The to-do with To Do lists....

So, I suddenly had a thought today, "I wonder how long I have left to complete that To Do list I posted on her, way back when.  Seems the deadline passed 2 weeks ago, so lets see how I did shall we? (cough, not that well!!)

 

First off, there were 55 things, rather than 50.  And its been 516 days...

 

That should average out at one thing off the list every 9.38 days (thank you trusty calculator!)

 

The list is reposted below and frankly is a sad testament to the ways 'life' gets in the way of, well, 'life'!

 

Red = not done

Orange = started and abandoned half way for no reason other than I am a lazy arse, frantically busy working mom of 2....

Green = done

 

 

By my calculations, they add up to the following

 

Red = 27 (49%)

Orange = 15 (27%)

Green = 13 (24%)

 

So I did only a quarter of things on the list, but I did get another quarter underway.  Half have gone untouched and I notice that most of them are to do with eating habits and fitness (old habits die hard I suppose).

 

Most of the items related to the kids though, are either started or done, as are many of the things around the home.

 

So, I suppose this highlights that I spend more time and energy on my family, kids and home, and less time on me and my health.  Good in some ways. bad in others.

 

So lets see.... it's September 25 today, my 8th wedding anniversary tomorrow, so lets have the anniversary as the new start date and New Years Eve as the end date.  Gives me 97 days to see how many more I can either get underway or completed.

 

Here's hoping....

 

 

 

50 Things to Do in 500 Days
Start: April 27th, 2011
Finish: September 7th, 2012

Projects
1. Paint Dining Table and Chairs
2. Sew and repair all items in the sewing basket that have now been waiting over a year!
3. Paint Playroom with Mural
4. Scan old photos and put some on Facebook
5. Put all photos into new albums and only keep the good ones!
6. Finish embroidery on Sparks bag for Freyja
7. Make personalised crossstitch item for both girls in time for Christmas 2011 FAIL!!!!

Kids

8. Finish Baby Book for Freyja (now 6 years old)

9. Get Baby Book up to date for Rosie
10. Create Family Tree for kids
11. Finish 1st Year Photos for Rosie
12. Make a Fairy house for the girls in the garden
13. Spend a Mom day with Freyja getting hair done / Nails done without baby coming too.
14. Volunteer for a day (maybe Thanksgiving) with Freyja to teach her how fortunate she is.

Health & Fitness

15. Get weight down below 170 lbs (Was over 200 when I went in to have Rosie)
16. Run a 5K - Signed up for May 8th!

17. Run a 10K - August or November depending on how long it takes to get fitness level up.18. Incorporate fruit or vegetables into Lunch and Dinner every day for 2 weeks to get into the habit - hopefully then I'll keep doing it.

19. Don't eat chocolate or ice cream for a month (now this one will be hard!)

20. Get up to running 2 km instead of just walking and alternate running and walking up to 10km

21. Take a Belly Dancing or Pole Dancing class

Family

22. Go on a family vacation (at least twice/yr.)

23. Take a spontaneous weekend trip to somewhere close
24. Get family pictures taken

25. Go on a picnic.
26. Go on a nature trail with kids.

Personal

27. Write in Blog at least once a week.

28. Put together a photo collage for both sets of parents and my grandparents of me, DH and the girls
29. Write a letter to my Dad (He's been waiting a long time for this)
30. Write a short childrens story for the girls
31. Finish reading "Pride & Prejudice & Zombies"
32. Finish the Dragon crossstitch I started when I was 19 (I am now 35 and it will only take a few hours to finish)
33. Get dragon cross stitch framed and put up with pride of place.
34. Take a cooking or painting class.
35. Make a will and set up what would happen to kids in W.C.S.
36. Write a letter or make a video for kids for them to have of me if anything happened.

