Project 52 update - July 4

Happy July 4th to all my American friends and relatives!

When I wasn't blogging for awhile, I didn't really think about the Project 52 list. It wasn't until I started blogging again, that I found that I actually got a few things accomplished during the last few months. So, the first Monday of July seemed like a good place to give you an update. Although we are now 1/2 way through the year, and I don't nearly have 1/2 of my items crossed off yet!

Please visit the hosts of Project 52: A Peek at Karen's World or Cheap Therapy

Here are just a few of the things that I've completed in May and June...

18) Read 20 books (9/20) - I just completed my ninth book this year so far. See the Project 52 list for the list of books I've read. I'll post recaps and/or reviews of some of them over the next couple weeks.

23) Paint the garden shed - We put the first coat on last week, and painted it the same colour as the house. We still need to do a bit of touch up, and do a second coat, but the weather has not been co-operating with us. I will post before and after pics when it's all completed.

42) pay off the line of credit -- finally! I gave myself until the end of June to get this paid down, and calculated out how much I would have to pay out each pay cheque to get this done. I can say that I had to give up shopping for craft items and other indulgences for a few months, but I did stick to my plan! Now... I'm saving my money for a new washer and dryer!

45) Get new contacts -- I finally took the plunge and ordered new contacts from www.clearlycontacts.ca The contacts were quite a bit cheaper than ordering them from my optometrist, and I'm not sure why I hesitated for so long before ordering them online. It was an easy and painless process, and the contacts showed up at my doorstep a mere 6 days later.

50) Buy a new microwave oven -- Our microwave oven was about 20 years old. (really!) I knew it was time for a new one, but we just kept putting it off. We only use the microwave to heat up the odd leftover dinner, or heat up a cup of tea or coffee. We don't cook in the microwave. And we don't even make popcorn in it. So, the need just wasn't there. But, then I saw a GE microwave on sale at London Drugs for $69.99. Similar to our old one, and about the same size, it was cheaper than any I had seen before. But, it was one of those "limited quantity" sales... you know... where there is only one per store, and they mark them down really low, just to get you in the store, and when they don't have any left, they expect you to buy the other more expensive one? Well, I fooled them. We walked into the store the morning that the flyer started... 10 minutes after they opened in the morning, found the one microwave that was on sale, threw it up on A's shoulders, and walked over to the check-out to pay. There was only one in our local London Drugs, and we got it! Yeah! Bye bye old microwave. Hello new one! And wow!! What a difference. It used to take 3 minutes to heat up a cup of tea. Now, it's only 30 seconds. And I don't have to unplug the toaster when I start the microwave, because you can actually have the microwave on at the same time as the toaster and not blow a breaker! Imagine that!

Stay tuned for more updates.

Project 52 - April 4th

It's Project 52 time again, and I haven't done very much. I've spent the last week sick (again) with the flu. I think I have bronchitis this time, because I can't stop coughing. But, I also haven't been back to the doctor yet. I've been feeling all sorry for myself the last few days, until this morning, when I started catching up on my blog reading. Two of the blogs I follow, both woman broke their arm/wrist this week! Karen... one of the hosts of Project 52 is one of them. Ikes! Now, I don't feel so bad. I may be coughing, and tired, and not feeling well. But, at least I haven't broken anything!

Here's a link to our hosts of Project 52: A Peek at Karen's World or Cheap Therapy
The list is small this week. With work being so busy, and me being sick, I just haven't done much of anything.

29) Cross Stitch more
Here's the latest butterfly. This is the second one. I'm working on number 3 now, and will post a pic when she's done.


52) Blog about my "Project 52" every week (12/52)

Project 52 update - March 21

Here we go!

Here's a link to A Peek at Karen's World or Cheap Therapy for more details.

It's been a busy week. Mom and Dad are out of town, so I took Grandma shopping this weekend. We had dinner at A's Brother's place on Saturday. And I tackled a few things on my Project52 list...

