Resolutions

It seems that New Year Resolutions are falling out of vogue. Apparently, they are just another way for us to feel disappointed by ourselves. Resolutions are being replaced by promises and words of the year.

I love words of the year. In fact, I've chosen one for myself. And I love promises. I've made a couple to myself. I'll share those later. Because today is about resolutions.

I love resolutions. I may be the last person that does, but I really do. Making a list, checking items off, for the whole year. Love it. I don't always complete all of them. I'm perfectly okay with that. I don't need to. But I love having a couple overall goals for the year. I like to look back at what I've accomplished and create a plan for what I want to accomplish this year.

January 1 is an arbitrary date. There is should be nothing that magical about going from Wednesday to Thursday, or about changing to a brand new wall calendar. But there is.  There is something about a new year that feels like a huge, fresh, blank page with endless potential.

My 2014 resolutions:

1. Run 3 5Ks and a 10K: I ended up running one 5K and one 10K. The other two 5Ks? We'll say I ran them on the treadmill, at home, untimed.

2. Pass my oral boards: Done!

3. Finish the basement: We met with contractors and had plans drawn up and got quotes and everything. And then found out that we may be moving. So this project was put on hold because we didn't feel like taking on a huge construction job while trying to sell a house.
4. Start decreasing my screen time: This is still a struggle, but I think I'm getting better. If anything, I'm recognizing how much time I'm spending on my phone and doing a better job turning it off and walking away.
5. Start a bullet journal: I did this and loved it. But Hubster surprised me with an Erin Condren planner for Christmas, so I've moved way beyond a simple bullet journal.

 

Even though 2014 was overall a stressful, rather discouraging year, it's nice to look back at this list and feel like I accomplished something. Which is why I'm going to go right ahead with my resolutions for 2015.

 

My 2015 resolutions:

 

1. Run 365 miles in 365 days. I'm committing to averaging a mile a day. I know I won't run every day and some weeks I'll probably skimp on distance. But with a whole year to average things over, I think I can do this.

 

2. Find a job. I'm in the middle of my job search, with another interview lined up. This isn't really a negotiable part of the year, but it will still feel good to cross this one off.

 

3. Move. Survive the move. Along with this comes all the other parts: find and buy another house. Sell our current house. Settle the kids into new schools. I know this is going to be extremely painful, but I'm hoping to weather this with as much calmness as possible.

 

4. Road trip. After our trip over the summer, I fell in love with road tripping. This year, I want to do at least one more. Even if it's just an extended weekend.

 

5. Organize. I have 1000s of pictures that need to be in photo books. I have boxes of papers that need to go into my empty file cabinet. I have a garage and a basement filled with things I may or may not need any more. I have blogs that I want to read but no good way to stay on top of it. I have posts I want to write, but no clear schedule on how to do so. I'm going to get on top of at least a couple of these. I have my shiny new Erin Condren planner. I just signed up for Bloglovin. I'm in the process of uploading my photos to photo book website. I'm all over this resolution.

 

Here at the beginning of the year, I have my road map for this year. During the year, I'll look back on this list and refocus if needs be. At the end of the year, I'll cross of what I did, evaluate why other things did not get done, and not feel terrible one way or the other.  

The To Do List for 2014

I love making lists. I make lists for my day, for my week, for shopping, everything. Something thing I like even more that making the list? Crossing things off the list. I'm that person who will add things to the list that I've already done, just so I can cross them off.

 

That's a little part of the reason I love making New Year's resolutions. I love having my list for the whole year, of things I want to do, things I want to try.  And it's so satisfying to cross things off the list at the end of the year.

 

I know that making New Years resolutions gets a bad rap. People see it as a focusing on bad habits, or setting yourself up for failure. I don't care, I do it anyways.

 

I don't even call this list "Resolutions".  I call it "My Yearly To Do List."

 

And just like every other list, the fun is in making it, but the best part is crossing things off and looking back on how much I accomplished.

 

2013 was a difficult year and it was easy to get caught up in the daily feeling of how difficult everything felt.

 

But looking back over my 2013 To Do list, I feel less like the year was very hard and more like the year was very productive. 

 

I had simple goals for the year.

 

Run a 5K

Pass my written boards

Take my boys to the ocean

Finish our basement

 

I did all those things except the basement. But whatever. The basement is still there and can be worked on this year.  Looking over this list is amazing to me. All those things seems insurmountable when the year started. I had never run at all, let alone a 5K. Now, I've logged over 70 miles of running. Boards seemed daunting, but I not only passed, but did very well. We didn't just take our boys to the ocean, we made amazing memories.

 

There is no where to go but up.

 

Now, it's time to get back to the good stuff and make a list.

 

2014 To Do:

 

1. Continue to run: my goal is at least three 5Ks and a 10K. I've invested in this and bought a treadmill so that even the frigid winter or the sweltering summer I know is coming won't give me excuses not to run. I don't have to set any PRs, even though I would love to.

 

2. Pass my oral boards in April. I'm dreading this test much more than the writtens, but I've got a great study partner. If I pass this, I'll be a fully board certified anesthesiologist, so this is kind of necessary.

 

3. Finish that basement. My parents are talking about visiting this summer and having them sleep on an air mattress in the nursery just doesn't sound pleasant. And Bug could also use his own room.

4. Start decreasing my screen time. This is a big one. I know that I've fallen into the trap of being on my phone or on the computer when I don't need to be and it's taking away from time I could be spending with my children. My goal is that when I get home from work, my phone is going to stay plugged in and unused until the boys go to bed. It's going to be a change. But it's needed.

5. Start a bullet journal. Because speaking of lists, this is like the mother of all lists and how to organize them. You can read all about it here. I'm hoping this helps me have fewer scraps of paper in my purse and coat pockets and be more organized in general.

There are lots of other things I want to do: drink more smoothies, hold a plank for 5 minutes, do push-ups daily, worry less about the mess in my house and more about fun with my kids, explore some more of the towns around where we live, plant herbs, get family pictures taken. And hopefully I will do all those things.

But I'm going to focus on my 5 main goals. And hopefully, when next January rolls around, I'll get to enjoy the wonderful feeling of checking them off.

Getting Things Done in March

So far, this monthly goal thing isn't going so well for me. I'm starting to see why people dislike resolutions so much. You come up with a long list of goals, and then there is absolutely no way you can do them, and so you just start feeling overwhelmed and like a failure. I do start each month with absolute conviction that I'm going to accomplish all my goals.  But my schedule and the demands on me fluctuate so much that doing anything over the short term is difficult. I'm definitely more of a long term goal person. 

