Organizing Books...

Today, I'm working on item #39, which is organizing my bookshelves. It's a bit of a challenge, but it's also fun because my kids are reading the books I'm pulling off the shelves. PLUS I'm listening to Bach on Rhapsody, so I'm inching towards my other goals.

Also, Houdin went to the nursing home and performed, and we've established a schedule of going there once every two weeks for him to perform magic tricks and for Bard to have a poetry group.

Cool!

My Progress So Far...

It's really cool to walk into my room and see that my bed is made. Every day. A neato little side benefit is that I have been asking one of my beloved family members to help me make the bed each day, so I get that extra time with my husband, my daughter Bard, or my son Houdin. It's pretty nifty.

I've been playing classical music during different times during the day, not just at meal prep, though that's usually when I start it. Sweetheart just LOVES it and starts twirling around and skipping and leaping. Also nifty.

I've been trying very hard to remember to give hugs to each of my kids every morning and every night. May I admit here that I didn't realize before how many negative words come out of my mouth in the morning? Bard insists on her morning and evening hugs now. She's almost 15.

New Recipes I've Made: A lemony chicken thing, a barbecued roast beef thing (actually, Bard made it to help her with her 101 things, one of which is to learn to cook), and, tonight, a soupy thing. All good so far, though I don't think I'll make the lemony chicken thing again.

Been asking a lot of people to teach me to sew. People are very busy!

Not sure I can finish a book every two weeks. I'm still reading Eve's Daughters and Haircut. :-/

I got most of the way through the book of Job and haven't read in the morning for about four days. I will start that again tomorrow.

I bought the boys new journals and have been writing in them, but they have not. Hey, kids. Write in your journals.

Still taking my vitamins, still drinking water, bought nifty new water bottles at Wal*Mart and keep them in the fridge, still abstaining from fast food (watched Super Size Me--helps a lot), still jump-roping.

We've gone geocaching twice. Will probably go again tomorrow. Sundays seem to be geocaching days.

#28: Books I'm Reading...

I'm working on reading several books to fulfill #28:

Driving the Amish by Jim Butterfield
Eve's Daughters by Lynn Austin
Haircut and Other Tales by Ring Lardner

Should finish one of these by 01/24.

#18 Complete! Stop being sarcastic...

This one was a lot harder than I thought. I had a goal to stop being sarcastic towards my dad for one week. It was amazing to me that the very first time I spoke to him after I committed to this goal, I had to bite my tongue to keep from making a sarcastic comment! I guess I have fallen into a very bad pattern of communication with him.

Another reason that it was so much harder than I thought it would be was that the kinder I was to him, the more he taunted me. It was during the week of my attempt at not being sarcastic that he made a negative comment about my weight for the first time in my whole life. I handled it by responding straight on that I didn't think it was funny, and that it hurt my feelings. He didn't even respond, just walked away and "hid," which is his coping mechanism.

I'm amazed that I made it. I hope to continue this for another week.

#24 Complete! Develop Boys' Cameras!

I finally got the boys' cameras developed. For an...ahem...interesting view into the subjects of the photos, read this.

Magic at the Senior Center

I called and made an appointment today to get Houdin involved in the Senior Center. He'll go put on a magic trick show for then next Thursday. Very exciting!

I think that Bard will want to go along and maybe look into reading to some of the residents.

Well, I guess I can cross THAT off my list...

So much for seeing Barry Manilow in concert. I checked out his website, and apparently he'll be performing at the Las Vegas Hilton for the next year. In this article, he says that he decided that his touring career is over. Ack.

I guess I need to come up with another goal to replace that one.

#26 Complete! Try Geocaching!

Today, the whole family went out on a Geocaching expedition! It was very rewarding, AND I got to cross something off my list! I first discovered Geocaching through Our Deer Baby's blog. I've wanted to try it since, because my husband has the use of a GPS from work and it sounds like a good way to get the family outdoors.

Everyone was very excited about seeking our first treasure! I think I'll make a geocaching blog and will write the details there. :-)

Geocaching!

I'm going to be able to mark something off of my list today! Our family is going to try geocaching after breakfast this morning! I'm so excited. I'm going to make sure our camera is ready to go, and I may even start a geocaching blog if we enjoy it!

Woohoo!

Days Two and Three

So far, I've done the following for three days:

Blogged daily
Have not been sarcastic towards my dad
Have hugged my kids every morning and every night
Have encouraged my husband to do devotions and to read Monet his 4th grader book
Have done morning Bible reading for two of the three days.

I began my yearly letter.
I drank water for the first two days and had two soft drinks yesterday (hey, it was my anniversary!)

I've also decided that my list needs a little revamping. I want to put more specific goals, as in how many times I want to accomplish certain things, so I'll be revamping my list this week. One of my subgoals is to mark one thing off of my list this week!

The Happy Housewife Did It!

The HH's 101 in 1001: My 101 Things to Accomplish
The Happy Houswife did it. Can you?

Day one is almost over...

Well, I completed one whole day of not berating or yelling at anyone. I didn't yell, even once! Around 7:00, I got very, very tired and cranky, and I came as close as I dared to losing my temper, but I did NOT do it.

I wasn't sarcastic towards my dad (who lives with me) even once. I was sorely tempted, though.

I tried one new recipe today, which was a crock pot chicken thang, and it was alright, but I probably won't make it again.

I woke up and spent my first half hour reading Job. Very interesting. I'll probably write about this on Today's Lessons.

And even though we have Dr. Pepper in the house, I passed it by and had water with my lunch. Wow.

In other news, my 15-year-old daughter, Bard, has created her own 101 in 1,001 list. I'll post it when she's done.

Okay. So I've started. :-)

I woke up this morning inspired. I was so glad that I finished my list last night, because it really helped me feel focused today. Maybe I'm a moron, but lists are just the thing to get me moving. I'm a hopeless list addict.

I felt so good about starting the day out with a plan that I took a shower first thing in the morning, even though I have no plans to go anywhere. This, I'm afraid, is quite unusual for me.

I decided to start with the very basics, hugging my kids as soon as they wake up and spending time in the Word first thing in the morning. As I was reading Job, my dad came in the room and started talking to me as if I weren't doing anything, which is a pet peeve of mine. But I bit my tongue and didn't respond with a sarcastic comment. Wow. That was very hard. I didn't realize what a pattern it is for me.

As I look over my list, I see that there are a lot of things that I've vowed to do "daily" or "weekly" or "monthly." I want to put a specific goal on each of those things, like Billi-Jean did. When I look at those items now, it's hard to imagine doing them EVERY DAY for 2 1/2 years. Doing each activity for one month, or three times, or whatever seems much more attainable.

The List is Written...

I completed my list of 101 things that I want to accomplish withing 1,001 days. I begin my challenge tomorrow...