Change Your Clocks, Check Your Stocks!

It's that time again, the time of year when we "lose" an hour.

Sunday March 10th, 2013 at 2am

So, tonight, at bedtime, if you're one of the lucky ones who get to play havoc with your biological clock, remember to change your clocks forward by one hour.

Yippee.

To tell you the truth, I actually like this time better.  I like having more time in the sun.  It feels like I have more time to get more done.  When it gets darker earlier, it just makes me tired sooner.  Check out this site for printable calendars for your sunrise and sunset times.

Another thing to put on your calendar is that this is a good timely reminder to check your emergency supplies / food storage.

Project & Photo of the Day

Project of the Day:

As the project for today, I spent my time on trying to catch up on my list that I've had going for two weeks now.  Crossing off a handful of tasks was very satisfying, but having to highlight a few important ones that didn't quite get done, was a little on the depressing side.  But Hubby's off this weekend, so I should be able to accomplish a few more things before the next week starts piling up.

Photo of the Day:

Well, I'm glad someone is getting some
sleep around here, because it certainly
isn't me or Hubby!

Project & Photo of the Day

Project of the Day:

Worked on making some cards today and getting them sent out.  I'm also still working on the ABC book for the kids.  I'll upload some more of them for you all soon.

Photo of the Day:

Buggaboo enjoying his first Gelato at Crispers

Writing Prompt

Writing prompt by Mama Kat

10 Random Things I Know How To Do:

• I can hit a 100 yard target the size of a dime with a rifle.
• I know how to change the tires, spark plugs and brakes on a car. (but that doesn't mean that I want to)
• I can dance The Twist.
• I know how to build my own computer. 
• I know how to crochet.
• I can make my kids laugh. (usually at something totally stupid that I'm doing)
• I can type 55 wpm.
• I can make my own really good Pinewood Derby race car.
• I can recite/sing 12 different Mother Goose stories while feeding a bottle to a baby. (handy when my 2 year old gets out his collection)
• I know how to write basic HTML. (I really need to update my knowledge on it, but I think I'll have to wait until after the Terrible Two's)

Project & Photo of the Day

Project of the Day:

We had the missionaries over to help us out with cleaning out a bunch of excess crap in one of the bedrooms.  We're such packrats... especially me.  I'm terrible.  The thing that doesn't help much is that I have a ton of craft stuff; Stampin' Up, scrapbooking stuff, yarn, etc., but this house is very lacking in the storage department.  So, I really don't have anyplace to put that stuff.  Anyway, we made a decent dent in the back bedroom, but we still have a ways to go.

Photo of the Day:

Came across this potholder that, I suppose, belonged to my parents:  I just can't believe that it's still in decent shape.  Needs a little TLC with some stitch repair, but other than that, It's pretty good.  Strangely enough, my parents were very Democrat, although they believed in voting for whoever was better suited for the position of president, they very rarely voted Republican.

Of course, Eisenhower was president a decade before I was born, so I don't even know who McCaskey is. I've tried looking him up, but with no luck yet.  Anyone have a clue?  My parents lived in Somerset county, Pennsylvania at the time, but that's really all I know.

Project & Photo of the Day

Project of the Day:

Worked on laundry like a fiend today.  I skipped a day or two on laundry and you'd think I'd skipped a month for all the laundry that piled up!  I swear, it multiplies like rabbits!  I put a nice huge dent in the piles of clothes today, though. So long as I don't skip any more days, I should be able to get it down to a somewhat less daunting of a task.

Photo of the Day:

Hubby dug out the ol' Nintendo and a game or two from the shed and lo and behold, the sucker came on!  We couldn't believe it.  It's been buried under a ton o'stuff for forever out there.  But, the problem is that the controller wasn't working.  Need to see if there's another one hidden away somewhere.

Never really cared for the hunting/fishing games.  I'd rather do that stuff in real life, not on a video game.  Personally, I'm a Centipede and Joust fan, myself.  But Donkey Kong and Pac Man are up there too.  (Boy, I'm old!)  So, what's your favorite old video game?

