Happy Thanksgiving!

This Thanksgiving, I used Facebook to update what I was thankful for each day.  Here is my list:

1. McCoy
2. Whit
3. My awesome parents
4. My job
5. My hilarious brother and his beautiful wife
6. My sense-- the ability to hear magical music, see beautiful flowers and color changing trees, taste mircoulous food, touch and feel the closeness of my son and husband... and smell dirty diapers!
7. McCoy's daycare teachers and the privilege to use the CDC.  Especially Ms. Beth and Ms. Byanka!
8. Sunday Family Dinners!
9. Our house!
10. Short weeks of school
11. All the wonderful men and women who selfessly served in the military to keep our freedom.  I'm also thankful to all those soliders who are active duty.  Thank you for serving our country!!
12. Technology-- including my laptop (that is currently out of commission) and my cell phone.
13. Family fun days
14. My dad's awesome cooking!
15. Sick days. :/
16. My prinicpal and co-workers
17. Co-sleeping with my baby in the mornings and nursing him still.  He is so warm and cuddly!  I love my little family!
18. Friends at midnight showings of Harry Potter and second dinners at Ihop!
19. Wake up calls from my mother!!
20. Babysitters
21. FREE tickets to KU football games (even though they lost).
22. Rezound
23. Maintenance guys who honor your requests!  (I now have a buttetin board outside of my classroom!  I love my job!!)
24. Hand-me-down clothes for McCoy from Tammie Adam!  What a blessing!
25. A great kitchen to bake in!
26. My organizational skills.  Even though they have been missing in action for months now!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!!

Food Waste Wednesday

I'm proud to say, nothing was wasted this week.  At least I didn't throw anything away.  I'm sure there are many leftovers that are past their prime, but this week-- nothing.  :)

This Week's Focus Nov. 22-27

In attempt to become more organized, here is this week's focus: 


November 22-27
- write a meaningful blog post. :)
- pack up Halloween decorations
- decorate and clean my kitchen table
- sweep and mop the kitchen and dining room
- DISINFECT the trash cans (especially the diaper pail!  YUCK!!!)  I read here about putting coffee grounds in the bottom of the pail that absorb the odor and makes it smell like Starbucks!  Yes, please!  I went to the store last week and got a can of the DARKEST roast I could find. :)  :::::::crossing fingers:::::::::
- prepare a Christmas wish list for McCoy and me
- bake my pies
- family fun day on Wednesday
- game night/movie night at MeMa's on Wednesday night
- Christmas cards and pictures
- Christmas tree up???
- put baby clothes in the attic?

Big 'to-do' list this week, but we'll see how much actually gets done.  I think I'll go back and cross off the things I actually did last time I wrote a blog about this.

And because no blog is complete without a photo, here is a cute one:

Thankfulness

This November, I’ve been posting all the things that I’m thankful for.  One of my friends on Facebook said that I should write down this list and keep for the future.  So, that’s what I’m going to do--  I actually did this last year by making three different posts (post 1, post 2, post 3). 

I will be writing down these 30 items (even though last year’s list reached 100 things I am thankful for!!).  Stay tuned!

Food Waste Wednesday

Okay, this week wasn't much better.  Maybe it is because I'm cleaning out my pantry (last week, it was the fridge-- next week, the freezer).  I have had some canned food in there that expired in 2008!!  Yea, that means I moved it from the old house to the new one... and it might have even been expired then.  Hopefully after this next week, it should be normal-- as in, no food waste at all.

**If you are a starving child in Africa, I sincerely apologize for my lack of concern for others in this food waste.  I'm really trying to be better.

Food Waste Wednesday-- Week 2

This week we wasted: 

-several cans of soup, vegetables, tomatoes, pizza sauce

-corn chowder dry mix (had no date on it, but I KNOW I've had it since the old house)

-about three pieces of broken lasagna noodles

-half a box of pancake mix 

Okay, bad, I know.  But it will get better??

Reflections on my 3rd Grade Program

Yippee!  Another program done!  This time, it was 3rd grade.  No problems with the teachers.  Nearly all of the kids showed up-- and on time!

The program itself was fine.  All the kids knew their speaking lines.  We had a little problems with staying with the music, but I think it's because they couldn't hear the music. (When are those sound guys going to come in and fix my auditorium!?!?!?!)  The canned food drive went over well.

It was great!  I didn't feel too hot, but it looks like it didn't matter much, because they pulled it off without my super cheesy smiles and big-mouth mouthing the words extraordinarily huge.  Good job, kids... good job.

Food Waste Wednesday (aka Food Waste Friday)

In attempt to waste less food, I will be taking a picture of my spoiled and expired food.  This is the food we either forgot about, didn't want anymore, or let rot on accident.  In most cases, I make a menu-- only problem is, I don't follow through or make sure that I stick with it.  So, I'm better off with making food that isn't perishable.  And who likes all food that isn't perishable?  Not me!  


I have been following a blog who does "Food Waste Fridays".  My trash comes on Wednesday, so I retitled mine, "Food Waste Wednesday."  So every Tuesday night, I will clean out my fridge and counters, and pile up the "nasty" food that has gone bad, and take a picture.  I will be held accountable for the food I waste.  And hopefully, it will get better as the weeks turn into months and the months into years.


This week-- my first week, was bad!  We had left overs we have had in the fridge for a good couple of weeks.  Yuck is right!  Here's what we wasted:


-Several tomatoes and various peppers from the garden
-a whole bag of potatoes (we got free, but still!)

