44x31 (Draft 2)

I was up late last night. Babies combined with working out too late in the day combined with too many thoughts in my head. But the positive side of everything is that I started to weed out the list. And make sublists and priority lists... (Can you say "Type A"?)


So here are the sublists... the lists are in order by the items within the lists are not. 


Definitely:

1. Get my tattoo(s)!!!
2. Work out 20 minutes a day/3 days a week/for 50 weeks. At least.
3. Bring back Pretty Toes Friday!!!
4. Build the girls an outdoor playhouse, with help from Dad & Matt. I'm very excited about this. :)
5. Create a will!!!! As a mother, this should be on the top of my list.
6. Get rid of the stuff in Barb's basement. Or bring it home.

Yes (AKA: Important)

1. Learn to sew with my sewing machine. I am no longer ok with barely remembering my time spent in 7th grade Home Ec.
2. Bake loaves a bread without using the bread machine. Bonus for finding the perfect Whole Wheat Bread recipe.
3. Take a cooking class - cannot be combined with #2 because cooking and baking are obviously different.
4. Write letters to each of my girls monthly. They both have notebooks especially for this purpose. I just haven't done it in forever. And by forever, I mean probably 9 or 10 months.
5. Get Emma down to only watching ONE HOUR of TV a day. This is scary and will be difficult. But I really need to do it for her. And me.
6. (Adding another goal) Start the girls' college accounts. Both of them.
7. Continue Monthly Family Day ... Vacations count!
8. Monthly date night... birthdays and anniversaries count!
9. Read 25 books. Books I've read already this year (before turning 30) do not count, sadly. Books I read to the girls do not count. Books for class DO count! Books on my bookshelves that I haven't read yet most definitely are at the top of this list.
10. Finish the play room. This includes hanging their chair, making the animal zoo, putting up the hooks and shelves, and adding artwork to the walls.
11. Go on a wine tasting with Matt up in the Leelanau Peninsula. And maybe find a wine that I like.
12. Hang out with my very own friends without babies once a month.
13. Plant an herb garden for year-round use - and put it on the wall in my kitchen.
14. Read to my girls for 15 minutes every day (separately). I realized yesterday I barely read to them. When did that stop? This is connected to too much TV, I know it...
15. Make homemade ice cream with my girls.
16. Learn how to change a flat tire. Because calling someone is kinda dumb when I should know how to do it myself.
17. Participate in a dinner crawl (oh this will be for my 31st birthday, for sure), which means have cocktails, appetizer, dinner, dessert, and post-dinner cocktails at a different place in one night.
18. Recite a "I Carry Your Heart" by e.e. cummings at Stone Circle with my girls in attendance. 
19. Play in the snow with my girls. This requires I purchase snowpants. Probably should own them anyway. Maybe then I'd like going outside with Emma.
20. Use the Busy Book and the Nature Book (ok, I'm not remembering titles right now and the book is in Fia's room) with the girls. This will help with the TV-stopping.
21. Weed my sunroom garden!!!!

Probably:

1. Go to the roller derby! Look, here's the 2012 winter schedule for the Killamazoo Derby Darlins...
2. Locavore for 30 days. Obviously in the summer. Very possible. Very do-able.
3. Pick one day a week to spend tech-free. No TV, no smartphone, no internet. Gah! It scares me. 
4. Donate my breastmilk. With Eats on Feets possibly, but mostly I want to be able to help feed my niece Ava. 
5. Make and follow a budget. Matt really wants us both to do this. I need to help him with the budget so it's realistic. And then I need to stick to it. 
6. Make it to my wedding weight of <150 lbs.
7. Invite friends over for dinner six (?) times.
8. (Adding a goal here...) Learn how to use a drill properly.
9. Take a picnic with my family. The backyard does not count this year. Let's go to the Nature Center and do it! We're members this year, remember?
10. Remember (re-learn) how to knit. And then make this Sky Scarf.
11. Go to an art museum, preferably not the KIA.
12. Walk in a race, like the Cheetah Chase or the Borgess Run. Yes. That's very doable.
13. A 30-day Photo Challenge or create one of my own, like stopping at 3:30 (or a different random time) and taking a photo of what we're doing. 

Maybe:

1. Do the 30-day Mom Challenge EVERY MONTH. It will help me be a better mama and help my girls have more fun. 
2. Stop using paper towels. I've already stopped using napkins, so it's possible.. 
3. Four fun day-trips with my girls. Can be included in the family fun days! 
4. Play in the rain with my girls. We need raincoats.   
5. Take a photography class - AKA: Learn how to use my camera on manual. ;)
6. Submit to PostSecret. That could be fun and interesting and helpful. 
7. Write 25 journal entries. Or blog entries. That's one every other week.ish...
8. Buy a meal for a homeless person. Or at least pull over and give him/her what I have in the car. I always feel guilty when I don't.
9. Kickboxing classes again? Man, I loved kickboxing. Let's see, I'd need to find a class, a sitter...  
10. Volunteer. Some amount of time. Somewhere. With or without my girls. Again, this might need a sitter...
11. Add 5 go-to meals (and crock-pot meals) to my repertoire. This would be helpful, especially if they are locavore meals.
12. Go for a walk with the girls x20. When did I stop doing this? Obviously it's cold and nasty out... but sometime after having Sophia I stopped going for walks...