Project & Photo of the Day

Project of the Day:

Worked on a new idea for a novel.  NaNoWriMo isn't until November, but last year, I wasn't prepared and I didn't make the goal of 50K words.  I still plan on finishing the story, but this year, I want to win, so I've begun working on the outline and some of the research that I will need to have done in order to be successful this year.

Photo of the Day:

Random fun photo taken while playing blocks with my son.

Project in Need of a Title

Project of the Day:

Worked on making homemade cards for Birthdays and for Visiting Teaching.

Photo of the Day:

Tomorrow's goal project... Send out cards for this month's Birthdays & Visiting Teaching.

Better Late Than Never

Well, it's 1:02am on March 3rd, but I haven't gone to bed yet, so I technically consider this still the 2nd.... so, for a project for Saturday, I worked on projects for Primary at church tomorrow.

And I did a ton of laundry today too... finally making a dent in it.

Here's my photo for the day...

This is one of the blossoms on our mini pumpkin patch.
Hopefully the freeze tonight doesn't harm them.  We
already lost some from the last freeze.

Project (365 ÷ 12) 2

Well, until I figure out a better title to this project idea, Project (365 ÷ 12) 2 will have to do.

Today's project was, I must admit, a completely personal and very selfish one.  I am a gamer at heart and I haven't had much time to myself since Buggaboo was born 2 & 1/2 years ago.  So, I found the opportunity today to have my NPC Scanner addon for my video game, World of Warcraft, let me know when a certain rare character spawned in the game.  I had been camping this guy, Sarnak, for a few days now, (just putting in a little time here and there,) and today, I vowed to either get the crossbow I'd been drooling over or break down and finally buy it off the Auction House.  Well, when I was at my wits end with him, it finally dropped! The Fishsticker Crossbow!  I really needed the mental break and I enjoyed running a few quests with my new bow, before finally logging off the game.

Lame, I know.

Especially for a project that's supposed to get me back on track.  But sometimes, you just need a break from worrying about all the daily junk that piles up.  I did laundry too (speaking of "piling up") so, today wasn't a total waste.  I played with my kids, washed some dishes, made my husband's lunch for work, etc.... I didn't totally give up on the whole house or anything, so don't judge.  Some women go shoe shopping, I sit and play video games.  And I can sit on the floor and play with my kids while I wait for the NPC Scanner to go off letting me know that Sarnak finally showed up.... which is what I did.  The boys loved it, we had a blast!  So, today was Play Day!  So sue me.  No, don't... you wouldn't get anything anyway.  Can't get blood from a turnip and you can't get any money from my wallet!  LOL  (I have to laugh, or I'd cry at the truth in that statement.)

Anyway.... Here's the photo for the day:

I took a photo of the clock hanging in our guest bath, then played around on PhotoShop a little.  Since I'd been talking about time management and all that, I got inspired to take a semi-dramatic photo of a clock.  Here's the original, if you're interested:

So, enjoy your "time" with me in this journey to self discovery and discipline.

Project (365 ÷ 12) 2

Project (365 ÷ 12) 2 ??  What the...???  Well, to clarify, I've totally bombed on keeping up with this blog to report my successes and failures on my Project 365 x 2 idea.  If you're just tuning in, I wanted to do a "project" a day to clean/organize my home as well as post a "photo of the day" and report about both on my blog here.  Well, as you can see, from the last time I posted, I've crapped out on that.

I've been doing projects and taking photos, I just haven't been so successful on the posting portion of the deal.

*Sigh*

Honestly, I don't know what I was thinking.  I'm lucky to squeeze in a shower, and if I can go to the bathroom without one of the kids screaming for me, I count that as a successful day!  I can't find five minutes of quiet each day, let alone get a chance to get on here every day.  I really don't know how other parents do it... especially single parents!  I think I'd go totally insane... no, I know I would, I'm halfway there already.

