#23 - Have a date with Olivia once a month

Saturday morning was my date with Olivia. On the agenda: like with Isabelle, a hair cut and some shopping. Here she is all dolled up, posing for me before we left:

Her clothing choices tend to run a little eccentric.

Here I would like to hand out some free advice... never take a 4 year old drama queen clothes shopping. For the first time ever (and I wish I could say last) I heard the phrase, "But Mom, everyone else has one." She picked out a very pretty blue polka-dot Easter dress. She helped me pick out some equally froo-froo dresses for her sister. I was fine with that until she started in on all the other things she HAD to have. So I finally talked her into downgrading the dresses for more practical (and cheaper) dresses so she could have a pair of shoes. I managed to get away without the belt, bows, jelly gladiator sandals (who thought THOSE up?), and blue jumper that actually was too small even for Zoe. There were quite a few small fits and some threatening to just go home, but all in all it was fun.

Then we went to get her hair cut. She was not thrilled. The stylist didn't cut quite as much off as I planned, but I didn't want to press my luck with Olivia. I was lucky to get her to sit in the chair at all. Anything more than a trim probably would not have ended well.

Next Saturday: Zoe's date. I'm totally stumped as to what we'll do. She doesn't need a haircut. =) Well, she does need her bangs trimmed, but that's not worth a trip to the salon. What can I do with my little 13 month old?

An update

So, how's it going? Well, for the most part pretty well. I have had a couple of "failures" but I'm just going to truck on ahead like it didn't happen. I didn't take any self-portraits this weekend, but I decided that if it takes me more than a year to get 365 pictures, well, then it will. It's my list, I can bend the rules a little if I like. =P I also didn't work out 3 times the week before last. It won't stop me from trying the rest of the 140 something weeks though. And I never got around to mailing out a letter last week. Maybe I'll do two this week to catch up.

I wrote down these numbers and I can't remember what they were to make comments on them. I'm tired.

#76 & #77 - The Heart Walk and MS Walk. I have done my research on them and they are April 4th and 11th respectively. I just need to register. I want to check with my sister to see if she wants to walk with me first. Why these walks? Well, my father has heart disease. He had a heart attack about 15 years ago and has had quite a few close calls since then. I could also do the Diabetes walk in support of him, but last year when I checked they didn't have one in the area. My mother has Multiple Sclerosis. My sister and I used to do the walks every year in high school and I haven't done one in forever. I was going to last year and something interfered. But I will do it this year.

#48 or #89... like I said I forgot to write down which was which and I'm too lazy to go back... whichever one is regarding my weight. As of Friday, I had lost 10 lbs. I still have a way to go to my first goal, but I'm happy. A friend recommended a program to me a few weeks ago. It's a Christian-based program on a website called Setting Captives Free. They have several programs dealing with various addictions and issues. When I first looked at their weight loss program, I immediately dismissed it. It didn't look healthy and I didn't want to deal with anything religious. But it stayed on my mind and I talked to my friend about it again. I looked at it again and decided to try it. I've been on it for a week now. It's a 40 day program. It really goes against a lot of things I've been taught the many times I've tried to lose weight, and they admit it. But the basic goal is to rely on God to help you overcome your food issues. There is a weekly schedule consisting of 2 days where you eat normally (as in "like a normal person" not how I normally eat), 2 days where you eat half-portions, 2 days where you are on a liquid diet until dinner, and 1 day of fasting. There is a daily lesson and they've helped tremenously. I've struggled a little, mainly with the half days. The fasting day was easy. I know it sounds totally crazy, but I always believe things are brought to me for a reason. And it's helped me to become better friends with someone in the process.

And that's about it for now. I'm going to put up a post about my date with Olivia now.

#9 - Do flickr 365 day project

As I was looking through other people's 101 lists, I came across a few that mentioned the Flickr 365 day project. I was curious and looked it up. It's a group on Flickr where people take self-portraits of themselves everyday for a whole year. I thought, "That's kind of neat.. to see day by day how I see myself for a whole year." So... it's on my list.





I meant to start it last week, but I left my everyday camera at my parents' house last weekend. It's really not very easy to take a self-portrait with a beast as big as a DSLR, although my first self-portrait was taken with just that.