3) At least once a month, reach out to a friend I haven't talked to in a long time (3/12)
We were uptown doing some errands, he went one way, and I went the other. We decided to meet at Starbuck's about 1/2 hour later. I got there before him, and while I was waiting, I ran into 3 (yes 3!!!) old friends that I haven't seen for a long time. Of course, we hugged and chatted, and exchanged emails and phone numbers. I'm only counting this as one, because I have only emailed one of them since the weekend. But, I hope to keep in touch with the others too.

27) Clean out and organize the garage - DONE!
We had the snow tires taken off our vehicles during the week, and the guy that does our tires usually stores our other set at the shop. But, he's going out of business. So, he told us we had to take the other set home with us. All 8 snow tires were in the back of A's truck until Sunday. I spent the better part of Sunday morning organizing and cleaning out the garage, and making room to store the tires. They are now in front of my car, giving me a 'bumper' to drive into when I park. And the garage has much more room to move around in now!

29) Cross Stitch more
I'm working on a set of butterflies right now. I've got one done, and have a few more to do. I will post pics later in the week.

52) Blog about my "Project 52" every week (11/52)

That's it for this week! I totally forgot to do the linky thing last week, so I'm off to do that now.

Project 52 update - March 14

Better late than never!

Here's a link to A Peek at Karen's World or Cheap Therapy for more details.

This week's updates...

21) Do a training class at work - DONE!
March 8 to 10, I completed a 3 day, very intense!, training class at work on Fixed Assets. It was actually a lot of fun, because I was in the class with 6 coworkers that are a lot of fun to be with. And I actually learned a lot too.

29) Cross Stitch more
I have actually been doing a lot more cross-stitch lately. It's kind of taken the place of reading, so I haven't actually picked up a new book since the last one. But, at least I was able to do this...

30) Complete the Christmas cross-stitch patterns from last year - DONE!
I'll post pictures in a couple of days. But, the patterns are done, completed, framed, and waiting to be displayed next Christmas!

39) Go out for lunch with someone once a month (2/12)
While in Victoria, I went out for lunch with co-workers every day… Tues, Wed, and Thurs. (But I'm only counting this trip as One for this list item). I don't see everyone all the time, so when I am in town, I like to spend some time with them. I had the added bonus of having lunch with a few co-workers from the Dallas office, one who is also based in Vancouver and one from Sacramento, CA.

52) Blog about my "Project 52" every week (10/52)
I wasn't sure I was going to make this one this week, I've been so busy!

Project 52 update - March 7

It's Monday again, and a busy Monday at that...
After this post, I'm off to finish up some work, pick up a co-worker at the airport, then off to the ferry for a fun filled wonderful four day trip to Victoria for a Fixed Assets training course. (Try saying that five times fast!) At least when I return, I'll be able to cross yet one more item off of the list (the training course is on my Project 52 list). Unfortunately, I don't have too much else done this week, as I spent the week doing laundry, cleaning the house, and packing for my trip.

Anyhoo... time for Project 52 update.

Here's a link to A Peek at Karen's World or Cheap Therapy for more details.

51) Watch The Pillars of the Earth movie
Done! See my post a few days ago for the recap of the movie.

52) Blog about my "Project 52" every week (9/52)

Not sure how much time I will get to blog this week, so have a great week, and I'll post when I can.

Project 52 update

It's Monday again, and time for Project 52 updates. My, how the week's fly by!

Here's a link to A Peek at Karen's World or Cheap Therapy for more details.

It was a very busy day at work today... that's why the late post. But, here's my update for this week. You can tell I'm feeling better, because I got something accomplished this week :-)

1) Try two new recipes every month (4/24)
This time it was "Braised Chicken and Potatoes" from the Feb 2011 Canadian Living Magazine also found online... click here
Basically, it was a slow cooker recipe with chicken and potatoes and carrots and celery flavoured with marjoram and rosemary. It turned out great! Definitely a 'make it again' recipe. And because it was a slow cooker recipe, it was easy!