So, anyway, Project (365 ÷ 12) 2, I've decided that I'm still going to stick to my original New Year's Resolution, albeit, as sidetracked as it is, and start fresh with the beginning of a new month.  Only, this time, I'm going to make smaller goals.  One month at a time.  Hence the "365 ÷ 12" part.  And I'm still going to aim for both projects, which is the "x 2" part.  So that should explain the weird title of this post.  Now, for me to just hunker down and do it.  I'm able to squeeze in other stuff... so there should be no excuse as to why I can't do this too.  Discipline.  That's what it all comes down to.

Time Management & Discipline.  I need to learn how to manage my time better and then find the will power to stick to it.  Add on "Staying Positive" during the whole process while taking care of the home and the family and you've got... well, I don't really know what you've got because I've never achieved that yet.

So, here I am, about to embark on an adventure of sorts, into the unknown.  Time management, discipline, positive attitude, home and family maintenance.  Hmmm... lets see, what shall we call it?  We certainly need something better than "Project (365 ÷ 12) 2" because that's just too mathematically rigid for my tastes. (I like math, but I'm more of an artsy-fartsy kind of gal.)  So, titles.... Hmmm..... How about "Resolution Reiterated" ??  No?  Too much, huh?   Guess I'll have to think about it some more, unless any of you have any ideas?  I'm open to suggestions on what my dual project should be titled.  Gotta start off right, ya know!

(*...Goes off to find inspiration, a project to do, and something to take a picture of....*)

Project 365 x 2

So, I've totally slacked on posting for my Project 365 x 2 that I started this year.  I've been quite successful in keeping up with both doing projects each day as well as taking photos every day.  I just haven't had a chance to get on the computer to post them, so I'm going to get caught up in this post.  (If it gets a bit long, I might break it up into a few posts.)

January 1st
I cleaned around the edges of the kitchen floor and the front of all the appliances.  The little nooks and crannies like the edges under the kitchen cabinets and the grate on the bottom of the fridge always seem to get ignored because they're just not up in your face and obvious.  But it's amazing how much cleaner the kitchen looks when they've been cleaned.  I mean, really scrubbed, not just swept up, but scrubbed good with disinfectant wipes.  With two little ones, it's so hard to find time to do these little details, but they're so important.

As for the photos, Sometimes I've been finding it hard to decide on ONE single photo to post.  Especially when I've taken pics of my little guys.  But I'm going to try to narrow it down to only one.

I just love the hilarious expression on Mr. Giggles

January 2nd
Sent out Visiting Teaching cards for this month.

Saw this strange bug outside the bank one day.  Don't know
what kind it is, but he looked really cool.  I think he was hurt,
though.  I think one of his wings was damaged.  He's really
pretty, though!

January 3rd
Large dusting project where the Elders came over to help out.  I hate dusting.  It aggravates my allergies so badly, that I can't stand it.  But then, the dust accumulates so much, that my allergies are affected anyway.  I swear, sometimes I think I just need to live in a bubble.  Anyway, we got a good section done this day.

Buggaboo holding our kitty, Jasmine

January 4th
Started on an ABC book for the kids.  I've been wanting to make one of these for forever, and I finally got it started.  This day I got the letter "A" done.  I'm going to print each of these on a 4x6 photo page (the letter on one and the words on another) and put them in a small photo album.  I think these will be great to keep them occupied, particularly in church or when we go out to dinner.

Photo of the Day:

Mr. Giggles in his Bumbo seat

January 5th
Worked on stuff for Primary and finished the letter "B" since I was on a roll with the letters.  I'm really excited about getting this particular project completed.

 

Photo of the Day:

All three boys, all watching the tube

Ok, the kids are getting too rambunctious and it's time for lunch, so I'll post more later.  I'm hoping to get caught up with all my days (which is my project for today, by the way *wink*)

52 Week Savings Plan Challenge

$ $ $ $

I came across an interesting, brilliant and great idea on how to save money.  (Unfortunately, I didn't bookmark the page and Googling the idea gives me a TON of different sites to chose from, but I can't find the one I had seen, so I apologize to the person whose blog I found this on.  If I ever find it again, I'll edit this post and give proper credit.)  But with my husband's paycheck every two weeks, I've decided to make my own pattern of how much to put into savings.  

