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.?!

Weekly Goals ... November 6th and a Pathetic Showing Last Week

Sort of a pathetic showing as far as last week's goals go.  I have more motivation for this week.  I hope I can get more done.

Weekly Goals ... October 29th

Family:

• Bible Study with kids two times. Only once.
• Write Gene a love note. Done
• Finish up the bucket list and start the Thanksgiving Count Down. We have three things left on the bucket list.  Two of them got forwarded to the Thanksgiving Countdown Calendar.

Personal:

• Lose four pounds. I am down a couple pounds.
• Pedicure. Removed my polish but I don't have the color I want to redo them.
• Exercise four times. I got on the exercise bike once all week.  Probably explains why I feel so crummy and I haven't lost any weight.

Homemaking:

• Finish Bathroom list. Done. Plus I added a few things to the list that I hadn't thought of before.
• Finish Laundry Room list. Not even started.
• Tidy all bedrooms. Ughhh!
• Patch and paint cracks in drywall. I did buy sanding screen and primer, but I didn't touch the actual walls.

Finances:

• Keep Spreadsheets current. Done.
• Coupon and menu plan. Lots of great deals at Kroger this week!
• Total October budget and start November. Spending for October was out of control.  I cannot believe the amount of money we went through.  November will probably be ridiculous too since Gene and I are going on a trip and we have to get serious about Christmas gift buying.

Holiday:

• Scrap three months of calendar. I did one month.  It is going to be so cute!
• Granny accessories assembled. Hate the pattern I started to use.  I need to rethink the whole project.
• Bake three things for the freezer. I baked pumpkin bread.  I wasn't in love with it.  I will have to try another recipe.
• Thanksgiving decorations. Decided not to do these until after company comes on Tuesday.  They haven't seen the Halloween decorations and will be back to see Thanksgiving so I decided to put it off.

School:

• Check in every day, especially with Marshall. I checked, but the kids are not exactly truthful.  Threats will ensue.
• Investigate volunteer opportunities. Didn't even send the first email about it.  So lazy!

Only seven things checked off the list last week.  Pretty pathetic.  Next week I have company coming so I know that I will be more motivated!

Weekly Goals ... Week of November 5th
Family:

• Bible Study with kids two times.
• Write Gene a love note.
• Prep kids and self for four days away.

Personal:

• Maintain weight 
• Pedicure.
• Exercise four times.

Homemaking:

• Finish Laundry Room list.
• Tidy all bedrooms.
• Patch and paint cracks in drywall.
• Clean off deck and put away all of the random totes.

Finances:

• Keep Spreadsheets current.
• Coupon and menu plan.
• Figure out budget for trip away.

Holiday:

• Scrap three months of calendar.
• Granny accessories assembled.
• Bake three things for the freezer.
• Thanksgiving decorations.

School:

• Check in every day, especially with Marshall.
• Investigate volunteer opportunities.

I have to get on the ball!  Company is coming on Tuesday evening.  I am leaving for a four day vacation with Gene on Saturday morning and Christmas is only 49 days away.

What I Accomplished This Week and Goals for the Week of October 8th

I almost finished everything on last week's list.  I am totally liking all of this accountability.  Even if no one really reads my list, someone might, and I don't want complete strangers to think I am a slacker!

Weekly Goals .... Week of October 1st (Last Week)

Family:

• Start Bible study with kids.  If one lesson counts as starting, then we did start.  I am going to have to give some thought to just how this is going to fit into our day.  Since the kids start school stuff at different times, it is making it difficult to work in first thing in the morning.  The fact that Marshall doesn't actually start fully functioning until noon is a hindrance too.
• Write Gene a love note.
• Check two things off the bucket list.  A trip to the farm market and clearance priced caramel apples from Walmart.  We still may make home made caramel apples!

Personal:

• Exercise four times (two on the treadmill). I only got on the treadmill once.  I did exercise four times.
• Lose four pounds. Ha!
• Three blog posts. Done, sort of!

Homemaking:

• Organize sewing basket.  So nice not to have to search in the big cabinet when I need hand sewing supplies.
• Complete living room list.  All done.  No cobwebs, all the movies are in order.  All the glass is dusted.  Everything is ready for Christmas decorating.  Now just to maintain.
• Put out Halloween decorations.  We even went shopping for a couple of new doo-dads.

