Wordless Wednesday - February 20, 2013

Currently feeling: nobody here but us chickens!

Wordless Wednesday - February 13, 2013

Currently feeling: zoom zoom

101 Things in 1001 Days - Version 3: Half Way

Thought I should post a quick update to my 101 Things in 1001 Days v3 list, seeing as half of the 1001 days have elapsed. Current statistics:

• 15 items completed
• 15. Use the crock pot 15 times.
•  22. Find a barbecue sauce I like (bottled or homemade).
• 33. Acquire 5 new kitchen tools. Must be "new to me" tools, not just replacing tools I already have.
• 50. Find a good method/location for storing bulk items. 
• 62. Reduce total number of feeds on Google Reader by 20%.
• 74. Have family portraits made with parents and brother
• 75. Do Project 365 again (photo a day for a year)
• 76. Visit Ikea.
• 77. Visit Trader Joe's. 
• 79. Try 10 new restaurants.
• 83. Accept an invitation I would normally turn down.
• 86. See 50 new to me movies, including: pre-1950 classic, "modern classic", foreign language, film I wouldn't normally choose. 
• 87. Read An Echo In the Bone, by Diana Gabaldon (counts towards the 20). 
• 95. Take Luke to Medieval Times.
• 96. Take Luke to the Tellus Museum. 
• 10 items in progress that should be completed by the end
• 13. Try 101 new recipes
• 16. Add 5 new meals to the rotation.
• 19. Learn to make biscuits and gravy from Mom.
• 37. Have gutters cleaned once a year.
• 42. Meal plan every week when home.
• 57. "Watermark" all blog photos going forward.
• 66. Continue with Wordless Wednesday on my blog.
• 68. Post at least one non-Luke photo (different from Wordless Wednesday & mosaic) on each monthly Round Up blog entry.
• 72. Keep a running folder of favorite photos to be printed. Have prints made every 6 months.
• 89. Watch all episodes of a new to us television show. Must be at least 4 seasons.
• 20 items no longer achievable (yikes!)
• 1. Use facial moisturizer twice a week.
• 2. Use body lotion once a week.
• 3. Weekly Item #1.
• 4. Twice a month item, starting December 2011. (formerly Weekly Item #2)
• 5. Weekly Item #3.
• 6. Monthly Item #1.
• 7. Monthly Item #2.
• 43. Track coupon savings weekly.
• 44. Trash expired coupons monthly.
• 45. Track Costco savings (every trip, roughly monthly).
• 46. Keep a running inventory of the pantry (top and bottom). Verify monthly.
• 47. Keep a running inventory of the freezer. Verify monthly.
• 48. Keep a running inventory of the baking cabinets (include flour in refrigerator). Verify monthly.
• 49. Keep a running inventory of all surplus/bulk items stored elsewhere (including location). Verify monthly.
• 53. Search for SwagBucks 20 days a month.
• 56. Backup blog monthly (including photos).
• 59. Backup tweets monthly.
• 63. Review email newsletters every 6 months. Unsubscribe from all those not read in the previous 6 months.
• 64. Purge email inbox(es) every 3 months.
• 65. Purge the DVR deleted file weekly.

Then there's this item: 100. Complete more items on this 101 list than I did last time. For my 101 Things V2 list, I completed 52 items. That means that for my V3 list, of the remaining 56 items not addressed above, I still need to finish another 28 minimum in the next 500 days to achieve item #100. Might need to get hopping!

Currently feeling: time is ticking away

Ideas: A Conversation With Luke

Original image Copyright (c) 123RF Stock Photos, modified by me

This evening....

DH: Put your shoes on, we need to go do some stuff.
L: Daddy, are we going to Target?
DH: I have no idea.
L: Because it's Mommy's idea?

Currently feeling: brilliant

Wordless Wednesday - February 6, 2013

Currently feeling: like flying

Swallowed by The Nothing

(The title there is a reference to The Neverending Story, for anyone confused.)

We've had plenty of rainy or foggy days since I started working downtown, but today was exceptional. The fog was very heavy. I took the picture on the left; the one on the right is borrowed from Google Maps.



The rest of these pictures I did personally take. This is the north side of the building. It was really neat to actually be above the fog layer.



And the east window. I tried to take a photo from a different window that showed my building and the Bank of America building casting shadows on top of the cloud/fog layer, but it didn't really turn out. The arrows in the below photos point to the Coca-Cola building in both photos.



Currently feeling: missing my pretty view

January 2013 Round Up and Pinspirations

Dog image from 123RF. Rope frame by MandaBean (no longer available). Font is Kristen ITC.

What books and/or magazines did I read this month?

I finished The Hobbit! I actually consider that a major accomplishment, since I've tried repeatedly in the past and never made it beyond the first chapter. Not sure if seeing the movie helped or what, but I finally read it. And not only that, I finished Fellowship of the Ring and am about half way through The Two Towers. It's like a miracle! I wish someone had told me that things improve a great deal once you get past the prologue of Fellowship. I think that's always where I got tripped up before, thinking that the whole book is like that (it's not, I promise!).

