What I'm Reading Wednesday

What am I reading today? The same things I was reading last week at this time! :) I haven't sat down to read much so far this week. I have been pretty busy! I have been:

• emptying and cleaning out our laundry room, cupboards and all for starters. 
• I also emptied and cleaned our closet-my husband and I share a closet. It isn't huge, I could stand in it and touch the front and back at the same time, and the length is not much bigger. However, we are just fine with it. It has a few drawers for husband's folded clothes and a few cubbies for things like luggage and sleeping bags. I got rid of a trash bag of clothes/bags I don't use and husband got rid of a bag of clothes, as well; things we just don't wear because of the style or fit.
• Also, we worked on our "junk drawer" in the kitchen, the catch all for miscellaneous stuff-we didn't get rid of the drawer altogether, but it is much emptier. :) 
• I emptied out our front coat/shoe closet, too! We needed to sort out and put away summer shoes, get out boots (I certainly hope we don't need snow boots soon, but it was time to get them out...) I vacuumed the carpet in it since shoe dirt falls there, and organized the shoes as I put them back into the closet. 

So, three big tasks and one small task down. They were tasks I thought wouldn't take too long, but each took longer than expected. All three made me sigh in relief when they were done, and glad I had completed the tasks. We also carved our pumpkins, and I got to go get new running shoes! So, it has been a busy, productive week, thus far. Tomorrow I am planning on getting out my children's books and sorting through my "future classroom" items. I am planning on attempting to put favorite books on either Book Retriever or Book Crawler so I know what I have. I have so many children's books-so many tubs full! I would love to have them sorted and out on bookshelves. Someday I will have a wonderful "Grandma" library at my house that my grandchildren will love to come read/be read to in. :) At least that's my dream someday. :)
I did do some reading yesterday, I almost forgot! I kept a kindergarten age little girl for a neighbor and we headed to the bookstore to pick a few books, read and enjoy. I read to her and loved it. :) We read:

• The Day The Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt. It was the first time I had read it and it was a cute book-would be great to introduce children to, or refresh minds about, writing letters. 
• Tap the Magic Tree by Christie Matheson was a good book to read with someone. I don't foresee it being a good read-aloud classroom book, but it was very cute, also, showing changes in seasons and trees through the seasons. It was also the first time I had read this and I found it sweet and simple.
• Last I read A Turkey For Thanksgiving by Eve Bunting. We have it here at home and I didn't care for the selection of Halloween stories/Fall stories, so we jumped ahead to this cute story about Mr. and Mrs. Moose wanting a turkey for Thanksgiving. Also a heart-warming story. What I really wanted to read was Too Many Pumpkins by Linda White, but they didn't have it. Sadly, I don't have it either, I lent it to a fellow teacher while I was subbing and they kept forgetting it. I never got it back. I will have to re-order it so I have it for my collection.

It has been a fun, busy week! :) I hope yours has been too, Reader!

Finish it Friday-on Saturday check in

Saturday I posted about Friday's "to do" list.
I also forgot to mention that all of our recipes turned out great on Friday night! :)

To the list...
Must Do:
*laundry-aren't totally caught up but made good progress-got the girls to help! :)
*finish housecleaning-some not all (the list isn't looking so good.... ;))
*schoolwork-I have a little grading, a lot of planning and preparation-some but not all
*start my online class-I have begun to read through!
*pick Christmas card photos-no...

Fun:
*watch my favorite sport-or listen to it while I work-love football-check!
*go to my sister-in-law's bag/purse party-check. Got two Christmas gifts for the girls-they were there and picked out what they would like, since we didn't get them new school bags this year, these will work. :)
*go on a 6.6 mile run-no...I got no running in this weekend.
*getting a haircut! -I got my hair chopped! Short short! The girls got to come, too, instead of their "great clips" haircuts, since they were so helpful with getting everything ready for company Friday night.

We went to church and life group on Sunday night, which was nice, and we spent time at my sister in laws on Saturday. I also spent quite a bit of time on American Airlines stuff-remember our lost baggage? We had sent all the pertinent info, talked with them etc. They said they were having all our receipts translated, etc. They got back to us, said they were sorry but we needed to contact the company (that they booked us through...) that lost our bags, so I had to write a new letter, copy more information and assemble the packet to send to France. Fun fun. So that took up quite a bit of time. All in all it was a busy, productive weekend. I just didn't get done everything I had hoped.

Also-first day without Starbucks! :) And I will be off to the dentist soon, too!

I hope you had a productive weekend!