That being said, I'm not that upset with myself over my lack of success with my February goals.  After all, there have been three snow days, a set of night shifts, and a huge exam.   There is only so much a girl can do.

February To-Do List:
-Work out as a family for at least 10 minutes 3 times a week: Fail. We did this for two weeks, and then I started nights.  I know that it's only 10 minutes, but since I haven't figured out when I'm going to shower or do laundry, it's a 10 minutes I'm just not sure where to fit in.  Especially since it's not just 10 minutes: it's the getting changed, the stretching out and cooling down, the shower afterwards.
-Match my January weight loss: Fail. Or at least I think I did. I didn't actual weigh myself this month.
-File my taxes (or have Hubster file my taxes): Success! We not only filed, but have already got our tax return back.  And we already have big plans for it. Most of it involving our credit card balance.
-Board study: at least one keyword a day, and all my review questions by the end of the month: Fail.  I did quite a bit of board study, but only got through about half my keywords and half my review questions.
-Finish my licensing paperwork: Fail. But this is only partially my fault, because I just got another e-mail listing about 20 more forms I need to do.  I actually thought I was done with this one. 

I'm hoping that eventually we will get some warmer weather here - we have had more snow in the last couple weeks than we did the entire winter - and as the weather warms, I'm hoping that my goal achievement will also take an upswing.

So, in anticipate of better things this month, here are some March goals:

March To-Do List:
-Spring Break: Finalize our trip plans and actually do this.
-Buy plane tickets for our summer vacation
-Do something fun for my birthday (could I be any more vague?)
-Movie night with Hubster
-Get a jogging stroller (and start jogging if the snow melts)
-Try again with family exercise: 10 minutes a couple of times a week
-Keep my board prep ready: finish key words and review questions
-Cook with one new ingredient

The list seems a little long, but I'm going into this month with a lot of optimism and determination that this month will be better. Even if the just means the snow eventually melts.

February To-Do List

When I made a list of goals in January, I thought I was making a list that was realistic, doable, manageable, a list that pushed me just enough.  And then my maternity leave ended, I went back to work, and everything almost fell apart.

We are all hanging in, still trying to figure things out.  As stressful as things are, it almost seems silly to see how I did on my January goals, since I'm just happy I survived that month.

But here we go:

 

January Goals:
- Exercise for 30 minutes at least 4 times a week: Fail. I did this for two weeks.  And then not so much...
- Only have dessert once a week: Fail. There were too many wonderful desserts in my house in January. Hubster made cheesecake and I couldn't let it go to waste.
- Lose 5 pounds: Fail.  Which is not surprising since I failed the first two, which were supposed to help me with this one. But this is only a partial fail.  I'm down just over 3 pounds (I know that sounds like nothing, but it's not.)
- Find childcare for Duck, return to work, and NOT have a major breakdown while doing so: Success. Kinda. The breakdown was not major.
- Attend church twice: Fail. We went once.  And then it was cold the rest of the month.
- Clean out my closet: Success
- Schedule a dentist appointment: Success
- Start my board study: Fail
- Finish the book I am reading: Success
- Clean up this blog (take care of the tabs that lead to nothing, write my About Me page, etc.): Success.  If you haven't checked out my About Me page, do.  I sort of like it.  Let me know what you thing.


Actually, now that I look at it, I didn't do nearly as bad as I initially thought.  Which means I'm going to be crazy enough to do this again.


February Goals:
-Work out as a family for at least 10 minutes 3 times a week
-Match my January weight loss
-File my taxes (or have Hubster file my taxes)
-Board study: at least one keyword a day, and all my review questions by the end of the month
-Finish my licensing paperwork


February is a short month, so I'm making a short list. 

Now, if only the days could be a little bit longer.

January To-Do List

I know that 2013 is now well on its way.  I'm a little behind the curve here with my goal writing - I've already set some goals, I just haven't gotten around to writing them down until now (and even now, a dimply little someone is getting fussy and distracting me.)

Last year, I participated in Project 52, the brain child of Karen of A Peek at Karen's World and Jennee at Jennee Thompson. I've done that for the last couple of years, and have really enjoyed it. It can be a little challenging, though, trying to keep track of a 52 item list.  It can feel overwhelming, even if some of the goals were things I was going to do anyway (turn 30, for instance.)

This year, Karen and Jennee have joined with Angie at My So-Called Chaos, and changed to monthly goals.  This is great, because now there is no pressure to write something once a week (not that I was doing that anyways.)

I know that a lot of people don't like New Year Resolutions, viewing them as empty promises, sure failures. But I love the idea of goals, re-evaluating what I want to accomplish, physically, socially, and within my family.

Not all of my goals work under the monthly format, requiring months of preparation or are too big to be done in one month. These are my big, year goals.  But I have monthly goals that will help me prepare for them.

My Big 2013 Goals:

- Train for and run a 5K
- One way or another, take my boys to see the ocean
- Pass my licensing boards
- Finish our basement

But we know that all journeys start with a single step, so there must be small goals as well.

So for January, here we go...

January Goals:

- Exercise for 30 minutes at least 4 times a week
- Only have dessert once a week
- Lose 5 pounds
- Find childcare for Duck, return to work, and NOT have a major breakdown while doing so
- Attend church twice
- Clean out my closet
- Schedule a dentist appointment
- Start my board study
- Finish the book I am reading
- Clean up this blog (take care of the tabs that lead to nothing, write my About Me page, etc.)

That might be a little bit much for a single month, but I figured I should start big, while I still have the energy.  In fact, I may just try to get them all done today.

2012 in Pictures and in Goals

2012 ended up not having quite as much time in it as I needed.  There are still so many things I wanted to get done, so much more I wanted to accomplish.  So thank goodness the Mayans were wrong, and I still have time.

Part of not having enough time is that I am going to combine two posts here.  It may make for the longest post ever, resulting in boredom half way through, but that's the way it's got to be.

I love looking back on all the photos I took over the last year, reminiscing about all the things we did, how much the boys have grown, all the places we went. I then choose a handful of pictures that are my favorite or best represent that year.

Also, it's time to reveal how I did on my Project 52 goals, a list of 52 things I wanted to accomplish in the 52 weeks of 2012.  Granted, some of my goals were derailed by a certain little person, but it has absolutely been worth it. 

So here we go: my accomplishments, randomly intermixed with my favorite pictures.

1. Find one drawer/closet/cupboard to clean out each month. Done (not necessarily each month, but the equivalent number was accomplished.)
2. Get to know my neighbors. Umm...not really
3. Finally overcome my blogging insecurities, and submit posts for SITS. No. I'll do this next year. Maybe.
4. Visit Chicago again. Twice! Spring Break and over the summer.

