Vacation

To do this weekend (so far)

Edited: I'm crossing items off as I complete them, and adding items as I think of them.

Sweep/Mop: *Den *Kitchen *Dining Room *Game Room *Entry *Hall *Bathroom *M’s room *My room *Office
* Change sheets * Pickup * Laundry * Clear Table * Call Bank * Dishes * Dump packets * Clean bathroom * Put Away Laundry * Clear counters * Clean laundry room * Clean off futon * Litter box * Post Pictures to blog * Download photo book software * Work on photo book * Download dad’s pictures * Get Diapers/Wipes * Meal Plan * Grocery Store * Visit mom & Dad * Return Hard Drive * Art exhibit for Jessica * Make baguettes for Monday * Talk to J about motion detector for Mamaw & us * Change Tablecloth

It is now the end of the day Sunday, and I completed most of the list. Not too bad. I didn't do any of the sweeping and mopping so now the house needs it more than ever. I'll have to do it tomorrow.

We've been on vacation!

We had a fantastic time, but no posts. No internet, or phone service! Yeah, I'm one of those who thinks that makes a good vacation. I'm slowly getting pictures downloaded, and I'll post about it this week.

Resolutions Revisited

In my last post I said that I wanted to look at my resolutions again and see how I was doing...Here it is!
(I haven't looked at these in months! Current progress is in blue)


* Meal Planning Goal - I already do well with this, but I'm not ready to drop it from my goals yet.
~Meal plan for each week.-Doing great.
~Plan a vegetarian meal once a week.-Doing ok here. It's rather unintentional, but it happens.
~Plan for leftovers.-I've really gotten back in the swing of this one. No problem.
~Cook once every 2-3 months for the freezer.-I don't do this at all - need to work on it.
* Weight Loss Goal
~Plan healthy meals and snacks. We eat healthy, but I don't plan snacks. I need to.
~Weekly weigh ins.-I'm weighing in almost daily.
~Weekly photo of progress (at least until goal is reached).-Not happening. I did for a while, but talk about depressing.
~I have a goal for 15lbs in the first 3 months of the year.-I've lost about 6 pounds this summer. Nothing before that really.
~I think once I hit the 15lb goal I'll have 5 more to go, but I'll re-evaluate.
* Cleaning Goal
~Help Miles pick up toys every night before bath/bed.-We are doing this every couple of days instead. He's doing really well.
~Give Miles chores (put away jacket, clear place after meal, unload his cups from dishwasher).-I'm still inconsistent on this. I need to work on it.
~Keep floors clean (swept & mopped) - I do this pretty well, but needed it in writing.-Still doing ok. Not great, but ok.
~Keep horizontal surfaces cleaned off. - Jared has a tendency to move things from Miles and put them...wherever. This makes it hard, but how nice to have a home where you are never worried about opening the door.-This will need work for a very very long time.
~Schedule? Monday/Thursday laundry Tuesday floors Wednesday work Friday pickup for weekend? - Six lists?-Nothing here. I had one up and running for a while, but then I upped the days I was working.
* Bible Study Goal
~Have a daily Bible study.-I did well with this for a while. I need to get back to it.
~Read the Bible in a year - after having trouble getting started I've decided to begin with the minor prophets.-Nope. I did the gospels daily for a while, but not anymore.
* Stop Biting Nails
~Paint Nails.-I need to work on this more. They are really bad right now.
~Stop biting for a week or two.
~Grow enough nail to get manicure without embarrassment.
~Get manicure.
~Maintain manicure every 4-5 weeks.
* Work Goal
~Set up childcare for Monday and Wednesdays.-Done
~Work!-Done
~Think of this as time to do something different but less important than my "full-time job."-My boss commented the other day that she thinks I still identify myself as a full time mom. I told her I really like my job but for now I do.
* Picture Goal
~Complete 52 of 52 challenge.-Nope.
~Try to take pictures of Miles at least three times a week.-I'm probably doing this but haven't used this as a yard stick like I should have.
~Take Mother's & Father's day pictures this year!-Mother's day - check - Father's day - nope.
* Gardening Goal
~Use garden for each gardening season of the year.-So far so good. I have a small fall garden already planted.
~Use items grown in the garden for food and gifts.-Done.
~Make home made jalapeno jelly for gifts!-Not yet, but we'll see.
* Budgeting Goal
~Jared and I still need to sit down and work on this one! I think we are going to make a full budget soon. We are dragging our feet.-Still dragging our feet.
* Sewing Goal
~Finish quilt sampler.-Nope. No progress here!
~Take another quilting class?-I'd like to get back into this but I want identifiable progress in the other quilt first.
~Finish Miles' baby blanket (now that he's no longer a baby).-Haven't touched it.
*Christmas Goals
~Hand make at least 5 Christmas gifts this year.-Haven't started.
~Work on one every other month.-Nope.
~Keep running Christmas gift list all year.-Not really.
~Try to have complete list by early/mid October.-I wish!
~Buy 3 stocking stuffers a month (16 stockings to stuff).-Nope. I really really need to do this one! I have 16 stockings to stuff!
~Create Thanksgiving Tree/Jessee Tree.-I haven't started this, but I still have time.
~Complete Advent activities.-Same here. Haven't started, but I have time.
* Organizational Goal
~Simplify my space (I.E. have a closet with some space in it).-I've cleaned out my closet. I need to clean the bookshelves too.
~Work on closets this year - I'd like to have a place for everything. Everything may not always be in it's place, but at least it will have one!-Still working on this.

