Meg vs. Myself: Weekly Goals March 11-16

March 4-9
*Do third coat of gel stain on the vanity, (plus 2-3 coats on the back of the cabinet doors). Have everything ready for topcoat next week. I did one coat on the back of the doors, but didn't get to the second.
*Give back the tiling stuff and the Scout stuff!
*Sweep out the garage, clear out in front of the work bench.
*Take pictures of the eves that need replacing and cracks that need repairing before we can paint.
*Make one Pinterest recipe.

This week my sister is out of town so my niece and nephew are staying with us. So on top of the normal grind,  I am giving homeschooling a spin! So far it is making me grateful for lots of very patient and organized teachers growing up =).

March 11-16
*Put one more coat on the back of the cabinet doors.
*Put topcoat on everything but the back of the cabinet doors!
*Keep up with the big kids' homeschool lessons.
*Go outside every day.

Meg vs. Myself: Weekly Goals March 3-8

February 25 - March 2
*Try out the gel stain on the bathroom vanity, see if it will work. If it does, do a first coat. If it doesn't, shop for a deal on a vanity. Did two coats!
*Clean out all of the tiling supplies still sitting in the living room/garage, give things back that we borrowed. Started, didn't finish.
*Gather up all of the Boy Scout stuff that has been left in our van at various times and accumulated in the garage. Send it back to the Scouts. Ditto.
*Get some recommendations for a handyman to fix our rotting eves. Asked many people, got one, need to send pictures of the first job.
*Make one Pinterest recipe. Rocked this one. Tried Lion House Sweet and Sour Chicken (I did it in the crock pot, and just added bullion without the water instead of broth, and the sauce was perfectly thick), Crock Pot Beef & Broccoli, Hawaiian Sweet Rolls (realized too late I had a bum batch of yeast, but they were still tasty, if dense), and Carrot Muffins. I would recommend all of these recipes!
*Practice the piano.

March 3-8
*Do third coat of gel stain on the vanity, (plus 2-3 coats on the back of the cabinet doors). Have everything ready for topcoat next week.
*Give back the tiling stuff and the Scout stuff!
*Sweep out the garage, clear out in front of the work bench.
*Take pictures of the eves that need replacing and cracks that need repairing before we can paint.
*Make one Pinterest recipe.

*

Meg vs. Myself: Weekly Goals Feb. 25-Mar. 2

It was a long time coming, but I finally reached my goals from a month ago.

February 4-9
*Clean and sand the vanity, get prepped for staining (scaling back on this one!) As I was sanding, I noticed some bubbling on the side of the vanity. Uh-oh! That part is particle board and so I can't just sand it off. I am afraid that my gel staining plan may go down the tubes, and we will be looking at buying a new vanity instead =(
*Get that tree guy out here for a quote! Had an adventure with a shady character starting the job, asking for money, getting in an argument with John in the front yard... I am too nice to people sometimes. Thankfully John got it all resolved for us, and in the end the guy did at least hack down part of the yucca tree at a rate cheaper than the pros. Ended up getting two real quotes later the same day, and the guy we liked better brought his price down as a result. He should be coming in the next couple of weeks when his schedule opens up.
*Work on cleaning out the garage, getting rid of the rats. Slowly purging and throwing things away. And John caught a rat in one of his traps! Gross, but what can you do?
*Get everything ready for Big Brother's birthday party! He loved it. Maybe if I get a few minutes I will post his checkered flag Cars cake.


I can't believe it took me so long to get that done! But lest I get myself bogged down, here is a list of other things I did in the last few weeks:

*Hung the bathroom door back up so I can work on the vanity without the boys getting into things.
*Filled two green waste bins with pieces of our yucca tree, TWICE!
*Decorated for and celebrated Valentine's Day with my kiddos.
*Got out of the house almost every day.
*Got up to running about 3.5 miles.
*Made 4 Pinterest recipes: 8 can taco soup, strawberry almond milk ice cream, dorayaki and churro waffles. Dorayaki won for my favorite, taco soup was a surprise hit with John.
*Took apart the broken chair sitting in our garage and put it in the trash
*Replaced the car seat baby brother grew out of and got rid of the old one.
*Replaced all four tires on the van and got the wonky alignment fixed.
*Got our car back after having it stolen. Bought a cheap version of The Club.

Here's to making good on this week's goals:

February 25 - March 2
*Try out the gel stain on the bathroom vanity, see if it will work. If it does, do a first coat. If it doesn't, shop for a deal on a vanity.
*Clean out all of the tiling supplies still sitting in the living room/garage, give things back that we borrowed.
*Gather up all of the Boy Scout stuff that has been left in our van at various times and accumulated in the garage. Send it back to the Scouts.
*Get some recommendations for a handyman to fix our rotting eves.
*Make one Pinterest recipe
*Practice the piano.

