Books I've Read

I had 2 books that I've been working on and finally finished this week. The first was a Baby Signs book I borrowed from a friend probably 6-9 months ago. I finally finished reading it and hope to actually apply some of the principles now that Sophie has started using a few signs.

The other book is one my dad gave me for my birthday several years ago when I was still single, called 101 Things To Do Before You Turn 40. It's geared toward single women, but can still apply to married ones with or without kids. I've probably picked it a dozen or more times and randomly selected one of the things, but now I've actually read it cover to cover. There are some things I had already done, others that really don't apply to me, some that I would never ever even contemplate doing, and some that I might still do. I'll post about each category separately.

Done! MIC Boxes

We opened the last of the MIC boxes tonight. Sophie has really enjoyed unwrapping the presents. I can't wait until Christmas...she will have a blast. I now have all this room in the top of my closet. What can I put up there? Oh, yeah, all the stuff that I'm having to take out of the guest room.

Done! 3 Items

I meant to get pictures for each of the items but forgot until after the fact. This bookcase was in our office (along with 3 more just like it). We are having to rearrange things to get Logan's room set up so I needed to move a bookcase out in order to move a TV in. Paul and I went through the books, pulling 3 boxes to take to Half Price Books. Paul also went through a couple of shelves of computer stuff and donated some stuff to the church garage sale. Once I got the shelf cleared, Paul moved it to the garage. We took the books to Half-Price Books and the donations to church. Check, check, check! Three things Done!

EMM: Get Rid of Junk Mail

The stats this week are just crazy:

• 44% of junk mail is discarded without being opened, yet we will spend 8 months opening junk mail in our lifetime (I think that is probably double for me since Paul doesn't open any of the mail.)


• 100 million trees are needed to produce the annual paper supply for all that junk mail

So what can we do about all this paper?

• Ask that your name not be rented or sold anytime you enter a contest, purchase anything, and return a warranty card.


• Contact the customer service department for any companies that are sending the junk mail.


• Remove your name from national mailing lists (check the EMM website for links).

So how much paper can you stop from entering your house?

Done! August

One of the blogs I read occasionally is doing something special this month. I thought I would join her since I have so much I'd like to get done before preschool starts. Check out her post to see how it all starts. She even has a printable checklist you can download. She is planning on posting daily about the different projects on her list, but I don't think I'll do that. I'll just update periodically, sometimes with before/after pictures. I'll add my own list tomorrow, if you want to check back to see what I am doing this month.

65 in 365 Month 7 Update

This will be a list of 65 things I want to accomplish in the next 365 days. (No, I didn't come up with this idea myself, I borrowed it from this Foster Mama, along with some of her items.) I'll update the list once a month (that's the first thing on the list). Completed items are in italics.
1. Update the 65 in 365 once a month (6/12)
2. Come up with 65 goals for the year (65/65)
3. Complete Sophie's baby album
4. Complete 2009 annual album
5. Attend average of 5 StrollerStrides classes a month (25/60)
6. Girls Night Out (or Mom's Night Out) at least 4 times (4/4) (02/27, 03/17, 03/25, 06/30, 07/15)
7. Go to the movies at least 6 times (4/6) (Avatar, Kickass, Date Night ,Iron Man 2, Karate Kid)
8. Finish reading 2 non-fiction books (1/2) (Home)
9. Read 4 fiction books (1/4) (The Help)
10. Payoff law school loan
11. Try 26 new recipes (10/26)
12. Make our wills
13. Participate in a fun run with Paul and Sophie
14. Get at least 8 hours of sleep each night; complete after 30 days (0/30)
15. Have at least one fresh fruit each day; complete after 30 days (0/30)
16. Take at least one picture of Sophie every other day; complete after 60 days (0/30)
17. Get back to pre-pregnancy weight
18. Come up with a system for backing up digital photos
19. Cooking lessons
20. Make bed everyday; complete after 30 days, will restart counter when I miss a day (30/30) (April)
21. Have date night once a month (5/12) (03/13, 04/10 or 17, 05/28, 06/10, 07/17)
22. Build a snowman (02/11)
23. Join a moms group (Jan.)
24. Set up a cleaning schedule and follow it; complete after 3 months (1/3)
25. Have lawn guys come on a regular basis
26. Take Wrangler to Kady the groomer 4 times (2/4) (March, June)
27. Purchase a jogging stroller for Paul to use
28. Put items in JBF Consignment sales, 2 sales each sales season (2/4) (Feb., Mar.)
29. Make and stick to a weekly menu and grocery list; complete after 5 weeks (2/5)
30. Decorate the tabletop tree for each holiday or season (snowflakes, hearts, green and gold beads, eggs, flowers, red and blue stars, apples, Halloween, fall leaves, Christmas)
31. Update a blog everyday or at least average one new post each day (208/365)
32. Go on a scrapbooking retreat (Jan)
33. Attend a scrapbooking crop every other month (4/6) (02/19, 04/16, 04/30, 05/01)
34. Complete 150 scrapbook pages (66/150)
35. Sign Sophie up for swim lessons (Mar.)
36. Attend one playgroup event each month (10/12) (01/28, 02/09, 03/02, 03/04, 03/17, 04/22, 5/28,06/03, 06/14, 06/21, 07/02, 07/07, 07/30)
37. Take Sophie to a library storytime/event each month (5/12) (02/01, 02/25, 04/13, 06/14, 06/29)
38. Attend a local Chinese New Year event
39. Have teeth cleaned twice a year (1/2) (Mar.)
40. Have Sophie’s picture taken with the Easter Bunny
41. Take Sophie to see a fireworks display (July)
42. Update the framed photos of extended family members
43. Attend Living Last Supper at church
44. Plan Sophie’s first birthday party
45. Take Sophie to visit another state
46. Take Sophie trick-or-treating in the neighborhood
47. Decorate outside for Christmas
48. Create our own family Thanksgiving tradition
49. Take Sophie to the zoo (May)
50. Establish Family Night/Day twice a month (not including MIC Meals); complete after 4 months (4/4) (05/31 Joe Pool Lake,5/16 Dragonboat Festival,4/3 Easter Eggs, 3/13 Stockyards, 4/18 Balloon Festival, 3/6 Swim Pics Shop Dinner, 06/12 Devon’s, 06/27 Olenjack’s, 07/03 Crow Museum, 07/05 Splash Pad, 07/17 VBS Picnic, 07/31 Zoo)
51. Frame and hang Sophie’s first year photos
52. Furniture for China child
53. Update Sophie’s wedding dress photo
54. Get a family portrait done
55. Daily devotional, complete after 30 days (0/30)
56. Create a list of happy things, one for each day (over 1000) we’ve been waiting for MIC (300/328)
57. Complete new adoption visa paperwork
58. Open a savings account for Sophie
59. Clean out and organize pantry
60. Attend at least 3 plays and/or musicals (2/3)(Wicked, Shadowlands)
61. Purchase fire extinguishers for the house
62. Get personalized tags for the pets (3/6)
63. Clean out flowerbed in backyard
64. Buy new couches (May)
65. Make a new list of 65

Done! List

This is my list for August. I'm sure I'll be able to come up with 3 more items to fill the whole page. The last item is to complete my list for work (but I'm not sharing that one here). I'll keep you posted on how I'm doing.