Finish it Friday-on Saturday

We were having friends over last night so cooking, cleaning, and teaching were on my list! We made a beef roast (seasoning, cream of mushroom soup, can of cola, some garlic and onion in the crockpot for most of the day), Ina's Roasted winter vegetables, this apple waldorf salad, and this cheesecake.

Onto my weekend to do list, my Finish it Friday-on Saturday.

Must Do:
*laundry (seems like we're always behind!)
*finish housecleaning
*schoolwork-I have a little grading, a lot of planning and preparation
*start my online class-they have sent me the information, but I wanted time to sit and dig in without interruption and it hasn't happened yet!
*pick Christmas card photos (choosing from the Italy photos, of course ;)), and plan the list of who I mail them to, as well as print out labels. I know, it's November... but I want to get them printing while I'm working! :)

Fun:
*watch my favorite sport-or listen to it while I work-love football
*go to my sister-in-law's bag/purse party-I love sturdy, pretty bags that I can transport school items in, and this company has a few I'd like. I thought about skipping out on it-see list above-but it will be fun.
*go on a 6.6 mile run-I have a route that has a few hills, but I feel terrific when I finish, so I'm hoping to tackle that this weekend, too.
*getting a haircut! I am in the "I like it a little longer" vs "I always like it short and I want a haircut/change" phase. Torn between them. I'm not sure what I will go with.


I think that's all for today. I hope all was wonderful this week-and its events left you smiling! :)

Finish It Friday!

Yes, these posts on Creative Organizing always inspire me to post what I'd like to finish over the weekend. It makes me feel accountable, and hopefully, even though I'm not feeling like myself, yet, get more accomplished and feel ready to start the week!

Finish It Friday

To Finish:
*Laundry-we haven't done much this week and are way behind. Need to get caught up!
*House cleaning-always a weekend task around here, and feels so good when it's done!
*Resume and cover letter work-I've been updating and met with a friend of mine to make changes. Now, onto finishing the changes and where I send them, etc. I also need to update my online resumes.
*A long run, if I feel better. I ran yesterday and ended up feeling worse for the wear instead of better (which is usually the case with just a head cold, I run, I clear out my head and feel better...)
*Paperwork-my office desk has gotten very messy. I need to work on our paper files, also.

Play List:
*scrapbook! I have a few projects in the works, as well as Project Life, and a gift I'm making!
*read-my two new books are calling for me to get back to reading! :)
*fiddle with my phone-I got a new phone since mine was down again and the warranty didn't cover it so we got a new one instead of paying for repairs on a phone that would likely break again soon. No wonder that model has been discontinued! I'd like to figure a few things out with it, besides the basics.
*Watch basketball-college basketball: "March Madness" is one of my favorite sports/seasons. I'm excited to be watching things unfold this weekend!
*Work on reading about/listening to podcasts about Italy! We're going to be making a family trip to Italy and have begun the planning process. I am excited to do more research! :)


I have listed ten things... we'll see if they get accomplished. There are many more things I'd like to have on my lists, just to try to get it all done, but I feel like this is a realistic list. :) What do you have planned for the weekend ahead? I hope you are healthy, Dear Reader! :)

Weekend Plans and past

It's another Saturday. The holidays have begun to arrive. We had Thanksgiving break/holiday, here. We went to see my family in another state on Wednesday morning and came home late Thursday night. My girls and I got up at 4:30 am to shop on Friday. Found lots of people and a few ok deals, but nothing awesome. :) I went with a list in mind and things in particular to look for. I found some of them and found some of them all bought up this year. Then we went to my husband's parents' for breakfast at 9, did a little more shopping (at the places that weren't open yet at 5!) then home to get out Christmas decorations. Today we went to my sister-in-law's to watch a college football game. My team won so I was delighted. :) Great way to end our regular season. :) We headed home, I wrapped the first few presents of the season, and then I sat down at my computer to pay bills and blog. :) Tomorrow we go on our annual tree cutting adventure. My husband's whole family is coming, even his sis and her new beau. :) YEAH! :) I don't know who is more excited, my mother-in-law or myself. :)

I have a finish it friday list and I have tackled almost everything on it:
*pay bills-check! :)
*tackle papers (magazine subscription gift renewals for Christmas gifts among them-check!)
*laundry (will this task ever go away? ;))
*clean house
*catch up on school documents, I worked on this some, on our drive to see my family. I don't have a lot to do, it's just time consuming with lots of documents open
*Christmas card letter-we all did a paragraph this year and I need my husband to do his part so I can input it and print them to get the cards out this week. :)

play:
*scrapbook-will I get to it this week? :)
*read-haven't picked up my book since last weekend. Have a new book of the Bible for lifegroup to be working on, too, which is Ecclesiastes.
*cut and decorate tree :) All the other decorations are up!
*run-I haven't ran in a week! I did eat a healthy Thanksgiving meal, though! Uh-oh! :)
*Work on a blog topic list-I have a few ideas, but need more-so I don't just sit down and type up my to-do list! :)

How is your weekend progressing? Anything wonderful or fretful happening in your life? I hope all is positive and well with you, Reader.

