resolution check-up

Well, it's the final accounting day. How did I do this year on keeping my resolutions? Hmmm, let's see...

Lose weight - I'm quite happy with my progress here for this month. The day after Christmas I started eating healthier and have already lost weight. Yea! Overall for the year, I am down 39.5 pounds from where I started the year. That is great but I still have a ways to go (yes, I was that overweight). This will continue to be a goal for the coming year but I feel positive I can readh my goal weight. If I just lose as much as I did this year, I'll be skinnier than I was in high school!

Earn YW Medallion - FINISHED! McKayla and I both received our awards on Sunday, October 24th. Yea!

Write my grandma's life history - I made no progress in December. On the bright side, Kevin has a friend who told him another method for data recovery on our crashed computer. I am mildly hopeful because that would certainly be helpful. This one will also have to roll over to next year.

Do major projects early - Overall I did really well on this one this year! It certainly made for a relaxing Christmas. I've even got a good start on next year since I've got one present made and I'm already starting on the Christmas gifts for my sisters and friends.

Write a book - Overall I didn't do well on this one this year. I wrote a little here and there but probably have enough for a magazine article - certainly not a book!

Get 7 hours of sleep per night - I give up on this one. I actually slept in this morning until 4:25 am and was super excited because it's the first time in FOREVER that I haven't awoken between 3 and 3:30. 4:25 felt like sleeping in! I've talked to my doctor and she's told me to take Melatonin but it doesn't seem to do anything. I was beginning to get tempted to do drugs (Ambien, Tylenol PM, anything - I just wanted to sleep!)

Conclusion: I like the accountablity of having to report on my goals. It helps with motivation. I will do it again next year!

year in review

Here's some of our families top things of 2010 (in no particular order):

Utah News Stories:

1. Brian David Mitchell convicted in the Elizabeth Smart kidnapping.
2. Herriman fire caused by machine gun practice of National Guard.
3. Chevron oil spills in Red Butte Creek.
4. BYU and Utah leave the MWC - BYU will be independent and Utah will be PAC-10.

Top Overall Stories:

• Earthquake in Haiti killed 230,000 and left millions homeless
• BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico
• Tea party movement
• Health care overhaul
• After 69 days being trapped in a Chilean mine, 33 workers were rescued
• Wikileaks

Our favorite TV shows:

1. CSI
2. NCIS
3. Amazing Race
4. iCarly
5. Hannah Montana

Favorite musical artists:

• Lady Gaga
• Pink
• Taylor Swift
• Owl City
• Sarah Beryllis
• Rihanna
• Black Eyed Peas
• Katy Perry
• Ke$ha

I'm sure I left things out. What were some of your favorites?

new projects

The Christmas break has been pretty relaxing. The kids are enjoying playing with their friends. I am getting some work done on some projects.

I am making a t-shirt quilt for Brakston. It is his Christmas present but he doesn't come home until Jan. 25th so I have a little more time. That's good because I've never attempted a t-shirt quilt before and there's a LOT I don't know. I've recut my t-shirt squares/rectangles 3 times already!

I am also working on Christmas presents for next year. Right before Christmas I was at a friend's home and saw the cutest thing! Now I'm busy copying it. I love to copy!

Christmas letter

I am one of those people who sends Christmas cards along with a letter telling what the family has been up to. I really enjoy receiving those letters. Sometimes it's the only contact I have with old friends or even some extended family. I love learning what they've been doing.

I like to keep a copy of my letter because it's a good summary of our year. I've decided that I good place to start storing the letters is on here so here is the one I sent out this year.

2010 has been all it could be.
We’ll give you a recap from A to Z.

