wasting time...

I sat down to the computer to write a post and got side tracked jumping from one thing to another.  (I'm sure that never happens to anyone else! )  Essentially, I'm wasting time.  So, instead of trying to think of what I want to write, and where to begin in telling you what I've been doing for the last 2 months, I'm going to jot down what I ought to be doing...and then go do it!  I've got basketball games to sit through this weekend, so perhaps I'll write a bit in between games?

I'm not sure if I can get all of this done today, so we'll make it my weekend list!


3 loads of laundry
Apply Round Up around fence line
Try and teach myself how to start and use the weed eater
Lay 20 bales of pine straw in flower beds
Water the front and back yards
Transplant fern from front porch to barrel under back porch
Tidy house (Mr. Steady and my FIL are coming in tonight from Las Vegas!)
Make sure guest bedroom and bath are both clean and ready for FIL
Change sheets on my bed
Write letter to a friend in my Bible Study group
Update expenditures on my $$ log
Go to Sam's
Take son to orthodontist appointment
Remember to get copy of contract at Ortho for our insurance
Think about logistics for starting a summer Bible Study at my house
Purchase tickets for my boys to fly to Texas in June
Remind oldest son to clean his bathroom and mow front yard
Remember to pick up my oldest from school since he's not riding bus today
Prepare snack bag for basketball tourney and figure out where we are going and what time we need to leave
Add to compost bin and turn it

I feel like I'm forgetting something, but this will at least give me a visual on what I should be doing instead of playing on the computer.

Y'all have a good Friday!  

only 6 more days!!!

Yippee!  My boys have a countdown on my iPhone that reminds us to the second how long until Christmas!  I am super excited for this week to be here!  We have pretty much all of our shopping done.  I left a little room in the budget so that I can go shop for a couple of things when my Mother-in-Law arrives Thursday.  There are just a couple of things left on the boy's Wish Lists that I'd like to pick up.

I was able to get some of my things finished on yesterday's to-do list.  But after planting 100 daffodil bulbs my back started hurting again so I didn't make it to the sewing room to hem my jeans.  I'll do that today!  But I was able to sit and make out our menu for the rest of the year!!

Tonight:  Chicken and Pasta with pesto and tomatoes
Tuesday:  Tacos, Chips, Beans, Rice
Wednesday:  Mr. Steady and I have a party to go to.  Kids will have leftover tacos and fruit.
Thursday:  Lasagna (Want to make ahead on Wednesday)
Friday: Mr. Steady and I have a party to go to, so we'll send the boys out to eat w/their grandma
Saturday:  Soup and snack stuff (cheese, crackers, dips, etc.)
Sunday:  Turkey and all the extras for Lunch and then leftovers for dinner
Monday: Venison Stew
Tuesday: Either steaks or hamburgers
Wednesday:  "Brunner" (breakfast for dinner)
Thursday: Something easy and allergy-free - soup or peanut butter roll ups
Friday: Something easy and allergy-free - soup or peanut butter roll ups
Saturday:  Osso Buco
Sunday: Chili


Then things to do this week:

Grocery Store
I'd like to stock up and have everything on hand for the remainder of the year.

Christmas Traditions:
We still need to go see Christmas lights, make gingerbread houses and cookies for Santa!

Shopping:
Just a couple of last minute things to buy! 

Dining Room Wall:
Continue working on the collage for my dining room wall.  I got a couple of things finished for it yesterday, but would love to have it completed, or at least my final plan made, by the end of the year!

Rosetta Stone:
I have 10 lessons to complete in order to reach my December goal.  I'd like to complete 6 this week.

Yard Work:
If my back is up to it, I'd like to work in the yard.  It's supposed to be a great week to be outside.  Want to:  Work on removing vines from the willow tree, blow leaves off yard, lay pine straw, have my son and/or Mr. Steady mow the yard, refill bird feeders, spray for weeds, and fertilize azaleas.

I also would like to work on finalizing our 2012 budget and goals.  And seeing where we stand with our goals for 2011! 

Have a Happy Monday!

food waste friday - about 50 cents wasted

Today I'm participating in The Frugal Girl's Food Waste Friday.  Since our grocery bill has been crazy expensive the last couple of months, I'm working to eat what we have and to serve leftovers for lunch and the occasional dinner!