Finance

37. Save some money for a visit back to the UK next year.

38. Save to RESP's for girls (Now set up finally!)

39. Set up RRSP's for me and DH.

Home & Organization
40. Clean oven every 2 weeks so it doesn't get so horrible

41. Set up Chore Chart for me, DH and Freyja so everyone does something to keep on top of things
42. Organize Playroom
43. Organize Office Space and get rid of stuff that really is not needed
44. Organize closet and get rid of big clothes so I can't 'grow' back into them.
45. Go through memory boxes and condense them down before they take over the house.
46. Have a Garden Chore chart for the summer / fall
47. Plant seeds for flowers and veggies and grow garden with Freyja
48. Go through house and get rid of EVERYTHING we don't use - if you don't ever use it, you don't need it!

Food

49. Get a Box freezer for the basement

50. Create a 2 week meal planner and use it to shop and cook
51. Create a batch of freezer meals
52. Use herbs and veggies from our own garden and MAKE SURE THEY DON"T DIE!

53. Cut out as much processed food as possible

54. Retrain Freyja to eat without the use of Alphagetti, Chicken Nuggets or Ketchup (again this one may prove impossible)

55. Cook a new recipe each week from one of the many cook books we have.

Holy Brrrr Batman!! It's cold out there!

In the 5 weeks or so since my last post (I know, I know, I'm crap aren't I!!) it has changed from sunny days at the waterpark to chill winds and autumn colours.  Yes, it is officially Autumn / Fall in Calgary.

My tree looked beautiful yesterday morning, all reds, golds and oranges. 

By last night, it was naked, almost embarrassed looking!  My fake cobwebs, lovingly and perfectly draped by Freyja about the tree and shrubbery acted as a magnet to all the falling leaves and now look like some abstract art installation piece - not exactly scary for Halloween.

And what has happened in the last 5 weeks you may ask!  Well, on a global scale, much of the same, economic crisis, political crisis and still no apparent world peace (much to the upset of Beauty Queens everywhere) but on a more personal scale, quite a lot has occurred.

     Firstly, we had a return to school by my eldest daughter.  This was quite momentous for us, as she had her Kindergarten year in a different school doing French immersion, and it wasn't really working out as we had hoped.  This year, she is attending a school just 5 minutes walk from our house, and the dayhome we use is just over the school field, so in the morning I drop Freyja and Rosie at the dayhome, with the fabulous Margie who they both love, and then Freyja walks across to the school with another of the dayhome kids.  Her dayhome friend, N,  also has a little brother, D,  at the dayhome who stays there with Rosie through the day.

The change has been great.  Last year, she would come home from school and not remember a thing she had done all day - this year you can't shut her up about what she has done / learned.  Last year she didn't really like her teacher, this year her new teacher is the best in the world (Thank you Mrs V!)  and her reading skills are just coming on in leaps and bounds, as is her confidence and her ability to make new friends.

She went back to Sparks too, and joined Musical Theatre classes.  As a bonus, one of her Sparks friends is in her Grade 1 class and her Musical Theatre class.  They are now great buddies and all set for a sleep over at our house this weekend.

Talking of sleepovers and Sparks, Freyja and I are off to the Mother/Daughter camp in 10 days!  Lee is having Rosie at home, and it will be his first time overnight with her - actually right through the weekend!  She is such a mamma's girl and forever pushing away Lee, so I think this weekend is going to be just what we all need.  Rosie needs some time with Daddy so she can realise that he can kiss those booboo's better too, and Daddy needs to have Rosie time, poor thing hasn't had much of a look in so far.

The other thing about the sleepover is that Freyja will get my attention for 2 whole days with no baby sister to interrupt.  Her behaviour with me (and only me) has been getting progressively worse and its pretty much all down to jealousy I think.  This weekend is going to be a big help to that I hope.

My other big thing is that I am now officially an Avon lady!  I have been wanting to start my own business in some way for a long time but didn't have the money to do it.  Avon allows me to try it out and see if I can juggle two kids, activities and a full time job, and still get my chores done as well as the business.  So far, the Avon is doing OK, as I build up my customer base, but the chores are falling by the wayside.  Lee is doing his share and more and I feel like I am getting nothing done and am spreading myself just a little too thin.  Other mothers manage all this, so why can't I???  I am hoping that with a bit of practice, it will all come together, as any extra money I make would be very helpful (I need to pay for my citizenship application!) but if it ends up being too much, I know what has to give.