A – Almost home. Brakston will be home on January 25th. Yea! (Not that Marvelle’s counting the days or anything)
B – Bear. Chandler earned his Bear rank in Cub Scouts.
C – Cheer. Shanley decided to try out cheer classes and has been enjoying doing back handsprings.
D – Dances. Alec was invited to Sweethearts and Prom. He asked someone to Homecoming.
E – Early Mornings. Tuesday mornings find Marvelle serving in the temple. Shanley, McKayla, and Alec also go every other week to do baptisms. This means leaving the house about 4 am. Yikes!
F – Fort Worth. Marvelle and the kids flew into Fort Worth to visit Dawnette (Marvelle’s sister) in Keller.
G – Games. If it’s not soccer games, it’s softball or basketball. McKayla and Chandler play soccer. Shanley plays softball and McKayla made the 9th grade basketball team. Alec can be found at all those games plus every high school basketball and football game. He is famous for doing the Haka at halftimes.
H- Half Marathon. Marvelle and McKayla ran a half marathon during the summer. McKayla took first place in her age division and, of course, left Marvelle in her dust.
I – Intrepid. Shanley decided to run for SBO (student body officer). She didn’t win but we were so proud of her intrepid spirit!
J – Jazzercise. Marvelle still attends about 200 Jazzercise classes every year. The kids find it embarrassing when she practices the routines in the car when the songs play on the radio.
K – King. Alec was elected as the Homecoming King of Riverton High School. He still proudly wears his crown to school on occasion and sometimes has to be talked out of wearing it to church.
L – Letter. McKayla earned her varsity letter (as a freshman) in soccer. Alec earned an honorary letter in track.
M – Mount Rushmore. In October Marvelle took the kids to Rapid City, SD for a little vacation.
N – No braces. Shanley got her braces off (McKayla is jealous).
O – Oahu. Kevin and Marvelle spent the 2009 Christmas to New Year’s week in Oahu vacationing with friends.
P – PTA. Marvelle is serving as the PTA President at McKayla and Shanley’s middle school. She is also on the board at Alec’s high school. At times, she’s not sure that she doesn’t spend more time at school than the kids.
Q – Quebec, Rhode Island, Texas, Minnesota, California. Kevin flew coast to coast and covered a lot of miles.
R – Reunion. In July we all went to Marvelle’s family reunion in Bryce Canyon. We did lots of hiking.
S – Social Hero. In May, Alec was honored as a Social Hero at Riverton High. The student body officers gave him the award for being nice and friendly to everyone.
T – Teaching. Marvelle is still substitute teaching seminary. Kevin is teaching the adult Gospel Doctrine class.
U – Utah Glory. McKayla and Chandler play for the Utah Glory soccer club. We attended tournaments in Layton, Ogden, San Diego, St. George, Las Vegas, and Mesquite, NV.
V – Vancouver. Marvelle and Kevin vacationed in Vancouver during the summer. The highlight was renting bikes and cycling around Stanley Park.
W – Waverunners. We enjoyed our waverunners with a trip to Yuba Lake with a couple other families
X – Xtra info. If you want to keep up on the lives of the Morgans, you are welcome to visit our blog at www.scrappinsoccermama.blogspot.com
Y – Yellowstone. We enjoyed a family vacation in Yellowstone in August. We went with 3 other families. Chandler especially loved the kayaking.
Z – Zone Leader. Brakston has been serving as the zone leader in his mission. He loves Arizona.

We love you all and wish you all the joy of this holiday season. May you rejoice in the birth and life of our Savior and may He be with you throughout 2011!

snow fort

Well, dreams of a White Christmas were in vain. No such luck this year. We did, however, have snow a couple days before Christmas. In fact, we had enough snow that Kevin and Chandler were able to build a fort.

Christmas

It is odd having mostly teenagers at Christmas -- they don't tend to wake up before the sun. In fact, it was 9:30 before Alec and the girls got up. Poor Chandler was going crazy waiting.

We always have Swedish tea ring, orange julius and hot chocolate for breakfast and I make everyone eat breakfast before opening presents. We eat, get dressed, make sure the dishes are done, and then it's time to open presents. (I like to extend the anticipation)

Santa doesn't wrap our gifts. He leaves his gifts and the stockings on the couch covered by a tablecloth or sheet. The kids line up oldest to youngest and stand in front of the couch while Kevin and I lift the tablecloth for the "big reveal".

