Reading Goal going strong

I have finished reading my second book, The Door to December by Dean Koontz.  It was interesting, but I did have it figured out about two-thirds of the way through the book.  I couldn't be sure that I was right, but I was to some extent correct in my assumptions. 

If you like Dean Koontz, then this would be a good read for you.  If you are not into odd story lines and ideas that may or may not be true when it comes to science and the human mind and body, then I could not really suggest any Dean Koontz book for you.  That is just the way he writes.  He tries to expand your thinking into what is possible, not what is fact.

So for my reading goal I have 2 books done and 50 to go.

Reading Goal #1

So I finished reading my first book for my goal of 52 books this year.  It is called Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. It is the first book in a series about a woman who travels back 200 years in time.  I did enjoy it for the most part.  There were some parts that were a little bit graphic, but the storyline did keep me interested enough to look past the graphic parts.  I will put the second book on hold at the library. 

I have already started my next book which is a non-fiction book called Scratch Beginnings by Adam Shepard.  When I finish this book, I will add it to my blog and let you know how I liked it. 

Grocery spending

So I went grocery shopping yesterday.  I am going to keep track of everything I spend on household supplies (i.e. paper goods, cleaning supplies), pet supplies, and food. I am going to try and stay under $500 per month, but I hope that as the year goes, I can lower that amount.  I am going to try and list what I buy and how much I spent.  It will be an arduous task, but I am going to try.

So I spent $171.44 at Winco Foods and Target yesterday.  Of that, $27.84 were on pill boxes to keep our vitamins under control and a container so hubby can take his lunch to work with him.  They are one time purchases that will not occur again. 

Now for grocery items:

Cleaning Supplies: $3.24
Meat (fish, chicken and beef): $27.54
Honey (our sweetner of choice): $7.28
Dairy (cheese, yogurt, eggs): $15.97
Canned Goods (broth, beans): $1.78
Nuts (sliced almonds): $.72
Fruits and Vegetables (huge variety): $31.81
Sparkling Cider for New Year's Eve: $1.98
Protein Bars (our huge expense): $53.28

Since one of my/our goals is to eat healthier, I know that adjustments are going to be needed.  The protein bars are for inbetween meal snacks.  I hope to be able to do some research and make our protein bars, but for now I bought them.  The price on them range from $2.50 each down to the ones I bought for $1.48 each.  I did price them at several different stores, so for protein bars (not energy bars or the sugary meal bars) I thought I did pretty well.

On to work on some of my other goals. (Like climb back into a warm bed and read.)

New Year's Resolutions

So it is now December 30, 2010 and just two days away from 2011.  I know that it is said NOT to make resolutions because all you will do is disappoint yourself because you do not keep them.  Well I am going to make goals, knowing that even if I only complete 1/2 of them, that is a 50% success rate.  I am not necessarily happy with only 50%; I mean in school that would be an F, right?  I want an A for sure, but I am also realistic that life happens and we have to adjust our earthly life to fit.  I mean, your life gets sidetracked in many ways and we have to deal with changes that must occur because of those new things.  Sometimes they are just short jaunts to the side and then you are back on your original journey.  Other times, it changes the journey in a whole different direction and you start on a new path for your life.

So I am going to list my goals for the year here and try and keep up my progress.  Some of my goals are items that I just want to see if I can really do it and others are for my spiritual growth and life health.  I know goals must be specific, so I will try my best in that endeavor.

2011 Goals

• Lose 32.2 pounds
• Read 52 books
• Put away 3 months of expenses
• Keep track of all grocery spending
• See how much I can save by keeping all $1 bills and coins in a jar.
• Deposit money bi-weekly
• Keep my house clean using a weekly chore list

Let's see what happens in the new year.

Halloween (NOT!)

So we are doing our normal hiding in the back of the house.  The thing is, no one is even trick or treating.  It is kind of nice that this "holiday" doesn't seem to be that big any more.  Oh, sure there are the parties at different places, but people just don't go door to door much any more. 

So we are sitting here watching game 4 of the World Series.  O.k. I should say that hubby is watching it and I am in the same room.  It is not that I dislike baseball, but I am just not much of a sports fan.  I have spent time watching tennis and gymnastics, but that was because I was involved in those sports because family played.  I will go to an occasional game, but really I could probably live the rest of my life not watching sports.