We didn't do too bad this week!  Much to my children's chagrin we ate a lot of leftovers and food that we already had on hand.  This week I'm throwing out half an orange.  I honestly don't know if it's bad or not...it doesn't look so great.  But, I am not sure when I cut into it and how long it's been in the refrigerator.  So...a half an orange goes into the trash and I would guesstimate it's value at 50cents.

Now on with my day!  Today my goal is to wrap up what I started this week.

1.  Finish laundry
2.  Sweep
3.  Hem a pair of pants for my son
4.  Finish up November expenses
5.  Plan December budget
6.  Begin putting bows on wrapped gifts


I have service technicians coming to my house today to:

1.  Reroute my dryer vent
2.  See why my microwave isn't working
3.  See why my heater isn't working
4.  See why my A/C isn't blowing cold air

On top of this, our golf cart is also not working properly and my son's phone was run over by a car this week (don't ask....).  It seems like everything is falling apart and I'm thankful that Mr. Steady is employed and that we have $ in savings to pay for any repairs.  But, it sure is painful to see our savings going backwards instead of forwards.  I'm not sure if we'll make our year end target, but we'll see.  Maybe we'll be close!

So, my friends.  How what does your Friday look like?  Did you have any food wastes this week?

the week ahead

Last week was an extremely productive week for me and I'm so glad that I made the decision to take the week "off".   Having that extra hour of sleep last week, gave me that little ump needed to tackle some projects that I'd started but not yet finished.  So....I took the week off from blogging, meeting my friends to exercise (although I did exercise on my own), and I took the week off from my Bible Study group.  The only organized thing that I allowed myself to do last week was attend an informational meeting about a Master Gardener group that I want to be a part of.     I found out that you can't just join, but have to apply and be interviewed.  There are 10 spots available with about 40 people wanting to be a part of it.  They even asked for 3 references!   So...today I'm turning my application in to the Extension Office and will wait to be interviewed.  They hope to let the applicants know by mid-December who gets in.   Anyway - if accepted, I'll share more details with you then!

So...what did I get done last week?

I had a ton of stuff that needed to get returned to different stores.
I bought and mailed my mom's birthday gift.
Returned library books.
Finished taking out the summer clothes from everyone's closets and drawers.
Packed up clothes that the boys have outgrown.
General cleaning of the house.
Made birthday cakes and prepped for my oldest son's birthday gathering.
Cooked dinner every night -- except the night of my son's birthday.
 -- Had I been blogging, I would've shared a picture of him on his day!
And several other things that needed to get done around the house.

OH!  One huge project that I worked on was clearing the dead tree limbs and vines that border our woods.  It's a project that is going to take me probably 100 hours, but I spent 8 hours on it and it's already looking much, much better.  And part of that project was clearing out the litter and the toys that my neighbors continue to throw into our woods.  I've let the Mom know that they throw their toys in there but she never does anything about it to make them stop or make them clean it up.  So -- I cleaned up beer cans, coke cans, water bottles, a bike helmet, 4 bats, 2 basketballs, a pair of in-line skates, a football helmet, many many baseballs/golf balls/tennis balls.  It was a wheelbarrow full of stuff.  The stuff that was ruined I threw away and boxed up the rest and took it over to their house....where it still sits in their driveway.  Hopefully it doesn't end back up in our woods, but I wouldn't be surprised if it did.   Sorry to vent!!!

So this week I'm hoping to be as productive as I was this week.  Here's what I want to accomplish:

List on e-bay some clothes that the boys no longer can wear but are still in great shape.
Thrououghly clean the bathrooms.
Mend a football jersey.
Hem a pair of sweat pants.
Mend a zipper on a golf bag.
Put away my sewing machine!!!!
Finish a collage I've been working on of recipes/pictures of Mr. Steady's great-grandmother.
Take and order Christmas card pictures.
Exercise 3-4 days.
Work on one particular tree in our woods by removing the vines growing on it.
Turn in Master Gardener application.
Return some clothes that I bought for the boys that don't fit.
Buy a birthday gift.
Edit/email youth Super Bowl pictures for son's team.

If I get nothing else done on the list except the sewing (which I don't enjoy so much...) and the Christmas cards (in order to take advantage of a sale...), then I'll be thrilled!

Hope you all had a great weekend and are looking forward to a productive week also!

yesterday

If you read my post yesterday, you know that I had some guys coming to cut down trees and that since I needed to be at home while they were doing it, I was going to try to accomplish a lot on my own!  There were 5 men actively working on our trees with 2 additional men giving instruction and supervising.  Let me tell you what....I am not sure I've ever seen a group of men work as hard as these 5 men worked.  The trucks pulled up at 8:30 and by 8:35 they had chain saws going and were hard at work.  I had a tough time getting started with my chore-list because it was so much fun watching the men work.