For many years now, we've limited the presents under the tree. Each child gets four presents - a want, a need, a gift of time, and something homemade from whichever family member drew their name.

Here's the kids checking out what Santa brought them.

I love how excited Alec gets at Christmas. He was so excited for Santa to come and then he is thrilled with every gift. You can see his joy at getting a pear in his stocking.

We got a calendar with pictures of the Morgan side of the family. That was fun for everyone to view.

McKayla is checking out her new camera (her want).

The rest of our Christmas day is just very relaxing. Alec watched his new DVDs. Chandler played with his Bop-It and Bop-It Bounce. Shanley loaded music onto her new MP3 player. My parents came by bringing their gifts and my mom and I put together a puzzle.

Great Christmas - hope everyone's was just as merry!

Christmas Eve

We enjoy driving around and looking at the Christmas lights. This year we happened to notice a fairly large field with 3 wiseman walking their camels (excuse the sorry excuse of a picture)

After the 3 wiseman came a lighted sign that said, "O Come Let Us Adore Him" and then came the manger scene complete with a live donkey. All the figures are life-size and we thought it was pretty cool!

Christmas Eve tradition

Most of our family traditions were adoped from the traditions my family had when I was growing up. However, one tradition is just ours. Years ago we started going bowling on the 24th and then out for pizza. Bowling is great because it's something we are able to do as a family because even Alec is pretty good at it (good meaning he can knock at least a few pins down every time). Then pizza is at The Pie Pizzeria - yum!

This year Kevin won both games. McKayla took 2nd once and Shanley took 2nd the other time. Chandler bowled for the first time without using the bumpers and he scored better the second game than the first so he was happy.

I didn't bowl this year since I'm nursing a shoulder injury but I had a great time laughing at McKayla cheering for Kevin to bowl gutter balls so she'd have a chance to beat him. Plus, I kept quite busy high-fiving Alec every time he knocked a pin or two down.

Then we felt honored that our friend, Tonya, joined us for the pizza. We are thinking we may have to repeat this tradition in January when Brakston returns home.

traumatized or wishful thinking?

Chandler made need therapy. Then again, my he's just hoping for a surprise trip.

Two years ago (in November), we surprised the kids with a cruise. They thought they were driving Kevin and I to the airport to go on a cruise but when we got there, we pulled out their suitcases which I had secretly packed and told them they were going with us. It was a great surprise!

Last year after opening presents on Christmas day, Kevin and I headed to the airport to fly to Hawaii. We spent a week there with friends and had a great time. The kids spent time with their grandparents and then with their cousins. Everything seemed great.

Until this year. Chandler has asked Kevin and I several times if we're leaving him again on Christmas day. We keep assuring him that we're staying with him this time. We were beginning to think we had severely traumatized him by abandoning him on Christmas day.

Then, one day he announced that his belt was missing and he was sure I had taken it. When I wanted to know why I would've taken his belt, he was sure I'd secretly packed it for a trip.

Ohhhhh...so he's NOT traumatized. He's just hoping we are going somewhere fun and that this time we're taking him.

pancakes

I have NEVER liked pancakes - all that soggy bread (and soggy from something equally disgusting - maple syrup!).

That is, I've never liked them until this year. No, my taste buds didn't change - my recipes did. Dawnette gave me this recipe for "Perfect Pancake Mix" (I think it's from the Family Fun cookbook).

Perfect Pancake Mix:
(makes 7 1/2 C mix)

3 C flour
3 t baking soda
4 1/2 t baking powder
1 1/2 t salt
1 T sugar
2 C whole wheat flour
1 C 7-whole grain cereal
1 C cornmeal
4 T wheat germ

To make the pancakes:

1 egg
1/2 C milk
1/2 C mix

Yummy! I guess I just like my pancakes with some substenance. I like to eat these plain (none of that horrid maple syrup).


Then, this week I came across another pancake recipe that will go in my "breakfast favorites" file - Applesauce Pancakes with Cinnamon Syrup.