The basic idea is that each week is numbered and there are 52 weeks in a year, so the first week of the year is week #1 and you would put aside $1, the second week would be week #2 and you would put aside $2 and so on until you get to the last week of the year, the fifty-second week where you would put aside $52.  But if you're like me, the end of the year is a bit tight with Christmas, particularly if you have kids.  So, you can always do it backwards, but I've decided to shift things around a bit.  This makes it easier on us, so that it's not so much put aside in one month.

The following shows the week # and the amount to put aside

1.      $1

2.      $52

3.      $2

4.      $51

5.      $3

6.      $50

7.      $4

8.      $49

9.      $5

10.  $48

11.  $6

12.  $47

13.  $7

14.  $46

15.  $8

16.  $45

17.  $9

18.  $44

19.  $10

20.  $43

21.  $11

22.  $42

23.  $12

24.  $41

25.  $13

26.  $40

27.  $14

28.  $39

29.  $15

30.  $38

31.  $16

32.  $37

33.  $17

34.  $36

35.  $18

36.  $35

37.  $19

38.  $34

39.  $20

40.  $33

41.  $21

42.  $32

43.  $22

44.  $31

45.  $23

46.  $30

47.  $24

48.  $29

49.  $25

50.  $28

51.  $26

52.  $27

  

 I then got my planner out and wrote down each amount on each Friday.  Speaking of which, I need to go transfer some money....

Project 365x2

So, this year has already started to fly by.  Here it is, the 10th already, and I have yet to follow up on here with my (two) Project 365(s).  It's not that I haven't been keeping up with it... surprisingly, I have been!  It's just that with my ambitions for the new year, I've been too busy to get onto the computer hardly at all.  I do plan to get on here and try to post each day (a very lofty goal) and stay updated with my goals.

On the subject of goals, at church the other week, we were all challenged in our goals.  We were asked to write down our top ten things we wanted to accomplish.  Then, from that list, we were to take the #1 item and list the steps it would take to accomplish that one goal.  Well, we did that for our Family Home Evening.

What I've come to realize is that in order to make any of my goals a reality, I need to accomplish one single goal and that is to GET ORGANIZED!  If I got organized (which was #4 on the first list) then ALL the other goals would fall into place.

Ironically, this fell right into my First Project 365 idea... do (at least) one project around the house every day.  It could be a big project that needs a few days, but most of them should only take one day (or less) to complete.  And some projects could be simple quiet tasks like sending out birthday cards for the month.

The Second Project 365 I wanted to do was take a photo every day.  This is something else that I've been able to do, with very little effort.  I'm a shutter-bug by nature, so I take pictures constantly.

The BIG issue that I've had with both of these endeavors has been to actually get on the computer to post about them.  Even as I type, my two year old is nagging/whining/crying about everything:

Buggaboo: "I wanna cookie."
Me: "We don't have any."
Buggaboo: "I wanna cookie."
Me: "They're all gone."
Buggaboo: "I wanna cookie."
Me: "We don't have any cookies, they're all gone, quit asking."
Buggaboo: "I wanna play a game."
Me: "No."
Buggaboo: "I wanna play outside."
Me: "In a minute."
Buggaboo: "I wanna play outside."
Daddy: "We'll go outside in a minute, please let your mother finish what she's doing first...."
Buggaboo then proceeded to occupy himself with something that belongs to the baby and now we're currently in tears, which started off real, but now are just fake because he's realizing no one's paying him any attention.

*Sigh*

Anyway... I'm planning on posting more on these two projects, but that task is turning out to be a major project in and of itself.

To Be Continued.............

Project 365

I know, I haven't posted anything in quite a while.  The holidays and NaNoWriMo did me in.  Where did the time go?!  It's already the second day of 2013 and the evening, no less, and I'm just now finally posting.