But eventually I remembered that my bedroom floor looked like this:

Although, actually it looked worse than this.  I took this picture several days ago and laundry had continued to get piled higher and higher on our floor.  But...at least you can tell that I tried to lay it out flat!   I didn't want it to get wrinkled or anything while waiting to get folded or hung up!  ha, ha!!!

By 10:00 I needed an little extra motivation since I was spending too much time watching in awe out my window to see how they trimmed and cut down my trees!  I decided I was going (try) to match them in their intensity and efficiency and so I made my own little "challenge" to get my List finished before they finished their List! 

Do you see the guy in the tree?

This looked fun!

So...I got busy and worked hard.  But 5:30 came and they got their trucks all packed up and I was still working on the laundry and vacuuming.   They won.  They finished their list before me.  But, I didn't let that stop me. 

  

I poured myself a glass a wine and kept at it.  Vacuum in one hand and glass of wine in the other.  Seriously.  I'm not kidding.  By 7:45  I had all of my hard jobs finished with the exception of cleaning my bathroom.  All that is left is stuff that I can finish by the end of the week.  And, if Friday afternoon comes and my list from yesterday is complete, I'll feel like it was a very successful and productive week!!!

a busy day at home

I love it when I'm forced to have an entire day at home!  Today the "tree guys" are here taking down several trees and doing some general clean up.  They got here at 8:30 and will be here more than 8 hours!  I want to be here in case they have questions and, luckily, I'm feeling very productive and energetic!  Sounds like the perfect day to knock out some chores!

Here's my list for today:

Clean kitchen
Sweep wood floors
Change sheets on my bed and guest bed
Catch up on laundry
Fold/Hang/Put away laundry
Clean the floor in my bedroom and bath
Clean my bathroom
Clean boys bathroom floor
Vacuum upstairs
Vacuum basement
Vacuum the stairs
Tidy basement and dust
Catch up on Bible Study reading
Send prayer requests to Bible Study group
Pay bills
Organize hospital bills and insurance payments for son's surgery
Download weekend pictures onto computer
Edit pictures from:
10-15-11 game
10-22-11 game
Pictures from weekend fun
Then,
Organize freezer and pantry
See what available meals we have
My closet - what do I have?  What do I need?  Donate
Boys closets
Boys shoes
Boys dresser drawers

Wish me luck!  I think I'll sleep well tonight!

OH!!!  I need to prep dinner in there also and go to the grocery for veggies.

zig-zag days

I feel like I've had the most unproductive month!  Actually, the most unproductive last 2 months.  I'm getting things done, but am getting so incredibly sidetracked.  I'll start to do one thing, then remember something else that I should be doing and go do that.  Then forget what I was doing in the first place! 

I'm placing too much emotional energy into my son's food allergies and that is causing me to be tired and stressed.  So, I'm not being very efficient at anything I do.  We have 11 days left in the month and I have quite a few things I'd like to accomplish before then.  So, what I am going to do?  Get tough with myself and make a schedule!  Because I have different activities on different days, my schedule will vary from day to day, but I want it to go something like this:

6:30: Wake Up!
6:30-7:45:  Take care of the dog, feed the boys and get them to school
7:45-8:00:  Eat breakfast, read the newspaper
8:00-9:30:  Meet friends to exercise
9:30-Noon:  Run errands and do chores at home
Noon-1:00:  Lunch w/hubby
1:00-2:00:  Finish chores and begin prepping dinner
2:00-5:30:  Shower, help boys with homework, do my Bible Study homework
5:30-7:30:  Boys at football practice...and if I'm not with them I want to finish dinner, then complete Rosetta Stone lessons and/or work on crafts
7:30-9:00:  Dinner, clean up, prep lunches, review homework if needed and get boys to bed
9:00-10:00:  Sit, make list of TTD for next day, read, have glass of wine with hubby
10:00:  Bedtime

How about you?  What do you do to avoid time wasters?  Do you have a schedule you follow or just fly by the seat of your pants?

just do it

Do you ever feel like you spend more time dreading a project than you would spend actually doing the task itself?  There are so many times I do this...it's such a bad habit!  One day this week was such an eye opener for me.  When I played hookie on Wednesday I took the pressure off myself to get stuff done and I actually ended up accomplishing tons of little things.