Finances:

• Make spending spreadsheet and update.  It is eye-opening to see how much money we are spending.
• Keep Christmas budget spreadsheet current.  Just a few things so far.  Hopefully I can keep the budget under control this year.
• Menu plan around grocery deals.  Kind of amazing to actually know what we are going to have to eat every day.

Holiday:

• Nine squares completed and assembled.  I actually completed three sets of nine.  This is going more quickly than I hoped.  Maybe I can finish it next week.
• Complete cross stitch.  Finished!!!!!!  Now to frame it!
• Finish one gift.

School:

• Lesson for co-op on elections.  Done, Although I did not have to teach!
• Check in with kids' school every day.  Still a work in progress.  I did check in, but not in a very timely manner.

Green items have been forwarded from last week's list. Blue items are ongoing until they are finished or become a habit.




Goals ... Week of October 8th

Family:

• Bible study with the kids at least four days.
• Write Gene a love note.
• Check two things off the bucket list.

Personal:

• Exercise four times (two on the treadmill).
• Lose four pounds.
• Three blog posts.

Homemaking:

• Complete dining room list.
• One hour in each kid's room. 
• Clean two shelves in the craft cabinet. 

Finances:

• Keep spending spreadsheet current.
• Keep Christmas budget spreadsheet current.
• Menu plan around grocery deals.

Holiday:

• Finish afghan 
• Frame cross stitch.  
• Finish one gift.
• Two baked goods in the freezer.
• Fall gift for my secret sister at church.

School:

• Check in with kids' school every day.
• Figure out why Abby's French class won't record.

Green items have been forwarded from last week's list. Blue items are ongoing until they are finished or become a habit.

78 days until Christmas!  How is your Christmas prep going?

Daily/Weekly Cleaning List

For a long time I have been making a To Do List every morning.  There were always the same few cleaning chores that I feel should be done almost every day.  Even though I knew that I was going to do them every day, I still wrote them on the list.

'Cause I like to check things off my list!

I'll tell you a secret.  Sometimes I even write things on my list after I already have them done, just so I can check them off!

Eventually, I added some things that need to be done every week and I have been gradually coming up with things that I should do every month.

Add in my recent obsession with a weekly goal list and our Fall Bucket list, and I had four or five lists laying around next to my computer.

So, I created a printable checklist with handy little spots to check off my daily chores, a list of weekly chores, a short list of monthly chores and lines for writing the jobs that need doing in the room of the week.

I also included a space for my weekly goals.  I have to write really tiny, but I fit it all on there.  The empty space on the right is perfect for clipping on my list of jobs that I specifically want to get to each day. 

It has been working out great.  Everything I need to accomplish is right there in one place!

I tried to post my list as a printable in Google Docs but I have had no success.  My son says that you could click on the above image and copy it to paint and print it out if you wanted to.  I am working on getting an editable printable finished for you.  I'm sure you don't have to do the same boring jobs over and over that I do.

I bet you have boring, repetitious jobs of your own!

Now, I need to make foofing up that clipboard a "to do" item on my list!

Linked Up at these parties:

Weekly Goals ... Week of October 1st and Update on Last Week

Please note that I managed to cross off EVERY SINGLE ITEM on my list!  Just the fact that the list is sitting there next to my computer keeps me so much more accountable.  When the computer is being touchy or slow, I get up and do something.  Ingenious, Huh? 

Hope I can keep this up.  I might actually be ready for Christmas this year!


Last Week's Goals.... Week of September 24th

Family:

• Make copies of Bible Study Stuff.  Finally got this done!  Now to actually start the Bible Study with the kids next week!
• Write Gene a Love Note.
• Check four things off the Fall Bucket List. Johnny Appleseed Day Celebration with apple food at every meal, Johnny Appleseed videos on YouTube and a trip to the apple orchard.  We had hot spiced apple cider.  The kids didn't care for it.  I drank a half gallon by myself.  We made a fall wreath.  Cute, with glittery spiders.  And I got the porch decorated for fall with the help of my oldest minion.
• Check in with kids on school work every day. I need to make this a habit.  I think that the kids were a lot more diligent about actually finishing everything when they knew I was going to check each evening rather than at the end of the week.

Personal:

 

• Read The Five Love Languages of Teenagers.  I finished this book while exercising this week.  Excellent sugestions.  now I need to figure out the kids' love languages.
• Exercise four times.  I actually rode the exercise bike five mornings this week.
• Lose four pounds.  I lost enough that I was a half pound lower than my lowest weight when I went to the doctor on Thursday.
• Pedicure.  Who knew that painting spider webs on my toenails would be such a pain in the patootie?  I redid them three times and I am still not so happy with the results.