3) At least once a month, reach out to a friend I haven't talked to in a long time (2/12)
This week, I emailed my old boss. It was his birthday on the 17th, and my girlfriend and I decided to take the old boss out for lunch. I haven't seen him in like 2 years, so it was nice to reach out and ask him to join us. Of course, he jumped at the chance to have lunch with us.... which brings me to the next item on my list...

39) Go out for lunch with someone once a month (2/12)
We went for dim sum today. It was yummy! and we had a really good time.

52) Blog about my "Project 52" every week (8/52)

Project 52 update

Here's a link to A Peek at Karen's World or Cheap Therapy.
(the linky thing didn't work last week for me, so I'm hoping I can get it to work this week!)

Well, it hasn't been a great week for me. I spent the better part of the week with a fever, feeling sick. I called in sick to work on Tuesday and slept all day. I worked the rest of the week, but after work, would crash on the couch for a few hours before going to bed. On Friday, and the rest of the weekend, my fever turned into a full blown cold/flu, complete with stuffy nose, achy joints, and oh so very tired. Besides work, all I've done is sleep. I slept all day Saturday. I only peeled myself off the couch to get more tissues, to go to the bathroom, or to get something to drink. Sunday, I managed to get out for a bit to do a bit of grocery shopping, and actually cooked dinner. But, hubby helped me with dinner, and that's about all I did. Needless to say, I haven't gotten anything accomplished on my Project 52 list. But, then again... we have all year, right?
Here's what I do have. And right now, I'm REALLY glad I added #52 to my list!! :-)

21) Do a training class at work
I signed up to do the Fixed Assets module training this year. It wasn't supposed to be until the Fall, but it got bumped up to the first week of March. I don't have to go to Dallas for it, but I do have to go to Victoria. I made the hotel reservations on Friday, so now it's a given. The training class will be March 8 to 10, but I'm heading over on the Monday (the 7th). I can't wait. One... because I've wanted to learn this module for a long time now. And two... because I will get to cross something else off on the list!

52) Blog about my "Project 52" every week (7/52)
Yup... really happy I added this one! :-)

Project 52 update

Well, it's Monday again, and you know what that means!

Here's a link to A Peek at Karen's World or Cheap Therapy for details.

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!
Work has been super busy this week for me, and that means I'm usually too tired at night to do much of anything. I've also been a bit under the weather lately. I don't have the flu, but I've been fighting something for a few days now. And, whenever I get sick, I get the "cleaning bug", so I've been cleaning a lot lately. Too bad I didn't put day-to-day cleaning on my Project 52 list. But I did get a bit accomplished this week, and actually get to cross something off of my list!

18) Read 20 books (4/20)
Yup, I finished another book! Can you believe it? I don't usually read this fast. I average less than one book a month usually. But, I've made a concerted effort to watch less TV and read more, and it's paying off. I finished "Super Sad True Love Story", by Gary Shteyngart. I really enjoyed it, and will post a review later this week.

48) Clean out the crawl space under the stairs - DONE!
Finally finished. We had boxes all over the basement for a week, while I went through them, reorganized some stuff, threw away a bunch of stuff, and donated some stuff. You know how when you buy a new kitchen appliance, or computer thing, or whatever, and it comes in a box? Do you know how you unwrapped that newly purchased item, and put all the styrofoam and packing material back into the box? I usually put the box aside, just in case you have to return said item to the store. Problem is... the box usually gets stuffed under the stairs, and forgotten about. We had a ton of empty boxes under the stairs with little bits of styrofoam in them. I threw out 2 garbage bags of stuff, and broke down no less than 22 boxes for recycling! But, the end result, is a lot more room in the crawl space, and much more organized.

52) Blog about my "Project 52" every week (6/52)
I can't believe it's been 6 weeks now!

That's it for this week.

Project 52 update

Link back to A Peek at Karen's World or Cheap Therapy for details.