My youngest earned several Scout badges back in May and I still hadn't sewn the badges on his uniform.  It's been on my to-do list...since MAY!!!  Every time I looked at the project and thought about it, I would think, "ohhhh...it'll take soooooo much time"!  whine, whine, whine... 

Well, yesterday I did it.  I sewed the patches on his uniform and you want to know how long it took me?  About 30 minutes.  For 4 months I've needed to do this, and it only took 30 minutes to complete.

Another "mountain" I tackled was the dishes.  It seems like by the end of the day our dishwasher is overflowing so there are always dishes left in the sink to either hand wash or wait until the next day when I can unload/reload the dishwasher.

I hate walking into a kitchen that looks like this!  How long does it take to actually clean it up?

Check the clock to see what time it is.  Let the clean up begin!

Dishwasher unloaded.  Dishwasher reloaded.  Hand washables washed, dried and put away.  Ahhhh....much better now!

And how long did it all take?  Less than 10 minutes!  Now why did it take me so long to do this?

What other things are needing to be accomplished that are bogging me down mentally?  Sometimes I wonder if I just did what needed to be done instead of making lists and putting unnecessary pressure on myself if it would seem easier?

I'm currently reading The Happiness Project.  The author is trying to eliminate the clutter in her home and adopted the philosophy to do immediately anything that can be accomplished in less than 60 seconds.  Finished with the paper?  Recycle it.  Finished with breakfast?  Put the dishes inside the dishwasher.  Just come in from the freezing snow or rain?  Hang up your coat instead of throwing it on the back of the chair.

What do you have that needs to get done that probably won't take near as long as you think it will?


Thank you for commenting on my posts!  

In response to my "frugal living for dummies" post:

Carla - Yes...there are other things that are free that I'd much rather do with my husband.

sft - The tip on "reading to one another" was in the section on frugal dates.  

Laura - The library is great isn't it!  I love to check out books on frugal living simply as a refresher or to see if there are new ideas that I'm willing to try!

And responses for "today i played hookie":

Carla - I hope you're feeling better!

sft - a nap would be wonderful!!!

today i played hookie...

and it's been sooooooo nice!  Today was my Bible Study day which I love, but I woke up this morning feeling very frazzled due to self-imposed to-do's.   Yesterday I'd planned on tackling a bunch of stuff, but ended up doing 7th grade math & science instead!  (Why is it that I feel like I'm in middle school again?!?)  So, a 3 hour chunk of my day was spent helping out with homework.  By the way, I really do love helping with homework...it's one of the reasons I make sure I'm home in the afternoons, but yesterday took a bit more time than I'd expected.  Anyhow, I woke up this morning knowing that I had a 3-hour Bible Study ahead of me, for which I hadn't yet completed my homework...(maybe I could get my 7th grader to do my Bible homework?!?), and decided to play hookie.  I have to admit, it's was just what I needed.  I've been at home all day with no distractions and have calmly gotten through many of my To-Do's.

Many times I freak out over all that has to be done, when really none of it has to be done...it's just what is on my list!  And I hate leaving things on the "list" without them being crossed off!

So, today has been a day of getting things done without any pressure and it's been lovely!!! 

If you had a day to play hookie, what would you want to accomplish?

september goals

I had a lot of time this weekend to think about my September goals!  I've broken them down into 4 groups:  Financial, Personal, Health, and Home.

Here they are!

FINANCIAL
Use cash  for everyday purchases
Leave my American Express and debit cards at home
Stay within my budget
Complete house refinancing

HEALTH
Lose 3 pounds and get to 142#
Track food and water intake
Drink more water...a goal of 1664 ounces total from 9/5-9/30
Exercise a total of 780 minutes from 9/5-9/30
Have 16 no wine-days from 9/5-9/30

PERSONAL
Log 10 hours (from 9/5-9/30) of Rosetta Stone Italian lessons
Finish 2010 scrapbook
Make chalkboard using foot board I purchased in the spring
Make drop cloth pillows for fall
Sew on badges to scout shirt and take picture of son
Keep up with my Bible Study homework
Finish Maine scrapbooks
Complete 2 lessons with youngest for God & Family
Read The Glass Castle
Read The Happiness Project

