To Do Tuesday: Week 13 and Return & Report 2010 Goals Update

Somehow, someway, I managed to survive last week. It was a crazy week, but I had the most relaxing weekend that I've had in a long, long time. I got to spend a most of Saturday & Sunday sitting in our garden, digging into the cool soil, pulling up grass roots, weeds, and tree roots. Of all things to enjoy! My husband tried helping me Sunday evening, and he pretty much gave up out of sheer boredom within the first 15 minutes. Me? I loved every single minute of it. It was just too relaxing, and I could really enjoy & appreciate our Heavenly Father's creations, while looking forward to the creating we'll be doing as we plant more seeds & transplants in our now tripled-in-size garden.

This week will be just as busy as last week, but I definitely feel refreshed and able to meet this week's challenges without the stress & anxiety that I had last week. I guess that's what a 3-day weekend will do for you!

I'm combining this week's "To Do List" with an update on my goals for 2010. Just a quick update. I could easily write an entire novel, but I don't want to put anyone to sleep! lol

This week, I'll need to:

• √Announce 1-year Blogoversary AND Giveaway!! Have you entered the giveaway for a $10 Target gift card? You've got plenty of time, but don't delay! Giveaway ends at 11pm on Monday 4/11/10.
• √Order son's birthday cake. His party is at a roller skating rink, and the invitations were camouflage colors. So he picked out a camouflage-colored cake with a roller skate on the top. Interesting combination, if you ask me. At least he's creative! In years past, my mother-in-law has decorated the cake, although I did do it one year. But since you can only turn 6 once, and since we've splurged on a party at the skating rink, I thought we'd have the local pastry shop do the cake this year. I know the Little Man is gonna love it!
• Make necklaces & bracelets with Little Miss. She got a bead kit for Easter from her grandparents, and it's all she can talk about now.
• √Attend Young Women's Presidency meeting & activity. The Y.W. program is for the adolescent girls at church, and I've been serving in one of the leadership rolls since the beginning of the year. These girls definitely help remind me of what it's like to be a teenager--last week the big topic that kept coming up was prom!
• Take dog to the pound. This dog has just gone loopy. She's always been great with the kids, very loving, mostly obedient. But lately things have changed. Maybe it's her age. We were having a lot of stray cats come into our yard for about a month. The dog figured out how to jump our fence, attack, and kill every cat that she's come across. She has even developed a "taste" for dead cat. It sickens me, and I do not like my kids seeing the dog behave this way. The dog is tearing up the fence, and my husband has repaired the fence on several occasions. He's even got an electric fence up, and the dog still breaks through that. Today, the dog escaped again and trampled the corn transplants in the process. It was the last straw. The dog has got to go. Sadly, my husband just can't bring himself to take the dog to the animal shelter as I asked him, so of course the job will be left up to me to complete.
• √Buy birthday presents for my son, wrap them & hide them (he'll bug me about wanting to open them if I don't).
• √Wish my not-a-baby-anymore firstborn a Happy 6th Birthday! He's growing up on me!

As for my goals for this year:

These goals are definitely a "work in progress." I made some pretty lofty goals, and I knew that they wouldn't happen over night. But when I evaluate them, I see that I am making some progress. Slow going, but progress nonetheless.

• Organize, organize, organize--this has been quite a challenge for me! My husband has been unemployed for over a year now (the economy was hit really hard where we live), so he's home all day every day, as well as the kids when they're not in school. If I clean up the house before going to bed at night, it's a guarantee that it will look like a tornado zone when I come home from work the next day. I can't win, so for now, I give up. Plus, the kitchen remodel has come to a grinding halt due to lack of fundage, and other projects that have become a priority, and I feel like reorganizing the kitchen is pointless at least until my husband builds the last cabinet and puts down new Formica. The kids' room is a complete disaster, but I'm just too swamped to attack it for now. I really need a good 8 hours of no interruptions, no distractions, which means I'll need to take a day of vacation, or find a Saturday when I can kick the kids & the hubs out the door and leave the bedroom all to myself. So for now, I'll just have to put this goal on temporary "hold."
• I am, however, pitching as I go, hence the link to the March Clutter Update at Amy's Finer Things. I've got 2 huge boxes packed to overflowing with items that are going out the door and into Good Will--woohoo! I just need to get them into the car and off our property! haha
• Fit & Trim -- I have managed to work out a few times over the past few weeks. Not as often as I'd like, but definitely an improvement. Hubs and I bought an exercise bike as an anniversary present to each other, and so far it hasn't been collecting dust. My husband exercises at least every other night, and he's managed to lose 5 lbs! I haven't had the luxury of exercising on the bike as often, but I am eating even healthier than I had been, and cutting back more on my portion sizes. Working in the garden for about 15 hours this past weekend definitely worked the muscles! Strangely, though, I've actually gained about 3 pounds!? Muscle does weigh more than fat, right? That's my story and I'm sticking to it!
• Reduce Leftovers -- Definitely doing great here! Our meals are smaller in size, not that were eating more food at dinner time in order to avoid leftovers. I haven't had any leftovers to take to work in over a week! Don't get me wrong, I love leftovers. But in my quest for being fit & trim, I need to reduce my caloric & fat intake. When I don't have leftovers, I stick to simple sandwiches, grapefruit, or a small soup for my lunch at work.
• Better Blogging -- I think I've done a pretty good job here, especially considering that I'm not able to dedicate the time to blogging like I was able to a year ago. My employer is now requiring 9-hour work days as a requirement of the job. It seems like there's always something going on with the family, so there isn't a lot of free time in the evenings. Plus, I've got all these goals to work on, too! :) The good news is that I've been able to do a post nearly every day every week, and when I know that I'll be tied up in the evening, I've been able to get several posts done in advance. I've been able to do some new series, like my Better Breakfast and Spectacular Sides posts. I'm not exactly where I'd like to be, i.e. a set schedule for each series, but I am definitely better than I was when I started the blog.

How about you? What's on your To Do List? How are your goals going for 2010?

This post linked to To-Do Tuesday Week 58 at Crazy Adventures in Parenting and Amy's Finer Things!