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101 Ideas in 1001 days September 1, 2010

I saw this idea on a blog I visited in the middle of the night last night (couldn’t sleep).  When I figure out who is was I will give the link.  The general idea is to list 101 things you want to do in the next 1001 days.  This will obviously have the be a work in progress; both the ideas and the accomplishments.  Should be fun though and it is good for me to have a purpose.  So, in no particular order or significance. . .

I moved this post from a Page to a Post.  It was originally done on May 25, 2008.

1. Attend Eucharistic Adoration at least one time each month.
2. Attend Mass on a day other than Sunday 
3. Assemble our emergency backpacks.  Buy some on sale.
4. Get rid of as much junk in that basement as I can get away with.
5. Redo the big closet in the office.   DONE
6. Keep van vaccummed  SOLD VAN
7. Practice tennis with Rob one time per week this summer.  DONE
8. Play basketball with Rob one time per week this summer.   DONE
9. Read to Rob daily.
10. Actually finish a quilt block completely.
11. Purchase more white accessories.  DONE
12. Get rid of old clothes  DONE
13. Complete a cleaning list for each room in the house.
14. Increase my steps walked to 10,000 average per day.  JOINED GYM INSTEAD – RIDING RECUMBANT BIKE DUE TO JOINT PAIN ISSUES
15. Spend more time daily in my spiritual development.  Continuing to work on, teaching School of Religion, leading a book study and attending SHE helps in this area.  EVERYTHING STOPPED WHEN I GOT SICK
16. Become systematic in my stretching, chair exercises, feet and leg therapy, back and hip therapy and weight training.  EVERYTHING STOPPED WHEN I GOT SICK
17. Think less; do more.   NEED TO WORK ON
18. Continue to DVR what I want to watch and watch it on my schedule not their schedule.   DONE
19. Find and purchase Harmony House Symphony dinnerware in chartruese.  NOT BEEN ABLE TO FIND IT
20. Use the library   DONE
21. Take Rob to the pool twice a week during the summer.  DONE
22. Use Craigslist to get rid of things we no longer need/want. 
23. Make at least 100 cards using my stamps and scrapbook paper.
24. Make at least 40 scrapbook pages
25. Get Cassidy the book about the teacher and the bunny rabbit.   DONE 
26. Build at least one bookshelf with Rob.   DONE 
27. Pray more for my children and their spouses and children.  Doing it
28. Weigh 150 pounds (which would mean I would be maintaining that weight for some period of time)  BEEN SICK FOR  FOR A LONG TIME – ALMOST READY TO WORK ON THIS AGAIN
29. Grow our own herbs; I’m thinking sweet basil, oregano, parsley to start with.  YOU SHOULD SEE THE BASIL
30. Get a handle on my chocolate addiction; eliminating it if I can.  SOME SUCCESS WITH THIS
31. Figure out how to get my WFMW entries to pop up like she wants them to – this is driving me nuts!   DONE
32. Start a vegetable garden   DONE
33. Plant bulbs Carol R. gave me.    DONE  let’s hope they come up in the spring.  THEY DIDN’T
34. Go to Mass an additional day each week
35. Go back out to the arboretum with my camera
36. Bless the house daily with Rob
37. Stop the madness with CVS  I HAVE STOPPED THE MADNESS
38. Stop the newspaper paper copy  DONE
39. Turn off HBO    DONE