Here is a link to my 365 days set on Flickr: click here =) I'm going to have a list of links to various projects on the side shortly. Bear with me, I'm muddling my way through here. =)

My Valentine's Day Date

You would think that if I were crossing a date off of my list today, it would be with my husband, since it is Valentine's Day. But nope. No babysitter. So I decided to spend the morning with my Green Kanagroo, Izzy.

You'll have to excuse the quality of the photos. They were taken with my camera phone. I left my everyday camera at my parents' house last weekend and I don't get it back until tomorrow. I've been having withdrawals. And the DSLR is a bit overkill to take on a date =)

Isabelle made sure she was stylin' before we left this morning:

She wore those glasses all through Target, our first stop. She got to pick out new undies. Exciting, huh? LOL We got other things too, used up my $75 gift card and a little more. We got some stuff for the flower garden that is planned later on.

After that, we went to get her hair cut. She doesn't have much to work with because of a tragic scissor incident, but it was looking really scraggly.

The lady cutting her hair had purple hair. =) And she had recently gotten a tattoo and had bought some of that pain numbing Neosporin to put on it. Wimp. Izzy was a big girl and sat very still for her haircut.

After the haircut, we went to McD's and got a treat to reward her for being so good. Milk and an apple pie.

Then we did our grocery shopping and went home to prepare for a big day at the park with the whole family. Next week will be Olivia's date. She'll probably get a haircut too. Hers is too long.

A few additions

I made a few additions to my list today: to check the smoke alarm and my brand new carbon monoxide alarm once a month. I had to go buy a new CM alarm today. When I got home from work yesterday, the house reeked of gas. My husband is home all day, but he's asleep. The idea of coming home and finding him dead in bed scared me half to death. Not to mention that he could come home from work in the morning and find the same happened to me and the girls. For some reason, one of the pilot lights on the stove keeps going out. I need to inform the landlady when she calls for the rent. The stove is ony about a month old and we've had to relight the pilot three times now. I looked for our carbon monoxide alarm, but it apparently got lost in the move. If I eventually find it, no big deal, I don't think you can have too many alarms.

I still have about 5 things I need to come up with for my list to be complete. I'd rather not make "finish my list" one of them, but it just might be. LOL If anyone has any suggestions, feel free to leave it. I'm open to almost anything. =)

#82 - Making a children's book for Isabelle

Sometimes things just aren't fair. And you can't really explain that to a 2 year old. Olivia has a book with her name on it. She even has a whole cartoon dedicted to her now. Isabelle doesn't understand why there isn't a book or a cartoon for her. She's old enough to realize that Olivia has these things, but not old enough to understand that the book and cartoon aren't Olivia's, they're just about a pig who happens to have the same name. She wants an Izzy book.

So, why not give her a book? I'm creative, I can draw cartoon-y. I can come up with a simple story. So... Izzy will have her own book.

Today I bought a sketch pad and some colored pencils and I'm going to start working on it. When I'm finished, I'm going to scan the drawings and upload them to snapfish or somewhere and make a photobook out of it. Then it will look like an honest to God real published book.

I'm sure eventually I'll make one for Zoe too, and maybe one for Olivia that is actually for Olivia. But I don't know how long it will take me to actually do this, so just Isabelle is on this list.

My List

The Mission: Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.

The Criteria: Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. represent some amount of work on my part).

Why 1001 Days? Many people have created lists in the past - frequently simple goals such as New Year's resolutions. The key to beating procrastination is to set a deadline that is realistic. 1001 Days (about 2.75 years) is a better period of time than a year, because it allows you several seasons to complete the tasks, which is better for organising and timing some tasks such as overseas trips or outdoor activities.

Some common goal setting tips:
1. Be decisive. Know exactly what you want, why you want it, and how you plan to achieve it.
2. Stay Focussed. Any goal requires sustained focus from beginning to end. Constantly evaluate your progress.
3. Welcome Failure. Frequently, very little is learned from a venture that did not experience failure in some form. Failure presents the opportunity to learn and makes the success more worthy.
4. Write down your goals. It clarifies your thinking and reinforces your commitment.
5. Keep your goals in sight. Review them frequently, and ensure that they are always at the forefront of your thinking.