Applesauce Pancakes:

2 eggs
2 C flour
1 C milk
1 C applesauce
1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 C oil
2 T sugar
2 T baking powder
1 t salt

Beat eggs until fluffy and then beat remaining ingredients.

Cinnamon Syrup:

! C sugar
3/4 t cinnamon
1/2 C light corn syrup
1/4 C water
1/2 C evaporated milk

In a saucepan combine the sugar and cinnamon. Pour in corn syrup and water and stir to dissolve. Boil, stirring constantly for 2-3 minutes. Cool. Sir in evaporated milk and serve. Refrigerate leftovers (if there are any! heehee!)

trouncings

Well, McKayla has now had her first 2 basketball games. I blogged here about the life lesson she would learn from not making the team. Of course, she didn't learn the lesson because she made the team. In fact, not only did she make the team but she was the first one in off the bench in her first game and by her second game, she was named a starter. I continue to be surprised and amazed at her -- she certainly does not get any of her athletic ability from me.

Her team is doing well too! They won their first game (vs. South Hills) 28-3. They won their second game (vs. Joel P. Jensen) with an impressive score of 69-5. I felt bad for the other team. McKayla"s team is really strong on defense. They also have a lot of plays that they run. It has been fun to watch. She now has a break until mid-January.

I was there

I have always known that I was at Christ's birth but yesterday I had the privilege of really knowing that truth. There is such a difference in knowing something in your mind and knowing it in your heart.

The ward choir (with me) sang "Was I There" in our Christmas program. The song goes, "Was I there in a chorus of angels when he came? Did I cry out from heaven, glory to His name?" Suddenly, my body knew I had been there. My spirit remembered and I knew the joy I felt when I sang with the angelic chorus praising Jesus and rejoicing in His birth.

Reliving that joy was a tender mercy from Christ that I am truly grateful for during this holiday season when I again celebrate the miracle of Christ's birth.

Alec's birthday

My sweet boy is 18 today! I still remember his birth so clearly. He was the easiest child to give birth to - I swear he just slipped out. He never made me sick during the pregnancy. He had the most gorgeous complexion and coloring even right after birth.

Then within an hour of his birth Kevin and I got the news that changed our lives - "your son has Down syndrome." Who could have predicted where that road has taken us?

Also, the sad news that he had pneumonia and had to stay in the hospital for 8 days. I couldn't take my baby home for Christmas.

The joys of having him roll over, sit up, and even walk ahead of predictions. The sorrows of teachers who couldn't find anything nice to say about him. The frustrations of being unable to keep track of Alec as he escaped the house and "ran away" time after time after time. The smiles he brings with his frequent hugs. The shock of being told he also has autism. The kindness of his classmates as they've asked him to dances, elected him Homecoming King, taken him to ball games, etc. The acceptance of Alec and his limitations by his siblings and their patience with him. The laughs at the funny things he says and does (writing Ashton Kutcher on the name line on his schoolwork). The weirdness of now having to go to court (against you) to petition for guardianship.

The emotions I experience in dealing with you have somehow seemed magnified - the joys are greater and the sorrows deeper. Life is never dull with you around. At times, I've thought you should count as 5 kids all by yourself. I've learned so much from you and been stretched beyond what I thought I'd be able to handle.

Alec, you are a blessing to have as a child and you bring joy to all who know you! Happy Birthday!

he's a romantic

Yesterday was Kevin's and my 23rd anniversary! We knew that day was going to be too crazy busy to celebrate so we had decided to celebrate our anniversary on Friday.

Kevin is much better at the whole anniversary/romance thing than I am. If it were up to me we'd probably go to dinner and/or a movie and call it good. Luckily, Kevin rarely leaves it up to me. He wanted to spend the night at a hotel but since McKayla had 6 am soccer practice (and needed a ride) that didn't seem feasible. Instead, Alec, McKayla, and Shanley had tickets to the Mormon Tabernacle Christmas concert with David Archuleta. That left only Chandler so we shipped him off to a friends' home for a late night.