Today is the financial year end at work, normally my busiest day of the year, but rather than leaving it to the last minute as usual, this year we have been more proactive and the counting has been done over and over this last month, to the point where pretty much all discrepancies were cleared up.  As a consequence, I am sitting here at work with nothing better to do than balance the payroll hours, and update this blog......  I am getting fidgety though - there has to be something to correct surely!!

Last night was Freyja's first school dance (for Halloween - now only a few days away), and she also lost her first (and second) tooth this month.  Her adult ones are in already - no unsightly gaps for her (apart from the gap she has had since she knocked the top tooth out a week before her third birthday!!  That will be a gap for a good time yet apparently!) 

This has all been about Freyja, so what about Rosie......

She changes so much ever day, it's easy not to even notice, until one day you look and your baby isn't a baby any more.

She's 18 months old, and although she still isn't really talking (just 3 or 4 words that you have to already know what she's saying to understand) she sure understands us.  Give her some instructions and away she goes (maybe her big sister could learn some pointers there!)  She's bright and inquisitive and becoming very independent.

I'm not allowed to even try to feed her any more, if it can't be eaten independently, the it won't be eaten.

And she's all for trying out new things - in the manner of all children, sometimes the box is better than the toy that came in it too!

She loves anything and everything Dora, and will scream herself hoarse from the moment she is strapped in the van until the moment I start the engine so the DVD player comes on... Dora, Dora, Dora the Explorer..... Boots and super cool Explorer Dora!!

But most of all, she loves her sister.  Freyja doesn't yet understand how much, but my little independent girl is trying so hard to be just like my big little independent girl.  They are so alike in so many ways, and yet, at the same time, so individual. 


Oh, and one last thing has happened since my last post....

I completed the Run for the Cure.  5km in just under 45 minutes.  I was very proud to reach my goal, and even prouder to have taken part and have my family there to cheer me on, so here are a few pictures of that to finish off!

 

Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation

Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation CIBC Run for the Cure:

Well, in less than 2 weeks, I am doing the 5KM Run for the Cure.

At my current state of (un)fitness, I am hoping to do it in around 40 minutes and expecting it will really take around 50 minutes.

I did a little practice 3km walk/run on my lunch break today and managed it in just 38.5 minutes. At the same rate of speed, I would do a 5km in just shy of 47 minutes, so hopefully I will be able to shave off those 7 minutes.

I have been doing Boot Camp classes to help get my fitness up and as I am still alive despite the pain, nausea and need to cough up a lung, I can only assume it is working.

Here's hoping this weeks boot camp and lunch time walks will get me that teeny bit faster so I can reach my goal!

Update on the TO DO list...

I could probably be doing a bit better on this so maybe looking at this may spur me on...

Projects
1. Paint Dining Table and Chairs
2. Sew and repair all items in the sewing basket that have now been waiting over a year!
3. Paint Playroom with Mural
4. Scan old photos and put some on Facebook (started this one, but we have several hundred photos, so this could take some time!)
5. Put all photos into new albums and only keep the good ones! Started on this too but have so many photos I think it will take the full 500 days!!
6. Finish embroidery on Sparks bag for Freyja - DONE!!  Yay!
7. Make personalised crossstitch item for both girls in time for christmas 2011  their next birthdays - amended this one as I have decided what to make them and would rather personalise them for their birthday gift.

Kids

8. Finish Baby Book for Freyja (now 6 years old)

9. Get Baby Book up to date for Rosie

10. Create Family Tree for kids - DONE but ongoing as we find out more info.

11. Finish 1st Year Photos for Rosie

12. Make a Fairy house for the girls in the garden

13. Spend a Mom day with Freyja getting hair done / Nails done without baby coming too. We did spend a day, just us at the Childrens Festival, but I think I'll keep this on the list to have a real girlie day.
14. Volunteer for a day (maybe Thanksgiving) with Freyja to teach her how fortunate she is.