What movies and/or tv shows did I watch this month?
* TV Time: We've moved into Season 4 on Big Bang Theory. Nothing else special comes to mind, just the usual suspects (though Suits did start back for the first time since summer). Wait, I don't know if I've done a round-up since we started watching Elementary. We are really enjoying that one, much more than I thought I would when it started. It has actually become quite a favorite of ours.
* New Films: Um, did I see any new films? I don't think I did. We mainly just caught chunks of some old favorites this month.
* Old Favorites: Jurassic Park, Aliens, The Matrix, X-Men: First Class, Love Actually (twice, actually), The Matrix: Revolutions, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Winnie the Pooh (the new one)

What fun things did I do with my family and/or friends?
Had a big family gathering at my uncle's house in honor of the visit by my aunt and cousin from New Mexico. We enjoyed a belated Christmas celebration with them. We took Luke to The Fox to see Blue Man Group. He had been to The Fox once before with his school, but it was our first time going as a family. None of us had seen Blue Man Group before, but it was a great show, and we had a wonderful time! We also attended my cousin's daughter's first birthday party. It was so great seeing everyone, including some folks I hadn't seen in over 5 years.



What gifts did I give and/or receive?
Pictures, as in printed photographs, were my gift of choice this year, so my grandmother got her copies at the family GTG. We gave the birthday girl two hooded towels; I thought two was prudent, considering she has an older sister.  :-)

What special or unusual purchases did I make?
We started planning this year's Disney trip, including Spring Training tickets this year. First time we will have been to a game at Disney since 2009, I think. Seems like there was something else, but it's not coming to mind.

What new foods, recipes, or restaurants did I try this month?
Um, uh, er.... but, but.... I am trying a new meal planning technique! There's only so many new things you can put in motion at one time, particularly at the beginning of the year. Our lives have so many moving parts right now, and I know it will only get worse! I have absolutely NO idea how families with more than one child keep it together and actually still manage to see each other for more than 5 minutes a day (or then again, maybe the don't do at least one of those things).

What Pinspirations did I try this month (besides any recipes above)?
Um, uh, er.... (hangs head in shame). But I did actually start pinning stuff again! That's more than I did during most of November and December. That counts. Right?

What illnesses or health concerns did I have?
I had a pretty bad cold as the new year began, but I actually managed to fend it off without it turning into something nasty! It's like a minor miracle.

What were my accomplishments this month?

Click to biggify.

As you can see, 2013 Project 365 is going well. That's not to say I haven't already missed a day or two, but generally speaking, I am being much more deliberate about taking pictures so far this year than I was last year.

My major accomplishment was work related: I had to prepare data for a big presentation. A colleague and I agreed to a due date, having been told that one major portion of the work was already done (by someone else), only to find out that it really wasn't. If we'd known we would have to do it ourselves, we never would have said we could do it in two weeks. But we got it done (and I have the overtime hours to prove it).

I'm also doing pretty well on my New Year's resolutions. I didn't really talk about them here on my blog (how did that happen?! maybe I'll do that in February), but I did make some. The main one was to start keeping a food diary and being more aware of what (and how much) I am eating. It's not really meant to be a diet, though losing weight is a great side effect! It's about simply being aware and conscious and deliberate about what I'm eating. I decided to do this on Jan 2, and I've logged every bite since then. Read Tolkien was also on the list: As previously mentioned, I've finished The Hobbit and Fellowship of the Ring, and I'm almost half way done with The Two Towers. Yet to do are learn to make some kind of bread (even rolls), finish Midsummer Night's Fairy, and to stay employed all year (not that I have much control over that one, but it's something I *really* want!!). I'll keep working on it.

What were Luke's accomplishments this month?

Luke Weekly:


Luke started playing basketball this month. He's in a program where they have practice and games on the same day, and it's only 5 weeks. We figured that would be enough to start with, since we didn't know for sure if he would like it or not. He seems to love it, though, which thrills my husband to bits. We were hoping they would start another 5 week class right after this one, but they only have soccer and flag football. We did sign him up for their soccer program (different from the one he's been in the last couple of years), just to keep him active, but again, practice and games are both on Saturdays, and it's a fairly short season (6 weeks, I think).

He was complimented on his manners by a waitress at Sonny's, and a waiter at Olive Garden complimented him on his ordering skills (we've been making him order for himself at restaurants for a couple of years now). I know I shouldn't "need" the validation as a parent, but it made me feel good, and it made him feel good, which is always good. :-) His first jeans with busted knees for 2013 have also appeared, a few weeks earlier than usual. I think these were the ones we bought late last winter, though, so that's okay. Still need to make it a few more weeks on the new jeans!

Not sure if this really counts as an "accomplishment" or not, but we did take Luke for his pediatrician-recommended psychoeducational evaluation, or at least the first visit where they see if testing is really needed. His actual testing has been scheduled for mid-February.

What were this month's disappointments or frustrations?Luke is having another of his January school meltdowns. I think he's had more "non-green" days this month than he has during all the previous months of second grade combined. I don't know what it is about coming back from the Christmas holidays that makes him this way. It isn't the extended absence from school, because this doesn't happen after the summer. Very frustrating.

Anything else noteworthy to record?
Can't think of anything!

Monthly Round Up concept courtesy of Katie the Scrapbook Lady, tweaked by me.

Currently feeling: rounded for January