reassessing

Whew. Finally unpacked. Caught up on the laundry. The massive pile of mail has been dealt with. Menu made, and groceries stockpiled for the week. Even managed to knock out the shopping for the boys' mile-long list of required school supplies. But I just can't seem to defeat google reader. *sigh*

So, in keeping with my newly formed list of goals (#2), I'm clicking the mark-as-read button.

Now I realize that many say that goals should be specific and measurable. And I do understand how that can make it easier to see one's progress. So maybe I shouldn't actually call these goals. More of a new way to approach life.

#1--Create more.

#2--Stress less.

#3--Cook more. And cook healthier.

#4--Spend less. And spend more wisely.

#5--Be more accepting of who I am.

#6--Take risks.

#7--Live a varied life.

Yes, our trip invigorated me. Can you tell? :D And the start of a new season helps, too...sort of like the feeling of starting a new year.

Damn, I love the feeling of optimism!

what I'll be doing this summer

(Okay, that should really read "what I should be doing this summer," but I'm going the "positive-thinking" route instead of the "realistic" route.)

Anyway, our unofficial summer will arrive at approximately 3:17pm, when the bus rolls down the street and disgorges two happy little boys. Never does it feel like summer until the school year has come to an end. And honestly, I'm not sure if I've ever been quite this happy to see it arrive.

Pretty sure it's that anticipatory elation that has me thinking I can conquer the world this summer. Kinda like that feeling I get as each new year begins. Thus my list of summer goals.

*for homeschool:
1. write IHIP (must do)
2. get all plans done for first quarter (really should do)
3. get all plans done for second quarter (would be nice to do)

*around the house:
1. paint, etc. the bathroom (must do)
2. declutter each and every room in this house, including garage (really should do)
3. paint the stairwell (would be nice to do)

*traveling:
1. my family reunion (must do)
2. visit Rich's mom (must do)
3. family vacation to visit old friends (really should do)
4. a few days away for just Rich and I (would be nice to do)

*reading:
1. each of us set a summer reading goal--mine is 30 books, Rich's is 25, Max's is 20, Gray's is 30, Annie's is 75 (would be nice to do)
2. finish some of my challenges (really should do)

*miscellaneous:
1. update my 50x50 blog, though I've ignored it for so long I'm sure I won't remember everything that could be checked off (really should do)
2. make Christmas cards (really should do)
3. scrapbook 30+ layouts (would be nice to do)

HAPPY SUMMER, EVERYONE!!!

summer goals meme

Becky just tagged me with Summer Goals meme, which was started by A Year of Reading. Seems like the perfect opportunity to try to organize my thoughts a bit. I know many people already feel like summer's here, but it doesn't quite feel that way here as the kiddos are still in school. So I'm going to take the literal route and make these my goals for June 21st through Sept. 22nd (I think that's correct anyway).

These goals do not have to specifically involve reading, by the way, but I think that's the direction I'll head. Please don't compare my list to Becky's list, as I'll come out looking like quite the slacker!

1. Finish up the challenges which will end during that period or shortly thereafter.
*Banned Books Challenge ends June 30th (still have 2 books to read)
*Heart of a Child Challenge ends July 14th (still have 2 books to read)
*Southern Reading Challenge ends August 15th (still have 3 books to read)
*It's the End of the World Challenge ends Sept. 15th (still have 3 books to read)
*Novella Challenge end Sept. 30th (still have 5 books to read)
*Non-Fiction Five Challenge ends Sept. 30th (still have 4 books to read)
*Celebrate the Author books for June, July, August, and September (4 books)

2. Have a ball during Dewey's Read-a-thon! This will be an easy goal to accomplish!

3. As we are trying out a year-round schedule for Annie's home schooling this year, it means I'll have lots of reading to do for that. Specifically, I'll add as a goal: read lots and lots and lots of poetry. (Poetry is going to be our focus for the first quarter of literature.)

4. Find solutions for housing all the hundreds of books lying in piles around the house. (One would think that having bookcases in literally every room in the house, except for the upstairs bathroom and the laundry area, would be enough, but apparently it's not.) Solutions are likely to include a combination of both more bookcases and giving away lots of books.

And now for the tagging:
*Nymeth--a. I wouldn't blame her for ignoring me since I still haven't done the 6 random things meme, though I still plan to, and b. she's going off to Brazil so maybe she doesn't want to set any goals except for having fun, fun, fun, but c. I hope she'll do it anyway :)
*Chris
*Eva
*Jean

a new year begins...

I love the start of a new year. For what it seems to do with my attitude. I tried explaining it in a post last New Year's Day. And I feel the same again this year. I feel this way every new year. Carl's post today sums up my feelings almost to a tee.

Anyway, I've spent the past few days, writing up lists of goals for the new year. ("Resolutions" just sounds too harsh, almost punitive, whereas "goals" sounds much more positive.) Now, being the obsessive list-maker that I am, these lists are quite extensive. I have 12 separate categories, ranging from health to homeschooling and crafts to Christmas. And of course, there's reading goals. Now, I wouldn't dream of boring you with my lists for all of these categories, but I will bore you with my reading goals...

As I was filling up page after page after page with these goals, big and small, it dawned on me that maybe one reason that I'm so addicted to reading challenges is that it gives me a chance to make yet more lists. And look, now I can even make a list of this year's challenges:

*finishing up the Four-Legged Friends Challenge
*finishing up the Unread Authors Challenge
*finishing up the Book Awards Challenge
*the What's in a Name? Challenge
*the Sci-Fi Experience
*the Graphic Novels Challenge
*the Decades Challenge 2008
*the Young Adult Challenge
*the Reading Full Circle Challenge
*the Tolkien/Lewis Challenge
*the Austen/Masterpiece Theater Challenge
*the Celebrate the Author Challenge
*the 1st in a Series Challenge
*the Hometown Challenge
*the Numbers Challenge
*the Mythopoeic Challenge
*the A-Z Challenge
*the Short Story Challenge

You know what...I almost wish I hadn't made that particular list! That is beyond daunting.

Anyway, using all my challenge lists as a guide, I made up a list of what I'd like to read during the month of January:

*finish up Alice in Sunderland by Bryan Talbot
*finish up The Cobra Event by Robert Preston
*Whittington by Alan Armstrong (Four-Legged Friends)
*The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart (Unread Authors, Full Circle)
*Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson (Unread Authors)
*The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare (Book Awards)
*The Stainless Steel Rat by Harry Harrison (1st in a Series, Sci-Fi)
*Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIHM by Robert C. O'Brien (Celebrate the Author)
*a Jane Austen book (Jane Austen/Masterpiece Theater)
*The Giver by Lois Lowry (Decades, homeschool)
*Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (Decades)
*Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell (Numbers)
*Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson (YA)
*The Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes by Neil Gaiman (Graphic Novels)
*War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells(Sci-Fi)
*start The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkein (Tolkien/Lewis)
*Grimms Fairy Tales (homeschool)
*The Brief History of the Dead by Kevin Brockmeier (just because)
*Horns & Wrinkles by Joseph Helgerson (just because)
*The Wolves in the Walls by Neil Gaiman (just because)
*Double Cross by James Patterson (just because)

I know, I know, absolutely ludicrous! I'll be lucky to get a quarter of that list read. So, I'll just call that my pool of books to choose from for January's reading. Yeah, that sounds better, huh?

Hmmm...just think how much I could have gotten read in the time I just spent rambling on here...