5. Plan a great spring break vacation. Nothing says awesome like waterslides.
 

6. Get a rain barrel. Nope.
7. Start posting my menus on my blog. Yes.  They are on my side bar if you didn't notice.
8. Share some recipes. I did this here.
9. Get a plant for inside my house. I have a lovely ivy in the kitchen, and some bean plants from Monkey's first grade class.
10. Visit three new places. Minneapolis, Wisconsin Dells, and a couple of local places.
 

11. Get serious about finding a job. I have a job!

12. Break out the oil paints and put brush to canvas. Nope. But I painted a room.
13. Cook with an ingredient I have never used before. Do this three times. Yes.
14. Do the Couch-to-5K program.  I started, but didn't finish, due to my pregnancy.
15. Make a bedtime and stick with it.  We're getting better.
16. Make new chore charts for the boys. Done.

17. Send a handwritten letter to 5 friends. Done
18. Do something special for turning 30. Well, I turned 30.
19. Donate money to something. Yes.
20. Get through my anesthesia question book twice. Done
21. Introduce my boys to art. Umm...
 

22. Get my boys in the kitchen cooking with me. Yes. They can now crack eggs and measure ingredients.
23. Get a pedicure. This is now my favorite thing.
24. Make bread. Ha, ha, ha.
25. Go to a drive in movie theater. Yes.  It was awesome.

26. Go ice skating. Nope.
27. Ride a train. Does the little train at the park count?
28. Read a parenting book. Done. I highly recommend 5 Love Languages for Children.
29. Learn to take a compliment. This is an ongoing issue.

30. Do three home improvement projects. Yes.(Notice, it did not say finish those projects.)
31. Plant a garden. I tried to plant tomatoes.  Dang raccoons.
32. Make maple syrup. Yes.
33. Visit two museums. Yes.

34. Volunteer at the school. This didn't happen this year.
35. Start family sharing at the dinner table. Yes.
36. Get a better handle on our finances. Slightly better, but still not complete.
37. Write at least 10 blog posts a month. Ha. No.  
38. Dance in the rain with my children. Yes.  And splashed in puddles.

 
39. Make a baking soda-vinegar volcano. Yes
40. Work on the boys (not so) baby books. No, but we did look at the one I started.

41. Print some of my pictures. Well, if my printer didn't suck so much...
42. Clean the garage. Yes!
43. Ride my bike to work at least 10 times. This was put to a halt due to pregnancy.
44. Visit family. How about have family come and visit?

45. Invite friends over for dinner. Yes!
46. Let go of the clothes that don't fit. Well, now I would have to let go of everything...

 
47. Buy myself flowers twice. Yes. It was lovely.
48. Surprise Hubster with a date night. Yes.  Well, it was more of a date afternoon, but still.
49. Sew something. How about two things! A quilt and a tent!
50. Sign the boys up for swimming lessons. I tried.  Tennis lessons instead count, right?
51. Go camping three times. We went twice. That's good enough, right?
 

52. Get my passport. Again, no.  But then I have no immediate plans for leaving the country.

 
That is 29 goals completely done, 3 things started or some what done, leaving 20 things I didn't do. And I had a baby! This actually may have been my most successful year (goal wise) so far. I look forward to carrying that momentum forward into the next year.

Project 52...It's Been A While Edition

Initially, Project 52 was supposed to be a weekly thing.  Each week, those who participated would update their progress on their yearly goals.  Right from the get-go, I knew that once a week wasn't going to be feasible for me. I can't remember which day of the week is library day or garbage day. There is no way I would be able to consistently do a weekly post.  So I thought I would do monthly posts.  That seemed infrequent enough I wouldn't be overwhelmed, but often enough I wouldn't completely forget and end up adding Project 52 to my list of unfinished endeavors. 

Well, you know what they say about good intentions.

My Project 52 updates have become more like seasonal updates.  But that doesn't mean I'm not getting things done. 

For example...

1. Find one drawer/closet/cupboard to clean out each month:  I just cleaned out the junk drawer in the kitchen.  I have cleaned and organized the master bath cupboard and the main food cupboard in the kitchen. I also completely emptied the closet in the previously-guest-room/office-now-nursery.  Tomorrow, I'm going to get a start on my closet (and maybe Hubster's closet.).  I know I should technically be at nine cupboards/drawers organized, but I think I'm doing pretty well.

10. Visit three new places. This year, I have gone to Wisconsin and Minnesota.  I've also gone to a couple towns/places/restaurants/stores nearby that I had never been to.  So I think I'm done with this one.

11. Get serious about finding a job, meaning I actually have to submit my CV or talk to an actual person. I have some news about this I"ll share later...

17. Send a handwritten letter to 5 friends. I bought some cute stationery and have sent 2 letters so far.

25. Go to a drive in movie theater.  We did this.  It was awesome.

33. Visit two museums. We visited the Mississippi River Museum and a model train museum.  The boys are still upset that we have not go to the art museum in Chicago.

44. Have family visit. My sister stayed with us for a month this summer.  Hubster's mother and sister visited for a week last month.  For living over 2000 miles away from any family, I think we did pretty good.

45. Invite friends over for dinner.  We did this twice this summer.  I want to do more.  But I'm tired of having to pretend that my house is normally clean.

46. Let go of the clothes that don't fit.  Well, nothing fits right now. But I am getting rid of things that I do think I'll wear again.

49. Sew something.  I am sewing a baby quilt.  I may never finish...



Slowly, slowly, I'm chipping away at this list.  Maybe, by the time it snows, I'll have finished everything.  Although, by the time it snows, I'm also hoping to have had a baby.  So maybe not...

Project 52: The Halfway Point

 I'm still wrapping my head around the fact that it is June.  And that a good portion of the year has been spent on the couch. 


Due to some pretty big changes around here, I decided that my Project 52 list also needed some pretty big changes. There are several things that it's just not going to be possible to do.  Here are the changes I have in mind...

14. Do the Couch-to-5K program: I had started doing this, and was 2 weeks in when I found out I was pregnant.  I had every intention of continuing to run (especially since I found this 5K I want to do so badly!) I continued to run for another week before morning sickness and fatigue took me out.  And honestly, pregnancy isn't a great time to be starting a new fitness program.  So instead, I'm replacing this with daily (or near daily) evening walks. I'm save the 5K for next year.

31. Plant a garden.  There is not going to be a garden.  There are tomatoes and basil in a pot on the back porch and that will have to be enough.  I don't need another project in my life. So growing tomatoes and herbs have replaced the goal of a big garden.