HOUSE
Make bed daily
Only start laundry that can be finished, folded, hung up and put away before bedtime
Clean the house weekly
Clean door frames and doors
Clean the wall on the staircase
Clean the ceiling fans
Replace burned out lightbulbs
Put out fall decorations
Put screens on living room windows

So there they are!  I want to learn how to make the side bars on my blog to keep track of the progress I'm making on my goals...both long term and short term tracking would be a nice visual!  I'll work on that this week!

things to do today

Can you believe it's already Thursday?!?  My boys have almost finished their 2nd week of school and I have yet to get into gear with my projects.  I LOVE making to-do lists.  Mainly because I LOVE to cross off my items after I'm done.  So hear goes...maybe this will give me the kick in the rear that I need!

TO DO TODAY
Purchase BDay gift for son's friend
Make menu plan for the rest of the month
Empty all the trash cans
Clean the hall bathroom
Make batch of basil pesto
Grocery store for stuff for lunch
Make grocery list of what I need for rest of month (do this trip tomorrow)
Look for place to stay for one night in Charleston for Labor Day
Have Mr. Steady endorse check for a deposit
Bank to deposit check and rolled coins
Pay Dr bill and other bills due by end of month
Dust/sweep the dog hair off the stairs & wood floors
Exercise 30 minutes
And, of course...shower/dress!  :)

I'll check back either later or tomorrow with the results of my Fiscal Fast and $$ left for the rest of the month!  But for now...I'm off in an attempt to be productive today!

my weekly list

Hello and Happy Tuesday everyone!  I hope everyone had a good weekend!  I'm not sure why, but posting my list of Things to Do really helps me actually get them done AND it helps me to plan some fun into my week.  Even my husband has commented on how clean the house has been the past couple of weeks.  I told him I was keeping it clean for purely selfish reasons...so that I can enjoy my "Fun Friday" guilt-free!  So - here's what I've got going on this week (that I know of for now...)


Today
tennis meeting
tennis lessons
change sheets on the beds
Iron shirts
Return camera lens
Go to Cardsmart - MDay cards, stamps, buy postcard, mail letter
Clean hall bathroom
May financial challenge/budget
Clean LR blinds
Clean DR blinds
1 load laundry


Dinner = pasta, shrimp, garlic bread

Wednesday
boot camp
Pick up contacts at eye doctor
Home Depot/Wal Mart errand
Finish school placement forms for youngest
Blinds:  Guest bedroom, both boys bedrooms
2 loads laundry

Dinner = leftovers

Thursday
Volunteer at school
Organize/list donations for Friday pickup
Dust
Sweep
Mop
Clean boys bathroom floor
Blinds:  basement, guest bedroom

Dinner = Spaghetti

Friday
boot camp
Order pot rack for kitchen
"Fun Friday"
Finish anything that has to get done prior to weekend


Dinner = at basketball tourny - pack sandwiches

Weekend
vacuum stairs/upstairs
FPU class on Sunday
Concert Saturday night
Do a couple of loads of laundry

 

happy monday

wow...it's Monday!  We all had a GREAT time on our Spring Break trips and came back home not only with wonderful memories, but also very tired.  It was tough to get up this morning and get the boys off to school.  I'm feeling very fortunate that I am not them and having to sit at my desk and pay attention to my teacher(s) for 8 hours!

So, what's on tap for this week at our house?  Some major cleaning needs to take place!  The shutters and blinds on our windows are truly dirty.  My goal for the week is to get them all cleaned!  Here's my list of things to-do for the week.  I know that you probably have your own list and don't really care about mine, BUT...it really helps me to post it, because then I actually work to get the items crossed off!

Here goes:

Today
Hem pants for my neighbor's son
Fold the laundry that was moved from our bed last night to the floor
Wash/dry/fold/put away 1 load laundry
Run the dishwasher and put away the dishes
Trim back the "spent" tulips and daffodils in my flowerbeds
FPU Homework

Tuesday
E-mail reminders to class parents about CRCT snacks
Weight Watchers meeting
Tennis drills
Clean my bathroom
Clean hall bathroom
Vacuum the basement
Vacuum upstairs
Vacuum the stairs
Update spending log
Determine actual cost of vacations
Clean the shutters in the den
Clean the blinds in the kitchen

Wednesday
Deliver testing snacks to son's class
30 minutes cardio & strengthening
Research zoom lenses for my camera
"Fun Friday"

