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Monday, January 28, 2013

Menu Plan ... week of January 14th

Breakfasts:
  • Banana bread from the freezer
  • Scrambled eggs
  • Cereal

Lunches:
  • Canned soup and grilled cheese
  • Leftovers
  • Out for lunch after homeschool co-op

Dinner:
  • Monday - Crock Pot Chicken over rice  My new recipe for the week.
  • Tuesday -Breakfast for Dinner ... Eggs, sausage links, biscuits and gravy.
  • Wednesday - Chicken Quesedillas, Spicy Cheese Dip and Chips, Seven Layer Salad, and Peanut Butter Pie for Marshall's 18th Birthday  (Where, oh where, has the time gone?)
  • Thursday - Hamburger and rice from a mix
  • Friday - Potato Soup and Homemade rolls
  • Saturday - Homemade Pizza
  • Sunday - Baked Spaghetti **
**Maybe not in that exact order. 
**Depending on the amount of leftovers, I reserve the right to make one night "Every Man for Himself" Night.

Menu Planning saves me so much money and so many brain cells.  Why don't I do it more consistently? 

I'm linking up over at Organizing Junkie's Menu Plan Monday.

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Weekly Goals ... January 14th, 2013

     It has been ages since I have posted a list of weekly goals.  Apparently I have gotten some things done without posting my list because I made it through Christmas without any major disasters.  But it is kind of nice to look back at my previous lists and see what I managed to accomplish.
 
     All too often it feels like I am going through my days and doing the same things and making absolutely no headway.
 
     My to do list doesn't seem to get any shorter.  The same chores need to be done over and over.  I guess it is true when they say "a mother's work is never done."
 
 
Weekly Goals … Week of January 14th, 2013


Family:

  • Love note to Gene 
  • Visit with Mother 
  • Visit with Daddy



  • Personal:

    • Lose two pounds
  • Pedicure 
  • Catch up on Bible reading 
  • Read some sort of self-help book on Kindle app



  • Homemaking:

    • Clean Abby’s room really well
  • Paint Abby’s room 
  • Maintain the rest of the house while Abby’s room is in progress



  • Finances:

    • Track Spending
  • Menu plan and grocery shop



  • Holiday:

    • Birthday cupcakes for Abby at co-op
  • Abby’s birthday dinner on Sunday

  • Kids/School:

    • Bible study twice this week
  • Check Marshall's Semester Final grades 
  • Relax and regroup and get ready to tackle Marshall’s challenges next week
  •  If I can get Abby's room painted this week and still check off most of the items on this list, then I am super woman!  When I was growing up, we didn't have a lot of extra money for doodads and clothes.  I never wanted my little girl to feel like she didn't have "stuff."
     
    I may have overcompensated.?!

    Monday, January 7, 2013

    Word of the Year 2013

    Finish
    When I looked up the word finish, my favorite definition was: something that completes, perfects or concludes.
    That is what I want for this year.  To complete things.  To bring them to their conclusion.  To make things as perfect as my imperfect self can make them.
    There are too many things that I begin and never see the end of.  Too many projects that I start and never finish.  I am a great starter.  I have good ideas.  I buy the materials, do the research, begin the program ... whatever.  But all too often I give up and start the next new thing before I complete the first thing.
    This is the year that I evaluate all of the things that I have started and decide if they are worth my time and energy to finish.  If they are, then they go on the list and this is the year that I bring them to completeness.  If they aren't worth my time and energy, then into the trash they go.  Literally or figuratively.  I am not going to allow them to clutter up my home or my mind any longer.
    I am looking forward to the finish.  The conclusion. The perfection.
    2013 is going to be the year of the FINISH.

    Saturday, January 5, 2013

    2013 Goals

    2012 was a great year.  I learned a lot, my kids learned a lot, and my hubby and I had a breakthrough in our marriage that has literally changed our lives.  I wouldn't change last year for anything, but I sure do want to make this year better.

    I didn't really make a list of goals for 2012.  Sure, I had a list in my head, but that didn't go so well for me.  I made a list of 28 projects that I wanted to finish in 2012.  I checked off eight.  Eight?!?  Not even one third of the list.  How pathetic is that?  This year is going to be better.  Things are going to be different.  I am setting some goals.  There are going to be deadlines.  I am putting this list out into cyber space and people are going to be able to judge me.  That is a huge motivator for me. 

    I hate to fail publicly.

    Failing privately is okay.  No one knows but me.  I can always burn my list in the wood stove and no one will even have to know it existed.  But, if I put it on this blog some random person might see it.  That random person might meet me.  They could possibly ask me if I did what I said I was going to do.  I could be publicly humiliated for my lack of commitment.  Oh, the horror!  See what I mean?  It could be devastating.

