2016 Resolutions - August Update

I've been keeping track of my resolutions online for a couple of years now.  I find it keeps me honest.  Every year, I set lofty goals of what I hope to accomplish at the beginning of every year.  I used to find myself forgetting about them, and then at some point in the fall, I'd run across the list and shake my head at the lost opportunities and lost motivations.  So, by keeping track of them online and making myself revisit them every month, I do find that I've done a better job of keeping my resolutions.  Maybe not as good of a job as I'd like, but a better job.

We're getting ready to go on our vacation soon.  Family vacations with grown children are difficult.  When you add in adult children who hold down real jobs, you make it even more difficult!  We finally found seven days when we will all be together.  More than anything, I'm looking forward to hanging out with my kids.  Getting out and hiking will be great, but I really want to just spend time with them, play some games, and hear their news.

1) Remodel the Hall Bathroom
Silly girl.  Third year in a row this has been on my list.  I'm still not certain this is going to happen this year.  Our kitchen became a priority this year, and now that we've started it, we need to finish the final touches so that it's not coming back to haunt me in a couple of years!

You can follow the tale of kitchen woes here:
Kitchen Woes
We Have Running Water in the Kitchen
 Progress
Progeress of One Kind and Another
It Only Looks Like We're Not Making Progress
One Step Forward, Two Steps Back



2) Improve My Health
Looking beyond the numbers on the scale, I am going after the big picture numbers that add up to an overall look at my body chemistry and how my body is functioning as a system.  This led me to three separate categories:

a) Lose Inches Off My Waist
My goal for this year is 3 inches.  Still not at 3, but I have lost over 2!  HOORAY!  Slowly working towards 3 inches.... very slowly.


I'm up to 100 Bosu Ball crunches now.  Working on adding in those wicked twists with a medicine ball.  How long before I get to that elusive three inches I've been trying to work off?


b) Get My Blood Pressure Down into the Normal Range
YES!!  120/60!  No lecture from the doctor this year, instead I got a hearty "Keep up the good work!"
This time last year, my blood pressure was at 140/80.  Danger, Will Robinson, Danger!

c) Go Down at Least One Clothing Size.  
For me, this is pretty phenomenal!


3) Restart my Vegetable Garden
This spring has been so wet, everything that I put into the ground was drowned.  For now, this is just not going to happen.  My herb pot is a success, though!   We went from too wet to super hot with no transition in between.  This is going to be an epic fail.

4) Learn to Pressure Can
SO, we have a glass top stove.  Pressure canners do not work on a glass top stove because they can't consistently keep the temperature up high enough.  This one will be a wash.  Another epic fail.  If I ever do put in an outdoor kitchen, I'm going to make certain I have a propane or gas stove so that I can pressure can - and I'll be able to do it outside and keep the heat out of the house.

Bandanas for the quilt.

5) Daughter's Quilt
I finally have decided upon a format for daughter's quilt!  I kept putting it off because I never could make myself happy with the fabric I had chosen.  While we were cleaning out her room, we found all of her old bandanas from Girl Scouts.  Guess what I'm going to do?  Make a quilt from the bandanas!  I've picked up some extra bandanas that match her history (the cow print bandana, and the John Deere bandana are part of her history).  So, I've got the fabric, and I've got the time!  I'm going to get all of this sewn together this week!  This is going to be one very bright and unusual looking quilt! She has a t-shirt that was her favorite - with cat facts written on it.  I'm going to embroider the cat facts on one of the bandanas, maybe two of them.  We'll see what happens!  I'm looking forward to having the best time planning this quilt out!  Putting this quilt together is going to be a lot of fun!  I can't wait to see what the finished product looks like!


6) Clean Out and Organize the Carport
The kids did this for me when they were all home the weekend after Mother's Day.  Thanks guys!

7) Exercise Consistently
4 or 5 days every week.  Even better, I'm now keeping a hard copy journal with me when I go.  It's an old composition book that daughter had used in school.  She had written in maybe 3 pages?  I confiscated it before it went out to Goodwill.  I keep track of what I've done, how much weight I'm lifting, and how many reps.  My workouts have gotten more effective now that I'm no longer guessing how much weight I lifted the last time I did that particular exercise.  #progress.

8) Clean Out 23 Things a Week
Originally, the goal was to clean out 23 things a month.  Then I changed it to 23 things a week.  For the entire 52 weeks of the year, that would have required me to get rid of 1196 things for the year.  I met that goal in May.  I spent this month going through the crap on the floor of my closet.  Another 50 odds and ends went to the thrift shop.   I went through my dresser drawers and threw out unmatched socks, old underwear, etc.  I didn't even bother counting how many items I got rid of.  It's just nice to have nicely organized drawers!

I sent 50 things to the thrift shop.

