3 in 30, Checking In

    
         1. Get the old place totally emptied and cleaned up for the new life it is about to have.

2. Get the few remaining boxes in my bedroom put away.

3. Shop for the furniture we need and the appliances (fridge, washer & dryer) which all decided to die within the two week period around our move.

      In all fairness to me, I had the boxes in my bedroom all put away, too. Then more boxes were brought from other places and put in my bedroom. There is really only one box left to deal with, and a tote to stash in my closet for the time being. I've fallen a bit behind on laundry, but the new washer/dryer were delivered today, so I hope to have it back under control by next week this time.

     This month has been a blur. It has been super busy and I feel like I need to take a long rest. 

I'm linking up with the 3 in 30 challenge this week.

3 in 30

Here it is, Friday again. This Month the goals are big and real. 

1. Get the old place totally emptied and cleaned up for the new life it is about to have.

2. Get the few remaining boxes in my bedroom put away.

3. Shop for the furniture we need and the appliances (fridge, washer & dryer) which all decided to die within the two week period around our move.

     Number one is done. Hooray! Number two was done, but now there is a new box of stuff sitting in the bedroom. Number three... well,  I've been shopping in stores and researching my little heart out online,  but I have not made the purchases yet.  I have a couple of weeks remaining, so I have confidence I will be able to make the purchases before the end of March.

     As a bonus, and thanks to my mother, the basement utility room is rearranged and a lot of progress has been made. The shelving units did not get into the food storage area the way I wanted originally. We moved all the stuff off of them and moved the shelves, then restocked. I'm much happier with them now. Then my mom decided to organize more of the utility room while I cleared more stuff away from my dining room. We actually ate in the dining room instead of the kitchen for the first time last night!

Obviously, dining chairs are on the list of things we need to buy.

3 in 30

     I haven't done 3 in 30 in, oh... probably about a year. I'm just going to hop  back in, though, because really? What better way? We're moved into the new house now, so I have all the motivation and none of the excuses. Plus, I've been staring at "The Box" for a while now and I want to use it so I can feel like I have a system beyond trudging through every day feeling like there is too much to do.

     Since I missed week one I will just jumble it all together.

1. Get the old place totally emptied and cleaned up for the new life it is about to have.

2. Get the few remaining boxes in my bedroom put away.

3. Shop for the furniture we need and the appliances (fridge, washer & dryer) which all decided to die within the two week period around our move.

     I will admit this may seem to some like sort of a cheat since #1 is actually done. But had I written a post on the first of the month it certainly would have been the honest big goal. Plus, getting it done was no small task, lemme tell ya'.  So checkity check check check - it's done!

    I have to work on the boxes in my room. I have a tote and less than ten fairly small boxes, so if I don't manage to do it, really, one of you should just come over and flog me.

     Shopping for the furniture and appliances is proving to be the worst of these tasks because I can't find the furniture I want and washer/dryer prices have about doubled since I bought some eight years ago! Also, my laundry room is on the second floor, which is really nice and all, but I can't just buy any old noisy, shaky machine like I could when these things were in the basement. Add to this the fact that we were not really prepared to replace these items right now, and it's a monumental task to find what we need.

     Of course, in reality, I will be adjusting to a whole new house routine. Since the whole downstairs is hardwood I have to sweep it every day or two unless I want to see little doggie-hair tumbleweeds in the corners. (Gross! I do not want to see those in the corners or anywhere else.) Luckily, the central vac makes it ridiculously simple to do the hardwoods.

     I also have a bunch of works I want to do. I want to paint a bunch of furniture. I have two new cans of Annie Sloan Chalk paint and a can of her soft wax in my sitting room, just taunting me. The basement is a mess where some of the family decided to just put stuff in willy-nilly during the second half of the move. The garage makes me want to cry, because if the basement got willy-nilly, the garage got... hmmm... there are no words. I can park the van inside. Barely. Sanford & Son would be proud. Fortunately for me, at least some of it is empty boxes I will be putting on Craigslist for someone else to use.  Some of this stuff may show up in the April goals. Maybe even May. Hopefully not June. Hopefully. There is lots to do, so we'll see.

April 3 in 30, Week 2

     Last week I announced my April goals. I'd been sorely slacking when I was going to get this room turned around in the past. This time, it will happen!

