our big weekend "jobs"~ reviving our garden, which [despite intentions to keep it going year-round] hasn't been touched since last summer... this year, due to limited time, we broke the work into parts... we cleared it out and prepped the soil a couple of weekends back... last weekend, we mapped it out and purchased our seeds... this past weekend, we purchased our seedlings & planted.  this year, we wanted to involve the kids more than we have in years past.  breaking it up into parts allowed it to be more enjoyable~ and less stressful (or- keeping in line with the theme of this post~ "work-filled").  this year, they each got their own planter box!  they picked out their own seeds and with our help, plotted & planted... we love seeing them get so 'into it' :).}

 

Now Monday is here, the hampers are full, and I'm more than ready to work just as hard this week for that {weekend} payoff that awaits.