Total number of items out of the house this month: 50
Items out so far this year:  1718.

9) Participate in the NoSpenduary Challenge.
Thank God I did this, both in February and in March.  It has literally saved our asses as things continue to break and fall apart at an alarming rate.  I originally found this challenge on the Frugal, Debt Free Life Blog. Bless your heart, Lydia.  Because of this challenge, we have not yet gone down the rabbit hole of massive credit card debt with the huge expenses we've had in 2016:  1 abscessed tooth requiring a root canal.  1 crown for said tooth.  The van needing huge repairs not once but TWICE, (once for the a/c, once because it just stopped working late at night when husband was on his way home from choir practice.), AND 1 leaking, moldy mess under the kitchen sink.

I'll be doing another no spend challenge in September.  We have our savings built back up, but I still want to get the smaller debt paid off, finish remodeling the kitchen, and remodel the bathroom.

10) Visit one Place on My Bucket List
Phase One: Completed  (We know where we're going.)
Phase Two: Finished
 (Everyone will be capable of going.  Vacations have been requested and approved by everyone.)
Phase Three: Completed  Reservations are made.
Phase Four: Later this month!

12) Scrapbooking
I need to catch up.  I know I had years that I didn't do this.  I went through all of the albums and found the years that I have not yet finished.  These are the years I am in search of:
2006
2009
2010
2011
2012
2015
I'm chugging along on this!  I've been using Shutterfly, which has a powerful tool for digital scrapbooking.  I've then been holding onto the albums until they offer a deal on pricing, and then I order the books.  I love Shutterfly!  (In the interest of Full Disclosure, they are one of my Affiliate Links, but I was using them LONG before I even began blogging.)

I'm glad I have the opportunity to catch up on my scrapbooking.  When we went to a digital camera, and then I began compiling the kids' albums for graduation and their elementary and middle school memory albums, and my in-law's 50th wedding anniversary album, I fell well behind on the family albums.  As I'm working on 2009 now, I'm discovering why that's such a bad idea.  I don't necessarily remember who all of the people in the pictures were, and I don't always remember what we were doing at the time.

Lesson Learned: Finish albums within 6 months of the event - whether it be an anniversary, vacation, or family year. 


13) Walk or Bike a portion of at least 6 Rail Trails

A Lime Kiln on the NCR Trail.

My excuse for not doing this now is that it has been wicked hot, and those trails are not shaded.  I know, I know, I need to stop making excuses.  But it is really hot....

1) NCR Rail Trail


14) Pay off the big debt and one smaller one-
The big debt is gone.  It's nice to have one monkey off my back! 

The payments on the smaller debt have accelerated.  My goal is to have this paid off by December, but it very well might be Feb. or March of 2017 due to the extenuating circumstances we've had this year.

15) The Recipes Tab
I nicely fixed up the recipe tab so that it is easy to find recipes that I've posted on here before.  For me, this is my online recipe book.  Some of the recipes are my own.  Some, I post direct links to other sites.  You might or might not choose to use it, but I use it on a pretty regular basis, and I've found out that one of the boys does, too.  He likes the fact that most of what I've listed is food he already loves and that everything is fairly easy to make and budget conscious.  (Hey Kiddo!  Glad you stopped by for a while!  Call your mother sometime.  She'd really like to hear from you!)

So how are you doing on your resolutions for the year?

Some Life Changes

I've shared a few stories about interviews lately, so I'm sure you've deduced that I've been searching for a new job. It's been quite a search. I sent out over 100 resumes at the beginning of June, and have been to a dozen interviews over the last month. 

I gave my two weeks notice over 3 weeks ago, and I've had last week and this off. I've been enjoying a nice little unpaid mini-vacation.  I've been cooking, cleaning, visiting family, and making real progress on daughters quilt. 

One of those hundred resumes did come through for me. I start working at a public library next week!  When school starts back up next month, I'll be back on the sub list - and I'll be working one or two days a week - around my library schedule. 

New challenges, new changes!   I'm looking forward to the new adventures!

Ellicott City Flooding

We had a devastating 1,000 year flooding event in Ellicott City on Saturday night.  6 inches of rain fell in two hours, and the Historic District was destroyed.  Businesses and homes were destroyed, and it is sounding as if the damage is so extensive that many of the buildings might have to be torn down.  As of now, there is a chunk of the Historic Area that is still off limits.  Homeowners are unable to get into their homes for the forseeable future.

This hits very close to home.  We have friends who own businesses downtown.  They've lost EVERYTHING and have no income for the forseeable future.  We have friends who have lost their homes in the flooding and are now living with family.  We have friends who are unable to get to their homes because the only ingress/egress out of their neighborhood is through streets that no longer exist - they are now sink holes that go down to the bedrock. The pictures don't catch the horror of jobs and dreams crushed within minutes by a flash flood.  More immediate for these small businesses is the question of the complete and sudden loss of income. 

