March Check-In: Seriously, who has this much stuff?

Goal 1: Read through the Bible.

I finished Leviticus and started Numbers. Not as far as I had planned to get, but progress is progress. Need to pick up the pace, though. Numbers has me struggling.

Goal 2: Read 40 books.

I only finished one book (Hyperbole and a Half), BUT I read 500 pages Of Six Wives: The Queens of Henry VIII by David Starkey, and I'm hoping to finish it this month. I also got a handful of new free Kindle books that look really good, so hopefully I can bump this number up.

Goal 3: Less stuff.

Mooooore magazines. 32. I was not kidding about the magazines. So many magazines. Also 4 tiny containers, a skirt, a pair of shoes, and a pair of pants.

Goal 4: Organizing.

My haphazard bookshelf has been reigned in with canvas bins and magazine holders, so it no longer looks like a middle schooler's locker threw up. Can't say a whole lot for the rest of my bedroom, though.

Goal 5: Decorating.

I bought some pretty pencil holders & such for my desk, but they'd look a lot better if I cleared all the crap covering the surface...

Goal 6: Be less fluffy.

I started doing planks every day. I had to start at 25 seconds. From my knees. Good job, self.

I should've known that about myself

Fun thing we've learned: when Megan doesn't schedule posts, Megan doesn't blog. Good to know.

Reasons a Cat is Like a Toddler, Take 3

"No."

"No."

"No."

"What did I just say?"

"No."

"You know you're not supposed to have that."

"No."

"What are you eating?!"

"No."

Close Enough

(Listening to the Christian radio station)

Dad: Who is this? It sounds like Avril Lavigne.

Me: ...it's Mandisa...

Dad: Whoever that is.

February Check-In: Apparently I'm a Hoarder

Here we go....

Goal 1: Read through the Bible.

Made it through Genesis and Exodus and started Leviticus. Thus begins

Goal 2: Read 40 books.

I finished one. So, you know, go me. I read this. It was pretty good.

Goal 3: Less stuff.

2 pairs of jeans, 6 tops, 2 makeup bags, 1 travel toiletry bag, 1 purse, 2 carry-on size bags, 1 scarf, 11 magazines= 26 pieces of crap out of my life. This is barely a dent. Help me.

Goal 4: Organizing

Working on it. Actually put clothes away after I did laundry, and I've done some filing of the piles of papers that seem to multiply. I also have a pile of stuff that needs shredded.

Things I have found while digging:

Geology notes. My degree is in psychology. I hated this class. Gone.

A bra I forgot I even owned. Win.

Goal 5: Decorating

A lot of this stuff can't be done until it's nice out and furniture can be hauled outside, plus nothing is pretty when there is stuff absolutely everywhere. On hold.

Goal 6: Knit more.

I thought about knitting. Baby steps.

Goal 7: Be buff.

I have worked out zero times. You win some, you lose some.

365 Days of Me, Week 3

I suck at this game.

2014 Kick-in-the-Butt List

1. Read through the whole Bible. (Audio counts.)   For real this time. I'm already through Genesis. One down, 65 to go.
2. Read 40 books.  There have been points in my life where this would be no big deal, but lately I've been abandoning reading for more brainless activities. It almost the end of January and I haven't finished even one book. Not cool.
3. Purge 100 items from my apartment.  Yes, 100. I am counting old magazines which will easily account for half of this. This is probably really only a fraction of what I should be getting rid of. This apartment is big, but I have way too much stuff. I need it out.
4. Find an organizational system that actually works for me.  There are piles everywhere. I am a total slob. Half of the stuff I own doesn't have a home. It is not working.
5. Finish decorating the apartment.  This includes quite a few things, such as painting a dresser, hanging artwork, etc, but we have lived here over a year and it still looks temporary. There's a good chance we'll be here a couple more. It needs to feel like home.
6. Knit more.  I'm not going to quantify this one but I've been working on one hat for 2 or 3 years. I have a ton of yarn, and knitting is soothing. Time to get to it. 
7. Make it over the wall in the Mud Run.  I had a blast last year, but I was entirely unprepared and it kicked my butt. The wall in particular was impossible. I fell on my bum a couple times and then went around. This year, I will conquer. 

I can do seven goals, right? Two going on three jobs leaves me plenty of free time...
(It started out as five, but I'm an overachiever.)

Reasons G Is Crying

Have you ever seen the blog 'Reasons My Son is Crying?' Go check it out. Now. It's hilarious.

And I wanted to join in the fun. So here are some reasons the little boy I nanny, G, is crying:

>I wouldn't let him eat a tissue.

>He tried to crawl over me and got stuck.

>It took more than .2 seconds to warm his bottle up.

>I wouldn't let him play with his poopy diaper.

365 Days of Me, Week 2

Fail.

I missed a whole bunch of pictures. You get what you get. But I'm not giving up. (Hey, look. I wear makeup and stuff sometimes.)

Priorities

Things that don't concern me:

• Global Warming
• The possible extinction of giant catfish
• Dust on my baseboards 

Things that do:

• If naptime is going to last long enough for me to play SIMS do laundry
• What on earth is happening on Pretty Little Liars

365 Days of Me

For the record, I hate the word "selfie." I hate that it was the word of 2013. I think it's dumb. I think we're all getting a little too obsessed with ourselves.

However.

I saw this link and it made me think. Honestly? A lot of the time I don't like the way I look. If I take the time to get gussied up, I can be pretty hot stuff. But if I'm just sitting around, on an average day...meh. Not really a fan. And that's not really okay. God made me to be me. To be beautiful. And I want to like lookin' at myself.

So every day in 2014, I'm gonna take a picture of myself. And I'm gonna post it on the internet.