     For April I want to accomplish these things:

1. Get all the junk out of the spare room.

2. Get the right stuff from the basement into the newly appointed 'guest room.'

3. Get the furniture stored in the old van into the basement.

     I have to say: So far, so good. We really cleared out that spare room. There are still some things to be painted and moved out of the room. Other than that, it's good! Of course, things are never as simple as it seems. While the room is mostly empty I think it would be a good time to clean the carpets. This always happens to me. A task which sounds easy turns into a long list of things. 

     Things are moving along at a good rate. I give the first week of April two thumbs up!

April 3 in 30 - Week One

     Here it is, a hurried little post. I want to get it before the linky closes. 

     For April I want to accomplish these things:

1. Get all the junk out of the spare room.

2. Get the right stuff from the basement into the new 'guest room.'

3. Get the furniture stored in the old van into the basement.

     This will allow me to be much more organized. It will also allow me to have things the way I think they should be. It will also allow me to get rid of the old van, which at this point merely takes up space in the driveway. 

     Sounds simple, doesn't it? Now if only I can get it done!

     You can join the 3 in 30 group any old time you'd like. Just click the 3 in 30 button on the sidebar.

P.S. Would you take just a moment to click on the Chevy banner on the side and 'like' them on facebook? They are donating to Harvest For Hunger for each like they get.

Friday Follow Up: 3 in 30

 

     I feel like February is taunting me. Not cool, February, not cool at all. Today is the first day I have felt human in I don't know how long. I actually showered AND got dressed! I went shopping and to lunch with my daughter and it was lovely. I 'should have' been doing different shopping but I can't want to care. (Yes, I said it that way on purpose.)

    

3rd Friday of each month: "Encouraging words"
Let us know what quote, Scripture, or encouraging words got you through this week? 

 

     How did this past week go? What did you get accomplished? What did you not get accomplished? What do you still have yet to accomplish before the end of the month?

     I think the encouraging words which got me through this week were "What doesn't kill us makes us stronger." Because when I came through the other side of sickness and weakness I would be stronger and ready to accomplish things. 

 

     The week was mostly a waste, but there is progress. I have done well on the stop eating when I'm no longer hungry thing, except for Valentine's Day. I didn't go crazy, but I did eat more than I would have if I it had not been Valentine's Day. I have continued on the kitchen beautification project and made further progress. I still need to get those cabinets painted and the doors hung. I still need to come up with the solution in the kitchen. I thought I came up with it three days ago but yesterday I realized it was just a fever-induced stupor talking, and my brilliant idea was rather dull. 

3 in 30 Friday Update: Check-up

      I feel like I haven't done enough this month, but today is Friday so it's check-up day. I did some rearranging in the kitchen. It's great, but it's not a lot. I pretty much took one area of counter space and de-crapified it so I could put the Tassimo and the t-disc holders all in one mostly-out-of-the-way place. I took out the giant dish drainer I have always had in that spot and got a tiny one to put in one side of the sink. With lots of people living here and no dishwasher it seemed practical to have the oversized one, but it took a third of my total counter space. No bueno. I have found myself washing dishes many times throughout the day since I made the change in order to keep up with things. If I can get in this habit and keep it this time it could work out well. Usually my laziness wins because it's my most honed skill. We shall see. So far = progress.

     I have been doing even better than I thought I would at the 'stop eating when I am no longer hungry" thing. Except that night we went to a Japanese steakhouse. All bets are off it you take me to an expensive, or even moderately priced restaurant.

     The final goal is the kitchen project. I haven't moved on it at all this week. I still have half of the month and I have a few laborers who claim they are willing to paint, so we'll see. Someone is still promising to come and take the giant desk in the way in the room where I need to paint. So In my head, I've been kind of blaming her for my lack of progress on that front. It sounds better than "I can't want to." Right? 

     I've been making lots of waffles, doing lots of dishes, drinking lots of hot chocolate, and I gave the dog a bath. I'm practically superwoman, even if I haven't painted the cabinets yet.

     I keep forgetting to buy the pretty index cards and stuff to make Sam's box. When I got home from the store the other day and realized I forgot I was feeling skunky about it. Sam? I think you need to make kits and sell them on ebay and/or etsy. Just sayin'.

Tweet

3 in 30 Weekly Update

Look out February, here we come! My goals this month are:

1. Complete Kitchen Cabinet project. 

2. Brainstorm about the kitchen with the goal of a do-over to make it better. My kitchen is very small and my family is large so we need to use space wisely. 