Well, this week hasn't been much more productive than last week. At least when it comes to Project 52. I've been super busy, and accomplished all kinds of things this week. But unfortunately, none of them are on my Project 52 list!! Next year, I'm going to have to put more "day-to-day" stuff on the list. That way, I can be sure I will have the time to accomplish everything. Anyways... here's a quick recap of the last week...

1) Try two new recipes every month (3/24)
Chili. That's right. Chili. Not really a 'new' recipe. In fact, we didn't even use a recipe. We just made it up. Or, I should say, He did. Hubby decided Superbowl Sunday wasn't Superbowl Sunday unless we had a big bowl of steaming chili in our hands. I don't really like chili, so we never make it. Like never. And, we aren't American Football fans either. So, it was really just an excuse for him to make our first batch of chili. And, he did a good job. It was really good. I tried to take a picture, but you know how chili is... no matter how good the picture is, it doesn't make the chili look to appetizing.

44) Journal on a regular basis
Yes, I have been doing this. I got a new journal for Christmas, and I write something every day now. Even if I don't have much to say. I think I've only missed 2 days since the beginning of the year, so this is good.

48) Clean out the crawl space under the stairs
Yup, we started this on the weekend. We pulled out all the boxes and junk that was under there, and now have boxes all over our basement. I'm going to go through them all in the next couple of days and decide what to keep, and what to throw away. I hope to be able to cross this off my list next week.

52) Blog about my "Project 52" every week (5/52)
This one is easy! :-)

How was your week?

Project 52 weekly update

After the gang-buster week I had the week before, this past week wasn't quite as productive. The problems I had at work last week kind of consumed my energy, and I didn't spend much time on my goals as a result. So, this update is going to be short, sweet, and simple...

18) Read 20 books (3/20)
I finished another book on Saturday. It's called The Postmistress, by Sarah Blake. I'll post a book review later in the week for you.

52) Blog about my "Project 52" every week (4/52)

Ok... that's it. Told you it was short! But, I guess it's expected that we will sometimes have weeks were things just don't get done for whatever reason.

I hope you all had more productive weeks this week, and look forward to catching up with you on your blogs. Happy Monday!

Project 52 - Week 3

If you recall, I only had 39 items last week. Well, this week, I made finding 52 items part of my list... and then completed the list! Sneaky, huh? Click on the link above to see the list in total.

For my Accomplishments this week:

1) Try two new recipes every month (2/24)
This time, it was Pork Chops stuff with Brie. Only we used Camembert instead. They were good!!! I was going to take a picture of them before we ate... but we sat down and devoured more than half before I realized that I hadn't take a picture. So, a pic of the recipe book will just have to do...


9) Scrapbook at least 2 pages every month (2/24)

I don't usually buy prepackaged scrapbook pages. But, this was too good to pass up. 2 pages, with all the matting, stickers and embellishments, for $4.99... marked down an additional 90% off. Wow! It was perfect for the school pictures of the kids that we get each year.

11) Finish my 2011 scrapbook calendar -- Done! See last Friday's post for details.

13) Eat healthy -- I've been doing well this week, staying away from junk food despite the amount of chocolate in the house, and finding organic healthy alternatives for snacks.

16) Lose 40 lbs (3/40) -- ok, I'm down another pound. The loss is slow, but at least I'm not gaining! Am I following a plan of any kind? Not really. Just trying to eat less, eat healthy, and move more. Eventually though, I will have to set some kind of plan up to follow.

18) Read 20 books (2/20) -- This week I finished Nora Ephron's "I Remember Nothing".

28) Create a budget, and track our expenses -- I've started a spreadsheet for this now. It's going to be one of those ongoing things.

40) Choose 52 items for my Project 52 list -- DONE!

41) Setup an automatic savings program -- DONE! A small sum of money is now coming out of my chequing account each month, and being deposited to my high interest savings. I used to do this 'manually' each month by transferring the money online. But, usually what ended up happening, is that I never did the transfer, and spent the money instead. Now, there are no excuses!