Monday Morning Minutes

Time to check in on my Finish it Friday checklist! :) I really worked hard at the list, since I knew I had to check in, here! :))

To-Do:
*catch up on laundry-Got all but a couple blankets and one set of sheets done. We are all caught up on clothes except for what we wore yesterday and today! :)
*pick up dry cleaning-I have to say I forgot about this on Saturday until they had closed and they weren't open on Sunday, however, I picked them up this afternoon! :)
*Schoolwork- I did some documentation for teachers, but did not fill in my timecard
*desk folders-I didn't finish this... still sitting here next to me
*purge something/some room. I went through some tubs in the basement crawl space, had the girls go through toys in the basement and went through the Thanksgiving and Halloween decorations as I put them back in to the crawl space. We took a van load of things to the charity where we give things away this afternoon!
*Another thing I added was to put stamps and return address labels on all of my Christmas card envelopes. I finished that. I still have to write up the letter, check recipient addresses, and get them finished, but I made a few steps. :))

Fun:
*Run in the fundraiser 5K race for my daughter's cross country team-both girls and I went and helped set up at 7am on Saturday and cleaned up after we each ran. It was so nice! :) After donations were in, there will be $4000 in groceries donated to the local food bank! :)
*scrapbook something-:( my first sad face in the post. I didn't do this yet...
*spend 10-30 minutes in iphoto organizing good photos and purging bad photos-I did spend almost 20 minutes working on this, and am looking forward to doing it again soon. :)
*clean out emails by replying to friends/family-I did clean out my emails from my inbox-there were 168 total and now there are 50, after replies, deletions and emails I unsubscribed to (more purging! :)) I also caught up on most, not all, of the wonderful blogs I read. I even commented on some! :)
*Start reading a book-I finished reading Philippians for our life group meeting, and started rereading the second book in the Mitford series. I have loved this book since I was about halfway through the first book. I don't mind rereading them, and it's been such a long time since I read them. So, I started the second book. :)

That's all for today's post. Hoping to keep posting more often... but we are entering the holidays... :) Take care, Reader. :)
How did you do on your weekend to-do list? :)

Finish It Friday!

On a blog, Simplify 101, the author talks about Finish It Fridays. I may have referenced it already, but it is still a nice idea. She checks in on Fridays with her "to-do" lists, play and chores. Then she checks in on Monday and lets the readers know what has been accomplished. It's a nice way to hold myself accountable, I think, so I have made a Finish it Friday post.

To-Do:
*catch up on laundry-no major weekend plans, so I have time to finally catch up! (general cleaning of the house, too...)
*pick up dry cleaning-I have two pairs of pants that were ready last Saturday but I keep forgetting to stop, until they're closed for the day.
*Schoolwork- I have some documentation for teachers that I wrote by hand, which I need to type up, and I have to fill in my timecard
*desk folders-I have folders I have been putting papers in "to-do-later" and later is this weekend.
*purge something/some room. I worked on my closet last weekend, hanging all the clothes with the hangers backwards, as I use them I put them back with the hangers the correct way and then, if by spring break, I haven't worn them, they go to a charity. :) It was a nice feeling. (What was not so nice was the clothes that don't fit anymore due to potato chip weight...)

Fun:
*Run in the fundraiser 5K race for my daughter's cross country team-both girls and I are doing it tomorrow morning. I picked up our bib numbers last night. :)
*scrapbook something-anything! I have been wanting to, but haven't given myself permission to, but now that it's on my list, I have to. :))
*spend 10-30 minutes in iphoto organizing good photos and purging bad photos-yep, that's fun for me. :)
*clean out emails by replying to friends/family-I also enjoy this (regular readers know I have always loved to send cards, letters, etc, but have gotten shorter on time and fallen off-and send out some cards
*Start reading a book-been in the mood to read, my brain has been craving it, actually, but I have found other things to do (see scrapbooking above!)

So, it's "penciled in" and "down on paper". Fingers crossed it all gets done! :)) What's on your Finish it Friday list?