1 down, 11 to go!

Holy smokes, where did September go?  Between the start of school, more moving activity and some yard work the month just flew by. 

I have started working on my Christmas Cards, and for now I'm trying to increase my stash with some very simple cards.  The reason for this is two-fold.  First, I want to increase the stash...you can never have too many Christmas cards on hand.  Second, I want to decrease my supplies.  Sounds crazy right?  Well, it turns out I have so many 6x6 paper pads, that I actually bought doubles over the summer.  Yikes!  So, the plan is to increase the stash of simple cards using up as much of my current paper supplies as possible so that I can buy new paper without feeling any guilt.  Once I am comfortable with my stash, then I'll be back to making some more intricate cards.

Sooooooo...this is where I was going to put a couple of Christmas cards that I have made recently...but I don't have the cord for my phone to attach to the computerr.  My update will have to do for now.  I'm going to spend some time on the computer tonight uploading and editing photos so that they're ready to go when I am.  Thanks for stickin giwt

A Year of Me update #1

So, how am I doing with my Year of Me?  Let's see....

1. Definitely have been eating and cooking at home more.  The kids are being great about helping me pick out the meals for the week so that we can shop consciously, rather than just throw things in the grocery basket.  And, my almost 10 year old has taken a real interest in cooking...whole meals!  So we're working together and she's cooking one meal a week on her own...except for putting things into and taking them out of the oven.  This month I'd like to try some new recipes, healthy stuff...and maybe make a soup or two.  Chilly weather always makes me want to break out the big soup pot.
2. Exercise...well, let's just say that one is still a work in progress. 
3. Simplify....hmmm, I think that I am making some progress here...just really slow progress.  At this point, I have more plans than I have had action.  However, I see a light at the end of the tunnel.
4. Organize.  I am definitely thinking a lot about this one before I make any major changes.  Having realized that it will likely be just the girls and I for quite some time, I want to make sure that whatever solutions I put into place are the kind that we can live with for a while.  I don't want to be re-organizing completely again next year!  First things first though, I have come up with a plan for my bedroom and my walk-in closet, so that will be job number one.  My Mom had some good advice...take it one room at a time.
5. Learn to do something new.  I rocked this goal!  In September, I used a multitude of YouTube videos to learn how to install a new kitchen faucet.  Love me some YouTube!  I also painted the wood on my poor old kitchen window and front door.  I learned that even if the people at the point store tell you so....latex paint does not stick well to oil based paint, even with an acrylic primer.  I also learned that putting all that green tape up to protect your other surfaces can often take longer than the painting itself.  LOL
6. Take time for me.  Does letting the kids have free reign in their candy buckets at 7 am while letting them watch unlimited TV so I can sleep in count as me time?  LOL...at my house it does.  I have also started to do things I want to do when the girls are with their Dad one night a week.  It used to be that I would try to clean or do some grocery shopping.  Now, I read in the solitude, one week I went shopping for me and another time I spent the evening in my craft room undisturbed.  It's just enough to get me through to the weekend.
7. Make a dent in the debt.  This is a long term goal, but with short term chunks.  There has been no dents made this month, but that is because I forgot I had to pay for swimming and milk cards and school supplies.  And birthday party season has begun...at least one birthday party every weekend since school started.   I have, however, managed to reign in the non-essential spending so we're still working within budget.
8. Keep track of my progress...well, here I am keeping track!