Health & Fitness

15. Get weight down below 170 lbs (Was over 200 when I went in to have Rosie)  - OH DEAR!!!
16. Run a 5K - Signed up for May 8th! - DONE!

17. Run a 10K - August or November depending on how long it takes to get fitness level up.
18. Incorporate fruit or vegetables into Lunch and Dinner every day for 2 weeks to get into the habit - hopefully then I'll keep doing it.

19. Don't eat chocolate or ice cream for a month (now this one will be hard!)

20. Get up to running 2 km instead of just walking and alternate running and walking up to 10km

21. Take a Belly Dancing or Pole Dancing class

Family

22. Go on a family vacation (at least twice/yr.)

23. Take a spontaneous weekend trip to somewhere close - We went camping with the people from work for a weekend and are off in a couple of weeks for another camping trip.
24. Get family pictures taken

25. Go on a picnic. We did this with our trip out to Johnson Lake near Banff
26. Go on a nature trail with kids.

Personal

27. Write in Blog at least once a week. Trying hard to do this now

28. Put together a photo collage for both sets of parents and my grandparents of me, DH and the girls
29. Write a letter to my Dad (He's been waiting a long time for this) Done!!!! Yay - only took 4 years!!

30. Write a short childrens story for the girls

31. Finish reading "Pride & Prejudice & Zombies"  DONE!
32. Finish the Dragon crossstitch I started when I was 19 (I am now 36 and it will only take a few hours to finish)
33. Get dragon cross stitch framed and put up with pride of place.

34. Take a cooking or painting class.

35. Make a will and set up what would happen to kids in W.C.S. - Underway

36. Write a letter or make a video for kids for them to have of me if anything happened.

Finance

37. Save some money for a visit back to the UK next year.

38. Save to RESP's for girls (Now set up finally!) I suppose I can consider this done as they are now set up and the saving has begun - just need to up the amount next year when we have a bit more cash on hand.

39. Set up RRSP's for me and DH.
 

Home & Organization
40. Clean oven every 2 weeks so it doesn't get so horrible

41. Set up Chore Chart for me, DH and Freyja so everyone does something to keep on top of things

42. Organize Playroom Done

43. Organize Office Space and get rid of stuff that really is not needed

44. Organize closet and get rid of big clothes so I can't 'grow' back into them. Done some but still have a few more things to get rid of

45. Go through memory boxes and condense them down before they take over the house.

46. Have a Garden Chore chart for the summer / fall
47. Plant seeds for flowers and veggies and grow garden with Freyja

48. Go through house and get rid of EVERYTHING we don't use - if you don't ever use it, you don't need it!

Food

49. Get a Box freezer for the basement

50. Create a 2 week meal planner and use it to shop and cook
51. Create a batch of freezer meals
52. Use herbs and veggies from our own garden and MAKE SURE THEY DON"T DIE!

53. Cut out as much processed food as possible

54. Retrain Freyja to eat without the use of Alphagetti, Chicken Nuggets or Ketchup (again this one may prove impossible)

55. Cook a new recipe each week from one of the many cook books we have.

So how is that To Do list coming along???

Well it is a full month since I made my list, and the first thing I have realised is that it is not a list of 50 things, its 55 things.  Maybe I should add number 56.  Learn to count....

And so, I am going to cut and paste this to the top at the beginning of every month so I can log what I have actually done and not forget about it.

So here we have the updates for month # 1 - Not too bad if I say so myself.