Meg vs. Myself: Weekly Goals Feb. 4-9

Some weeks I wonder why I bother...

January 28- February 2
*Clean and sand the vanity, get prepped for staining (scaling back on this one!)
*Get that tree guy out here for a quote!  Still don't have a phone, so this one has been tricky.
*Work on cleaning out the garage, getting rid of the rats (GROSS!!!)

Unsurprisingly, my goals this week will be pretty much the same. I did do some other things, like cutting back rose bushes and refilling the green waste bin, but other than that I mostly just survived the week. And I suppose that is okay.

February 4-9
*Clean and sand the vanity, get prepped for staining (scaling back on this one!)
*Get that tree guy out here for a quote!
*Work on cleaning out the garage, getting rid of the rats
*Get everything ready for Big Brother's birthday party!

Meg vs. Myself: Weekly Goals Jan. 28- Feb. 2

I told myself I would post more and get more done this week. So it goes.

January 21-26
*Put bathroom vanity back and start staining.  It is really hard to get working in there with these boys! I am hoping they will get on a more normal sleep schedule someday so I can get things done...
*Fill the green waste bin.
*Get quotes on tree removal and plumbing. In my defense, I waited twice for the tree guy and he didn't make it, and my phone is out of order so this has been tricky.

January 28- February 2
*Clean and sand the vanity, get prepped for staining (scaling back on this one!)
*Get that tree guy out here for a quote!
*Work on cleaning out the garage, getting rid of the rats (GROSS!!!)

In other news, this week we found out where my husband will be doing his clinical rotations. It is about 7 hours from here, so commuting isn't really an option. That is somewhat significant for this blog, because it means we are moving away from this house! Depending on how each market is looking we will either be renting it out or selling (probably renting it, but we'll see). And for me that means that I need to get all of the major projects done before the beginning of June. So hopefully from now to June you will see more progress going on around here. And after June, who knows what house I will be battling next...

Meg vs. Myself: Weekly Goals Jan. 21-26

January 14-19
*Finish cleaning out the bathroom and put the vanity back.
*Start staining the vanity.
*Order the topcoat for the vanity.

Try, try again...

January 21-26
*Put bathroom vanity back and start staining.
*Fill the green waste bin.
*Get quotes on tree removal and plumbing.

Meg vs. Time: Facebook Friday

I don't think I am alone in the fact that Facebook has become my default time waster. When I have a minute or two in between things, I mindlessly look over Facebook, not looking for anything in particular. Then one of two things happen: I leave it just as bored as I was before I opened it, or I get caught up in something worthless and waste a lot of time on it. Maybe one in ten times I actually communicate with someone or do or read something worthwhile.

So I decided I am going to try a new experiment: Facebook Friday. In theory, I will avoid checking Facebook except on Friday (unless I actually need to communicate with someone, like a family member who is more likely to check Facebook than answer my calls, though I am not naming any names there). Then I will post whatever cool/funny/worthless things that strike my fancy.

So here is my first Facebook Friday:

1. I entered to win a gift card from Brickyard Buffalo, the cute daily deal site started by my SIL's sister and where my BFF is a vendor.

2. I offered to lend our digital scale for our local Pinewood Derby. Something useful! That is the one redeeming virtue of Facebook; I find out about what is going on with people and how I can help.

3. Read lots of status updates about the weather (75 degrees in SoCal, -10 in Vernal, UT, "Wicked cold" in Boston).

4. Saw a lot of pictures of other people's kids.

5. Someone I knew in high school is having a girl.

6. It's Trafficking Awareness Month.  Check out the story on CNN. Someday I want to volunteer or work for an organization that represents trafficking victims.

7. People complaining about Obama, complete with sacrilegious magazine covers.

(Also, who can save Europe if not women?  =))

8. Lots of complaints about gun conrol.

9. Someone linked to this blog post about mothering and being enough. It is awesome.

10. More grumpy cat.

Happy Friday!

Meg vs. Myself: Weekly Goals January 14-19

Well, obviously I am doing this a bit late. Better late than never? I am trying to focus on simplifying this year, and sometimes that just means going to bed instead of staying up to blog...