But I digress... The main topic of this post is:

I've come up with a terrific year of projects for myself.  Feel free to join along if you would like.  I'm actually going to try to do two different "Project 365"s, but the first one is the most important.... Project 365 = Clean House!  This is no little thing either.  Our house is a disaster.  There's too much stuff and not enough storage/shelf/closet space to put even half of it.  So, I have decided to start doing One Task Per Day for 365 days.

I know I didn't post yesterday, but I did do my task for the day.  I cleaned the edges of the kitchen floor and the front of all the big appliances (dishwasher, stove & fridge including the grate along the bottom front of the fridge.)  Let me just say that whoever designed that stupid grate deserves to be drawn and quartered... slowly.  How on earth are you supposed to clean in those little thin slits in that thing?!  UGH!  Well, I did it, but it took me forever.  And it's certainly not the best job, but the top, bottom, and front view-able sides are all good.  The back, unseen side is definitely way cleaner than it was, but there were some deep corners I couldn't get.  Ah well, c'est la vie.

Anyway, yesterday, January 1st, that was my project.  It actually wasn't the originally intended project.  I was going to do birthday cards for the month.  Well, then I just ended up doing the cleaning and decided to move the projects around.  That's one thing about this P365... it's flexible.  If I want, I can swap tasks around, just so long as I do one of them every day.  I've made a list and keep adding to it as I find things around the house that need to be done.

The goal is to do one task per day, each task should be able to be accomplished in one day (although I might allow for a few two-day projects, so long as quite a bit is done each day) and I need to post about it.  That's basically it.  Very simple, yet very daunting when I look around the house.  But that's the key to this project. One "little" task a day and by the end of the year, all the big stuff should have been taken care of in bits and pieces.  It's a way to take on the really big stuff without becoming too overwhelmed.  For example; our two car garage is overflowing with junk. There's barely room to walk to the washer and dryer and certainly no room at all for any vehicles.  But if I have a bunch of smaller tasks, one little one each day, I should be able to make quite a dent in the garage by the end of the year.  Same with the rest of the house.  I get so overwhelmed that it gets to be too much, so instead, I do nothing because it's just too emotionally draining to even think about "doing it all."

But now, instead, I'm just doing a little piece of the puzzle.  Much easier to deal with and still feel good about.

So, for today, January 2nd, I did Visiting Teaching cards.  I missed the mailman today, but I still got them prepared, so that counts in my book.  Tomorrow's task may change, but I'll be sure to post about it.  Whether or not I actually post every single day, well... that's another story.  I's a lofty goal and I'm going to try to post as often as I can and as close to every day as I can, but I'm more concerned about actually doing the tasks on my list than I am about logging it on the web.  I have my planner and that's keeping me on track so far.  And let's face it, posting every day for me?  Well, I already missed the first day of the year, so I don't think that's a good sign for that particular idea.

I'd love to also do a Photo A Day for 365 days and so far I've done that as well (gee, all two days of the year so far, big deal, let's see how I'm doing in a month!) and I plan on posting those pics weekly.

So, here goes nothin'!  I'm really looking forward to 2013 and the wonders that it will bring into my life and the lives of my family.

Happy New Year, Everyone!  What are your goals for 2013?

Celebrating the Yucky Things in Life

If you'd have asked me twenty years ago, what I would be excited about in my future, celebrating poop would not have been on that list... not even at the bottom.  But, here I am, at age forty-two, celebrating my two year old son's first and second successful attempts at going potty.  After lots of "high-fives" and a hug, I pondered on the direction that my life has taken.

I had many delusions of grandeur, but celebrating poo was not even a consideration.  But now, with two kids in diapers, getting one of them to poop in the potty is just one step closer to finding my sanity, which packed up and left a while ago.  I don't know when my sanity actually left, I was probably changing diapers and didn't notice (because when one needs a change, the other one has to have one too.)

I'm hoping that the celebrations will get considerably more interesting and desirable than poop, as my children get older.

But I'm not expecting anything too amazing anytime soon.  One thing that having children has taught me is patience (or the fact that I have none.)  But that's another story.

A Poem about the Holidays

Writing prompt by Mama Kat

The prompt I chose was to write a post in twelve lines, 

so I chose a poem and this is what came of it.