34. Volunteer at the school.  I don't see this happening this year.  I was at the peak of my fatigue when the school carnival happened, the usually event I volunteer for.  And when school starts pack up in the fall, there will be a lot of other things going on.  This goal is being replaced with getting a handle on all the boys' school papers.  I have boxes of them that need to be organized.

37. Write at least 10 blog posts a month. Ha, ha.  I've already failed at this.  2 posts during April: that's just pathetic, no matter how good the reason.  My goal is now going to be 5 posts a month.

43. Ride my bike to work at least 10 times.  When I mentioned that I still planned to ride my bike to work despite being pregnant, I was met with resistance from both Hubster and my friends. So this is a no-go.  However, I still love being on my bike.  So I'm replacing riding to work (and all the traffic and hills and early mornings and late evenings that this carries with it) with at least 5 family bike rides this summer (ones that are on nice smooth, car free paths.)

44. Visit family.  There is not going to be any big trip to go visit family this year.  My schedule doesn't allow it. So this goal is changed to convince family to come visit us.  I already have my sister here with me, we're hoping to get Hubster's mom out later this summer, and then use a new baby as argument to have a lot for company.

50. Sign the boys up for swimming lessons. I had every intention of doing this one.  I even sat down one evening, all ready to do it, only to find that I was too late and every swimming class for the next 10 years was booked. Instead, Bug is taking tennis lessons.   Monkey also wanted to take tennis lessons, but the age cut off was 5 and 10 months; Monkey was only 5 and 9 months, so there are no tennis lessons for him.  So instead of swimming lessons, we are going to try to go swimming as a family once a week.


When I looked over my list, and realized that it wasn't going to be possible to make all the goals I set in January, I initially started feeling like I had already failed.  But that's the beauty of this project.  It isn't set in stone.  Life changes, priorities change, and that's perfectly fine.  So instead of feeling bad, I just adjusted my goals in the direction my life has adjusted. 

Full of Energy

The days are warmer, and with the warm weather have come a flurry of growing things.  And all the growing and springing have me motivated.  I have more energy than I have in a very long time. Energy to get things done.

I could talk about the things I have done with all this energy.  But instead, I'm going to make a list of things I know need to be done.  And by done, I mean by the end of this month. I know that Project 52 isn't really about deadlines, but I'm giving myself some here. I need to take this energy that the warm weather is giving me and tackle the things that either overwhelm me or scare me.

3. Submit posts for SITS
I feel that many of the bloggers featured on SITS either have amazing writing skills and/or a beautiful blog. I've been intimidated by all these other bloggers for so long. But I need to get over this. I know that the waiting list to be a featured blogger on SITS is probably years long, worse than any daycare waiting list, but if I don't do this now, it will only get longer.

But this is where I could also use some help.  If you have a moment, could you run through my archives and just let me know some of your favorite posts?  Because you are wonderful like that.

8. Share some recipes.
I love cooking.  With my menu planning, I'm doing it more often. But sharing recipes gives me as much anxiety as the idea of a pot luck.  It means putting something out there that I love and seeing if other people will enjoy it. And I don't really have many original recipes, just ones I have tweaked to fit my family's "discerning " tastebuds.  And I can't pretend that I'm going to have anything amazing, or be the next Pioneer Woman or anything.

11. Get serious about finding a job, meaning I actually have to submit my CV or talk to an actual person.
Out of everything on my list, this scares me the most. It brings up all sorts of insecurities about whether or not I'm going to be a good anesthesiologist, about whether or not I have the skills necessary to make it. I'm terrified of finding out that I'm not as good as I should be. Also, with our complicated family situation, what with dental school and all, the possibility of finding my dream job isn't really a reality. Coming to terms with that and taking what is available is just a little bit hard.  But the end of residency is approaching faster than ever, and I need a job.

12. Break out the oil paints and put brush to canvas.
I started painting in high school and continued to paint during college. At one point, I like to think I was quite good. But it's been years since I've mixed colors together and put them on canvas. And the thought of struggling through basic technique scares me. But I have to remember that I'm not painting for anyone but myself.

14. Do the Couch-to-5K program.
I have tried getting in shape.  I've tried losing weight.  I've tried running.  And in the past, I've failed on all accounts.  But hopefully, with this slow, gradual program, and I can do it this time. 

17. Send a handwritten letter to 5 friends.
This one doesn't scare me.  But it does overwhelm me a little.  Writing a letter seems like such a luxury.  But I'm going to just sit down and do this one.


36. Get a better handle on our finances.
This one embarrasses me just a little. As an adult, I feel like I should be very financially responsible.  And for the most part, we are.  We live within out means.  We are not extravagant.  We have money left over at the end of each month.  A little is going into savings.  But  I've always been a little passive about this.  I need to take a more active part, and get a better idea of exactly how much our bills amount to, exactly how much we have in savings.  In other words, I need to start acting like an adult.


I'm hoping to start tackling these few things on my list that pit me against my insecurities. I want to be brave, brave enough to push myself  to grow, to push upward and onward.  And what better time than spring to do this?

Project 52: Winter's Almost Over Edition

Despite the mild temperatures and lack of snow, this winter has kicked my butt. Especially in the motivational department. The last several months have consisted of doing just what I had to do to get by, and not a smidgeon more.

At least, that's how things have felt. But only two months into this year, I looked at my Project 52 list, and have to feel pretty good about how things are going.



4. Visit Chicago again. We've got a trip planned, as in hotel booked and everything. It's going to be a lot of fun.

5. Plan a great spring break vacation. This is also planned, with hotels and tickets and everything. I wish that it was a tropical location. Because nothing says exotic like Wisconsin in March, right? But it's going to be a lot of fun.

7. Start posting my menus on my blog. You may not have noticed, but there is a new item on my side bar that shares my weekly menus. At least what I have planned (not always what gets cooked.) Some day, I may even add links to the recipes.

9. Get a plant for inside my house. I bought a baby orchid and some tulips. They are both looking rather say. I'm glad this goal was to get a plant, not keep it alive.

13. Cook with an ingredient I have never used before. Do this three times. I've cooked with pork tenderloin, celery root, and quinoa. All three things I've never used before. But I've got a lot more planned!

16. Make new chore charts for the boys. Done! There are so much nicer than the old ones.

20. Get through my anesthesia question book twice. I made it through once, so I'm half way done with this. This would have never happened if one of my fellow residents hadn't shown me that the book was also an iPhone App and I can do questions on my phone. Thank goodness for technology!

