Back on Track

Well, I've been reading some of the past posts about resolutions and goals and stuff, and I think it's time to announce that we are getting back on track! Sometimes I feel like you all are part of my 12 step group. "Hi, my name's Mel and I am an unorganized person." (Say it - "Hi Mel." There you go!) Anyway, to recap some of the things going on around here...
1) We're trying not to spend $. Yeah. How? By not going shopping! I just haven't been buying much lately. Food, a new-to-us car, clothes...I have to say I put this one as #1 b/c I am doing awesome! I have so much more time, we have more money left and I am bringing in less junk. I almost didn't believe the difference it has made. I am proud of myself!
2) We're making a lot of our own foods and not buying convenience things like granola bars, micro dinners or mac and cheese (**sniff**). Goes w/#1, I guess. I've been cooking more, with Dave's help at times, but we've been doing well w/making a plan and sticking to it. The hardest for me is to check the plan in the morning and then set out frozen stuff or make sure I have enough prep time.
3) Eliminate/Simplify things, like I mentioned about chemical dependence. No more shampoo, conditioner and gel. Already ditched the gel. Stay tuned for the shampoo switch. Goes w/#1, too. Simplify the cleaning routine too.
4) Monday is a day to make stuff.
5) Wednesday is a day to work out.
6) Don't eat out!! Goes w/#1.
7)Eliminate clutter. Everyone who visits leaves w/something, like a table or a book or an unused thingamajig. Take lots of trips to the thrift store.
8) Keep working w/Mo on school type stuff. He's got a lot of Spanish, numbers and letters down already! He amazes us! He's also learning about notes and musical stuff.
9) We got our adoption packet today! SOOOOOO much easier than the foster care packet. FC packet is all these open-ended questions, really broad and hard to answer. The adoption said check all the boxes that apply! I breezed through it in less than an hour.
10) The booth in our kitchen is not started yet. The guy was totally free to do it and then got hired on a 'real' job. He's been pretty busy lately, which is good for him, but sets our project back. Oh well...
11) Potty training is going well. Mo has a lot of dry diapers! Soon we can make the switch to underoos I think. I plan to poke holes in the 'nutchie' tomorrow. Supposedly that takes away the fun of sucking it. We'll see! Once we get over that, we'll try night time sleeping in the toddler bed, not the crib. My baby's growing up!!
12) I had been doing pretty good about going walking at the mall for a while...but then it just got too nasty out. With all of our snow, it's a workout just to clear the driveway!! We've been trying to 'health-ify' what we eat. Dave can't even believe the amount of veggies we go through in a week! He's lost a few pounds and so have I, but we haven't seen any drastic change yet. This goes back to the workout thing...
13) My sewing machine is fixed! Before I vowed to try to keep busy in the evenings while Dave was working on school stuff. I went strong for a few weeks, but then got lonely. Now that my sewing machine is fixed, I hope to spend at least one night a week trying things out. I will try to use that as a reward for cleaning on the other nights! I've been doing ok at that, but there's always room for improvement.
14) Yes this is long, but I could not end it on unlucky #13! So the last one is our commitment to our faith. We try to read the Picture Bible w/Mo each week, but we can do better. As for us adults, we haven't been spending much time in the Word at all. We need to get back on track w/at least a half hour a week.
Wow. That's quite a list. We can do it! We were just having a conversation the other day about how we were both impressed w/how far we've come in the last 3 months even. Maybe you don't see it, but hopefully you will soon! Are you making any changes in your house? Are they easy? Does everyone agree to be a part of them? Dave's pretty willing b/c so far he's seen the logic in simplify and save $. Soon I'll have him write about our progress - stay tuned!