Homemaking:

 

• Fall decorations on the porch.  The cats seem to think that I put the hay bales out there just for them!
• Get out Abby's winter clothes.  They are out of storage.  The process of trying on everything and getting it hung up takes a while.  There aren't enough hangers to hang it all up until more of the summer stuff can get put away.  It will have to be a work in progress. 
• Make daily, weekly, and monthly cleaning check lists.  Done.  I like it.  I think that just having one list on a clipboard rather than three or four will make it easier to see what needs accomplished.
• Switch my clothes to winter. What a mess!  I got rid of a bunch of stuff that is just too big and sloppy looking.  Woot!  I hope all of the jeans I have will fit.  I didn't try anything on; I just stuck it in the drawer.  The bonus of it all was that I cleaned up my closet a bit and went through my Christmas Gift/Project tote and rediscovered a few things that I intended to do last year and can finish pretty quickly this year if I get on the ball.
• Make laundry soap.  Done.  I love the smell of Fels-Naptha! I have my own recipe that is a combination of lots of other people's powdered soap recipes.

Finances:

 

• Track all spending for the week.  I kept track and I was apalled.  Apparently every time I leave the house I spend a great deal of money.
• Write six blog posts.  I wrote five posts.  I am calling it a success!

Christmas Prep:

 

• Cross stitch for at least three hours. I worked on this for about five hours at the beginning of the week.  I need to get it finished so I can figure out about framing it!
• Start a Christmas Gift List.
• Crochet borders on nine squares.  I also got a couple of solid squares finished!
• Christmas gift budget.  I even made an excel spreadsheet to keep track.  Now I am going to have to make it a goal to keep it updated.

School:

• Post about interest in high school breakfast club.   No responses.  How dissapointing.  I think Marshall and his one buddy will just start meeting for breakfast once a week on their own!
• Co-op lesson.  Not my turn!  How nice is that?

Green items have been forwarded from last week's list.  Blue items are ongoing until they are finished or become a habit.

On to next week.

There are only 85 days until Christmas.  This is my favorite time of the year!

Weekly Goals .... Week of October 1st

Family:

• Start Bible study with kids.
• Write Gene a love note.
• Check two things off the bucket list.

Personal:

• Exercise four times (two on the treadmill).
• Lose four pounds.
• Three blog posts.

Homemaking:

• Organize sewing basket.
• Complete living room list.
• Put out Halloween decorations.

Finances:

• Make spending spreadsheet and update.
• Keep Christmas budget spreadsheet current.
• Menu plan around grocery deals.

Holiday:

• Nine squares completed and assembled.
• Complete cross stitch.
• Finish one gift.

School:

• Lesson for co-op on elections.
• Check in with kids' school every day.

Green items have been forwarded from last week's list.  Blue items are ongoing until they are finished or become a habit.

Here's to keeping the momentum going!

Spider Web Nails

One of the items on my Goal List this week was to give myself a pedicure.  Abby had recently requested purple nail polish, and I had visions of purple nails with spider webs and big black spiders.  Scary, huh?

Since it is rather difficult to reach one's toes with the amount of weight that I still need to lose, I decided to try out my design on my left thumb nail.  I liked the color, the spider web was a little wonky, but taking into consideration the crummy brush I had available, it turned out OK.

The spider, on the other hand, looked like a big fat tick. 

I took it all off and started again. 

No spiders for the toes!

I proceeded to try out the whole process on my toes.  Turns out, third time's a charm on the old toenails.  After much complaining and polish removal, I had what I thought was a credible spider web pedicure.

I'll let you be the judge of that!

In the interest of keeping it real here, take a look at this picture of my toes.  Apparently I am not only hampered by being too chubby to reach my toes, my eyes are so bad that I couldn't tell how messy the polish was until I looked at the picture.

Hopefully, no one looks that closely at my toes, 'cause I'm leaving them like this till Halloween!

Now, that's really scary stuff!

Weekly Goals: Recap and Week of 9-24-2012

Not so much progress on my list this week.  Apparently this was my week to make excuses about why I couldn't get anything done.  Ughhh!  Now I need to accomplish even more this week.