Kevin started Friday off with roses and chocolate waiting for me at my 5:30 am Jazzercise class. How sweet is that? Then I had to be at the middle school by 7:20 am to do a presentation at the faculty meeting. Kevin had 6 more roses waiting for me there! I had to be at the high school at 10:30 am. Kevin had bought cinnabuns and was going to bring them there for me but ran out of time. Still, it was a really sweet thought.

That night after we got "rid" of all our kids, Kevin shooed me into the bathroom. He'd spent an hour scrubbing the tub so it would be sparkling clean for me. He ran a bath with ocean breeze bath salts and lit some candles and told me to relax.

When I got out of the tub, Kevin had a candlelight dinner waiting. He'd picked up some Mexican food. We ate and talked and then went downstairs to watch a movie.
We watched "While You Were Sleeping" which is one of my favorite movies. The whole night was so relaxing and enjoyable. We just really enjoyed each other's company.

I am so lucky to have married such a good man! Twenty-three years later, I still believe he was the best choice!

I scored big time!

Sometimes going to Jazzercise early in the morning pays off in more ways than one.

This morning the payoff was BIG! One of my "Jazzercise friends" made me these adorable blocks that say "Faith. Hope. Love." They are so great! Another "Jazzercise friend" made me this ornament. I absolutely love her work and have already purchased a wall hanging and another ornament. I also won one of her screen paintings. Check out her work here. She is even doing a giveaway right now so you might be lucky enough to own some of her work too!

And, if all that weren't enough, my husband left some roses and chocolate there for me as well to help celebrate our anniversary. Then I attended a faculty meeting at the middle school (to make a presentation) and my husband had left more roses for me there! WooHoo!

winner

I won! I won! I won!

Don't you just love to win? I do!

Thanks to Rebekah at Fashionable Finery , I will soon be sporting a new pair of blue-beaded hoop earrings. Yea!

Rebekah does beautiful work. Check out her blog here. Some of my favorites of her work are found here.

project of the week

Yesterday I finished this week's major project - bags of white chocolate popcorn, pretzels, and peanuts for all of the teachers at Riverton High. Ever wondered what 100 bags (plus 2 trays for the office) of popcorn looks like?

This is part of my duties as the teacher appreciation representative for PTA at RHS.

When my children were in elementary school, I never dreamed I'd be this involved in PTA. You see, I tried PYA in elementary and didn't like it. I enjoyed volunteering in the classroom instead. I felt that my time was much better spent helping with reading. I liked working with the students. I also thought the classroom was the best location for seeing how the teacher interacted with the students. I learned more about the students (my children's friends and peers). I also hoped that by volunteering in the classroom, I was sending the message to my children that education is IMPORTANT!

However, when the kids hit middle school, there is really no opportunities for classroom involvement. Also, Brakston was not very good about passing along information. I realized that if I wanted to stay informed about what was happening at the school, who the teachers are, etc., I was going to have to get involved in PTA.

Thus, this year you'll find me serving as PTA President at the middle school (more involved than I had ever planned but that is a whole separate story) and as the teacher appreciation representative at the high school. I have been involved with PTA at the secondary level for 7 or 8 years now.

I really am better informed than most parents. I get to see firsthand how the schools are operating. I feel I know what is going on as far as assemblies, programs, curriculum, technology, awards, etc. It has been very valuable to me personally and I believe it has been very helpful in my children's education.

It takes a lot of time but I feel it is an investment in my children and their education - a very worthwhile investment. And heck, only another 8 years of this and then the kids will be graduated and I can move on to other things!

books I've read in the past month

Here's the list of books I've read in the past month. I've ** the ones I recommend.

The Rivers Run Dry by Sibella Giorello

Joan of Arc by Mary Gordon

**Remembering Isaac - The Beloved Potter of Niederbipp by Ben Behunin

**A Guide to the Birds of East Africa by Nicholas Drayson

Discovering Isaac - The Beloved Potter of Niederbipp by Ben Behunin

The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff

**Gift from the Sea by Ann Morrow Lindbergh

Jon Schmidt

Kevin and I attended yesterday's FM100 mini concert featuring Joshua Creek and Jon Schmidt. Both were good but Jon Schmidt is absolutely amazing! I could listen to him all day.