32. Make maple syrup. Yes! I love doing this.



33. Visit two museums. We are headed to a museum this afternoon. This is halfway done!

39. Make a baking soda-vinegar volcano. We are in the process of doing this. Pictures to come!

Despite my barely-drag-myself-out-of-bed attitude, I think that crossing off or getting started on 10 goals is a pretty good start to the year. It makes me feel that everything on that list is doable.

Now, excuse me. All this accomplishment completely wore me out. I think I'll go back to bed.

To-Do List of 2012

I love lists. I make all sorts of lists. Menus, grocery shopping lists, to-do lists for busy days, check boxes for work. Sometimes I make lists that include things I have already done, just so I can have the delicious satisfaction of crossing things off my list.

Much more ambitious than a list for a day or a trip to the grocery store is Project 52, the creation of Karen and Jennee. A list of goals for the year, Project 52 gives me the chance not only to make the list, but to have support as I go through the year, crossing things off.

I enjoyed this so much last year that I am participating again this year. I've been thinking of my list for over a month, and am so excited to finally make it real, to write it down, so that I can get on with the best part: crossing things off.

1. Find one drawer/closet/cupboard to clean out each month.
2. Get to know my neighbors.
3. Finally overcome my blogging insecurities, and submit posts for SITS (if you have any ideas for posts of mine that you have liked, let me know.)
4. Visit Chicago again.
5. Plan a great spring break vacation.
6. Get a rain barrel.
7. Start posting my menus on my blog.
8. Share some recipes.
9. Get a plant for inside my house.
10. Visit three new places.
11. Get serious about finding a job, meaning I actually have to submit my CV or talk to an actual person.
12. Break out the oil paints and put brush to canvas.
13. Cook with an ingredient I have never used before. Do this three times.
14. Do the Couch-to-5K program.
15. Make a bedtime and stick with it.
16. Make new chore charts for the boys.
17. Send a handwritten letter to 5 friends.
18. Do something special for turning 30.
19. Donate money to something.
20. Get through my anesthesia question book twice.
21. Introduce my boys to art.
22. Get my boys in the kitchen cooking with me.
23. Get a pedicure.
24. Make bread.
25. Go to a drive in movie theater.
26. Go ice skating.
27. Ride a train.
28. Read a parenting book.
29. Learn to take a compliment.
30. Do three home improvement projects.
31. Plant a garden.
32. Make maple syrup.
33. Visit two museums.
34. Volunteer at the school.
35. Start family sharing at the dinner table.
36. Get a better handle on our finances.
37. Write at least 10 blog posts a month.
38. Dance in the rain with my children.
39. Make a baking soda-vinegar volcano.
40. Work on the boys (not so) baby books.
41. Print some of my pictures.
42. Clean the garage.
43. Ride my bike to work at least 10 times.
44. Visit family.
45. Invite friends over for dinner.
46. Let go of the clothes that don't fit.
47. Buy myself flowers twice.
48. Surprise Hubster with a date night.
49. Sew something.
50. Sign the boys up for swimming lessons.
51. Go camping three times.
52. Actually, for all seriousness, get my passport.

52 items feels like a lot. But that's where Project 52 and all the support that comes with it is so wonderful. I can remember that I have an entire year to do all these things, working at them slowly a week, a month at a time. I may not get everything done. But the goal is to have something definitive to show for the year, to cross things off.

Project 52: The 2011 Finale, Part 2

I'm just going to jump in with items #27-52. If you're interested in my success with goals #1-26, check it out here.

27. Read 5 non-work related books. Done. In fact, my goal next year should actually be to limit my non-work related reading.

28. Work on my kids' baby books at least once. No. Not once.

29. Figure out this baby planning thing. I have no news in this category.

30. Start looking at jobs. I've done a lot of casual talking about jobs. I'm going to start getting a little more serious about it later this winter.

31. Try to go visit family in Utah. We did this. The trip was wonderful. The boys' first time on an airplane was less wonderful.

32. Visit the farmer's market 5 times during the summer. Done. This is almost weekly during the summer. I miss the farmer's market.

33. Inner tube down a river. Done. This is one of my best summer memories.

34. Go skiing. Done.

35. Take my children to 3 different museums. I think we only made it to two different museums. So mostly done.

36. Host a dinner/barbecue at my house. No. I kept trying to do this, but schedules and weather just didn't cooperate.

37. Go antique shopping. Yes. We got Hubster's parents great gifts from a small, local antique shop.

38. Schedule date night with Hubster at least once a month. I need to stop making this a goal. It's not that Hubster and I don't like each other and wouldn't like to have a monthly date. But this is just never going to happen. We went on dates four times this year. When we realized that actually getting out of the house was going to be too much work, we decided to have home dates, where we would get take-out, rent a good movie, and put the kids to bed early. Both of those attempts ended up with me asleep on the couch in less than 20 minutes. I know that we need to make ourselves and our relationship a priority, but this will have to happen outside the constructs of a "date night."

39. Get a better sleep schedule. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. Ha. Ha.

40. Scan my wedding pictures into my computer. Nope. I didn't even look at my wedding pictures once this year.

41. Take a multivitamin daily. I should never make a goal with the word "daily" in it.

42. Look into getting a pet with fur. I think that the boys are starting to break Hubster down. I can see little cracks in his anti-dog resolve. I think we should be ready for a dog in the next five years.

43. Get a rough draft of my research project. Done. Although I have come to hate the research project with a passion normally reserved for spring snow storms and texting divers.

44. Go ice skating. No. Although the boys ask to go all the time. Maybe we will go this week.

45. Make jam. No. I'm not really sure why this ever was put on the list.

46. Study 1 hour a day, 5 days a week for at four weeks in a row. Yes. But I haven't really done much studying since accomplishing this goal.

47. Calculate my monthly grocery budget. Yes.

48. Start my blogging project for my boys. Yes, such as seen here and here. I had wanted to do it every month. But nothing is ever going to happen that frequently.

49. Get our home videos transferred to DVD. No. But I think I have just found a good winter break activity for Hubster.

50. Organize my children's boxes of art work. Kind of. I moved all the artwork from several small boxes to one big box. I'm not sure if that is progress or not.

51. Volunteer for something at my kid's school. Yes. I volunteered at the school carnival. It was fun and I would love to be more involved.

52. Get my hair done. I actually did, but it was so long ago that it almost doesn't count. I am ending the year just as much in need of a haircut as I started it with.

My subtotal here is 14/26 (including partially, mostly-finished goals). And in grand total (I feel the need for a drum roll), I completed 31/52 goals, or 60% (if we are rounding, and the rules of mathematics are in my favor here.)
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This was a busy year. This would have been a busy year even without Project 52. But Project 52 let me make a list of things I wanted to get out of this year. This was a good year. This would have been a good year even without Project 52. But Project 52 let me makes dreams for the year and actually see some of those dreams come true. This was a successful year. And yes, it would have been a successful year even without Project 52. But Project 52 allowed me the chance to make a list, check it off, and celebrate each goal along the way.