So tomorrow starts a new month.  I have only gotten to post one other time this month.  I have such good intentions, but life just seems to happen.  This thing is, I notice that when I get busy I tend to forget about doing the important things in my life like my Bible reading, time to pray, and spending time with family. 

This last week our son and I went to Disneyland for the day.  Hubby had a class nearby, so we met him for dinner, stayed over night and drove home the next day while my husband went to class.  It was a nice relaxing day.  I made sandwiches, took chips, and water.  We spent $4 on a frozen lemonade, but that was our expense for the day.  (We have season passes, so the entrance and parking we paid for in September.)  We hope to go again in November with dad along this next time.

November is already starting to fill up with meetings and a planned weekend to visit my sister and mom.  It will be nice to get away from the hectic life going on around here.  I love to be busy, but it does get a little crazy.  Even though I don't work outside the home for pay, there is a lot to running a home on a tight budget, volunteer commitments, and family things that continually come up.

Living simply comes in many flavors I have come to realize.  I have yet to figure out what my simple living is, but I am going to figure it out someday.  I just have to keep trying.

Starting Over AGAIN

I can't believe I totally missed all of September on blogging.  Life just seems to fly by these days.  We have added so much into our weekly schedule.  We are hosting a small group in our home on Mondays and coordinating a Financial Peace class on Tuesdays.  That means every Monday I have to make sure my house is at least in order and the kitchen is clean for our meal together.  Then on Tuesday I have to make sure dinner is ready early so we can take it with us and eat during the video at the class.

Also in my weekly schedule is a women's Bible study on Friday mornings.  We are going through the book of Philippians right now, having just finished up Galatians and Ephesians.

I have also taken on the task of volunteering at church to help with some of the financial computer work.  I do love to work with numbers, so it is a true joy for me to do that kind of work and to be doing it in service to my church and God makes it that much better.  Of course, everything we do should be "as if for the Lord", but I do tend to forget that much of the time.

We are in the process of painting the outside of our home.  It has needed it for some time now.  We have been saving for a while and finally were able to come up with the amount we needed.  I'm not sure what color.  I would probably go with white again, but we may go with a light shade of gray.  We really need to figure it out soon, since a lot of the prep work will be finished next week and the painting to start the following week.

Off to do more work around the house.

Deep Cleaning

So my son and husband left yesterday for a men's retreat in Yosemite.  It is strange in a couple of ways.  First, the fact that my son is actually an adult male that can go on a men's retreat.  Second, that fact that there are no men in the house.  It is not that there are always a male here, but while they may have been out at during the day working or such, they were here at night.

Anyway, with everyone gone, I decided that I should do some cleaning.  I started on my kitchen and cleaned half of my wood cabinets, wiped down counters and backsplash, washed dishes, rearranged things on the walls, and inside some of the cabinets.  I put some caulking stuff in the casement window that I don't open to help with air leaks.  There is so much more that I want to do in there. The problem is I don't have a direction.

So here is a list of things I want to do in there:

• Inventory pantry items
• Clean out all the drawers
• Clean cabinets out and get rid of excess items
• Clean the carpet
• Clean the other half of the cabinets on the outside
• Clean the oven
• Clean the stovetop
• Clean all the windows and window sills
• Put up new items on the walls

For bigger projects:

• Put in new flooring (which would include a hallway, laundry, and bathroom too)
• Paint walls
• Put up new curtains
• Replace windows
• Re-do counter tops
• Refinish cabinets and drawers
• Get a new dishwasher

Each room in my house is the same way.  Having an older home has such charm, but there is so much that needs to be done.  I know just owning a home there are things to be done, but having lived here for 16 years and some of these projects were things we were going to do a year or two after moving in.  Well, I'm really ready to start now.

Tomorrow is church and then in the afternoon I will tackle more of my kitchen.  I plan on wiping down the rest of the cabinets, cleaning the stove and oven, and rearranging what is out on the counters.  It seems like every horizontal surface tends to gather stuff.  The only way to keep this from happening is to get out of the habit of saying I'll put something away later.  I need to just put things away when they come into the house.  If it doesn't have a place then I need to make one or not keep it at all.

My goal is to clean the carpets sometime this next week.  And then start on the office/dining room area.  Wonder if I will actually be able to do it.