Thursday
Dust
Sweep/Mop
Clean boys bathroom floor
Sign up for next Operation Boot Camp and boys summer camps
Clean the blinds on the front of the house (living room, dining room, son's room)

Friday
Change sheets on all beds
Clean the blinds in my room, craft room, son #2's room
Clean the blinds in the basement

And now something to leave you with...here is a great article that is well worth the read. When Ripples Collide   Enjoy!!!

spring break

Spring Break is this week and I got to sleep in this morning!  Well....it was only an extra 30 minutes that I was able to sleep because I had to get up to go to boot camp.  Speaking of which...I really had an "off" week with my eating and exercising.  We're supposed to exercise every day that we're not at boot camp and I skipped 3 days of my homework/exercise.  Also, I didn't track my food intake for most of the week and know that I didn't make the best of choices.  I'm not looking forward to weighing in this week.  I'm pretty certain that there is going to be an increase not only on the scale, but also on the measuring tape.  I'll report my results on Wednesday.    I'll keep repeating Thomas Edison's quote to myself,  "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."


So - things to do this week?  It's a short week at home and I need to get some things before we head out on our trip (trip details tomorrow!).

Today:
Pay bills
Complete 2 loads laundry
Get our house key & notes to my dog sitter
Clean the hall bath
Clean my bath
Vacuum the basement
Buy flip-flops for the boys
Sweep wood floors
Mop wood floors
Stop by Blockbuster and see about movies on sales (our store is closing and has some great deals!)
Make my packing list for trip (food and clothes)

Dinner tonight - Chicken penne pasta with pesto and roasted peppers


Tomorrow:
Vacuum stairs & upstairs
1-2 loads laundry
Pack
Drop off donations at Goodwill*
Get cash for month
Print out directions/maps for trip along with our itinerary
30 minutes exercise
Have my husband cut my youngest son's hair
Run by grocery store for any thing else I need to add for trip

Dinner tomorrow - leftovers and/or sandwiches

Wednesday:
Everyone tidy bedrooms and make beds
Tidy kitchen & den
Leave for trip!!!!!

*This is the bag I filled from Saturday's Clean Your Closet Challenge.

That's all for today!  I hope everyone's having a great Monday!  I'll share trip details with you tomorrow!

the week ahead

We're on the countdown to Spring Break!  whoo hooo!!!!   I think I'm as ready for it as my boys are!  So - I'm trying to get my lists taken care of so that I can take care of "business" before going out of town.  That way when we get back home from our trips, we won't be behind the 8-Ball.

So - here's what's on the menu for the next week:

Tonight - Sandwiches and Mac & Cheese (hubby out of town...)
Wednesday - Spaghetti (hubby out of town...)
Thursday - Oriental Chicken
Friday - Tuna and Quinoa
Saturday - Steaks
Sunday - Burgers & Hot Dogs
Monday - Ziti
Tuesday - Leftovers & Pizza
Wednesday-Saturday - vacation!!

**I'll add veggies and fruit to all the meals...depending on what looks good and what's on sale at the grocery.**

As for that To-Do list?  I've really enjoyed my "Fun Fridays" where I've kinda taken the day off from housework.  This week Wednesday will be a better day for taking off, so my Fun Friday will actually happen tomorrow.  Which should be good because there is a 100% chance of rain, which will be a perfect day for being lazy!

Things to do:

Today:
30 minutes cardio
Mail golf shoes that I sold on e-bay
Get oil changed in my car
Take charm bracelet to jeweler to have charm added
Sweep and Mop wood floors
Clean boys bathroom
Edit basketball pictures & email
Email about 3rd grade testing snacks
Work on April budget
Finish laundry that was started yesterday
Complete one more load of laundry
Tidy kitchen
Pick up contacts at eye doctor

Wednesday:
Boot camp
"Fun Friday" -- scrapbook

Thursday:
Dentist appointment
30 minutes cardio
Round Up in the backyard (if not too wet)
Pick up trash in woods
Dust
Vacuum upstairs & stairs
Wrap up March expenses/e-mail overview to hubby
1 load laundry
Buy Frontline for dog
Return to Sam's

Friday:
Boot camp
Bank - get cash for month
Dust upstairs
Clean my bath and hall bath
Dust, vacuum basement
If time, start on cleaning windows
Drop off clothes at cleaners
1 load laundry


That's some exciting stuff, huh?!?  So...I'm off to get busy so I can PLAY tomorrow!  How about you?  What does your week look like?

things to do this week!