    Goals for 2013

    Personal:
    • Read through the Bible.  (Not an online version or on my phone.  A real Bible that I can hold in my hands and make notes in and feel and smell and...  you get the idea)
    • Lose 75 pounds.  (A little less than 1.5  pounds a week.  I can do it.  I had Lap Band Surgery for Heaven's sake.  How much more help do I need?)
    • Read 48 Books.  (Self-improvement books.  I could read a mystery novel every day with no problem.  I want to make a point to read things that are a bit more substantial.)
    • Learn to knit.  (Just for fun.  I crochet like crazy.  Knitting looks harder.  I want to do it.)
    Marriage:
    • One date a month.  (Just us, no kids.  Even if it is just to run out to the grocery store and get lunch.)
    • Four overnight trips.  (No kids, just a little time and money to waste on ourselves.  These kids are going to be grown up soon and I don't want to look around and think. "Who are you, and what am I going to do with you the rest of our lives?")
    • Intentionally show appreciation for the sacrifices that he makes by working away form home in a difficult job to take care of our family.  (I want him to know that I notice.  Exactly how I am going to accomplish that is probably best left undescribed in this particular venue.)
    Kids/School:
    • Finish the current Bible Study this school year and pick out a new one for next year.
    • One field trip or interesting adventure per month.
    • Get in Marshall's head and figure out how to help him motivate himself to accomplish the goals he has for himself.  (Apparently public failure is not his main motivation.)
    Family:
    • Visit or have a craft day with my mom once a week.  (She lives alone.  She is probably lonely.  I need to be more intentional about spending time with her.  And anyway, she is my best friend and a lot of fun to be around!)
    • Go out to my dad's once a week and spend time with him.  (His health is not so good, and I want to make sure he knows we care about him.)
    • See or talk to my Gram once a month.  (She is 96 years old.  Need I say more?)
    • Write two notes or send cards once a month.  (Snail Mail.  I like getting mail.  Everyone else must too.)
    • Host family get togethers once a month.  (Birthdays, holidays, no reason.  Just make sure I feed everyone once a month.)
    Financial:
    • $500 a week income for me.  (A teaching job with an online school would be fantastic, but if that is not God's plan for me then I am sure He and I can work something out.)
    • End 2013 with no debt except the mortgage. ( It is just a little bit on the credit cards right now, but ending the year with no debt would mean not charging anything for Christmas this year.)
    • $20,000 in Savings.  (That is a lofty goal.  Easily doable when I start having an income, but nearly impossible without it.)
    • Track spending monthly and lower amount each month.(When I started keeping track of how much money I really spend, I was appalled.  I thought I was frugal.  Not so much!)
    Holidays:
    • Make one Christmas gift every month.  (Or multiples of one gift.  I want to be done with all of the high pressure crafting before Thanksgiving.)
    • Lower Christmas budget by $500.  (I love Christmas and I strive to make it special for everyone, but we spend a lot of money accomplishing that goal.  I want to slow things down and spread things out this year.)
    • One project a month that contributes to a more organized Christmas.  (Things like organizing the decorations and deciding on a gift list early on will make things easier and help me have the kind of Christmas I want.
    • Finish Christmas prep by Thanksgiving.  (All of the above goals will help me finish up by Thanksgiving.  I just want to spend the month of December decorating my house and making some special cookies and doing all of the fun things we like to do.  I don't want to have to worry that it isn't all going to get done.)
    • Celebrate something every month.  (There is some sort of Holiday or birthday every month that I want to recognize in a significant way.  Even if it is something as simple as having apple food for every meal on Johnny Appleseed Day, I want to make sure that we are creating memories.)
    Homemaking:
    • Plan meals weekly or monthly and try one new recipe every week.  (I never make new foods.  The only new recipes I try are for deserts.  I want to be more adventurous this year.  And I want to be more intentional about what we are eating.  I would like to make more food from scratch and use the vintage cookbooks that I have been collecting.  And then there is Pinterest, too!)
    • Grow a garden.  (We got a good start on making our raised bed last year but it fizzled out short of actually planting anything.)
    • Redo 3 rooms.  (Abby's room is first on the list because that will be her birthday present this month.  She wants horses, not the flowers and fashion that I envisioned.)
    • Make a yearly cleaning plan or follow one online.  (My daily plan is working out very well.  Now I need to figure out the big stuff.)
    Blogging:
    • Five posts a week.
    • Six new income streams.
    • Learn or research something new about blogging every week.
    • Get a new computer.
    • Get a SLR camera.
    • Make and stick to a blogging schedule.  (In short, I want to be a real blogger, not just a blogger wannabe!)

    I just know that 2013 is going to be my best year ever.  Life is so good.  God is so good.  I can't wait to see how things turn out. 
     
    What are you going to do to make 2013 your best year ever?