40. Set up garage for Greg to rebuild motorcycle    DONE
41. Water plants on Wednesdays
42. Menu plan on Mondays 
43. Laminate the recipes I’m going to use as our regulars from now on
44. Speak with Rob daily about the Regnum Christi resolution or some other such spiritual matter
45. Dust something daily
46. Read You on a Diet     DONE
47. Finish a crochet block.
48. Buy a new refrigerator   DONE
49. Determine my role in Kathleen’s life and implement it    DONE
50. Cook more at home
51. Have Rob write a fish story DONE
52. Figure out when 1001 Days is over  DONE -Februay 21, 2011.
53. Plan a vacation DONE
54. Determine what vitamins and minerals to take  (VITAMIN D3, RED RICE YEAST, CO Q10, MAGNESIUM, CALCIUM)
55. Take vitamin D  3  
56. Start riding the recumbant 3 times a week
57. Mistreat kitchen window (insert a blue and yellow panel on bottom third of curtain) (or change out the panels to a different color with those I got on clearance)
58. Mistreat bedroom window (insert above blue third panel on bottom of tan one and add a trim piece)
59. Hang curtains in my new studio
60. Make a collage of me
61. Make a prayer journal 
62. Listen to books on tape  DONE
63. Write a TOPS letter once a month.  HAD TO LEAVE TOPS DUE TO ILLNESS AND OTHER THINGS
64. Get TOPS folders in order (Done)
65. Find out about Ascensions Bible Timeline Study  Doesn’t fit my schedule.  Check for 2010
66. Find Familia contact person and see if a season one is going on anywhere  (Done)  Check for 2010
67. Listen to music more and talk radio less  Now listening to books on tape instead
68. Spend more time enjoying Rob’s fish  Enjoying it so much, I’m getting my own
69. Get playroom organized
70. Price carpet for playroom, stairway and hallway  We put wood laminate on stairway and hallway!  Playroom still to be determined
71. Plan another vacation  Quick trip to St. Louis  DONE
72. Get a procedure in place for birthday cards
73. Pray more
74. Listen to books on tape to get more reading done.  DONE
75. Clean up blog   
76. Figure out how to signup for an online photo place
77. Write more creatively
78. Keep working on the learning how to draw book
79. Keep up with my friends a bit better   Doing it
80. Keep loving my husband   Doing it
81. Keep being a good mom   Doing it
82. Ask for help in the room mom duties  Seems to have worked itself out
83. Ask Carol to bring her grandson along to a movie or something else that Rob and I would do DONE
84. Follow Greg on a motorcycle trip
85. Get Rob a Wii Fit then use it  HE HAS ONE
86. Drink more water 
87. Finish this list   DONE
88. Enjoy the process of everything (Doing it)
89. Find a buffet for the dining room  Found it Candel, just have to get the money to buy it
90. Buy a BlendTec  DONE
91. Start green smoothie plan
92. Scan loose paper
93. Figure out a coupon plan
94. Get items on Craingslist or get rid of them
95. Move remaining clutter from Greg’s exercise area
96. Hook up printer to Apple computer
97. Figure out filter program for e-mail DONE
98. Figure out gardening plan for next year  DONE
99. Box up old files that we need to keep, but don’t need to keep on main floor
100. Arrange a birthday party for Rob in 2011  I WAS WAY TO SICK
101. Figure out tennis tournament schedule and get Rob going on it  HE PLAYED SOME