Projects
1. Paint Dining Table and Chairs
2. Sew and repair all items in the sewing basket that have now been waiting over a year!
3. Paint Playroom with Mural
4. Scan old photos and put some on Facebook
5. Put all photos into new albums and only keep the good ones!  Started on this but have so many photos I think it will take the full 500 days!!
6. Finish embroidery on Sparks bag for Freyja
7. Make personalised crossstitch item for both girls in time for christmas 2011

Kids

8. Finish Baby Book for Freyja (now 6 years old)

9. Get Baby Book up to date for Rosie

10. Create Family Tree for kids

11. Finish 1st Year Photos for Rosie

12. Make a Fairy house for the girls in the garden

13. Spend a Mom day with Freyja getting hair done / Nails done without baby coming too.  We did spend a day, just us at the Childrens Festival, but I think I'll keep this on the list to have a real girlie day.
14. Volunteer for a day (maybe Thanksgiving) with Freyja to teach her how fortunate she is.

Health & Fitness

15. Get weight down below 170 lbs (Was over 200 when I went in to have Rosie)

16. Run a 5K - Signed up for May 8th! Well, didn't run exactly, walked it with hubbie.  He pulled F.H. in the wagon and I pushed L.R. in the stroller.  Because of that we had to be in the stroller bit and its difficult to pick up much speed there.  Did it in an hour though so not too bad considering.

17. Run a 10K - August or November depending on how long it takes to get fitness level up.
18. Incorporate fruit or vegetables into Lunch and Dinner every day for 2 weeks to get into the habit - hopefully then I'll keep doing it. 

19. Don't eat chocolate or ice cream for a month (now this one will be hard!)

20. Get up to running 2 km instead of just walking and alternate running and walking up to 10km

21. Take a Belly Dancing or Pole Dancing class

Family

22. Go on a family vacation (at least twice/yr.)

23. Take a spontaneous weekend trip to somewhere close
24. Get family pictures taken

25. Go on a picnic.   We did this with our trip out to Johnson Lake near Banff.
26. Go on a nature trail with kids.

Personal

27. Write in Blog at least once a week.  Trying hard to do this now

28. Put together a photo collage for both sets of parents and my grandparents of me, DH and the girls
29. Write a letter to my Dad (He's been waiting a long time for this)  Done!!!!  Yay - only took 4 years!!

30. Write a short childrens story for the girls

31. Finish reading "Pride & Prejudice & Zombies"  Still reading
32. Finish the Dragon crossstitch I started when I was 19 (I am now 35 and it will only take a few hours to finish)
33. Get dragon cross stitch framed and put up with pride of place.

34. Take a cooking or painting class.

35. Make a will and set up what would happen to kids in W.C.S.

36. Write a letter or make a video for kids for them to have of me if anything happened.

Finance

37. Save some money for a visit back to the UK next year.

38. Save to RESP's for girls (Now set up finally!)  I suppose I can consider this done as they are now set up and the saving has begun - just need to up the amount next year when we have a bit more cash on hand.

39. Set up RRSP's for me and DH.
 

Home & Organization
40. Clean oven every 2 weeks so it doesn't get so horrible

41. Set up Chore Chart for me, DH and Freyja so everyone does something to keep on top of things

42. Organize Playroom  Done

43. Organize Office Space and get rid of stuff that really is not needed

44. Organize closet and get rid of big clothes so I can't 'grow' back into them.  Done some but still have a few more things to get rid of

45. Go through memory boxes and condense them down before they take over the house.

46. Have a Garden Chore chart for the summer / fall
47. Plant seeds for flowers and veggies and grow garden with Freyja

48. Go through house and get rid of EVERYTHING we don't use  - if you don't ever use it, you don't need it!

Food

49. Get a Box freezer for the basement

50. Create a 2 week meal planner and use it to shop and cook
51. Create a batch of freezer meals
52. Use herbs and veggies from our own garden and MAKE SURE THEY DON"T DIE!

53. Cut out as much processed food as possible

54. Retrain Freyja to eat without the use of Alphagetti, Chicken Nuggets or Ketchup (again this one may prove impossible)

55. Cook a new recipe each week from one of the many cook books we have.

A To Do list for living....

