Well, really, there are so many things I'd love to do. These are a few that have been cropping up recently.
The Now
My friend Laura issued an exercise challenge and I took her up on it. I committed to 75 miles in 5 weeks. Really it shouldn't be too hard so long as I get myself on a regular schedule. It's only 3 miles a day, 5 days a week. It's good to have a set goal, though, so I can hold myself accountable.
Get organized and declutter! I've started on this one already, and really, it's an ongoing process that will be a goal the rest of my life. I don't know if I'll ever really achieve true organization, but so long as I'm working toward it, we shouldn't be too bogged down by stuff. Just today I took 3 garbage bags, a box, and a random assortment of items clothes, house hold items, etc. to Goodwill. It is nice to have my front closet again.
Figure out how the heck I'm going to make piano work! The schools here already started and ended later than I liked, but they pushed them back even MORE this year! The elementary kids don't start until 8:45 and the High School doesn't start until 9:15!! The way they have it set up, there's no way kids can get here before 4:30. It's going to push my lesson right up to Dean's bedtime, so I don't know how we'll keep him happy, fed, entertained, etc. Matt will help, but if I'm visible or audible, Dean is not happy with Matt taking care of him, especially when he's tired. Since our house is so small, I don't know how we'll work around that.
The near
Figure out a good weaning timetable. I don't think I'll go cold turkey, but around 12 months I'll gradually cut out day feedings and then within a few months I'll cut the night and morning feedings.
I'm not sure if next May qualifies as near, but I'm starting to plan our every-other-anniversary-trip already. (Our previous trips included Guatemala in 2005 and NY in 2007.) We would really like to go to Scotland. Matt's from Scottish descent and the countryside is AMAZING over there (or so I've heard). We fear this tradition will be harder and harder to do after we have more kids, so we'd like to go there while it's still relatively easy. We're trying to figure out if we'd take or leave Dean. Right now I'm leaning toward leaving him. He'll be 18 months. It freaks me out to even think about being separated from him for a week, but I think he'd have a rough go at the whole jet lag thing, and possibly ruin the trip for everyone. We'd have to enlist a grandma or two to come hang out with him while we're gone. Anyone have tips on places to go or things to see over there?
We need to buy a storage shed. A nice looking one so it would help eventual resale and not junk up our back yard. Probably something in Cedar around 8X8 or 8X10. It seems like it's going to be a bit of a hassle. We have to get permits and stuff from the city and our HOA. Any recommendations for good vendors?
Continue to hunt for real living room furniture. What we have is comfortable but horribly ugly and mismatched. We're not in such a hurry that we will buy something we'll regret, but it's crazy hard to find something we like enough to throw down $1-2000 on.
Switch out all our door knobs and ceiling fixtures for brushed nickle rather than the bright brass junk the builders use. We've already switched out some of both, but need to have uniformity throughout the house.
The Far: Alas, this may never come to be
Oh how lovely it would be to have wood floors in the living room/kitchen and new carpet everywhere else!
Non-Formica counter tops that won't stain...maybe some nice shiny stone counter top.
New faucets. I despise the ones we have (though I'm grateful we have something...yes, something is better than nothing!).
8 comments:
I'ts nice to write all your goals and dreams down to see on paper... a way to organize your thoughts!
Scotland would be awesome! We are heading out to Australia in the Fall of 09 and leaving kids with Grandma. I don't want to even think about a 14 hour plane trip with two boys. yuck!
Oooo. Australia. That would be lovely. Maybe for our 2011 anniversary.
I've been meaning to start teaching piano again, but haven't figured out how I can work it with Kate. Good for you for keeping it up, and good luck with the scheduling.
One good place to check for furniture would be Big Lots, if they have them where you are. I got a couch and love seat from there for $650. Today I found a great chair somewhere else for $250 that will be a great addition.
And Scotland would be awesome. I've always wanted to go there.
Kristeee, I love that couch set. It's a little too light for us though (almost exactly the color of our carpet). And we've found that here in TX it's fairly difficult to find good microfiber furniture in a decent selection. They're all about leather here.
i loved reading all of this. the best thing we ever did was travel as much as possible before things really got too crazy with too many kids. i was SO sad when we skipped a trip to china because our baby had just started sleeping through the night (4 months) and our 2-year-old was in the middle of potty training, and I realized that life really was too crazy with four kids to try to pull off a big trip involving babysitters and putting the baby through the jet lag mess. my passport expired over 2 years ago and I haven't had a reason to renew it. BOO HOO! oh well. traveling was good in our 20s and it will be good again in our 40s. right?
is there any way to put piano lessons before school? i can remember mom doing that and some moms loved getting it out of the way in the morning.
and good job on the 75 miles goal. hopefully things are colling down a little in TX.
i loved reading all of this. the best thing we ever did was travel as much as possible before things really got too crazy with too many kids. i was SO sad when we skipped a trip to china because our baby had just started sleeping through the night (4 months) and our 2-year-old was in the middle of potty training, and I realized that life really was too crazy with four kids to try to pull off a big trip involving babysitters and putting the baby through the jet lag mess. my passport expired over 2 years ago and I haven't had a reason to renew it. BOO HOO! oh well. traveling was good in our 20s and it will be good again in our 40s. right?
is there any way to put piano lessons before school? i can remember mom doing that and some moms loved getting it out of the way in the morning.
and good job on the 75 miles goal. hopefully things are colling down a little in TX.
Amanda, just yesterday I brought up morning lessons to one of my HS student's moms and she was super happy with the idea. I've brought it up to others and they were not happy with the idea (but their daughter is NOT a morning person). The Jr. High starts their school in the 7 o'clock hour, so they'd be out. The elementary kids timing would work, but they're super strict about how the kids come and go. Parents have to say if their kids are walking, being dropped off, or riding their bikes.
There are a number of good storage shed kits that you can buy and have delivered straight to your home. Most kits are relatively easy to assemble. You can get a kit in wood (including cedar), metal, resin, or one by Rubbermaid.
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