Thank you, Karen and Jennee for putting this together. I'm so excited to do this all again next year. (And I need you to come up with really great lists yourself, because I'm about 10 items short.)

Over The Fridge Door

It's 6 pm. Hubster and I have both just barely arrived home. The nanny has left. The boys are hungry.

Typically, this time of day results in Hubster and I staring at each other across the top of the refrigerator door, asking each other in near frantic whispers what we should have for dinner that night. There may or may not be actual food in the fridge. We've had conversations such as:

"Well, we have some baby carrots..."
"Oh, that's good. Children need vegetables. And if we serve it with cottage cheese, that's dairy and protein..."
"Yeah, and we'll throw in some fruit snacks. The box says they have vitamin C, which is good, because we wouldn't want the boys to get scurvy."

And that's when all parenting pride goes out the window, the moment I realize I've served my family baby carrots, fruit snacks, and cottage cheese for dinner. With a pack of Twizzlers I bought when I was on call.

In reality, this only happened once...ish.

For the most part, we make fairly healthy dinners. But dinner making was always so stressful. I never knew what to make. We'd end up eating the same things over and over. If we ever wanted to make anything different, we never had the ingredients around.

Last month, I had finally had enough of the pre-dinner stress. I decided to tackle one of my Project 52 goals and make a monthly menu.

I couldn't believe how hard it was. I was tempted to just have a three day cycle: spaghetti, tacos, pizza. But I fought against that temptation, printed out a blank month calender, and went to work.

At first, I was overwhelmed. How could I come up with enough meal ideas for 30 days? The easiest way for me to do this was to break it down in to categories: Monday would be for grilling (at least while the weather is still nice), Tuesdays would be for pasta, Wednesday would be for crockpot meals, etc. This made it so much easier. All I had to do was think of meals to fit each category.

I hunted recipe websites (this one and this one are my favorites). I went through my cookbooks and folder of saved recipes. And slowly, tediously, I came up with a menu for the month. (Although Bug insists that since I'm not giving him any options, that I shouldn't be allowed to call it a menu. More like just a plan.)

And that's what this is, really. Just a plan. It's still flexible enough that if I forgot to set out the crockpot, we just switch around the days. And if, come Friday, I'm too tired to even think about cooking, the plan is flexible enough to allow for a pizza night.


We don't eat a lot of meat, which is probably evident from our menu (er, plan). Foods like spaghetti, lasagna, and even tacos and burritos are usually made meat free. This meant that I haven't been able to take a lot of ideas from other meal planning sites, because wow, people eat a lot of meat.

I tried to arrange meals so that left overs from one day could be used for the next day's meal. The other thing I tried hard to do was to take into account what we would be able to buy at the farmer's market. I love being able to use locally grown, in season food as much as possible. Which means we are eating a lot of corn, zucchini, and tomatoes right now.

It had made shopping so much easier. Each Saturday, I look at the meals for the week ahead, scan through the recipes to make sure I have all the ingredients, and make our shopping list from there. This has nearly eliminated middle of the week grocery store runs.

It has also nearly eliminated Hubster and I staring at each other over the refrigerator door, wondering what's for dinner.

Crossed Off

For a while, I thought that I would go through everything on my Project 52 list and give a full report of how things are going.

But then I remembered that I'm pretty tired (since I'm working night shifts right now), and the list is pretty long. So I've saving that for a grand finale in December (that's me making a commitment to posting in December, between holiday preparations and taking cardiac call. I'll just go ahead and make that Goal 53.)

Today, I'm focusing on successes, since last time I focused on goals I was struggling with.

These are the things that I have been able to cross off completely...

2. Complete 3 home improvement projects. We put in hand rails for the stairs (we only delayed that safety standard for, oh, two years.). We also installed new closet doors in the master bathroom, and repainted (most of) the storage shed. There are still several things that need to be done, but I'm calling this one crossed off!

4. Plan an awesome 10 year wedding anniversary celebration. When I said awesome, I totally meant Omaha, Nebraska (which I never blogged about). We did also do a day touring covered bridges in Madison County, and ate out at my favorite restaurant. And since that was our only 10 year anniversary, I have to call this done done.


6. Visit 3 new restaurants. Done!

7. Plan monthly menus. I can not even tell you how hard this was. It took me hours to make the menu for one month. I was exhausted by the end, and all I could think about was how I would have to do it again the next month. Now that the menu is done, it's been nice. No more staring at Hubster over the refrigerator door, wondering what on earth to feed the kids.

11. Go visit at least one new church. We've done this. I'm still looking for a church that feels, well, I'll know it when I feel it. I've been reading up about several churches I'm interested in checking out.

19. Register Monkey for kindergarten. Not only is he registered, he's actually attending kindergarten. Insert many sniffles here.

20. Grow herbs. There were many different herbs planted, but only the basil made it. I'm suspicious that the birds may have eaten all my oregano and cilantro seeds. And I know that a chipmunk made a large hole where a rosemary plant should have been.


23. Go to the doctor and get my hand looked at. The initial evaluation has been done. I still have several more appointments to figure out exactly what is going on, but the hand has been looked at, so I'm crossing this one off, too.

24. Introduce my children to musicals. The children have been introduced. How successful the introduction was is yet to be determined. I'm planning for a Sound of Music night. I'm bribing them all with kettle corn.

25. Have a Harry Potter marathon. I had originally intended this to be a movie marathon, but there is absolutely no way I can stay awake during movies anymore, let alone a marathon of movies. However, I did reread the entire Harry Potter series in a very short time period. That will be my marathon.

27. Read 5 non-work related books. I have more than done this.

31. Try to go visit family in Utah. We didn't just try. We went!

32. Visit the farmer's market 5 times during the summer. I've become quite the groupie of the farmer's market. I'm starting running into people I know. I buy tomatoes from the same person each week. I've been more than five times, and there is still so much growing season left!


33. Inner tube down a river. Done!

34. Go skiing. Done again!

37. Go antique shopping. I'm not exactly sure it counts as antique shopping if I didn't actually buy anything. However, I did spend two afternoons with my mother-in-law wandering through antique stores, and she bought me something. So I think this one is off the list.

43. Get a rough draft of my research project. I think I may finally be to this point. This is a particularly painful one. Give me making monthly menus any day over doing this thing.

47. Calculate my monthly grocery budget. This is done. This one was surprisingly non-painful.

48. Start my blogging project for my boys. It's been started (here and here). There is no foreseeable end, thank goodness.