52) Blog about my "Project 52" every week (3/52)

I had a really productive week this week. How about you?

Finished

I finished my scrapbook 2011 calendar. And it's only January!!!
This is an accomplishment for me. I've tried to make a scrapbook calendar for myself for years, and each year, I start off good, and then end up getting to the Aug or Sept pages and then... just stop. I don't know why. I've made scrapbook calendars for other people, and finished them before Christmas without issues.
This year (or actually last year), I picked up this Calendar kit on special from Michael's.

It had all the paper, stickers, embellishments and pages needed to finish a calendar. All I needed to do was print out 12 pictures, and get to work. I mean... how easy is that?? So, I started in December, and raced through the months pretty quick. But, then the Christmas festivities were upon us, and I put it down. I guess that was my mistake. I should not have put it down.
Anyways, I put the calendar on my Project 52 list, and decided this week to finish it off. Here are just a couple of the pages I have to look forward to this year...

PS

I found a way to add another 'page' to my blog. At the top of the blog, under the heading, you will now see HOME, and my PROJECT 52 list. Just click on the link to go to the list. Cool, huh?
I should have made "adding a page to my blog" one of my Project 52 items... then I could have marked something else off! :-)

Book review

As part of my Project 52, I planned to read double the books I did last year. I read 10 books last year, so that meas I need to read 20 books this year. At least that was the plan, until Hubby pointed out that reading 20 books this year would mean that I would have to finish a new book every 18 days. Yikes! With all the other things on my list, I'm not sure I can do that. But, I will certainly give it a good go. And when he complains that dinner is not made, or the laundry is not done, or the bathroom is far from clean... well, I can just say... too bad Honey! Gotta keep reading!!! :-)



I finished "The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest" on the weekend. I loved it. Which surprised me. I read the first book (Dragon Tattoo), and was not impressed too much. I actually kind of guessed the ending (what happened to Harriet), and therefore the ending wasn't as good as it could have been. Also, it had some dark undertones to the book. But, the writing style was really good. So, I read the second book (Fire) before Christmas, and then started reading the 3rd (Hornet's nest) just after Christmas. I'm glad I did.

The 2nd and 3rd book definitely are the highlights of the trilogy. And while the 2nd never really 'finished', so you just 'had' to read the 3rd to find out the ending, it didn't deter me. By the time I reached the 3rd book, I realized just how much effort, time, expertise, and intelligence it took to write these books. Stieg Larsson was definitely an accomplished writer. He introduced a truckload of characters, but each character was well defined, and extremely well developed. And the story did not disappoint. The last 10 chapters or so of the 3rd book were the best. It brought everything together, and I really got caught up in the story. So much, that when I finished the book, I was actually kind of sad to say "goodbye" to the characters, knowing that I would not see them again, unless I re-read the books.

If you don't know.... Stieg Larsson passed away shortly after delivering the manuscripts for all 3 books. It makes me wonder what he could have produced had he still been around today.

Project 52

Ok... here goes!

Check out Karen's blog A Peek at Karen's World, and Jennee at Cheap Therapy for details on Project 52. It's basically a list of 52 things you want to accomplish this year.

Anyways, I'm a little late getting started. So, my list isn't exactly at 52 items yet. But, I am going to work on it. Below the list, is my 'catch-up' entry for the weeks I missed.