Holiday Overload

1. One, two, buckle my shoe
2. Three, four, there’s a knock at the door
3. Five, six, time for treats and tricks
4. Seven, eight, I've put on more weight
5. Nine, ten,  I see a ghost, a witch, and a Barbie and Ken
6. Eleven, twelve, too many decorations to put up and then shelve
7. Thirteen, fourteen, too many thoughts in my bean
8. Fifteen, sixteen, a whole house to clean
9. Seventeen, eighteen, where’s my caffeine?
10. Nineteen, twenty, next is Thanksgiving with food a-plenty
11. Twenty-one, twenty-two, then Christmas and Santa and reindeer too
12. Twenty-three, twenty-four, I can’t take any more

Creative Prompt

I've been looking at a lot of writing and photo prompts lately and have been inspired to make one of my own.  I'd like to say that I'm going to make this a regular thing, but I know myself better than that.  So, for now, here's a prompt that will hopefully inspire you.  If it does, please let me know.  I'd like to know if I've helped anyone with a creative block.  If I get enough kudos, who knows, it may actually get me inspired to make more.

Broken

Writing prompt by Mama Kat

What's Broken?

My Sanity, for one thing.  I don't know what I was thinking... potty training a two year old in the throws of Terrible-Two-Tantrums while also having a newborn.  I mean seriously... at my age?!  42, I'm 42 years old.  I loved my 30's, but my 40's aren't treating me so lovingly.  Although, it might be the little munchkins that I'm raising.  Of course, it was my hubby's bright idea to start potty training this early, but he's at work all the time, so it doesn't really affect him at all.  I, on the other hand, am worn thin... having to take Bugaboo to go "pee pee" every freakin' five minutes.  But I digress......

What else is broken?  Gee, around here, what isn't broken is the question.  It'd take a lot less time to list!

• The kitchen sink & counters need re-tiled (we have a new set, we just haven't had the time to install them yet.)
• The wood flooring in the living room was never finished, (thanks to a wonderful EX of mine... did ya catch the sarcasm?  I never should have let him tear up my carpeting, but that's another story) the edges were never evened out and it wasn't installed properly in the first place.  I wish I had my carpeting back!
• The fridge seems to be on the fritz, I don't know what it is, but we just can't seem to keep produce in there.  Everything else is fine, but veggies and fruit seem to go bad awfully quick in there.
• The dryer is on it's last legs.
• The roof is in a desperate state.
• The garbage disposal has a loose blade, so it makes a horrible sound when you turn it on.
• The pantry door fell off (it wasn't the right size for the pantry anyway, someone didn't know how to measure when they were building this house.)
• My patience.
• The camel's back.

The list goes on with numerous little things that, alone, aren't a big deal, but when all put together on a list like this, it makes me feel like the whole place is falling apart.  Don't get me wrong, I'm very blessed and I'm thankful for what I have, but when posed the question as Mama Kat has, I can't help but to reflect on just how much could really be improved upon.

As far as the house goes, it's mostly because whoever built this house took a lot of short-cuts and I honestly don't know how it passed code.  Add in the fact that it's a "starter home" and we're anything but "starters" since we've got a family of five, we've got too much stuff and not enough time to go through it all to weed out the crap, and we've got a two year old who gets into everything, and you've got a recipe for How to Wear Out a House.

No, this isn't actually my house & fridge. It's a
photo I took of an old run-down house a few
years ago, but it fit the post, so I thought I'd share.

What I Write

Tomorrow, October 20th, 2012 is 

National Day on Writing.  

Twitter hash tags:  #WhatIWrite & #dayonwriting

What do I write, you ask?  I write fiction... SciFi / Fantasy genre... I love Medieval stories, but I also love science fiction as well.  Star Wars, Camelot, Star Trek, Fairies, Dragons, Knights, Battlestar Gallactica, etc.  I also tinker with a little poetry once in a while when the mood strikes, such as my latest little bit of writing over here (I just realized that I hadn't actually done anything with my Tumblr account, so I wrote a poem.)

So, what do YOU write?