Typical Jon - plays upside down backwards.He even played a song using his toes.

I have never seen anyone play with as much enthusiasm and passion as Jon Schmidt does. He is doing a benefit concert at Riverton High tonight and I'd love to go but I have a YM/YW activity. Chandler is going though.

Christmas open house

Monday night Kevin and I hosted our annual Christmas open house. I think we've been doing this for 7 years now. It is a tradition I really enjoy. We invite lots of friends and neighbors over for homemade goodies and visiting.

We estimate we had about 60 people drop by last night. I got to visit with most of them.

This year I served the following homemade goodies:
English Toffee
peanut brittle
cinnamon almonds
divinity
mints
mint truffles
fudge
caramels
haystacks
peanut butter balls
white chocolate-covered pretzels
chocolate-covered pretzels
caramel popcorn
applesauce cake
poppyseed bread
cranberry-orange bread
hot orange-almond drink
hot chocolate

I just wish I'd thought to take pictures before I had cleaned most of it up after the party.

puzzling

This has got to be the hardest jigsaw puzzle ever - 1500 pieces that all look the same! It looks like each egg is very distinct so I thought the puzzle would be easy but, seriously, the pieces all looked the exact same. I've never had this difficult a time putting together a puzzle nor has it ever taken me so very long. If it hadn't been for my mom's help, I'm not sure I would ever have finished. (Okay, maybe I would have eventually.)

I usually donate my puzzles to DI when I finish (that is also where I usually acquire them). This time it went in the garbage - GOOD RIDDANCE!

Happy Birthday, Dad

Today is my dad's birthday - 67 years old today!

He and my mom just finished a 23-month mission at church headquarters in the physical facilities department. My mom did secretarial work and my dad did accounting for church construction projects. They have their papers in for a second mission and are currently awaiting their mission call.

I love my dad because he always made me feel like he was proud of me and he always seems to know the answers to my questions. What more could you ask for?

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Belly Bob

For years now, "Belly Bob" has been attending our family reunions. He entertains the audience with his rendition of Rindercella.

Yesterday, "Belly Bob" made a surprise appearance at our extended family Christmas party. He told us the redneck version of The Night Before Christmas.

Gotta love ole Belly Bob.

high to low

Last night when I posted I was so excited for all the parties and fun this weekend.

This morning I am just tired.

McKayla and I got home about 11:40 pm from her soccer game last night. The tournament was running almost an hour behind schedule. I still awoke at 4 am because I believe that is now the time my body is programmed to wake up. Ugh! No energy. No excitement. Nothing. Nada. Zip.

Good thing I'm at least not the one that has to play two soccer games and a basketball game in a 7-hour span. (Good luck, McKayla)

lovin' the season

I truly do love the Christmas season - even when it keeps me hopping!

Last Sunday I wrote my to-do list for the week. McKayla actually gasped when she saw it and Kevin felt so bad for me that he has made the kids sack lunches all week and done a lot of the carpool driving.

Still, I love it all and I am quite pleased that I got almost every single thing on my list done. Sent Brakston's Christmas package, mailed the Christmas cards, finished a friend's birthday present, bought McKayla some solid black basketball shorts (hard to find), did a lot of work for PTA, made 72 cards (18 different ones), finished making a lot of Christmas gifts, shopped, made so much candy and cookies and breads, taught seminary, and so on!

I was busier than a one-armed paper hanger and loved it all! Now I am excited to be able to relax and enjoy some of the parties! We have our ward party tonight (although I can only stay 30 minutes before heading to McKayla's soccer tournament at BYU - yes, a soccer tournament during the hectic Christmas season - is that crazy or what?). Tomorrow is our extended family Christmas party (along with 2 more soccer games for McKayla) and tomorrow night I am getting together with some friends (and missing McKayla's first basketball game). Monday will be our annual open house where we invite our neighbors for treats and then the parties will pretty much be over.

