Return & Report: My Goals for 2010 Update

One of my goals for this year was to remain accountable for the goals that I had set. I've been participating in To-Do Tuesday, and that has really helped me prioritize and set little "mini goals" as I work to accomplish the wide variety of goals that I set for myself this year. There's just sooooo much that I want to do, and I want to get everything done all at once, but that's next to impossible, especially considering the destruction (uh, that is, construction) work my hubbie is doing in our kitchen. Kind of makes it next to impossible to get organized. But I'm sticking to baby steps for now, doing what I can, a little here, a little there...

• Get organized--

• I've tried focusing on the 730 in 365 Declutter Challenge and managed to throw out a lot of junk, and I've got a box going of stuff to give away or sell. I haven't had a chance to count out how much is in the box, but it's definitely full, and there's plenty that will be going out the door. Not to mention all the stuff that went straight into the garbage.
• I also did some rearranging in the kitchen cabinets--combining the kids' dishes with the adults' dishes, putting dish cloths into a couple wire baskets. I have bought junk drawer organizers for the junk drawers in my china cabinet. But that's as far as I've gotten...I can't actually get into the china cabinet because hubs has it blocked (remain calm...breathe deeply...). I also bought several cute totes to help me organize the kids' room. Again, that's as far as I've been able to get with that. I did manage to put together a family binder, and it's organized by each person, and things we're working on together as a family--garden, food storage, budgeting. It's soooo nice having all those little papers in one location, instead of a pile on the counter, or hiding in the file cabinet. Also, I did create a cleaning schedule on my calendar, to help remind me of chores that need to get done, but I don't always think about or manage to ge accomplished without the constant reminder glaring at me on the calendar.
• Food Storage & 72-hour kits--I've got my lists together, but I really haven't been able to utilize them. 1) the house is a disaster and I don't have the space right now. 2) I need to reorganize my current food storage supply, but can't do that until the kitchen remodel is complete. 3) I came across even more checklists, and I really want to take the time to peruse them and add to my personal lists. I did manage to purchase the Food Storage Made Easy Baby Steps binder. I need to get it printed off, though. That's another goal in & of itself!
• House Remodeling Completion--Hubs moved one of the kitchen cabinets, and I love its new location! He sanded down all the cabinets, painted them all, painted the kitchen walls. Need to get the cabinet doors painted, buy new hardware for the cabinets, lay down tile, replace formica, and if there's money left in the budget, buy a new stove, new microwave, and *fingers crossed* a new dishwasher (one that can be permanently installed, instead of using the portable dishwasher). And that's just the "to do list" for the kitchen!
• Be More Feminine--I can honestly say that I have managed to take just a little more time for me this year. I've worn my make-up nearly every day, and I've managed to wash my face at night nearly every day. Big improvement over the last couple of years!
• Pay Tithes & Offerings--We have been full tithe payers this year, a real faith-builder for us. Lest anyone think I'm bragging, I'll just leave it at that for now.
• Reduce Leftovers--This has definitely been a reality and a plus. I don't like throwing out food, but then again, I'm trying to watch my calorie & fat intake, so I'm trying to make "just enough" for our dinner meals so I don't have a lot of leftovers to use up for my lunch. I like being able to make a simple sandwich now & then, instead of always having a full and heavy lunch using up leftovers.
• Habit of Reading--I've been able to read to the kids nearly every night, which I truly enjoy doing, and I know they love it when I'm able to read to them. I've read several chapters out of a book I'm reading for personal reading, and I've kept up with my Sunday School lessons, too. I was an avid reader growing up, but got out of the habit of reading for pleasure because I was an English major in college and literally had to read ALL THE TIME. Reading for pleasure and reading because you have to in order to make sense in that essay that's due on Friday are totally completely different things. And although reading to the kids is fine & dandy, it's a whole different kind of reading, and besides it's for them, not me. I need to do more for myself, take time out for myself, and so I am turning back to reading as an outlet.
• Redevelop Musical Talent--I did manage to pull the ol' clarinet out of the attic, and tickle the instrument a bit. I definitely am a little squeaky from being out of practice. But it was great playing it, and the kids definitely enjoyed it. I'm storing it in a much better place than the attic was.
• Better Blogging--One of my goals was to have a post every day, and I have done that, even when I was on a scrapbooking retreat. I think a few of the posts have published after 11pm and missed the upload into Feedburner for that day, so those of you receiving this by feed or email may have missed out a day here or there because of it (the blog is supposed to publish to the feed around 11pm, so I have to get the posts published before then in order for the upload to occur).

I guess, looking back on what I've accomplished and comparing it to my list of goals, I have accomplished quite a lot. It's frustrating that there is soooo much more yet to do, and my hands are kind of strapped for now. I'm not bitter or angry at hubs (still breathing deeply and keeping my cool because it could be so easy to cross over to that level). I just wasn't ready for him to jump on the organization bandwagon so soon. I guess you have to make a mess in order to clean it up, right?

For now, I'll keep plugging away, moving forward one baby step at a time.