Resolutions

As many of you know, I began keeping a list of my resolutions on my blog a few years back.  It helps to keep me on track.  I make these promises to myself that I'm going to do these "things"  every year, and then I was forgetting them come the middle of March.  I started keeping a list online, and "wham" I am keeping all of my promises to myself  - ok, I'm keeping MOST of my promises, not all.  It's been a great thing!  This has been a crazy month.  Husband has been out of town for the better part of a month, and keeping an eye on spending for both of us has been something of a challenge.  I'm glad he's back home now!  I really missed the guy!

1) Complete 12 Home Improvement Projects in 12 months

After.

Bathroom tile before.

Recover the kitchen chairs.
Add the knobs to the cabinet under the kitchen sink.
Fix the sewer line out of the house, through the basement wall.
Replace the baseboard heater in the hall bathroom.
Replace the lighting in the hall bathroom.
Re-enamel the hallway bathroom tile.
Add knobs to the new cabinets in the bathroom.



2) Lose a few more inches around my waist
1/2 an inch is good.  I've worked hard for that half inch!  I'd like to lose another inch, but any progress I make at all is good progress!

3) Get away with my husband twice.
One was a visit up to visit oldest child for a weekend.
Two was a trip to go pick him up from New Jersey.  We stayed a couple of extra nights after he was finished before we came home. Fortunately, we weren't near a state beach and weren't impacted by the state shut down.

4) Lenten Cleaning Challenge
What a blast!  I got lots and lots of stuff out of the house!  This is the page from my journal where I kept track of my progress.  

5) Post at Least 12 Reviews on my Books for Teens Blog.
Hey!  It's coming along!  Not quite 12 yet, but I'm making progress!

My reviews for June:
My Fairy Godmother is a Drag Queen
Flame in the Mist

This brings my total for the year up to 6!
I've enjoyed every one of the YA books I've read this year!

6) Finish the Hallway Bathroom
It's funny how life goes.  The bathroom remodel is finished.  Or so we thought.  I got home the other day, and the pocket door between the sinks and the toilet/shower area had fallen off.  We hadn't replaced that in the original reno budget because we thought it was in good shape.  Of course, husband was out of town when it happened, and he hasn't gotten to it yet.  He's got the really long list of things that accumulated while he was gone.  Maintaining a 50 year old house is constant work!

According to the box, it can flush an entire bucket of golf balls.  You know, in case if you ever feel the need to flush golf balls....

7) Participate in the NoSpenduary Challenge
Finished!  We're still saving, as we're building our savings back up again for the next big home repair, but at the moment, this is not the priority.  We have built our emergency savings back up where we like to have it after we dipped into it to replace the plumbing line out of the house.

8) Learn Another Language.
Yeah, this one might be a lost cause.  I'm not even sure I can handle my first language at times!

9) 100 Things Every Marylander Should Do
I really need to knock one of these out this month.  I see a problem, though.  We had a librarian promoted at work, and I've picked up extra hours until the replacement is hired.  So, nice paychecks for me, but minimal time for other fun stuff!

10) Daughter's Quilt
I'm back to working on it again!  I think it's safe to say that I have about 1/3 of it finished.  I really would like to finish this before the end of the year!

What do you mean "I'm in your way? Quilt around me!"

11) Clean out closet and dresser drawers.
I need to get back to this.  I've got one dresser left.

12) Clean Out the Little Room in the Basement and Make it Usable
I've made some progress on cleaning this out over the past month. The room itself is cleaned out.  I've swept, and swept, and swept some more.  We have drywall that is going to need to be replaced.  We had a flood in the basement several years ago, and husband thought he had gotten all of the drywall taken care of.  Nope.  Move that last bookshelf out of the way, and I see more damaged drywall.  (Add this to the massive list of things husband needs to take care of in all of his free time....)

13) Work on Landscaping the Front Yard
Sadly, I got a head start on this when the plumber pulled out one of the big bushes in front of the house.  Now, I have only 4 overgrown bushes to take care of in the front yard.  With the heat of summer upon us, I'm not going to do anything just now.  Once September comes along, and the weather cools off, and we get more rain, I'll put in some new bushes.

There was a bush right there in the middle.

14) Take at Least One Class through the ALA 
I finished the class!  I submitted two of the lessons that I wrote, and they have been approved as library programs for this summer!  Hooray!  It's going to be a great summer!  Even better?  I got a few more CEU's to add to the total number of hours I need to renew my teaching certificate.

How are you doing with your resolutions this year?