In the meantime, I'm going to attempt to capture something of the scope of the disaster.   
Tomorrow, I'll return to my regularly scheduled blog posts.
Today, send some thoughts to the people affected by the flooding, and to the two families who lost loved ones in the flooding Saturday night.

I have here a few pictures that I've taken over the years in Ellicott City:

The bridge over the river from Howard to Baltimore County.

The view up Main Street - from the intersection just past the bridge.

See this quiet little river?  This is what destroyed a city.

Pictures and news from the days after the flooding:  Video Source: The Washington Post

source: The Washington Post

Governor Larry Hogan's Facebook Album of his visit to Ellicott City: Ellicott City Flooding

PHOTOS: Raging floodwaters rip through Ellicott City, Maryland: At least two people have been found dead in the aftermath of disastrous flooding near Baltimore on Saturday.
(Note: Link to an external site: Acuweather.com)


Ellicott City Looks Like 'War Zone' After Deadly Flash Flooding: A Baltimore County man and a Pennsylvania woman were killed when flash floods swept through Ellicott City, Baltimore and other parts of Maryland on Saturday, leaving a trail of devastation in their wake, state and local officials said at a Sunday afternoon news conference.
(Note: Link to an external web site: WJZ - the Baltimore CBS Affiliate.)

There has been flooding over the weekend in both New Jersey and Maryland.  If you'd like to help with the relief efforts, you can donate to the American Red Cross:  https://www.redcross.org/donate/donation

If you'd like to donate to the Ellicott City Relief Fund, you can donate here:  https://ecpartnership.org/#donate

Interview Madness

I've been on several interviews over the past few weeks.  You know, when you wonder what can go wrong?  It turns out quite a bit.....

Let's see what all has gone off the rails this week.  Remember, all of these interviews were panel interviews.

"Here's a computer.  You've got ten minutes to create and Excel spread sheet with all of these parameters."
 Here's the rub:  My computer screen is broadcast up onto the wall in the front of the room, and the computer I've been given is a state of the art Windows 10 machine.  The computer that I use at home and at work are both Windows XP machines.  I'm used to a much older version of Excel, and you could see it in my very clumsy attempts to figure out how to work the damn software and make the spread sheets as pretty as they wanted them to be.

"Given this bag of Legos, come up with 3 programs that you could do with a group of kindergarten children.  You have ten minutes."
Okay, so the bag had 20 Lego's, only one set of wheels, and 3 hinged pieces.  I asked if I had to have this EXACT bag of Lego's.  The answer was yes.  Yeah, I came up with 3 programs, my lessons were decent, but I usually have more than 10 minutes, and a library full of books at my fingertips in order to pull together a program.

As I was following the head of HR down the hallway, I brushed up against a table and the entire table - and everything on it - fell down.

"Tell me about your experiences working with electronic resource acquisitions."
As I worked my way through what I thought were my qualifications, the interviewer looks at me and says "So, no real qualifications, then."  As I stammered and attempted to expound upon what I had been doing, she rolled her eyes "That's not really what acquisitions is all about."  Funny, that's what I've been doing for the last couple of years, and my interviewer has never worked in any library. 

And finally, this weird - very weird - encounter from one interview.  I walked into the room, shook hands with the interviewer, and sat down.  She then proceeded to tell me about how hot her last office was - the average temperature in winter, and in summer.  And how she had to wear t-shirts and flip flops even in winter because it was so hot.  She then spoke at length about her current living arrangements, and then stood up, shook my hand, and escorted me back out the door.  No idea what the heck that was all about, but it was definitely right up there with the strangest interviews I have ever had.

I really don't enjoy interviewing for jobs.  I really hate getting out there and having to prove myself over and over again, but not really ever getting a job.  Searching for new jobs is difficult.  Very, very difficult.  It's time to move on to new challenges, but I really don't enjoy the interview process. 

I'd appreciate some positive thoughts sent my way during this very frustrating job search, if you can spare them!

Several Comedies of Error

This post originally appeared in my now defunct "Mom's View" blog. It originally appeared on May 24, 2012.  Oh, the woes of a substitute teacher!  Those were the days!

  
I've been subbing a lot the past few weeks.  Jobs have been plentiful... and the motivation that says "You won't get a paycheck for June, July, or August" has kept me moving pretty quickly on taking up the jobs.  Today is a rare day off, so I thought I would share my comedy of errors over the last few weeks.

I normally only substitute in K-3rd grade, because that is my area of certification, and it is the age group I am best at teaching.  Unfortunately, several of the jobs I took over the past couple of weeks were "supplementary", which is the grab bag of the substitute world.  I didn't know what I was getting into until I walked in the door of the building that morning.  Surprise!!