3. Commit to the behavior modification of "Stop eating when I am no longer hungry" so I can feel better about myself and regain self control.

     So far I'm going strong on number three. I've been thinking about the kitchen and searching for ideas. I'm still trying to get caught up on other things which fell behind while I was down sick. After I'm caught up we can make the push to get the kitchen completed. Hooray! 

3 in 30 February Goals

     It's time to decide my February goals. I feel less than motivated to do it since I really did not complete any of the goals I started out with in January. But I did things I would not have done otherwise, so it's not a total loss. I will start February with these three goals:

1. Complete Kitchen Cabinet project. 

2. Brainstorm about the kitchen with the goal of a do-over to make it better. My kitchen is very small and my family is large so we need to use space wisely. 

3. Commit to the behavior modification of "Stop eating when I am no longer hungry" so I can feel better about myself and regain self control.

30 in 30, Closing Comments - January

     January is at an end (as far as 3 in 30 goes) and I'm here to weigh in again. 

Week 1 I was feeling like I had set reasonable and reachable goals. 

Week 2 I was feeling ten feet tall, despite straying from my original plans. I still thought I would complete my new project and conquer the original three goals as well. 

Week 3 did not go at all as planned because I was sick the whole week.

That brings us to week 4. Maybe I should call it weak four. Because it was weak. I did a few things I couldn't do during a lot of weeks two and three because I had been so sick. Like wash dishes and clean the living room and grocery shop and run errands. But my goals? What were they? The thing I am most proud of this month wasn't even on my original list. I have stopped eating when I am no longer hungry. This was a big deal for me. I still struggle with it. The other night we went to dinner and a movie and I had to leave half of my delicious dinner on the plate. My mouth was telling me to eat it all, but I left it. Because honestly, I was feeling full. 

Goals: 1: move to wii fit or xbox kinect? Not one time all month. Not one single time. I could have done better. Being honest, I just didn't care enough to do it on the days I felt well enough to do it. 2: purge of the house? I did it when I was working, but I just wasn't working enough. 3: get the spare room made into a cozy guest room? There are still cabinet doors in there waiting to be painted. 

     I am not writing January off as a failure. It was more of a learning experience. On one hand, I didn't meet a single goal. On the other hand, I met a new goal and worked on things I would not have otherwise done. Success doesn't always look the way we thought it would, and I am okay with that.

My February goals are not set in stone yet, because honestly, I haven't thought about them. Should I do the January goals again or new ones? I have to think about it some more, and decide what I really want from all of this.

     I am so glad I am getting to know some of you and I am grateful for what you have shared with me and also for your encouragement. Life is like a box of chocolates... I am not disappointed this month - I got you!

*** side note: A bunch of the 3 in 30 participants have captchas or word verification enabled for comments. And many of those don't show up right away, but after you've submitted for the first time. These can be reset so the captcha shows the first time. You could be losing comments from people who click 'comment' and leave. They never see the captcha. I think I've failed to leave a lot of comments in my day when I thought I had. Also, you can totally remove this option. I recommend removing it since blogger now has a spam filter anyway. It would make it so much nicer for the people who do read and comment. Maybe only put it back in place if you find it becomes necessary? I don't have it and I'm  just fine. 

Week 3 of 3 in 30:

Okay. So this week was a total wash. I'm still sick. I have stopped eating when I was no longer hungry. I realized that is something I really needed to do. Since when did my taste buds become the boss of me? Probably somewhere around 2001, if I have to be honest. Well gee old lady, that was about ten years ago! (no, I am not calling you an old lady, I'm talking to myself.) You can probably guess what ten years of eating beyond hunger has done to my body. Instead of doing something radical like weight watchers points and exercise I have decided to stop eating when I am no longer hungry.

My goals for this month are:

To do a purge of the house. -not so much. But I have thrown out a lot of trash and some pizza boxes we were harboring.

To get the spare room in order. - Uh, I bought a gallon of paint and put it in the spare room. Which is actually a step towards this goal since I have to paint the cabinet doors I put in there last week in order to get moving on working on the room again. So in a way, putting another gallon of paint in there was a step towards the goal. In a wacky sort of way.