On to the report:
Januray 7-12
*Touch up any paint necessary in the front bathroom, take down the tape, clean it out and have it ready to put the vanity back.  I forgot how much touching up was necessary; there were a lot of little nooks I had to paint by hand with a tiny brush... I did clean most of the stuff out of the bathroom and also put the ceiling fan/light back together, but it still needs more work before the vanity can come back.
*Finish putting away everything we packed/received/accumulated over our Christmas break.
This was about three carloads worth of stuff; all the stuff we took on our trip, all the stuff we received, more stuff my mom brought up, and more from our second Christmas celebration with my family. Phew! Now I have to purge so there is room for everything.

I tried to put things away right away instead of letting them sit and pile up. I even put up the new frames my aunt gave us!

Now to actually put our pictures inside might take a while longer. Those people look nice on our wall though. (Oh my goodness, I am turning into my mom!)

*Take down and put away the Christmas decorations. This was a serious task. I even hauled the Christmas tree out, cut it up, and put it in our green waste bin all by myself. I still need to reorganize a couple of the boxes because we keep accumulating Christmas stuff, but I am satisfied with getting it out of my living room.

January 14-19
*Finish cleaning out the bathroom and put the vanity back.
*Start staining the vanity.
*Order the topcoat for the vanity.

Meg vs. Myself: Weekly Goals January 7-12

My mantra for this year is to simplify and focus. More reasonable goals, doing them more consistently, and getting rid of the excess. We have a lot of craziness coming up ahead, and I am determined to keep my head as much as possible.

So here are my first weekly goals of the year:

Januray 7-12
*Touch up any paint necessary in the front bathroom, take down the tape, clean it out and have it ready to put the vanity back.
*Finish putting away everything we packed/received/accumulated over our Christmas break.
*Take down and put away the Christmas decorations.

I am tempted to put more, but I am keeping it at that.

Meg vs. Myself: Weekly Goals December 10-15

I did better this week, but we also all got sick this week (except for John, which was a blessing since he starts his exams today). Still, I'm happy with my progress.

December 3-8
*Touch up bathroom patching, prime the walls. Our friend came over and did an awesome job smoothing over the rough edges, but said he's going to come back and do more to make it even better. Can't complain about that, but I do have to wait to do the painting.
*Put closet door back up in nursery. I painted it and put the hinges on last week, but actually just hung it up this morning. Just a little late =).
*Touch up paint on bathroom door. I painted the door on the boys' room too!
*Do two Christmas activities with the kids. My mom made this easy with her advent gifts. More on that shortly.
*Pick up materials for Christmas projects. Ordered on Amazon. I had to go to Target and Costco on Thursday, and after that I was done dragging the boys around town for a while!

John finishes his exams on Thursday, so we are hoping to get a few more things done toward the end of the week. This depends on the boys getting over their current colds so we can sleep again! We shall see.

December 10-15
*Paint the remaining doors that need it.
*Install the rest of the new doorknobs.
*Do two Christmas activities with the kids.
*Put the vanity back in the bathroom.
*Get our house clean!

Meg vs. Myself: Weekly Goals December 3-8

Notice how I didn't post anything about any of my goals for this week? About that...

November 26 - December 1
*Touch up the patch job in the bathroom  - Realized I need help, asked for it from a friend, hopefully will get done this week.
*Order cabinet doors
*Paint the ceiling and trim - Can't be done until after the patching
*Re-fill green waste bin, look into getting yard cleared - A series of storms kept us inside all week. Should have checked the weather!
*Mow the lawn - Ditto.
*Get the car looked at -No excuse here.
*Plan Christmas gifts - Still need another idea or two, but mostly know what I will make/buy.

December 3-8
*Touch up bathroom patching, prime the walls.
*Put closet door back up in nursery.
*Touch up paint on bathroom door.
*Do two Christmas activities with the kids.
*Pick up materials for Christmas projects

Meg vs. Myself: Weekly Goals November 26 - December 1

It's amazing how easily I met my goals when I significantly lowered my expectations--ha!

November 19-24
*Plan and shop for Thanksgiving dinner with the in-laws
*Make my pumpkin cheesecakes!
*Seal that grout!
*Get the house clean (or at least hide the mess).
*Giveaway!

John is coming up on the end of the semester and exams, so he will be busy studying and I will be mostly on my own for the next couple of weeks. I am still going to be a little ambitious with my goals, but will cut myself some slack if I come up short. Especially because I am starting the week on 2 hours of sleep!

November 26 - December 
*Touch up the patch job in the bathroom
*Order cabinet doors
*Paint the ceiling and trim
*Re-fill green waste bin, look into getting yard cleared
*Mow the lawn
*Get the car looked at
*Plan Christmas gifts

Meg vs. Myself: Weekly Goals November 19-24

As I mentioned earlier, it has been a long week. I am just happy I can do laundry again, and we'll try again next week (with some scaled back expectatoins...).