So...here's my first week! (I spent a lot of time being snowed in/lazing around. Thus the repeated gray sweatshirt. Is that gross? Sorry, I don't care. Pictures will get more interesting.)

Weird Things in My Purse

Yeah, that's a wine stopper.

Ways a Cat is Like a Toddler, Take 2

He pooped in my bed last night.

It bothered me much more than it bothered him.

Conversations

After a shoulder injury due to my extreme klutziness and lack of depth perception requiring the words "xray" and "physical therapy" to be thrown around by my doctor:

Me: I call bull on these muscle relaxers. I could take two of these and drive a U-Haul.

Mom: I'm sorry, but that's the funniest thing you've ever said.

I can't walk through a door properly, but hey, at least I'm funny.

Currently, I am...

Reading: MWF Seeking BFF. Except I've spent so many years looking at class schedules I automatically think "Monday Wednesday Friday" instead of "Married White Female." Other than that, it's a really cute book.

Watching: New Girl. Because I definitely need another show to watch. But I love it. And now I kind of have a girl crush on Zooey Deschanel. (You know that scene in Notting Hill when Honey meets Anna Scott and goes on and on about how they could be best friends? I could be that blithering idiot.)

Making: A quilt for my cousin out of his old high school T-shirts. All the pieces are cut and I've decided how I'm going to lay it out, so now I just have to get sewing. This thing is going to be huge.

It is not a good idea...

...to read a book about a murder before bed. Especially one that actually happened. And has only kind of been solved. Terrible choices - I make them.

Things I'm Loving Right Now

 *These shoes. Which I sometimes just wear around the apartment because they are fabulous and I'm not sure how to wear them in public.

*This song. Can't get enough. Also this one.

*Pinterest. (Follow me!) Best & worst way to waste time all at once.

And speaking of Pinterest...

*A good reminder.

* An even better reminder.

*A cute shoe DIY.

*This dreamy porch swing.

A Note...

Dear Blue,
While I appreciate your ability to entertain yourself, repeatedly jumping on and off the bed while yowling like you have been shot is a bit distracting at 4:30 in the morning. (It was, however, amusing & impressive to watch you leap from the head of the bed to the floor at the foot.)

This is not what you want to see first in the morning.

Please note that 5:30 am is also not an appropriate time to be yowling like a banshee on fire. And in case you have forgotten, breakfast is at 7:30, and waking me up before that is just not cool. If you must wake me up, please avoid the following:

-biting my nose, fingers, or chin (also unacceptable: biting my forehead. which is apparently possible)
-standing on my throat, boobs, or bladder. unless you would like to be thrown across the room.
-doing that creepy thing where you stare at me with your face about an inch away from mine until I open my eyes
-knocking all of the items off of my nightstand/desk/kitchen counter
-repeatedly banging the cupboards, because for the love of all that is holy, I have neighbors and they are going to cook you into a stir fry if you do not stop that terrible noise.

Love,
The woman who feeds you and seriously needs her sleep


P.S. Please note that I pee before you eat. Always.

Awkward & Awesome Thursday!

Awkward:

-Cat drool. Thanks for shaking your spit all over me like a wet dog. My milk & cookies appreciate it, too. I might go throw up now.

-Being jealous of the cracking sound the ice tray makes. If only my back would do that...

-Blue walking around with kitty litter on his nose. What exactly are you doing in there? By the way, cats act exactly like toddlers when you try to wipe their noses. Stop squirming and whining, dangit, I'm just trying to keep you from aspirating litter.

Awesome:

-Sourdough breadmaking success! So good. So much better when it actually rises...

-Doctors who always run a couple hours behind because they always take the time to actually address all of their patients needs. Totally worth the wait. (I might also note that this is my specialist who is probably in the top 5 in the world for my disorder.)

-Moms who drive with you to doctor appointments that are two hours away, even though you are 24 and probably perfectly capable of doing it on your own.

Clearing the Clutter

As part of my 101, I'm getting rid of the crap (number 77). I put it under the financial category because I have stuff that needs to be used up before I buy anything new, and also because if you know what you have, you better know what you need. It could have fit just as well under a Save My Sanity category, though, because I was absolutely losing my mind over the piles of random stuff everywhere. Two of my biggest stuff problems were clothes I never wear and magazines I've already read.

Thus far I have donated (or pitched in the case of undies, because just no) 38 items of clothing & 1 pair of shoes, which is ridiculous, especially because most of it was easy to get rid of. No one should have 40 things in the closet that they never actually wear!

Those shoes look cute, but they hate feet.

I did have a bit of an argument with myself about the jeans that maybe-someday-possibly I might fit in again, but then I decided that if I ever get back to that size, I can celebrate with a Goodwill shopping spree.

However, I allowed myself to keep a couple of those It-doesn't-fit-but-it's-so-stinking-cute items, because, well, 38 is a lot, and now the majority of the things in the closet are things I actually wear.

Aside from clothes I used up one bottle of conditioner that I was really beginning to hate and that I think maybe God was multiplying to get a little giggle. Condition the hair of the 5,000!

(The conditioner counts not only because I hated it, but because I have other bottles, so I am not replacing it. If I use up a tube of toothpaste and buy another one, that doesn't count, because I haven't been hoarding that like Wal-Mart might go out of business.)

I also recycled 42 magazines & catalogs. 42. Because I am a hoarder. (I did go through each and every one of them in order to tear out recipes & articles I would actually refer to again, but they fit in a neat little pile until I get around to filing them, so again, not feeling guilty.)

So for #77. Donate/throw out/sell/use up 100 items, I am already up to 81. I'm thinking that maybe I did not make this enough of a challenge...