Today I Am 52

Today is my birthday (52 years old) and I am so disappointed in myself for not “having it all together” by now and by how out of shape I’ve continued to get myself. Get not let, because I have chosen all along what to eat and do. No one forced me. I’ve let my focus issues, my depression issues and my life issues lead me around rather than writing my own life script.

This year I hope to “get it together”;   it  being:

• my weight
• my waist
• my resting heart rate
• my blood pressure
• my cholesterol readings
• my C reactive protein level
• my fasting blood sugar level
• my home
• my hobbies
• and my exercise

September: 30 Days of Things To Accomplish August 30, 2010

DH and I decided to exchange his office and my studio space.  We both have way too much stuff mostly because we have so little time to do the things we want to do but we still add to the list of things we want to do and buy or find things to support thiose habits. 

Anyway, the move is in flux.  The new furniture was delivered today – DH got a gorgeous leather office chair and a new desk/table.  I got two new bookshelves.  That won’t be enought but it is what the room has room for. 

I thought I would write up a list of 30 things to accomplish in September (ideally one each day).

1. Menu plan for September using food in pantry and freezer
2. List 10 items on Craigslist
3. Hang curtains in new studio
4. Wash sliding door window
5. Sweep off front porch
6. Find rattan like furniture for backporch – use Craigslist money
7. Update address book
8. Hang door on linen closet
9. Patina the gift from Pat
10. Sew the front up on winter PJ’s and red shirt
11. Find broom closet
12. Move IPOD to studio
13. See if Apple will accept coupon printer software
14. Make list of books to get from library
15. Make list of songs to download from ITUNES
16. Update calendar with school calendar stuff
17. Trim Matt’s tree
18. Trim roses
19. Get a BlendTec – use birthday money
20. Determine SCANNING procedure
21. Have a scrapbook/cardmaking day to celebrate competing room exchange between DH and me
22. Enroll in water exercise class
23. Enroll in BodyFlow class
24. Redo purse situation – wallet, coupons, calendar and cards
25. Go shopping in a clothing store and try on the clothes
26. Measure body
27. Utilize calorie-count program
28. Get recipes all in one place
29. Get scrapbook items all in one place
30. Get research all in one place

Leather Couch Research August 25, 2010

So, I want a leather loveseat or couch.  If I am able to pull this off, this will be my fifth sofa purchase in 30 years.  It has taken me this long to realize that I should have saved my money for what I wanted rather than settling for something else just to get “the look” I wanted at the time.  I don’t know much about purchase a good sofa or about what is the best leather choice to make, etc.  I will place my research here.

1. Construction- 5/4″ thick solid oak or maple hardwood frame is the industry premium. All interior joints of the frame will be glued screwed and corner blocked. This is for extra reinforcement. The spring construction is very important and its gauge (meaning desity of metal) The bests spring construction is a coil spring like eight way hand tied or any other coil spring system. Note some coil springs have low wire gauge get what you pay for. No sag or sinous spring is also used and will do good as along as the gauge is good and frame is sturdy. Feel the frame and around for sturdness.

2. Leather quality. Alot of companies might use a cheaper leather or not a true leather. Top grain is the only way to go. Top grain needs to be at least on the seat, back and arms of the sofa. A company can use split leather on the side and back cause it will not be used, but it will wear evenly.

3. Why did your friends leather fade. Well did they take care of it? Was it a naturally characteristic of the leather? Remember you buy leather shoes and purses they too can fade.

4 Who is the manufacture and 1200 seems really affordable for a leather sofa. Remember a pair of leather boots can cost $300 dollars and a leather sofa has 10 times more stitching, padding and leather so 1200 is not very expensive. In life you get what you pay for in everything.

5 ask around the more expensive leathers sometimes might not work for you cause they are usually higher maintence.

Google Reader May 31, 2010

I love google reader and have subscribed to a bajillion blogs.   Of course, I don’t have time to read them all.  Today, however, I have gone through a lot of them.  I have unsubscribed to the ones that I asked myself, “now what was it that drew me here in the first place?”  if I couldn’t answer the question, I unsubcribed. 

Per usual, though, I found at least as many new ones to subscribe to.  Nevertheless, I am probably half way through reading all the old stuff and I’m so excited.  I have been so busy this year with all my volunteer stuff that I didn’t have time to do some of the things that really turn me on; one of which is reading what all these fabulous women (and some men) and up to. 

I’ve gather some new ideas, resurrected some old ones and am quite happy right now.

MEMORIAL DAY

I love it when communities put flags out.  We are one of only a few in our neighborhood who has flags in their yard.  I remember when the boy scouts used to come around and place a flag in everyone’s yard not too many years ago.  THAT might be a good COMMUNITY SERVICE ACTIVITY for DS to do on for Memorial Day, Veterans Day and Fourth of July.  I’ll have to ask him about it.

Thomas Jefferson April 30, 2010

“Laws are made for men of ordinary understanding and should, therefore, be construed by the ordinary rules of common sense. Their meaning is not to be sought for in metaphysical subtleties which may make anything mean everything or nothing at pleasure.” –Thomas Jefferson, letter to William Johnson, 1823

Amen March 31, 2010

If my Bible is torn apart…my life is not.

My Name is Julie and I Am Organizationally Challenged March 10, 2010

My sister, who is also organizationally challenged, recommended a professional organizer whom she had used before to help me with my “issues”.  After putting it off for nearly a year because I just knew I would stumble upon THE system that would finally make everything make sense in my home; I hired her. 

She charged $25.00 an hour with a four hour minimum.  She worked with me for four hours on Monday and is coming again Friday for four hours.  She had me take her through the house showing her all my problem areas.  I could have only done that with a stranger.  She asked what my priorities were.  She asked what our hobbies and interests were as a family.  Then we went to work. 