November 12-17
*Get everything ready for Little Brother's 2nd Birthday.
*Get the whole house clean for family coming into town.
*Figure out/fix the leak in the drain pipe for the washing machine (as much fun as it was to have the toy room flood last week...).
*Seal the grout!
*Put the sink/vanity back in the front bathroom and rehang the shower curtain.
Bonus:
*Start staining the vanity
*Start painting the walls

November 19-24
*Plan and shop for Thanksgiving dinner with the in-laws
*Make my pumpkin cheesecakes!
*Seal that grout!
*Get the house clean (or at least hide the mess).
*Giveaway!

Meg vs. Myself: Weekly Goals November 12-17

November 5-10
*Seal the grout on the new bathroom tile.
*Do two Thanksgiving activities with the boys.
*Re-fill the green waste bin.
*Get gas for the lawnmower and mow the lawn (or make the hubs do it).  John did pick up a gas can, but it was rainy this week so we decided against mowing. He raked and mulched all of the leaves instead.
*Install the new toilet seat in the front bathroom.

Between sleeping kids, kids refusing to sleep, and my lack of sleep, the grout just wasn't in the cards this week. But I did paint two doors and touch up the beadboard in the living room, plus I installed a few new doorknobs. And this week John is done with his block exams, so he is planning to help me get the bathroom in working order before Thanksgiving! So here are next week's goals and aspirations. I should think of something with which to treat myself if I get to the bonus tasks. Maybe a nap.

November 12-17
*Get everything ready for Little Brother's 2nd Birthday.
*Get the whole house clean for family coming into town.
*Figure out/fix the leak in the drain pipe for the washing machine (as much fun as it was to have the toy room flood last week...).
*Seal the grout!
*Put the sink/vanity back in the front bathroom and rehang the shower curtain.
Bonus:
*Start staining the vanity
*Start painting the walls

Meg vs. Myself: Weekly Goals November 5-10

Toward the end of last week Mr. Newborn was napping really well, and I just about caught up on the housework and did some baking, and I thought, "Wow, I think I can start working on house goals again." Then the last couple of days he is Mr. I-Want-To-Nurse-And-Be-Held-And-Not-Nap and we are not getting so much done around here... So I am going to go ahead and set some goals, but keep them flexible, and not assign them to particular days. You never know how a day might go around here.

November 5-10
*Seal the grout on the new bathroom tile.
*Do two Thanksgiving activities with the boys.
*Re-fill the green waste bin.
*Get gas for the lawnmower and mow the lawn (or make the hubs do it).
*Install the new toilet seat in the front bathroom.

Here we go!

Meg vs. Myself: Weekly Goals September 10-15

September 3-8
Monday: Hang curtains in the boys' room.

Tuesday: Start painting that chalkboard! Get first quote for painting the house.

Wednesday: Finish painting the chalkboard.

Thursday: Spray paint clothespins and frames for the nursery.

Friday: Cut molding, adhere it to the chalkboard.

Saturday: Repaint wainscoting in the living room.

Sigh. I have focused most of this week on trying to get my breech baby to flip, and trying not to overdo it. I am also losing steam by the end of each week, as you can tell. I think this week I shall focus on baby nesting and see how I do!

September 10-15
Monday: Pack hospital bag, make a list of any additional things we need to buy before baby comes.

Tuesday: Pull out the infant car seat, wash the cover.

Wednesday: Pull out and wash the newborn and 3-month baby clothes.

Thursday: Potty party for big boy #1! He's only had two real accidents in 10 days.

Friday: Take it easy; my version is scheduled for 6am. Turn, baby, turn!

Saturday: If new laptop is here, deliver desktop to my sister and clear the desk out of my room. Rearrange to make room for bassinet/baby stuff.

Meg vs. Myself: Weekly Goals September 3-9

August 27-September 1
Monday: Finish the sewing for the headboard (let's try for a less ambitious goal, shall we?).

Tuesday: Put the headboard together.

Wednesday: Sand, then paint the chalkboard layer on the board.

Thursday: Buy molding for the chalkboard.

Friday: Attach the molding to the chalkboard. Make the hubs figure out how to hang it safely. Clean house because Mom is coming! (Don't worry, Mom, I'm sure I'll leave some dishes, just for you.)

Saturday: Make decisions about framing projects, pick up paint, and start painting. 

I didn't manage to get to painting the chalkboard, but I did do more than I expected on my frame projects, and WE POTTY TRAINED THIS WEEK! Started on Tuesday, and had no accidents Saturday and Sunday. That alone would have made me ecstatic about this week. On we go, with 3 weeks left until baby is due! (But 4 weeks until I really expect him to show up...)

