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House

1. Make my bed each weekday morning - ongoing
2. Garden enough to produce some vegetables/herbs - ongoing
3. Get an egg from a hen in our coop - ongoing
4. Empty kitchen sink each weekday night - ongoing 
5. Redecorate Nicole’s room for 10^th birthday - June

As you can see from the list above, I am focusing on some things around my house for the next year.  To be honest with you, I have started trying to do #1 and #4 already since I figure I need to have the habits in place to keep doing them all next year.  I am not a slob, and I am not OCD either about my house.  I figure if I can pick it up quickly enough to have it be presentable if someone where stopping by in 30 minutes, then I am happy.  I believe that there are so many more things in life (like spending time snuggling and spending time with my daughter before she doesn't want me to any more) that are more important then having everything in its place after all, most of us have all heard the saying, "A place for everything and everything in it's place."  I am really starting to see a shift in my attitude about #1 and #4 and don't like waking up to dishes in the sink any more, or walking into my bedroom when the bed is not made.  There is also a shift in my thoughts because before, I would hem and haw about doing those two things and now, I notice that they really don't take that long to finish.

I wasn't always so laid back about this.  I know one of my sisters, poor dear, could vouch for the fact that I used to be so anal retentive about making the bed that we shared that if there was even one crease in the sheets when we made it, we would have to start over.  Today, I find myself purposely leaving things out of place so that I don't feel so controlled by my environment and the need for it to be perfect.  Heck, anyone who has been to my house can see the unfinished edges of the counter tops that have been this way for 4 years!  Slowly I am making changes to my house that I wasn't able to complete largely for financial reasons when I first moved into the house.

Last spring, I started a community garden project of sorts in my backyard because I have a lot of space to do so.  We did get some sugar snap peas, a few carrots, some lettuce and a few tomatoes out of it, but I hope to replant some things this spring to really harvest a good bit before it gets too hot here.  I will use the experience of the past to hopefully have a more productive garden.  I will talk more about #3 when the time comes, but I must say, I am NOT doing it for the reason hypothesized by my friend when she said (and I am paraphrasing here), "The reason you are so determined to get an egg from a chicken at your house, is because you are trying to offset the effects of your impending menopause and the demise of your eggs!"  As Nicole would say, "Harsh!" 

Finally, Nicole turns ten in June.  Her room has been virtually the same since we moved in and it is time to give her a new room.  She is growing up and maturing out of the colors and decor that are in there now and I figure we can decorate it in such a way that it will take her through high school.  Over the summer, we went to the Austin Museum of Art for a family day and the exhibit focused on design.  We saw one chair that both of us really loved and it was the inspiration for her new room.

If you do a search for marshmellow chair you might come up with this:

But the one we actual saw at the museum looked something like this:

I am not sure we will be able to find one of these sofa/chairs for her room, but I am excited about moving from one stage to the other and celebrating her 10th year this way. 

Next up: Fun!