MY LIST
1) Try two new recipes every month (1/24)
2) Go to the theatre more often
3) At least once a month, reach out to a friend I haven't talked to in a long time (1/12)
4) Go to a Yoga class
5) Go to the spa and get a massage
6) Organize the music on my iPod
7) Organize the pictures on my computer
8) Make a back-up of my home computer hard drive
9) Scrapbook at least 2 pages every month (0/24)
10) Finish scrapbooking the Wedding Album
11) Finish my 2011 scrapbook calendar
12) Get our Wills done
13) Eat healthy
14) Drink more water
15) Get more exercise
16) Lose 40 lbs (2/40)
17) Travel somewhere I haven't been before
18) Read 20 books (1/20)
19) Do something 'different' with my hair
20) Organize my office
21) Do a training class at work
22) Get a new TV for the living room
23) Paint the garden shed
24) defrost the little freezer downstairs
25) clean my oven (yes, it's old, and not self-cleaning! yuk!)
26) Get rid of the old freezer in the garage
27) Clean out and organize the garage
28) Create a budget, and track our expenses
29) Cross Stitch more
30) Complete the Christmas cross-stitch patterns from last year
31) Make Christmas cards for Christmas 2011 before Dec 1st
32) Clean out my closet, donating clothes I don't wear anymore
33) Cook hubby his favourite meal
34) Do some kind of volunteer work
35) Have dinner at a fancy restaurant
36) Sell the old coffee table, and end tables on Craigslist
37) Invite people over for dinner more often
38) Go to the theatre to see a play or musical
39) Go out for lunch with someone once a month (0/12)
....
52) Blog about my "Project 52" every week (2/52)

Ok... I still have 12 more to come up with, but I think I can do that. And, I am really surprised to see how many people have the same ideas on their lists!



Week One (January 10th) and Week Two (January 17th)

Item #1 - I did try a new recipe already. I made caraway rye bread in the bread machine, but modified the recipe, and didn't put any caraway seeds in it. So, I guess it was just rye bread. But, it was yummy!

Item #3 - I emailed a guy that I used to work with about 2 1/2 years ago. He worked in the UK office, and lives in England. We had met each other a few times in the 18 months that I worked there. And we talked on the phone or email about 2 or 3 times a week. When the company was sold, he was laid off... which was about 6 months after I left the company. I've only seen him once since then, about 2 years ago. This week, we emailed each other, exchanged information, and got caught up on gossip. It was nice to hear from him, and know that he's doing well.

Item #16 - yeah, I lost two pounds since New Year's. Not a real big accomplishment, but at least I didn't gain!

Item #18 - I finished the 3rd Millenium book on Saturday (The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest). I'll post a review later this week.

Item #52 - I'm cheating a little, as this concludes the first and second of 52 blogs entries about my Project 52!

Project 52... to do or not to do...

On Tues, I wrote about time, and things on my "Want to do" list. Later that day, I found a blog that was doing a "Project 52" Challenge. Both Karen and her friend Jennee started this challenge at the beginning of the year. Check out the "Project 52" posts on Karen's blog at A Peek at Karen's World, and Jennee's blog at Cheap Therapy for more details.

The idea? Pick 52 things you want to accomplish this year, and blog about it each and every Monday. I guess the original idea is to do one thing per week this year, and then look back to see what you've accomplished. But, the overall 52 items list seems perfect! (yes folks, if you don't know it already, I am a List Person!!). This whole thing looks like exactly what I was looking for, even though I didn't realize I was looking for it. It seems to be the exact thing I need to get my "want" list done this year, or at least put a good dent in it. Or is it?

I have a tendency to make TO DO lists that exceed all possibilities of time and space. There just isn't enough hours in a day or energy inside of me to accomplish my full TO DO list on most occasions. So, what ends up happening is that I make a list, get 1/2 of it done, and instead of building myself up with what I've accomplished, I get down on myself for not getting it all done. I'm afraid that if I list 52 things to do this year, I might not get any of them done, and the end up feeling like a failure at the end of the year.

Or... I could make a list of 52 things, get a lot of them done, and have a record of my accomplishments! A list of things that I wouldn't normally have recorded anywhere (because TO DO lists, done or not, usually end up in the shredder... although the occasional one has ended up as scraps of soaking wet paper balls found at the bottom of the washing machine).

Anyways... we are supposed to blog about Project 52 every Monday, so I have the weekend to consider whether to go ahead with it or not. Although, I have to admit... I've already started working on my list :-)