September 3-8
Monday: Hang curtains in the boys' room.

Tuesday: Start painting that chalkboard! Get first quote for painting the house.

Wednesday: Finish painting the chalkboard.

Thursday: Spray paint clothespins and frames for the nursery.

Friday: Cut molding, adhere it to the chalkboard.

Saturday: Repaint wainscoting in the living room.

Meg vs. Myself: Weekly Goals August 27-September 1

Sorry to the three people that read this for not posting all week. As you can see, I have been keeping up pretty well on my projects, but have been a terrible blogger. Reasons? For one, I can't seem to get my house clean enough to take any non-humiliating pictures. Also, once the main projects are done I lose a little motivation to do the finishing touches (e.g. It took me until last night to finally iron the clothes I got at the thrift store so I could post them, and I still haven't gotten to actually hanging up the bunting with anything but painter's tape). And now who knows where my camera is in my mess of a house.

I was just thinking to myself that, three years into being a stay-at-home mom, I still have not managed the adjustment to home life as I would have hoped. I am terrible at doing things without an external deadline, I still hate housework and will latch on to any distraction to avoid it, and I am still terrible at going to bed at a reasonable hour. There is a lot more on that list, but those are the most obnoxious ones right now. The one thing I have gotten good at is not caring about how everyone else is doing in comparison, and appreciating life. I have it good and I'm grateful for the gifts of time and means to make it better. Change is wonderful as long as it is in the right direction.

So who knows? Maybe I'll actually blog next week.

August 20-25
Monday: Go thrifting for frames, etc. Had a better-than-usual trip, and will post about it some time.

Tuesday: Buy backing fabric and finish putting nursery bunting together.

Wednesday: Clean and sand kids' doors for painting. Probably just as well I didn't blog this. Not very exciting.

Thursday: Get blackboard paint tinted. Start painting magnetic layer on the board. This paint is a pain in the rear and reeks to boot. It made me sick. Not sure why I didn't make my husband do it. But I am going to make him pick up the paint thinner to clean up the mess I made...

Friday: Rake, mow, water the lawn. Also, found a wasps' next on the side of our house. Sa-weet.

Saturday: Tackle the headboard project again. Try again next week...


August 27-September 1  (What? September? Not possible. 4 weeks to d-day!)
Monday: Finish the sewing for the headboard (let's try for a less ambitious goal, shall we?).

Tuesday: Put the headboard together.

Wednesday: Sand, then paint the chalkboard layer on the board.

Thursday: Buy molding for the chalkboard.

Friday: Attach the molding to the chalkboard. Make the hubs figure out how to hang it safely. Clean house because Mom is coming! (Don't worry, Mom, I'm sure I'll leave some dishes, just for you.)

Saturday: Make decisions about framing projects, pick up paint, and start painting.

Meg vs. Myself: Weekly Goals August 20-25

This week's report:

August 13-18
Monday: Clean the tiling tools that aren't being used. Straighten up the pile of equipment in the living room and put away as much as possible.

Tuesday: Sand and touch up patch job in the front bathroom. Spray on texture.

Wednesday: Attempt to turn the crib bumper into a rail guard.

Thursday: Dust off and paint another coat on the changing table attachment.

Friday: Buy fabric and start bunting for nursery wall.

Saturday: Clean and sand kids' doors for painting.

I ended up spending my project time on Friday and Saturday making a kitchen for my boys. Post to come on that soon.

And next week:
August 20-25
Monday: Go thrifting for frames, etc.

Tuesday: Buy backing fabric and finish putting nursery bunting together.

Wednesday: Clean and sand kids' doors for painting.

Thursday: Get blackboard paint tinted. Start painting magnetic layer on the board.

Friday: Rake, mow, water the lawn.

Saturday: Tackle the headboard project again.

Meg vs. Housekeeping: Cleaning chart

A few weeks back I found this cleaning checklist on Pinterest:

This came from Kierste over at Brown Paper Packages. I thought it was super cute and a good way to try to keep the mess that is our house under control. The creator offered it up for download, so I copied it and then put in my own cleaning tasks. I threw it in a document frame so I could check things off with a transparency marker (harder for the boys to wipe off), which works pretty well as long as I can keep the littles from getting that coveted marker in their hands.

I think it's going well, don't you?

It will be a miracle when I actually get everything done on this list on time, but it is motivating me to try.

p.s. If a 20-month-old gets this marker all over his hands then rubs it all over his face, it wipes off pretty easily with a baby wipe, since it is water soluble. Maybe I am the only one that needs this tip.