So, I am going to spend the weekend partying like a rock star!!!!

Jerusalem - Peter Breinholt

I attended another FM100 mini-concert on Tuesday with Kevin, my parents, and Jill. It was great! The concert featured Peter Breinholt and David Tolk. Here's my favorite Peter Breinholt song, Jerusalem.

I love playing Santa!

That is, as long as I don't have to dress-up like him!

Yesterday I got to play Santa at the high school. We had a donor give 1 IPOD Nano and 3 IPOS Shuffles for the PTA to give to the faculty/staff. I used a random number generator to determine the winners and then was off to the school to deliver them. What fun was that!!??!!

The winning teachers were delighted and even their students were happy and cheering for them (and trying to steal the IPOD).

If anyone else wants to donate gifts for me to give away, this is a role I could definitely get into!

Christmas music

Do you have a favorite Christmas song?

I don't know that I do.

I will admit to getting tired of the "oldies" but there is still so many to love. We are currently singing one in ward choir that I really love. I have a David Tolk CD that I could listen to all day (and frequently do). I love "Where Are You, Christmas?" and most of the songs from The Forgotten Carols never grow old.

I just love the joy the Christmas songs bring into my life!

cool quote

The magic of Christmas is not in the presents but in His presence!

Christmas parties

I attended two super fun Christmas parties last week. I laughed pretty hard at both of them.

Makes me wonder why we don't all party more during the rest of the year. Maybe that should be one of my goals for next year - hold more parties!

better late than never

Oops - I forgot to report on my goals at the end of November. At least I'm only a few days late.

Lose weight - Okay, not making progress in this area. I am actually up a couple pounds and I still have Christmas to get through. Setting my sights on not gaining in December and I'll go back to losing in January.

Earn YW Medallion - FINISHED! McKayla and I both received our awards on Sunday, October 24th. Yea!

Write my grandma's life history - I finally got motivated and got restarted on this project. I am feeling good about that.

Do major projects early
CPE - My total for the year is 44 hours. -FINSIHED in May
Christmas cards - FINISHED! The cards are done, the envelopes are addressed, and I even have the rough draft of the Christmas letter (which I won't finish until I am ready to send them out - you never know what exciting thing might happen.)
nieces and nephews birthday presents - FINISHED!
Christmas gifts - I am pretty much done with my shopping (other than maybe a few last minute odds and ends)! I even finished a lot of the gifts I am making.

Write a book - I worked on this one and made some progress.

Get 7 hours of sleep per night - I got 7 hours last night, does that count?


Conclusion: So glad I have to 'fess up every month. It keeps me going.

It's beginning to sound a lot like Christmas

Every year one of the local radio stations hosts a series of "mini concerts" at a local mall. They feature local artists but I'm not talking about school choirs - these are singers that have released albums and usually have concerts throughout the year. I love attending these concerts and feel that it really helps me get into the spirit of the holidays.


Tuesday's concert was the first one I've been able to attend this year and it featured Nancy Hansen for the first half hour and Ryan Shupe and the Rubberband for the last half hour.

Here's one of my favorite Ryan Shupe songs.

why did I wait?

Yesterday I took time for myself. No, I didn't do anything fun like a pedicure or sitting at Barnes & Noble browsing and sipping a hot chocolate. Instead, I got a mammogram. Exciting, huh?

It's years overdue especially since my mother had breast cancer (cancer-free for 10 years now - YEA!). I'm not sure why people complain about them - I didn't find it the slightest bit painful. Not even a twinge of pain.

Really, the only painful thing about the experience was the 40-minute wait to register with the hospital where they only needed to take copies of my driver's license and insurance card before sending me to mammography. When I got to mammography, they told me the registrar hadn't saved my insurance card so they needed to scan it again. Also, they wanted my photo ID to be in color not black and white so they scanned my driver's license again making me wonder why I'd had to wait 40 minutes for the registrar to just screw up?

Oh yeah, now I remember why I've put this off - it's not fear of pain. It's fear of frustration!

Fear confirmed.