51. Volunteer for something at my kid's school. Done!

52. Get my hair done. I finally did this. I'm not exactly sure why I put off getting my hair cut for two years, but it really showed.

The grand total is 21/52 things that are completely crossed off my list. 21 things that I don't have to worry or think about again.

Sometimes, I think the best part of making lists is just to cross things off of them.

Halfway Point

It's been a while since I've updated my progress on Project 52. But with June flying by even faster than the previous months have, and realizing that the year will be over before I realize, I think an update is in order.

There are things on my list that intimidate me. There are things on my list that seems like no big deal when I first thought of them. There are things on my list that I'm just not sure how to accomplish.

I actually started looking at my list and realized that one third of my goals are things that it's starting to look like just might not happen. Some of them require money, which is always just a little short around here. Some require a schedule, and with my unpredictable hours, I haven't figured out how to do this. Most just require free time, which is my most precious commodity and has been spent running around the backyard, being chased by squirt guns.

Here are the things that have me worried:

3. Get my passport. Who knew a passport could be so expensive? And since I don't have any passport requiring trips planned in my near future, it's hard to justify the cost.

10. Paint at least once. This one shouldn't be so hard. But it requires the thought to actually occur to me. It's been such a long time since I've painted anything that pulling out a canvas and actually creating something does not come up on the radar of how to spend an afternoon.

14. Find 3 ways to be green. This one has me stumped. We do our best to be green. We fanatically recycle. We use reusable shopping bags. We eat local as much as we can (afford.) That would be three things right there. But we've been doing those things for a long time. The idea of this goal was to find three new things. Any ideas? Well, any ideas that don't break the bank and require the installation of solar panels, the purchase of an electric car, or raising all my food myself?

15. Use my crock pot once a month. I'm struggling with this one this year. Last year wasn't so bad. This year? I've taken the crock pot out twice. It requires advance planning, which I practically never do for meals. I just need to do it, and stop making excuses.

16. Catch up on my book reviews. This just requires time and inspiration. Hopefully, I'll get to it. Although lately, I've read quite a few books that I just don't feel like reviewing.

23. Go to the doctor and get my hand looked at. This started out being easy. I made an appointment, I got my hand looked at. And then they wanted me to see physical therapy. They wanted me to see rheumatology. They wanted me to make several follow up appointments. I'm not sure this is going to happen.

26. Donate blood. I just need to find the time.

28. Work on my kids' baby books at least once. My poor kids. Monkey's baby book doesn't even have the plastic wrapping removed from it.

30. Start looking at jobs. This one just intimidates me. I think about it, and I get all sweaty with the thought of rejection and failure and what if no one wants to work with me, and what if I'm not competent enough to get a job. Hopefully this fall/winter, I'll be able to get over all that and start this process.

35. Take my children to 3 different museums. I'm still looking for two more museums that are in reasonable driving distance.

38. Schedule date night with Hubster at least once a month. This one always feels like my biggest failure. I know so many people that have date night once a week, and Hubster and I can't manage once a month. We've gone on two, maybe three dates this year. We had all these plans to do date night at home. So far, that has consisted of me mentioning it, and then promptly falling asleep on the couch. I really need to look at this and figure out how to make this happen. Once again, any ideas?

39. Get a better sleep schedule. Ha, ha. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.

40. Scan my wedding pictures into my computer. I should have just planned better and gotten married in the time of digital photos. Or time travel back with a digital camera. That serious might be just as easy.

41. Take a multivitamin daily. I realize now that any daily goal is a huge mistake.

42. Look into getting a pet with fur. This is not going to happen. No matter how much fun I think it would be to have a kitten or a puppy, I need to be realistic. We have two boys. And a fish.

49. Get our home videos transferred to DVD. What we should have done is bought a digital video camera all those years ago.

50. Organize my children's boxes of art work. I've transferred it from one box to a different box. But it just doesn't quite feel like it should count.

52. Get my hair done. Right now, I'd settle for brushing my hair. That would be a step in the right direction.

*****

These aren't impossible things. They are all reasonable, manageable goals. It's not like I resolved to visit three different countries and speak for a national charity. These should be things I can accomplish by the time December is finishing up.

I just need to refocus, reorganize, and recommit.

And figure out the whole time travel thing.

A place for everything...

...and everything in its place.


I can't believe how often I heard this growing up. It's something I would love to actually practice, but in reality, things get stacked on top of the desk, on the counter, on the bookshelves. It's a little embarrassing.

Truly, the worst offender has been the art supply box. At one time, it was all neatly organized. That was when there was one child's art supplies. (And it may have actually just been the first day of having the art box.) Take two children (and maybe some of my own), and any illusion of organization was just that.


Number one of my Project 52 list was to organize my closets. This included organizing the art supply area, since technically, it is stuffed into the office closet. I just didn't really know exactly what I wanted.

Until Hubster and I were wandering through Habitat for Humanity ReStore, looking for "treasure." Or as Hubster says, "cheap stuff."

That's when I found it. A red cabinet. The moment I came across it, I instantly saw all of our art supplies neatly stored away in the red and brown drawers. Not only would it be organized, it would be beautiful!

Hubster took next to no convincing.

We brought the beautiful red cabinet home, thoroughly cleaned the dust out of every crevice and corner. Then I spent a very happy afternoon organizing art supplies.

(Old baby wipe tubs - best storage for crayons and colored pencils ever!)

We went from this...

To this...

Now the cabinet stands happily in the office, encouraging the boys to come, take paints, take crayons, take pencils and papers. And just as sweetly, it encourages them to put them neatly away again.

At least that's what I hear it saying.

What I didn't put on my resolution list this year

My 2011 goals are going great. So much so that it actually surprises me. I don't think I've had such a productive 3 months...ever.

I've volunteered at the school, read books, visited new places, eaten new foods. And there are still so many exciting things to look forward to and try this year.

But there is something that I won't be crossing off my list this year. Because, for the first time in years, it's something that isn't even on my list.

Weight loss.

Year after year, ever since Bug was born and I had that extra baby weight, I've made it my goal to lose the weight and get back to my pre-baby body. At the time, I ran for miles, gave up sugar, biked obsessively. And I still never got back into those pre-Bug jeans. And then Monkey came, along with even more baby weight.

Once again I resolved to lose the weight. I did Pilates, yoga, aerobics, took up running again, gave up red meat, stopped eating ice cream.

And those pre-Monkey jeans just sat folded in the bottom drawer of my dresser, untouched, year after year. Right next to the even more ambitious pre-Bug jeans.