Here is what I accomplished last week:

 

Family:

• Make copies of Bible Study Stuff. Did not do this.  My excuse is that the copy place is in the Apple Festival area and I didn't want to have to fight to find parking.
• Write Gene a Love Note.  Done
• Check two things off the Fall Bucket List. Not a single thing. Everything we tried to do did not work out the way I had hoped.

Personal:

• Finish Destined to Reign by Joseph Prince.  I did finish this book and it was excellent.  The grace of God toward us is such an amazing thing!
• Exercise four times.  Actually did this.  I rode the exercise bike and read my book.
• Lose four pounds. Hah!  I think I gained a pound.  I have an appointment with the diet doctor this week and I vow to have lost some weight.

Homemaking:

• Fall decorations on the porch. Nope.  Went shopping for mums and was apalled at the prices.  I will have another go at it this week.
• Put away Abby's summery summer clothes.   One giant tote of stuff is put away.  Still need to get out the winter stuff and go through it.  As cold as it has been I think I could put away the capris too.
• Make daily, weekly, and monthly cleaning check lists. I sort of made a handwritten copy, but I want to make a printable copy.

Finances:

 

• Catch up on cutting coupons.  Done!  I had two weeks worth.  Now just to keep up with it.  I am making this an item on my weekly to do list.
• Write three blog posts. Just one post.  I have been having issues with my photo editor running on this slow old computer.

Christmas Prep:

 

• Fancy up the Fall Bucket List.   So cute!  I will be posting a quick tutorial for it soon.
• Figure out the afghan pattern I am going to use and at least get started.   I did decide on a plan.  I haven't actually started, but I am calling this a success. 
• Cross stitch for at least three hours.   Barely worked for three hours.  Still so far to go.
• Start a Christmas Gift List. Nope!

So much that didn't get done. We did have a great field trip on Friday to the Ohio Statehouse with the Homeschool Co-op with dinner out, thrift store shopping for zombie costumes, and frozen yougurt!  There were several visits with my oldest son and an emergency waterfall creation for my niece's science class project so I thought I had some good excuses!

I have decided that anything that doesn't get finished from the week before gets added to the list along with goals for this week rather than just forwarding things forever.  My list may be a hundred items long soon if I don't get on the ball.

Here goes!

Weekly Goals .... Week of September 24th

Family:

 

• Make copies of Bible Study Stuff.
• Write Gene a Love Note.
• Check four things off the Fall Bucket List.
• Check in with kids on school work every day.

 

Personal:

 

• Read The Five Love Languages of Teenagers.
• Exercise four times.
• Lose four pounds.
• Pedicure

Homemaking:

 

• Fall decorations on the porch.
• Get out Abby's winter clothes. 
• Make daily, weekly, and monthly cleaning check lists.
• Switch my clothes to winter.
• Make laundry soap. 

Finances:

 

• Track all spending for the week.
• Write six blog posts.

Christmas Prep:

 

• Cross stitch for at least three hours.
• Start a Christmas Gift List.
• Crochet borders on nine squares.
• Christmas gift budget.

School:

• Post about interest in high school breakfast club.
• Co-op lesson.

Green items have been forwarded from last week's list.  Blue items are ongoing until they are finished or become a habit.

Lots of work to do!  No excuses this week!

Weekly Goals ... September 10th

I am hoping that just the act of typing out this list and posting it here will make some sort of magic happen that will allow me to accomplish my goals for this week.  Seems a bit unlikely, but at this point I am looking for all the help I can get!

Family:

• Make a Fall Bucket List with the kids.
• Write hubby a lovey dovey card or note.
• Organize the Bible Study stuff so that we can start over.

Personal:

• Read Destined to Reign by Joseph Prince.
• Exercise 4 times.
• Lose back to my lowest weight.

Homemaking:

• Wash all the glassware on the chicken shelf and dust all of the cubbies.
• Put out all the fall decorations.
• Finish pinstriping the buggy.

Finances:

• Send resume to the elementary and middle school principals
• Write two blog posts.

Christmas Prep:

• Finish baby afghan
• Cross stitch for at least two hours.
• Decide on Christmas card pattern.
• Print January through August pictures for the calendar.

Sounds like a lot of stuff to accomplish in one week, but I like to set lofty goals.  That way if I only get half of it done then I at least accomplished something.

Okay. 

Here goes! 

Abracadabra! 

Hope the bloggy magic works!