Well, this is an idea I got from a couple of the blogs I happened across. It is really a good way to stop the usual day to day repetativeness and focus on some of the stuff you REALLY want to do in your daily life and its always nice to see things actually getting ticked off the list - it gives you a certain sense of accomplishment I'll come back to this post and edit them as I finish them. I broke them out into categories (copying off the post I found) and it seems to make it a bit less of a daunting list somehow.


So,here they are:

50 Things to Do in 500 Days
Start: April 27th, 2011
Finish: September 7th, 2012

Projects
1. Paint Dining Table and Chairs
2. Sew and repair all items in the sewing basket that have now been waiting over a year!
3. Paint Playroom with Mural
4. Scan old photos and put some on Facebook
5. Put all photos into new albums and only keep the good ones!
6. Finish embroidery on Sparks bag for Freyja
7. Make personalised crossstitch item for both girls in time for christmas 2011

Kids

8. Finish Baby Book for Freyja (now 6 years old)

9. Get Baby Book up to date for Rosie

10. Create Family Tree for kids

11. Finish 1st Year Photos for Rosie

12. Make a Fairy house for the girls in the garden

13. Spend a Mom day with Freyja getting hair done / Nails done without baby coming too.
14. Volunteer for a day (maybe Thanksgiving) with Freyja to teach her how fortunate she is.

Health & Fitness

15. Get weight down below 170 lbs (Was over 200 when I went in to have Rosie)
16. Run a 5K - Signed up for May 8th!

17. Run a 10K - August or November depending on how long it takes to get fitness level up.
18. Incorporate fruit or vegetables into Lunch and Dinner every day for 2 weeks to get into the habit - hopefully then I'll keep doing it. 

19. Don't eat chocolate or ice cream for a month (now this one will be hard!)

20. Get up to running 2 km instead of just walking and alternate running and walking up to 10km

21. Take a Belly Dancing or Pole Dancing class

Family

22. Go on a family vacation (at least twice/yr.)

23. Take a spontaneous weekend trip to somewhere close
24. Get family pictures taken

25. Go on a picnic.
26. Go on a nature trail with kids.

Personal

27. Write in Blog at least once a week.

28. Put together a photo collage for both sets of parents and my grandparents of me, DH and the girls
29. Write a letter to my Dad (He's been waiting a long time for this)

30. Write a short childrens story for the girls

31. Finish reading "Pride & Prejudice & Zombies"
32. Finish the Dragon crossstitch I started when I was 19 (I am now 35 and it will only take a few hours to finish)
33. Get dragon cross stitch framed and put up with pride of place.

34. Take a cooking or painting class.

35. Make a will and set up what would happen to kids in W.C.S.

36. Write a letter or make a video for kids for them to have of me if anything happened.

Finance

37. Save some money for a visit back to the UK next year.

38. Save to RESP's for girls (Now set up finally!)

39. Set up RRSP's for me and DH.
 

Home & Organization
40. Clean oven every 2 weeks so it doesn't get so horrible

41. Set up Chore Chart for me, DH and Freyja so everyone does something to keep on top of things

42. Organize Playroom

43. Organize Office Space and get rid of stuff that really is not needed

44. Organize closet and get rid of big clothes so I can't 'grow' back into them.

45. Go through memory boxes and condense them down before they take over the house.

46. Have a Garden Chore chart for the summer / fall
47. Plant seeds for flowers and veggies and grow garden with Freyja

48. Go through house and get rid of EVERYTHING we don't use  - if you don't ever use it, you don't need it!

Food

49. Get a Box freezer for the basement

50. Create a 2 week meal planner and use it to shop and cook
51. Create a batch of freezer meals
52. Use herbs and veggies from our own garden and MAKE SURE HTEY DON"T DIE!

53. Cut out as much processed food as possible

54. Retrain Freyja to eat without the use of Alphagetti, Chicken Nuggets or Ketchup (again this one may prove impossible)

55. Cook a new recipe each week from one of the many cook books we have.

And thanks very much to the blogger I stole this from....