To start moving with the Wii Fit or the XBox Kinect. -absolutely not, but I have coughed a lot, and am sore from that. I hope to get my strength back and quit coughing so I can rip up the rest of the goals for the month. It can still be done,

Week three was sort of "The week that wasn't" for me. I hope yours was much, much better.

Week 2 of 3 in 30: Win Some, Lose Some

      Friday already? Wow. This was one of those weeks which lasted forever and flew by at the same time. Please tell me I'm not the only one who sometimes feels this way. Ahem. My January goals, as mentioned here and here  are:

To do a purge of the house.

To get the spare room in order.

To start moving with the Wii Fit or the XBox Kinect.

     Let's see, shall we? I did a purge of the kitchen. I started by taking everything out of the cabinets.I have boxes of stuff purged. About half of it was stuff belonging to my mother which ended up in my kitchen. I also threw away a lot of stuff. We do not need the quart container the sweet and sour sauce comes in, no matter how sturdy it may be. Ridiculous, really. I've started a "Containers without partners" group and oddly enough also a "Seals without containers" group. They will meet elsewhere, because they sure as shootin' aren't staying here.

     Oddly enough, by the time I was half way through the kitchen purge I found myself singing. (That's not the odd part) I was singing Closing Time, and not the Leonard Cohen version, the Matchbox 20 version.

Closing time, open all the doors
And let you out into the world...
Closing time, you don't have to go home,
But you can't stay here

     By the end of the day I was singing the whole thing, with lyrics changed to suit the actual items being tossed. I've done this sort of thing since I was a child. Anyway... when I was done serenading my warped 6 qt pot and multiple ice trays (seriously? How does this happen?) and giant box of mismatched flatware we removed the cabinet doors. My son scrubbed those down while I scrubbed down everything we couldn't remove.

     Sadly, the cabinet doors are still sitting in the spare room. Remember it? The one I was going to stop using like this? Yeah, well. Don't judge me too harshly. Where else am I going to paint all those cabinet doors when there's a foot of snow outside? I do not feel bad at all about this deviation from my original plan. There is stuff getting done. That is what is truly important to me. The doors would be painted and replaced by now, but the day of the kitchen purge and reset I got sick. As of last night I am fever free. Maybe today I will have enough energy to head out to Home Depot and get the paint I want.

     A couple of things did actually get taken from the spare room and put in their rightful places elsewhere, so there's a wee bit of progress.

     As far as moving and shaking it to the Wii or Xbox? What? You can't here me snickering? That's a big fat "nuh-uh". But I did shovel about 8 metric tons of snow and do all of that kitchen work, which must count for something, right? Ferris? Bueller?

At the end of week 2 I feel success slowly creeping up on me.


I am feeling ten feet tall. How's it going for you?

3 in 30 - Week One

It's been  a week full of January already and my 3 in 30 goals, as I discussed here,  were:

To do a purge of the house.

To get the spare room in order.

To start moving with the Wii Fit or the XBox Kinect.

So far I have started to get the spare room in order, which has also started the purge. Baby steps. That's what I am taking. I haven't done any butt-moving with the Wii or Xbox, but I have shoveled the walk and driveway and done a little walking. 

So there's the first week. It's about what I expected, to be honest. I usually procrastinate.

Something New

I am joining together with some other people to do "3 in 30" for the year. I'll be setting myself up at the start of each month with three goals for the month. So here I go. Three goals for January. This is difficult because part of me feels like goals are only there to taunt me. The other part of me feels like three is nowhere near enough because I'm lacking in so many ways. Three it is, anyway.

The first one is easy: I will do a HUGE purge of the house. We will throw away some, and give away lots more. This includes taking it to the drop off locations.

The second thing for January is not easy. I want to get the spare room in order. Right now it has turned into the thing I swore it wouldn't: A drop off/shove it in there room for everything without a proper place. It is going to be a usable guest room at minimum.

The third thing for January is that I am going to start moving my butt again. I have to do it soon or I'm afraid I'll get to the point where I can not move my butt. This would not be good. I am not sure if it will be Wii Fit, Xbox, yoga dvds, or what. All I know is that I need to start moving again. I don't drink or smoke and I never have. There is no reason I should be huffing and puffing after some stairs.

There you have it! My January goals. Notice there isn't a goal about getting the house perfect in the first five days and keeping it that way all month. No, I'm being realistic. I want to do the work, and an unattainable goal means I will not do it.

Wish me luck.