February 6, 2009 through November 4, 2011

Key: pending items, items in progress, completed items (with date)

To Feed My Passion:
1. Find my mom's photographs
2. Scan my mom's photographs
3. Get pictures of Bill's grandparents from his mother
4. Get baby pictures of Bill's sisters from his mother
5. Make collages of Bill's family like the ones I have of mine
6.
7.
8.
9. Do flicker 365 project
10. Take a family portrait twice a year (1/6)
11. Take 10,000 photos

Because I'm a reading fool:
12. Buy all the Judy Blume books for the girls
98. Buy at least 10 Nancy Drew books for the girls (7/10)
13. Read every Jodi Picoult novel
14. Buy all the Olivia books for Olivia (0/8) (there are 9, already own 1)
15. Compile and keep up with a list of books I want to read (2/6/09 - shelfari.com)
16. Read 101 books (8/101)

Because I want to be a good mommy:
17. Listen to Olivia read me a book.
18. Listen to Isabelle read me a book.
19. Potty train Zoe.
20. Cover the concrete pad in backyard with sidewalk chalk with the girls
21. Plant a flower bed with the girls
22. Add the girls' names to my tattoo
23. Have 30 dates with Olivia (1)
24. Have 30 dates with Isabelle (2)
25. Have 30 dates with Zoe (1)
26. Take the girls to the beach (June 2009)
27. Write Olivia a letter for her to read on her 18th birthday
28. Write Isabelle a letter for her to read on her 18th birthday
29. Write Zoe a letter for her to read on her 18th birthday
30. Go on a hayride with the girls every fall
31. Go tent camping with the girls
32. Go to the Memphis Zoo

Because I want to be a good wife:
33. Kiss Bill in the rain
34. Leave Bill a love note on the bathroom mirror in lipstick
35. Take a day off of work to spend with Bill
36. Have 30 dates (2)
37. Lay out in backyard with Bill and look at the stars

Organizational/homey kind of stuff:
38. Organize important papers in file box
39. Buy a lamp for the bedroom
40.
41. Buy a shredder
42. Get the window fixed in the van
43. Stick to strict budget for 6 months
44. Buy a fire-proof safe
45. Order Isabelle's birth certificate (rec'd 6/3/09)
46. Order Zoe's birth certificate (rec'd 6/3/09)
47. Make a will
95.
96.
97. Save $5000

To be good to myself:
48. Weigh 250
49. Weigh 225
50. Weigh 200
51. Weigh 175
52. Weigh 150
53. Dance in the rain
54. Complete Power 90 program
55. Stop smoking (June 2009)
56. Do a weekend bootcamp
57. Make a bucket list
58. Get a pedicure
59.
60.
61. Get a physical in 2009 (June)
62. Go 24 hours without the computer (3/28/09)
63. Go all weekend without the computer
64. Record my dreams in a journal
65. Go one month without fast food
66. Go one month without soda
67. Take 6 "mental health" days (0)
68. Celebrate 10 years at my job

To expand my mind and be a good person:
69. Start and complete a cross-stitch
99. Do 25 sewing projects (6/25)
70.
71.
72. Get a houseplant and keep it alive
73. Make a list of 100 things that make me happy
74. Make a list of 25 things I like about me (3/1/09)
75. Register to vote
76. Do the Heart Walk every year (1/3) (4/4/09)
77. Do the MS Walk every year (1/3) (4/11/09)
78. Make a vision board
79. Take Zoe's old clothes to Goodwill 6 times (1/6)
80. Be a Santa to a Senior at Christmas (0/2)
81. Donate blood (5/6/09)
82. Write a children's story for Izzy
83.
84. Draw a picture
85. Sing karaoke

To connect with others:
86. Reconnect with Trina (6/3/09)
87. Reconnect with Sam
88. Put an inspirational note in a library book for the next person to find
89. Send a letter to someone once a week (3/143?)
90. Send a thank you card to my parents for being good parents
91. Send out 1 Postcrossing a month (3/33)
94. Visit A & A in Houma

And I couldn't figure out where to put these =)
92. Buy a house
93. Get a new chain for my dragonfly (2/17/09)

Reserved for things that I think of in the future:
100.
101.