Day 30: Picture of me today and 20 goals I want toaccomplish

Some kids won't stop to have their picture taken, so you get what you get.






Whew! 30days in a (almost) row is a lot! And this is as close as I can get to a picture of me today. It is yesterday and I gift you this lovely sight of me rolled out of bed, no makeup, no hair done, but out there sledding. So that's why there is hideousness.

Does anybody even have 20 goals at a time, or am I just an underachiever???

I guess if I think about things to do today and say that they are a goal and not just a task to accomplish, then I could come up with 20.

1. Pay off some principle payments this year to bring mortgage down faster
2. finish Madeline L'engle's Wrinkle in Time books that I have rediscovered
3. get to church on time, HAPPILY-or else!
4. keep my counters and surfaces cleared of clutter
5. move all the stuff that is office-y into the room recently vacated by Goosie
6. attend some of the Relief Society meetings and get to know more people in our new area
7. invite a family once or twice a month for dinner
8. get outside at least once a day
9. finish the last of the caulking and painting
10. practice the piano at least 3x a week
11. plan meals for the week
12. get more involved in my childrens' classrooms
13. vacuum out the van
14. read to each child or the whole group at once every day
15. find some kind of decorations for my room
16. put up new FHE board and actually hold official ones instead of winging it or forgetting
17. Schedule my next day every night so I don't forget my appointments
18. answer emails when I open them
19. begin to do some preschool activities with the younger kids to prepare a little for Bryguy's kindergarten next year
20. make plans to go on an official date, not just a stay at home goof off together date.
    

Day 29: In this past month, what have you learned?

Hmmm. Related to blogging or in general?

• If you blog every day, your loyal group of 5 or so readers tire of commenting, whereas they feel inclined to cheer you on if you post once every two weeks or so :) Thanks loyal friends, I'm not dissing the comments, just realizing on commenting on my friend's 30 day challenge the same thing.
• Goosie sleeps in very strange positions...
  

It is possible, with a little snow fun, to get what M'deary terms "snodaggits"
Claus is a time enigma. It can take him a full 45 min to an hour to eat one bowl of soup (with dreaded veggies), but a ginormous donut? All of 1.5 minutes.

Day 28- A picture of you last year and now, how have you changed since then?

This is me last year when I was a mom to Babs and a foster mom to Claus and Bitty. How have I changed? Well. Now mom to five-which has been a sharp learning curve, let me tell you. I have become the queen of multitasking. I used to think I was a nice person. Now I know otherwise, because when you are tired and frustrated and all seems to be combining against you and your family-then you find out the kind of person you really are. So, I would say that I am now more aware of my weaknesses and am working on them. I have also learned how to ask for help-still despise doing it-but I have to lower my pride and let my family, husband, and friends take the load off sometimes. I have learned that Heavenly Father has a plan for my family and that things work out for a reason-or don't work out-sometimes according to our own choices and sometimes for reasons unknown to us. Yet through it all, I have felt a comfort that what was happening was right, even though it was hard.
Superficially, I have shorter hair-yet essentially the same hairstyle (if you could call it such) as I ever have had. I'm a little bit heftier and more out of shape-except my bulging forearms from carrying Goosie. I live in a different location and have felt like I lost a lot of my support group in my hometown, but am making it just fine.

Day 27: Why am I doing this blog challenge?

I have been home alone every night for months. My hubby worked nights, my kids were asleep by 8 or so and I just wanted to start recording a few things since I am so bad about journal writing, instead of wasting my time reading novels or watching TV.
I just wanted to interact with other people too and learn more about my friends and family and such. My friend Christina asked me to do it and I thought it would be a good way to get into it more and give me some ideas of what to write. I have to admit that the every day part of this gets old and I know for sure that if I'm gonna keep blogging, it will not be nearly that often, so you will all get a reprieve!

Day 26: 3 Places I want to visit before I die

I am just going to say that for one of my places, it would be Europe/Mediterranean in general. Sites in Italy, Greece, Germany, Switzerland etc. Just a long tour.
This picture is of Wales, but I would like to visit all of the British Isles. Since that is such a conglomeration, I'll count it for two.
Picture via link I just think this would be a cool place to see. It is called Lençòis Maranhenses Photo: © JA Galvez C, via this Brasil Travel Blog
More Lencois

Day 25: What you would find in my bag

This is my black leather Harley bag, remember. It holds quite a lot.

• at least 5 pens-in case I'm at a doctor visit and need something for the kids to do
• phone
• color swatches from the paint in our house-it really needs decorating and I just want to have them handy-although I never make decisions and thus never buy anything
• planner from last year as well as this year-haven't transferred over all my stuff
• wallet-cards, money, stamps etc.
• kleenex-ALWAYS have someones nose to wipe
• checkbook
• currently has some cards/pictures for kids to look at
• currently some Pokemon ball creatures
• hand sanitizer
• gum
• adoption decree-still having people need this
• always some receipts

There. Totally entertaining, right. Not your standard bag contents at all.

Day 24: Something I'm ashamed of from my past

I'm going to go with a lighter approach than this question probably is intended to make me reveal and let you all know my deep and abiding shame that in first grade I totally threw up on classmate.

I still remember my horror. My cute little teacher, Mrs. Koski, who I thought didn't like me because of my extreme chattiness, swooped over and picked me up-mess and all-and carried me to the office to call my mom. I knew she liked me better than my classmate, 'cause they got to sit there with my mess on them til she was finished with me.

I wonder what happened to that chattiness. Totally gone by the end of second grade.