Food Waste Wednesday-- Week 1

-3 loose potatoes
-about 3 pieces of celery
-a couple of spoonfuls of couscous
-butternut squash soup (a little too spicy for me)
-3 pieces of chicken
-2 pieces of pork tenderloin
-noodles
-2 bottles of formula (with about 4 oz each)
-1 sippy cup of milk
-little bit of Louisiana stew
-homemade salsa (from the summer!)
-mashed potatoes and fiesta corn
-a small bag of salad.


Whew!  I'm embarrassed.  But that's the point.  So I don't waste anymore food.

101 Things to do in 1001 days (UPDATE)

I keep this in the back of my head all the time.  When I think back to the fact that I'm not really doing much with my life, I sit down and take a look at my lists!  I'm not doing bad!

The Mission: Complete 101 preset tasks in 1001 days (this font looks so official)
Start Date: August 2, 2009
End Date: April 29, 2012

House:
1. Organize the master room closet

2. Organize the baby’s closet

3. Move stuff back into the basement

4. Install doors and trim in basement
5. Organize the Tubberware cabinet

6. Buy new pots and pans (Paula Dean)

7. Wallpaper master bathroom
8. Paint hallway bathroom and hang up mural
9. Keep the kitchen clean

10. Replace all burnt out light bulbs

11. Organize under the sink in the master bathroom
12. Clean out refrigerator once a month

13. Clean out the pantry

14. Donate old coats/jackets to Project Warmth
15. Organize drawers in kitchen

16. Re-organize red shelf in dining room

17. Clean out storage under stairs
18. Reorganize seasonal decorations (I did this, but still not happy... I want to make this tote rack for the garage)

19. Get new tires (Elantra)

20. Keep car clean for at least a month (clean it first!)
21. Plant trees

Hobbies:
22. Finish wedding scrapbook
23. Make homemade birthday cards
24. Scrapbook for the baby
25. Sew (by myself) baby’s Halloween costume
26. Finish Whit’s stocking

27. Decorate the fireplace mantel

28. Make homemade Christmas gifts
29. Learn to pickle cucumbers
30. Learn to sew a zipper
31. Take a photography class
32. Take a cake decorating class
33. Start and finish baby’s Christmas stocking

Personal Enrichment:

34. Get a new hairstyle

35. Start photography 365

36. Keep a blog

37. Use the library more
38. Send birthday cards to every family member

39. Start/continue to use reusable shopping bags every time

40. Send Christmas treats to families

41. Make a compost pile
42. Make a rain barrel

43. Join a church

44. Frame Whit and Tenessa’s baby pictures and hang them in the hallway
45. Start Master’s Degree
46. Take Level II Orff Training
47. Read Chronicals of Narina

Entertainment:

48. Attend a local festival
49. Go to a pumpkin patch
50. Organize a Progressive Dinner
51. Have a fondue party
52. Go to a wine tasting party
53. Go to the symphony
54. Go on a picnic
55. Take a nature walk with Whit and baby

Baby:
56. Join a “story time” with baby

57. Buy an Air Purifier

58. Make baby food and freeze
59. Cloth diaper at least part time
60. Teach baby sign language

61. Read the Bradley Book

62. Give birth naturally (sort of!)

Music:

63. Learn to play a difficult piece on the piano
64. Practice piano at least once a week
65. Keep better records for piano lessons
66. Start hand bells/chimes at school
67. Log all piano books and put them in order
68. Paint piano drawers

Wellness:

69. Don’t go out to eat for a week
70. Don’t go out to eat for two weeks
71. Don’t go out to eat for a month
72. Drink only one soda a week for at least a month
73. Walk at least three times per week
74. Lose 25 pounds
75. Take trips to the park (when baby is born and weather is nice)
76. Use up all shower gels and lotions before buying new
77. Participate in a Benefits walk

Cooking/Baking:

78. Make a dinner plan for the month
79. Bake a pie from scratch
80. Decorate baby’s 1st Birthday cake
81. Cook less from a box or frozen bag
82. Bake a cake from scratch
83. Use the cookbooks more

84. Use the vegetables from the garden to cook

Financial:

85. Pay off at least two credit cards
86. Pay off at least half of student loan (as of September 2009)
87. Keep a log of gas spending for four months

88. Get all bills automatically taken from bank

89. Start using coupons

90. Sell books on Amazon.com

91. Read Dave Ramsey’s book/information

92. Make a savings plan and stick to it
93. Borrow items from friends and family instead of insisting on buying new

94. Buy a camera

95. Pay off the Yaris
96. Have a yard sale
97. Start an IRA or CD type of savings

Travel:

98. Plan a summer vacation
99. Stay at a Bed and Breakfast
100. Go camping with baby
101. Plan a trick on the Train

This Week's Focus

I'm going to start something new.  Every Monday I will be typing a list of things that I want to focus on during the week.  This can be like a "to-do" list for the entire week.  I also want to start doing Food Waste Friday.  So check back on Friday for a *nasty* picture of my food waste-- and read more about 


November 8-14


In the area of cleanliness:

• Clean the kitchen
• Clean and decorate the kitchen table
• Clean my night stand area
• Finish up laundry
• Put away laundry

In the area of work:

• Make a backdrop for the 3rd grade program
• Go to the store for miscellaneous items
• Make soup for Friday's PLC

In the area taking care of the family (ie wifely duties):

• Pay the bills
• Go to the bank (to deposit the daycare check)
• Drop off my car at the Honda place
• Go Christmas Shopping
• Make a cake for Whit's birthday (on Tuesday)
• Wrap his presents

So there you have it.  Check back to see if any (hopefully all) is accomplished!