I now have a Christmas closet that ONLY contains Christmas items.  I now have a home decor closet so that when I want to change out seasons or colors I can do that. Our home only has a tiny linen closet, a tiny closet in the foyer, a walk in closet in my husband’s office, small closets in the other three bedrooms.  The basement is unfinished but broken up into three rooms that have poles in the middle of them (I assume they are holding the house up so they are important) a sump pump hole in the floor of one of the basement rooms (good for those times it rains so much the water comes into the basement and needs to be funneled out not so good for looks or storage)   and the furnace/water heater in the middle of another basement room.  Not a good storage situation.  Useful mostly for exercise equipment, DH’s workshop and extra acquarium supplies.  My husband loves freshwater fish and what started out as one tank for our son is now nine tanks in various rooms in the house. 

We are down to our last child living at home, he is 12, so we will have an extra bedroom after his new room which is now the playroom is finished.  Two of the three older kids that have “moved out” still have stuff left here at our home that if put altogether probably would fill all of the “open” space in one of the the basement rooms easily.  Of course, it isn’t in one place it is in many places.  She suggested that we gather up each boy’s stuff (when I say boys I mean men 28 and 24 who have been gone for 3 or 4 years) and put them in two separate areas of the house – one for each child- and tell them to come and get it by X date or the charity truck is coming to take it away ah ha.  I don’t have a problem with this plan.  My husband, on the other hand will.  I’ve been trying to convince him of this for a  l  o  n  g  time.  My organizer is hoping that once he sees how much stuff each of them really has and how much space it actually takes up when accumulated in one space that he will see the light and make the call himself.  Perhaps even offer to carry it out, perhaps even load it in his truck and perhaps even deliver it to them.  I really don’t care how it gets gone, I just want it gone.  Love them, not all their stuff.

She also suggested that once our remaining son moves into the bigger bedroom (the room awaiting weatherproofing, new carpet and a new paint job) that instead of making his old room into a dedicated guest room that I turn it into my studio.  My current studio is what is supposed to be the formal living room.  It is very small and contains my piano, my library, my scrapbooking supplies, my rubberstamp supplies, my quilting supplies including fabric, my yarn for my crochet projects, our household files and bills as well as a small TV, a rocking chair, a small desk and a round side table with lamp.   Itisveryverycrowded and really unusable with piles of stuff everywhere.

That would leave the piano and my bookshelves plus the rocking chair and the side table with lamp in the formal living room.  Our 11 year old could practice his trumpet in what would now be the music/library room.  I had told the organizer that I always wanted to have a library because I love books and my mother has a library.  It is always something I wished I could have but didn’t think I had the house for.  I am actually receptive to this.  I had been looking forward to having a real guest room so I’m not sure how I’ll feel about not having a designated “guest” room, but the studio could probably serve as a guest room with one of those inflatable beds or even a rented bed if you can rent beds for the time a guest would need it.  Our 12 year old offered to let guests use his room if we needed to from time to time.  We actually don’t ever have that many guests as the older boys live nearby.

So her suggestions could work, if I get most of it done and then work on convincing DH that it is a good idea.  That is the hardest part.  Pray for me.

I’m rather excited about this.  I’ll keep you posted on what really happens.

UPDATE:  Today is September 1, 2010

• The items the older boys wanted have been moved out of the house.  What remains needs to be sold or given to charity
• Instead of the room exchange ideas above, DH agreed to move his office to the room my studio is in, which he will share with our son and his video gaming equipment (this will leave our son’s room as video gaming free which I feel better about)
• My studio will be DH old office (it is upstairs so if it is in shambles, as I am prone to have it, it will not be out where everyone can view it)
• We have begun the room exchange process.  It is a huge job.  We will all work on it tonight in celebration of my birthday
• We purchased an inflatable bed which worked well for the guests we had over the summer.  When we get DS moved to his new room, I think his old room could serve as a library/guestroom just fine.  It would also be a good space for DS to practice his trumpet.
• We have decided to give the piano away – need to put it on Craigslist