I've always felt bad about myself for not losing the weight. Like I wasn't committed enough, that I hadn't taken care of myself, that I had done something wrong during pregnancy to put the weight on to being with.

Last year, I had resolved to lose 10 pounds. I managed to lose 4. And I felt bad about myself for not doing it. It seemed like such a measly little goal, and I couldn't do it.

I kept thinking that if only I could just finally lose the weight, that finally I could start feeling good about myself.

And that's when I realized something.

All those years ago, before Monkey, I didn't feel good about myself, carrying around that post-Bug weight (even though now, I'd be delighted to be that size.) Going back years before that, before Bug, back when I was thin and finding clothes that fit was never an issue...Well, even going back that far, I didn't feel good about myself even then.

I keep thinking that losing the weight is the answer. But it's not.

I still want to be healthier. I try to watch what I eat. I try to fit in exercise when I can. But this year, I'm not resolving to lose weight.

And I feel good about that.

Project 52: Winter's Almost Over Edition

Today is the last day of February. This means so many things. It means that spring is hopefully coming soon. It means that I register Monkey for kindergarten tomorrow. It means that I haven't posted a Project 52 update in over a month.

Since my initial goal to to post updates once a month, I'm kind of running out of time.

Despite February getting the short end of the stick in length, I made up for it in productivity.

Here's how things are going.

6. Visit 3 new restaurants.
This one is done! Originally, I was going to make the goal visiting 5 new restaurants, but since we eat out so little, I didn't want to be too ambitious. However, this was super easy. I've had brunch at two different restaurants, went out for sushi for the first time. For Valentine's Day, Hubster surprised me with dinner at this phenomenal local restaurant. The food was everything it was hyped up to be. Even though this one is done, I'm not letting myself of the hook. If we get the opportunity to eat out, I will always try to consider some place new.

7. Plan monthly menus.
This is nearly done. I just need to type them up so we can actually use them.

8. Meet my girlfriends for brunch one a month.
So far, 2/12. This has to be one of my favorite things. Not only does this mean that I get to eat at new restaurants, but this scheduled girl social time is therapeutic. This is an easy resolution to keep.

9. Send birthday cards to all my siblings and be on time this year.
So far, so good. This one is a lot of work, though, with so many siblings.

15. Use my crock pot once a month.
2/12. So far, it's just been boring old chicken, but the stress relief of having dinner ready at the end of the day is wonderful.

16. Catch up on my book reviews.
I wrote one book review. I only have like 6 left. It's getting to the point I can't even remember what books I read.

19. Register Monkey for kindergarten.
I do this tomorrow! Ack!

23. Go to the doctor and get my hand looked at.
So this is turning into a cluster. I made the first appointment just fine. I was so proud of myself. But then I had to make an appointment with physical therapy, and now the surgeon wants me to see rheumatology, and then make a follow up appointment. There just isn't time. I'm still working on it.

24. Introduce my children to musicals.
We've watched The King and I and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. I'm really starting to doubt that my boys will ever share my love of musicals. Which is a good thing in Hubster's opinion.

27. Read 5 non-work related books.
I've read 3 books so far. Reviews to come. Maybe.

31. Try to go visit family in Utah.
This is planned! Tickets are bought! We are going! How could I fit in some more exclamation points?! More about this at a later date.

34. Go skiing.
Just when I thought we weren't going to do this, we had a huge snow storm and we went. It was so much fun!

35. Take my children to 3 different museums.
Maybe we're strange, but we love museums. Even Monkey. We spent an afternoon exploring the university museum of natural history. There are skeletons and re-creations of ancient landscapes and hundreds of taxidermy animals. What's not to love?

38. Schedule date night with Hubster at least once a month.
We went on a date this month, making us 1/12, or 50% of the months so far. Which is a pretty good start. If we keep this up, I'll be very happy.

46. Study 1 hour a day, 5 days a week for at four weeks in a row.
I'm attempting to tackle this goal right now. I did really good last week, and this week I have to study for a exam on Saturday. So hopefully I can keep the momentum going.

48. Start my blogging project for my boys.
This is started here and here. I had originally wanted to post every month, but it might be every other month. It's amazing how fast time flies.

51. Volunteer for something at my kid's school.
I signed Hubster up to volunteer. Is that the same thing?

Phew! I'm exhausted. I've been busy. At this rate, I should be done with everything mid-April. Or I'll just get really tired, dish myself up a big bowl of ice cream and work on my DVR list.

Project 52: The Three Day Weekend Edition

I didn't actually have a three day weekend, since I had to work yesterday. But it was fine, since I mini-rocked the OR yesterday.

I don't actually plan on posting goal updates every week (that was not one of my goals) , but since I'm home on this delightfully snowy day, I figured why not. It's been amazing to me how much I've accomplished in just one week. Here, let me show you...

3. Get my passport.
I filled out the paperwork and printed it out. I'm dragging my feet on actually submitting everything, because the $150 fee seems a little steep, especially when I have no current plans to leave the country.

7. Plan monthly menus.
We actually made a menu for this month. The problem is, I want to put things on the menu and Hubster keeps pointing out that he doesn't know how to cook those things. He likes to ignore the cookbooks above the stove.

8. Meet my girlfriends for brunch one a month.
Brunch is planned for next Sunday!

9. Send birthday cards to all my siblings and be on time this year.
I've already fallen behind. I did send off two cards, but I was late, dang it.

23. Go to the doctor and get my hand looked at.
This was actually the easiest thing. The ortho clinic was able to see me in just a few days. But this has opened a huge can of worms. Now, they want to me see Physical Therapy, get fitted for a splint, and get a second opinion from a rheumatologist. What a pain. But at least I've stopped ignoring the problem and am finally doing something about it.

24. Introduce my children to musicals.
I borrowed "The King and I" from the library. I'm so excited to watch it with them. I fully plan on us walking around the house, singing "Getting to know you! Getting to know all about you!"

27. Read 5 non-work related books.
I've started my second book. I'm well on my way!

34. Go skiing.
After looking at my schedule and the amount of snow, I may have to take this one off my list. But we are going sledding today. That's almost the same thing.

47. Calculate my monthly grocery budget.
I've started doing this. I'm saving receipts, seeing how much money we are spending. This is a lot more work that I thought it would be. I was inspired by this blogger's post. I think she must be a lot more organized than I am.

48. Start my blogging project for my boys.
I wrote about this here. Look for the first post coming this week!

I think that having worked on 9 things off my list is pretty good. If I kept this pace up, I would be done by the end of March! But not really, because camping in the winter in Iowa would suck. And I would definitely not do it four times.

It's been a great week. How is your week going?