August has begun...

I'm always for trying new things. I wasn't big on New Year's Resolutions, but since I've had this blog, I've done it for two years in a row. We'll see how that's going later this week. For now I'd like to think about some goals for each month. I'm thinking a personal goal, a goal of something fun to do with Miles, a goal of something to teach Miles, and a resolution goal to work on. I'm starting to really work on the resolutions late so I know they won't all be reached this year, but I can work on them. That is what they are for though, isn't it?
Personal Goal -
Bible Study daily. I'd like to pick up where I left off on the gospels.
Miles' Fun Goal -
Camping vacation.

Miles' Learning Goal -
We are going to work on potty training, but that is likely not to be finished. We won't work on it until we are back from the trip. I think we'll work hard on letters this month.
Resolution Goal -
I'm going to have to figure out where we are, but I want to work on the Christmas goals. I don't think I'll have time for this with going out of town. Perhaps we'll work on the nail biting.

My week and the bathroom

On Wednesday evening Jared was taking a shower, and I was picking up. I went to put something in the bathroom, and Jared asked if I knew what was on the wall. It looked like a little gob of dirt, so I knocked it down and tried to catch the gob of dirt in a tissue. When I looked at the tissue, all I had was a termite! Eek! I called the exterminator, and he came the next morning. Yup, it was a termite. The first thing he said when he saw where it came from was "hmm, that's strange." Yeah, fantastic! Apparently they are coming up through the foundation on the outside of the drain pipe for the shower.

The exterminator says he'll need to drill a hole in one of the tiles in the hallway, a tile in the bathroom, and through our wood laminate floor in the bedroom. *sigh* At some point Jared and I say we were thinking about redoing the bathroom, how about if we pull out the shower pan? Yep, that will do it and save the floor too! Well, we are now remodeling the bathroom!

I'll post some pictures soon. Apparently when they built our house it was common to put up sheet rock in the whole bathroom, then sheet rock where you are going to put up tile. Then apply the tile with liquid nails glue. Yeah, that's pretty special! The shower is out down to the studs, the exterminator comes tomorrow to get rid of our friends, and a contractor comes on Friday to talk about replacing the shower.

Easter

We tried a couple of fun things this year. I don't have pictures yet because Jared's dad was taking them. This year I told Miles that his Easter basket was hiding, and he'd have to find it. I gave him an egg and inside was a clue. He (with the help of his aunt) had to follow the trail of clues to find the basket. At first he didn't understand, but near the end he was really getting excited to find the clues!

After he'd found the basket and looked at what was inside we went to a neighbor's house. We took dessert and some campaign over for the egg hunt. I'd dropped off eggs earlier in the day and her husband hid them in the yard. It was fun to let the kids hunt together. We didn't really have any problems with fights over eggs either. In fact, the kids were pretty slow to find them. Miles stopped after every egg to eat the candy, and Malory is 20 months and doesn't quite understand. At some point when they'd slowed down, we just picked up the rest of the eggs with candy and put them away!