I felt like I started Mach behind the 8-ball and have spent 2 weeks trying to catch up.  I didn't sit down and make out goals for March and since we're 1/2 way into the month I thought it might be better to simply make weekly goals and get ready for April before it actually gets here!

February was such a good month spending-wise and I haven't done nearly as well this month.  So, mission #1 is to get back to cash!

Here are my to-do's for this week:
1.   Get cash for my "envelopes"  done!  Got cash for the rest of the month
2.   Thoroughly clean the house  done!
3.   Change light bulbs -- you'd be amazed at how many are burned out in our house!  done!
4.   Write a letter to a friend living in South Korea and send pictures, done!
5.   Write a letter and send pictures to our adopted child in Liberia
6.   Apply Round Up to flower beds
7.   Clean my craft room!  (I guess this goes with #2 though....)
8.   Work on itinerary for Spring Break trips
9.   Begin 2Q11 budget,  started...will need to review a couple of more times before "finalizing"
10. Scrapbook on Friday

I love to scrapbook and haven't made the time to do it in a long while!  Mainly because I feel like I need to be doing something else!  So, my goal is to get my to-do's done before Friday so that on Friday I can sit down, scrapbook and maybe watch a movie while doing it!

plans for today

I have a little one home sick today so I'll be tackling some of my things to do that are here in the house....such as:

*Working on 2011 budget
*Hemming a pair of khaki pants (this has been needing to be done since April!!!)
*Tidy up craft room
*Clean off desk
*Get out stuff to scrapbook my oldest's past school year (needing to be done since May!)
*Wrapping a couple of Christmas gifts
*One load of laundry!

What's on your to-do list for today?

things to do

Today is a boring post...I know.  I've got lots to do today, so I'm posting my list to motivate and encourage me to get it all done by 2:20 when I get the boys from school.

Take tent to friends house
Go to Home Depot to order screen door for my pantry (another story for another post!)
Check out Weight Watcher times/meetings
Call for kennel/trainer for our dog during June
Get 3 poster boards to paint sample wall colors on
Log spending
Send card to my grandmother
Write cards for kids Sunday School teachers (Sunday is teacher appreciation day)
Laundry - wash son's baseball uniform for tonight
Clean/Clorox boys bathroom
Vacuum upstairs
make fruit tray for...
son's class play at 9:30
baseball camp info - send $ to MIL
sign up for youngest Adventure Camp
sign both up for football camp

ojb updates and a list of things to do...

I should officially be "out" for the Operation Jiggly Bits challenge.   I'm not sure how many servings of fruits/veggies I ate this week, and I know that I for sure didn't get all my water in each day.  Exercise was only playing tennis and that just doesn't cut it for me unfortunately.  So - I measured myself this morning and everything was pretty much the same.  I'm VERY PROUD of my fellow OJB challenger at Nutrition 101 who has made it below 140#!!!  I know what she means about working and working and working only to see a couple of pounds come off.  The older we get the harder we have to work to see results.

So - this is my challenge for the week.  My in-laws are coming in 1 1/2 week.  I've got stuff I need to get done to prep for them.  I also need to pay attention to these jiggly bits...although on my body, it's not so much jiggly bits as it is a "baby bump" for a non-existent baby.  If you know what I mean... 

So, my challenge is to write my to-do's each day and work towards meeting my daily goals.    My goal overall is to get to 140# by the end of the challenge along w/a waist measurement of 30".  Am readjusting my beach vacation goal to be at 135 pounds.

My Monday To-Do's:

Drink 64 oz water
Eat 5 servings of fruits/veggies - only got 3 servings in today....
Exercise - anything...just something  (played tennis for 2 1/2 hours)

Replace generic picture in "the boys" frame.  (I still have the picture that came with the frame...2 1/2 months later)
Mail my Rx refill
Make my Grocery Game List
clip coupons - will move to tomorrow's list!
Mail birthday cards to M & V
Send baseball pictures to GG, G&G, B, & J
take clothes to cleaners
go to grocery to get veggies for dinner
Flex Spending for J's visit to doctor
Make bank deposit

So, that's it for now!  My Monday posts are starting to have a recurring theme of how many excuses I have and/or what I didn't do to more forward on the OJB challenge.  But, to follow Carla's thought line of not beating ourselves up...I am DOWN from when I began the challenge and have just maintained the last 3 weeks.  So, it's not all bad, right?