August Joy List
Well July came and the days blurred as they raced by me. I did not get everything on my list done, and did not really expect to but we all know hope springs eternal. Over all it was fine, though I really do wish I had visited that small town (any town near me) I keep mentioning and I wish I had gone to a movie, but honestly nothing I want to see is showing right now. Here is the wrap up of my successes and failures for the month, and my new August list.
July Joy List promises,,once we were brothers, Buck Fever
1.Go to Portland to babysit the most beautiful girl in the world Got to enjoy mass quantities of Pip
2.Volunteer at Independence Place Made snowmen for their November fundraiser
3. Do something with a homeless mission
4. Pray for the entire world
5. Be kind, even when I don't want to be.
6. Mend at least 2 squares on the quilt
7. Work on the family cookbook
8. Learn another jazz tune on the piano Caravan, but I am not very good at it yet
9. Take flowers to someone
10. Take food to someone having a hard time My Beloved Sister needed some help this week
11. Find and enjoy some free music This is kind of cheating but Son2 has just begun playing the banjo (he is amazingly good at it already) and I have heard a ton of banjo music this month
12. Have Mom here for dinner at least 1 time per week.
13. Have a small dinner party Happy Birthday Son2
14. Take peanut butter, cereal, and canned meats to the food pantry
15. Work on the family cookbook
16. Begin a lake cookbook (Quick, tasty, easy to make recipes using limited ingredients)
17. Paint that blooming picture for the lake place
18. Find something to be thankful for in every circumstance This becomes very difficult but I am being very mindful of it.
19. Try a new food Pescado Con Coco from Pambiche, a Cuban restaurant in Portland
20. Try a new beverage Forget the name of the cocktail, but it was made with rum, apricot liquor pureed mangos and haberno. It was delicious
21. Make ice cream
22. Visit a small town near me
23. Go to lunch with friends I haven't seen in a while Went to eat with my Curves friends
24. Be welcoming to the new neighbors. Have not even met them yet
25. Invite the neighbor's kids (with parents) for hot dogs and a swim
26. Have guests at the lake place
27. Use the horrible machine daily (Yes the dusty elliptical one in the laundry room) Hahahahaha!
28. Swim laps an average of 5 times a week Hahahahaha
29 Sit on the screened porch at least 3 times a week at night and listen to crickets
30. Visit with extended family. SIL and BIL had a double birthday bash
31. Send at least 2 congratulations cards or notes . (Good things happen to people and I need to be more intentional about recognizing them.)
32. Try to see the world through less judgmental eyes Trying daily
31. Vote in the upcoming local election I thought it was July but it is August. Oops
32. Go to a movie by myself, eat popcorn
33. Find some local lecture that is interesting and actually go.
34. Make a Christmas gift
35. Organize Christmas gifts that are already bought/made
36. Start a master Christmas list
37. Donate 10 items per week to Goodwill
38. Revamp wardrobe (if it hasn't been worn yet this summer get rid of it) Done mostly, but I am having a hard time letting go of some shoes
39. See some fireworks Thank you people who live across the lake
40. See a play or opera (bonus points for both) A Chorus Line
41. Try to limit food waste to peels and trimmings only. The operative word here is "try". Some things were not eaten while I was away and had to be tossed. Bummer
42. Meet someone new Nice conversations with Jessica and Stefan's guests
43. Renew contact with someone I have been out of contact with for a while.
44. Cook something I have never tried to make before. Southern fried corn (it's not my favorite so I never cooked it before. I did it like the guy who grew the corn suggested and it was pretty tasty.) 44. Take Mom out 3 nights this month Took her out to eat 4 dinners, making sure we stayed out till dark)
46. Practice patience (This is not my strong suit)
47. Read at least 3 books "Beat, Slay, Love " (not literature but a fun read) "Good Kings, Bad Kings","Sia" (free book, waste of time but I was on the plane and doing nothing else) "Sinful Cinderella" (again not literature but a fun beach read) "The Secret Daughter "
1. Volunteer at Independence Place Art day 1 Snowman making for their Christmas bazzar day 2
2. Do something with a homeless mission Supplied part of the evening meal for Bham Hospitality Network
3. Take food to someone having a hard time
4. Take flowers to someone
5. Contact someone I have been out of touch with
6. Spend time with extended family. Great day on the beach with our neice and her son
7. Pray for the entire world
8. Go to the beach 5 day mini vacation
9, Read 3 books Promises (bad book but free) Once We Were Brothers, Buck Fever
10. Find and enjoy some free music. Jazz at Dave's Pizza
11. See a play or opera
12. Vote in the local election
13. Go to a movie alone
14. Find an interesting free lecture
15. Have Mom up for dinner at least 3 times It is just mid month and we are already at 3
16. Take Mom out after dark at least 3 times (She misses the city lights)
17. Have a small dinner party 2 so far
18. Have guests at the lake place
19. Paint another picture for the lake place
20. Visit a small town nearby
21.Go out for lunch with someone I haven't seen in a while
22. Eat watermelon outside and spit the seeds
23. Cook something I have never made before
24. Try a new food
25. Try a new beverage
26. Make ice cream
27. The elliptical in the laundry room? Use it
28. Swim laps 5 times per week
29. Star gaze maybe catch the Perseid Meteor Shower (August 11-12 are supposed to be the best nights)
30. Have another Farmer's Market huge haul of seasonal veggies for canning or freezing
31. Be more neighborly, invite a few neighbors for an outdoor cookout (heat permitting)
32. Mend at least 2 squares on the quilt
33. Work on the family cookbook
34. Work on a cookbook for the lake
I would have gladly helped you out on your July list with #26.