GJB:

1. Reach 50 sales on Gracie Jayne Boutique. I don't even know how many sales I'm at right now. I should probably 
2. create the DBA and 
3. the separate bank account while I'm at it. And I want to 
4. add another product line. Like origami mobiles or something. I should probably be doing GJB's own list for 2012...
5. Participate in a craft fair with GJB?

Not Important:

1. Stop drinking soda (???)
2. Stop eating at fast food joints. This includes Taco Bell, Wendy's, McDonald's, Arby's... but not Panera or Pizza Hut. Apparently I'm not that into this one. 
3. Start going to the chiropractor?

Now I'm feeling like I need to delete anything on my list that didn't make it to the "Probably" section. These are things I can revisit next year, or keep in the back of my mind. But I don't have to exert a lot of effort towards them right now. And after my birthday, I'll sit down and make a plan for GJB. Maybe that needs to be on my list. ;)

With my top three lists, I have 41 items. I'd still like to get it down to 31 things. But here's the list, for now:

List (draft 2):

1. Get my tattoo(s)!!!
2. Work out 20 minutes a day/3 days a week/for 50 weeks. At least.
3. Bring back Pretty Toes Friday!!!
4. Build the girls an outdoor playhouse, with help from Dad & Matt. I'm very excited about this. :)
5. Create a will!!!! As a mother, this should be on the top of my list.
6. Get rid of the stuff in Barb's basement. Or bring it home.
7. Learn to sew with my sewing machine. I am no longer ok with barely remembering my time spent in 7th grade Home Ec.
8. Bake loaves a bread without using the bread machine. Bonus for finding the perfect Whole Wheat Bread recipe.
9. Take a cooking class - cannot be combined with #2 because cooking and baking are obviously different.
10. Write letters to each of my girls monthly. They both have notebooks especially for this purpose. I just haven't done it in forever. And by forever, I mean probably 9 or 10 months.
11. Get Emma down to only watching ONE HOUR of TV a day. This is scary and will be difficult. But I really need to do it for her. And me.
12. (Adding another goal) Start the girls' college accounts. Both of them.
13. Continue Monthly Family Day ... Vacations count!
14. Monthly date night... birthdays and anniversaries count!
15. Read 25 books. Books I've read already this year (before turning 30) do not count, sadly. Books I read to the girls do not count. Books for class DO count! Books on my bookshelves that I haven't read yet most definitely are at the top of this list.
16. Finish the play room. This includes hanging their chair, making the animal zoo, putting up the hooks and shelves, and adding artwork to the walls.
17. Go on a wine tasting with Matt up in the Leelanau Peninsula. And maybe find a wine that I like.
18. Hang out with my very own friends without babies once a month.
19. Plant an herb garden for year-round use - and put it on the wall in my kitchen.
20. Read to my girls for 15 minutes every day (separately). I realized yesterday I barely read to them. When did that stop? This is connected to too much TV, I know it...
21. Make homemade ice cream with my girls.
22. Learn how to change a flat tire. Because calling someone is kinda dumb when I should know how to do it myself.
23. Participate in a dinner crawl (oh this will be for my 31st birthday, for sure), which means have cocktails, appetizer, dinner, dessert, and post-dinner cocktails at a different place in one night.
24. Recite a "I Carry Your Heart" by e.e. cummings at Stone Circle with my girls in attendance. 
25. Play in the snow with my girls. This requires I purchase snowpants. Probably should own them anyway. Maybe then I'd like going outside with Emma.
26. Use the Busy Book and the Nature Book (ok, I'm not remembering titles right now and the book is in Fia's room) with the girls. This will help with the TV-stopping.
27. Weed my sunroom garden!!!!
28. Go to the roller derby! Look, here's the 2012 winter schedule for the Killamazoo Derby Darlins...
29. Locavore for 30 days. Obviously in the summer. Very possible. Very do-able.
30. Pick one day a week to spend tech-free. No TV, no smartphone, no internet. Gah! It scares me. 
31. Donate my breastmilk. With Eats on Feets possibly, but mostly I want to be able to help feed my niece Ava. 
32. Make and follow a budget. Matt really wants us both to do this. I need to help him with the budget so it's realistic. And then I need to stick to it. 
33. Make it to my wedding weight of <150 lbs.
34. Invite friends over for dinner six (?) times.
35. (Adding a goal here...) Learn how to use a drill properly.
36. Take a picnic with my family. The backyard does not count this year. Let's go to the Nature Center and do it! We're members this year, remember?
37. Remember (re-learn) how to knit. And then make this Sky Scarf.
38. Go to an art museum, preferably not the KIA.
39. Walk in a race, like the Cheetah Chase or the Borgess Run. Yes. That's very doable.
40. A 30-day Photo Challenge or create one of my own, like stopping at 3:30 (or a different random time) and taking a photo of what we're doing. 
41. Make a plan for GJB.

Tomorrow I prioritize this list and maybe drop it by 10 items...


(Later that day...)
I'd also like to add:
42. Never walk away from the stovetop/oven while it's dirty
43. Do these 15m housecleaning ideas once a week (not once a day)...
44. Fly kites with my girls! (Maybe this goes on my bucket list...)