I spent one particularly memorable afternoon in 5th grade.  The teacher had left us with a DVD to watch, and had trained the kids how to turn it on and get it to go.  Her final words to me before she left "You don't touch anything.  Only she does." (pointing to a child in the class)  Okie Dokie!  We finished up the lessons she had left, and then we attempted to start the movie.  Nothing happened.  The girl tried again, and nothing happened.  The kids became very, very helpful.  (overly helpful) Yet still, nothing happened.  I called down to the main office, and they sent an Assistant Principal down to "show us" how to fix it.  He ended up calling the media specialist, who then ended up calling the technology guy from the county who was in the building working on the network. So, while all of the great minds were working on getting the DVD to run, what were the kids doing?  We started playing "Simon Says".  Twenty minutes later, the crew of four adults looked at me and said "It's not working."  (Insert evil teacher/mom glare here.)  I asked, "so what do I do?"  "Oh, said the AP, you follow the plans she left you."  I handed him the plans that said in clear letters: "Watch movie.  The kids know how to turn it on.  Dismissal begins at 3:15".  Thank heavens, the teacher next door poked her head around the corner at that moment and said "We're just getting ready to start the movie.  Why don't you bring them in here?" 

I spent one day with an assistant teacher who couldn't remember my last name.  She kept calling me Mrs. Jones, no matter how many times I corrected her.  Finally, I gave up and let her call me Mrs. Jones for the rest of the day.  I found out yesterday that she calls every sub in her room Mrs. Jones. 

I was reading a book aloud to a group of students, sitting in the rocking chair when *CRASH* the entire rocking chair broke apart underneath me!  There I was, one shocked woman, sitting amidst the remains of a rocking chair!  (Once I finally caught my breath and figured out how I ended up on the floor, we called the story finished and went outside for a quick extra recess.)

On my way out of the building yesterday, I was accosted by a teacher that I subbed for last week.
"Did you hear the news?"  she asked.  "No, what?"  I replied.
"Seven kids in my class have lice.  They found them the day after you subbed for me.  You need to get checked before you leave today."

What a wonderful, wonderful couple of weeks it's been!

C. Burr Artz Library

This gorgeous library is located in Historic Frederick, Maryland. Less than a block off Main Street, and backing to the stream/canal that roams through Frederick, this library has a fantastic central location right in the heart of the city. 

The view of the front of the library from the street. 

The children's area of the library!  Look at the Lego tables!

My favorite quote from Harry Potter!

A view of the children's section. This is a huge room - but this was the only picture I could get without people's faces. It was really crowded!

Gorgeous spiral staircase from the first floor up to the second. I love the vaulted ceiling that goes up three floors. 

Second floor - high vaulted ceilings catch a lot of light!  I really like the information commons down the middle - and the stacks of books off to the sides, under the lower ceiling, giving the stacks a very cozy feel!

The view from the second floor down to the first. The ceiling here vaults up one more floor and is surrounded by windows. It makes the entire building feel bright & airy!

Keeping Track of Crap

I have a lot of those store loyalty cards.  I tried to get rid of them, but I have a handful of those, Metro Fare Cards, and other misc. items that I myself occasionally using.  I needed to keep track of them, but if I leave them loose in my purse, I find myself digging around while people are waiting in line behind me, muttering under their breath.

A genius idea struck me when I was out the other day.  I found a little photo album for less than $1.  I took it home and snazzed it up with some paper I had laying around the house, and put the loyalty cards I use the most inside.  Hey presto!  Look!  I have a quick and easy way to keep those annoying little cards organized, and it fits nicely into my purse! 

My Mom and I just bought her one of these little albums, and we spent yesterday filling it with her "have to have" medical information.  On the first page, we have the names, phone numbers, and specialties of every doctor she sees.

Inside, we've taken the prescription information from every prescription that she has and put each one in each page.  She's only on 2 medications.  We used the big brochure that comes with each prescription - it has the doctor's information as well as her own on the brochure, in addition to the name of the medication and the dosage.  We put in information about her major medical procedures - when they were done, what hospital, and who the doctor was.  If she had any known allergies, those would be on the front cover of her album.  Pretty clever idea, and it's all in an easy to carry around book!  She's got it in her purse now so that she can access it as needed, and if there's ever an emergency, so can the EMT's.  She wrote "IN CASE OF EMERGENCY READ THIS FIRST" on the front cover.  There's a note under that that tells first responders to check her cell phone - my sister and I are listed under "ICE #1 and ICE #2" in her contacts.  (ICE= In Case of Emergency.) Did you know that?  I didn't.  

As Martha Stewart would say "It's a Good Thing".