ReplyDeletePut that on Sept. or Oct.'s list...... 8-)
Headed to the Deep South then? October is usually the perfect month to be there.
DeleteI am always awed by your list. It frequently makes me feel ashamed as well.
ReplyDeleteI would be pleased if I ever actually completed one, but so far, no dice!
DeleteGood luck. Sounds like fun. Again. :)
ReplyDeleteI don't know if this is still fun or if I feel so bound to my list that I miss out on other potential joyful things. Maybe I should consider an addendum consisting of the spontaneous joyful things that happened unplanned and unexpected.
DeleteDid you know you have double 31, 32, and 44 on July's? It is just something I noticed while reading, really doesn't matter.
ReplyDeleteIt's a great list and even if you don't accomplish everything, the amount you do is amazing.
I noticed it but it required more effort to remove it than I was willing to give .
DeleteYou have a good ratio of completions, congratulations! I like the laughs after the exercise goals :) Sounds like me.
ReplyDeleteI've had "make ice cream" on my "in my head to-do-list" for 14 years. The first 11 or so, the ice cream maker couldn't fit in the freezer. We finally bought a chest freezer about 3-4 years ago and since then, I still haven't been able to make ice cream because the freezer is always full. Maybe I should have a goal to not buy any clearance meats this month so I can fit the darn thing in there!
To be honest the innards to my maker will not fit into mine either. I have a use a few things so I can freeze it just to be able make the blooming ice cream. Maybe I should have just written, eat ice cream?
DeleteNow I am tired, great list however.....
ReplyDeleteThat said from the woman whose daily posts exhaust me regularly?
DeleteIf you have the freezer with dasher, manual or electric, place the finished ice cream in dishes that will fit in the freezer for the final freeze. When I took my freezer to B'ham, well, the frozen ice cream, I would drain the water and add more salt and ice. It hardened in the freezer. Throw a garbage bag over the freezer plus some heavy towels or a blanket and there is no need for it to go into the freezer.
ReplyDeleteWhen I make a list of things to do and find myself doing things not on the list, I add those to the bottom so that when I get to the end of the day, I see all I have done and don't feel hopeless in the list department.
My ice cream maker is one of those with the container you freeze, pour the stuff in and let it do its thing. I don't need additional ice. I think I can only make 1 1/2 quarts or possibly a half gallon at a time. It's pretty small, but the thing you freeze is thick, 2 inch thick or so sides. When I used my old ice cream freezer I always added new ice and salt and hardened it in the i.c. freezer
DeleteI'd say it was pretty successful and skip the movies-bored to yawn at Jason Borne and wished I stayed back and read a book instead! The previews stunk as well.
ReplyDeleteI have checked to movies each day and there is just nothing I want to see bad enough to pay for it. Maybe August will have some promising releases. There is one movie I really wanted to see but it did not run but a week here and I was out of town. Fortunately it come out on Redbox this month so I will catch it there and make my own popcorn!
DeleteWow, I applaud you. (Standing ovation) I had a very short list of things I wanted to do over the summer which included take my dog to training classes, paint furniture, lose weight and exercise. I have done none of those things, but I have done other things like crafting, getting a guest room set up, working on our landscaping and helping hubby sell things online. Sometimes life just sends us in directions that we don't have written down on a list. I just go with it.
ReplyDeleteI tend to go with the moment also and if I really decide I don't want to do something I will invent all kinds of things to keep mr from doing it. Your magnets are fantastic!
DeleteYour July list is so impressive and equally the amount of things you accomplished. Hats off to you!!! I think your July turned out great! I generally like to point out a few of your goals that sound extra neat to me but seriously your July list is superb I can't pick out less than 10 of your goals that I'm completely in love with.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, but my list didn't get finished. I guess I am going to have ot start mentally assigning "due by" dates.
DeleteI say you did great getting the things accomplished that you did! Good luck on your August list. I have a mental list in my head on what I want to accomplish in August, but now with surgery probably going to happen and my current health issue not sure how much I will get done.
ReplyDeleteAll you need to worry about is recovery. Everything else will take care of itself!
DeleteI'm working on being kind cuz I really don't want to be. I'm such a crab anymore.
ReplyDeleteI am kind, but I am not sweet. I actively work on being kind and a lot of times I don't want to be either. Being mindful of it keeps me somewhat in check.
DeleteJust one word. WOW! Impressive!!!
ReplyDeleteOh, and come check our blog post tonight.... :-)
Thanks and will do!
DeleteI absolutely love your list. You are obviously a very caring and giving person, just by the things you included. You inspire me to create my own and to do better. Thank you so much for sharing this!!
ReplyDeleteI try to be but I fail, so I make a list to keep myself in check. IRL I am kind of (very much) snarky and without a prompt like the list I would be left to follow my dark heart!
DeleteI'll help you out on the "hahahaha" ones - they're the easiest ones to ignore aren't they. For the movies, Florence Foster Jenkins is out here - I really want to see that while it is still on in English (after a while only dubbed French is available). I think Meryl Streep is wonderful. Anna
ReplyDeleteFlorence comes out here is a couple of weeks and I do want to see it. I also wanted sot see Maggie's Plan but I missed it the week I was gone.
ReplyDeleteI am so good at missing out on daily exercise, excellent in fact!
You accomplished quite a lot in July
ReplyDeleteI still eft a lot undone and that makes me a little unhappy
Delete