Goal assessment- continuation

I am continuing on my assessment of my New Years goals to see where I am and if I need to refocus and make some improvements. Yesterday's assessment was real fun because I was surprised to be so far ahead of my goals and that is always encouraging. However today we may be seeing some weak links and that is OK too as long as a reassessment and refocus is done. I am never afraid on aiming high. It is a good motivator and helps me to focus on the next goal as soon as the first is completed. Here we go.

Spiritual growth- I will be including in my reading journal for spiritual growth a book by Hannah Whitehall, The secrets to a Happy Christian. I found this book a little hard to get into, even though it came highly recommended. Instead, I found a book that I have read and practice with my sons called, How to Study the Bible for Yourself It contains some study forms but mostly I liked the different suggested reading schedule. I really don't like the usual, Read the Bible in a Year plan, even though I have done it several times. For me it tends to put Bible reading and study on a "get it done and shut the book" level. Instead I prefer reading through the Bible at whatever pace it ends up happening to be, which allows time for rabbit trails in topical and word studies. "How to study" gives a different reading schedule that will typically take one through the bible in three years. Again, time is not the important factor to me as much as it being a daily habit. One thing that I have started implementing is the habit if reading (quiet time) before you eat breakfast. For my boys, this habit came with a few protests but it is now starting to be a good habit. So, I feel this is a mission accomplished.

I have a prayer goals of certain issues that I need direction on, I will plow on till I receive his will on these issues. I want to reimplemented a daily quiet time focusing in the Lord and his direction in my life.
Here again I feel like for the most part we are on track but since I have been blogging in the morning now instead of in the evening, trying to get to bed on time, I am having to fit three important daily habits into two slots. ( daily quiet time, exercise and blogging which I consider ministry and business.) I haven't been able to balance this out well yet, so I will consider this still on trial. New goals are to work on this and find a better solution so my daily quiet time is protected and not made as a choice between three good things in a two slot spot!

I still want to do a comparative study on David,-an example of the spirit controlled life and the life of Saul, that of the flesh. I am still looking for a good book to lead us in that direction. Anyone know of a good study that compares David and Saul or the flesh and the spirit??

Home Education- I plan on reading 1 book per week of history or classics, etc.
My intention was to read 1 book on my own (silently as opposed to read aloud) per week but so far this has not occurred. Perhaps I need to refocus on something a little more realistic. I hate to say it but perhaps 1 per month is more doable! Sigh.


Parenting- To be more proactive with my children's character training. I have such precious time left and so much more I feel I need to cover and work in them. I will be rereading, Keeping Their Hearts by the Maxwells
I haven't started rereading keeping their hearts but still intend to. It really is a good book. As to character, training this is always a long term plan, especially at my sons age, (teen years) Perhaps I need more prayer for specific direction and then courage and direction to tackle those specifics.

Physical- I do regularly exercise but in the last few months,,,.... OK almost a year good habits have gone the way of the fire engine approach. Do what is urgent first. So again be proactive in my intent. And maybe tighten up a little and loose 5 lbs! (That would be great) I will be continuing with Jane Fonda's complete work outs and walking daily with my sons, I hope.
SO far there has been an improvement but still not consistent as the weather is still not pleasant enough to go out every day, which means I exercise alone in the morning with Jane Fonda. She and I are good friends- mostly. Five pounds are not accomplished either but I think three of four is for sure. (I do not consider the actual weight a sign of failure or success In weight loss since muscle is built though exercise and weighs more than fat. I prefer to measure my clothing size and lower scales as a better measurement of my success. In that light, there has been moderate success, not great- not bad.

So there you have it the good the bad and the undisciplined. Today, I can see some important areas to improve on and the need to set some more concrete and doable goals for the next three months. Obviously, I enjoy homemaking so much that these goals are way ahead and the rest lagging a little. That's OK. That is what these assessments are for. I need to think a little and then may post a few improvements in those areas.

A few more areas to tackle tomorrow and we are done. Have a great day!

Goal Setting-3 month update

For some of you that have followed the progress of my blog these last few months, you will remember that on January I was determined to get organized and focus. A three month milestone has passed and I think it is always good thing to go back and check goals and see how things are coming along. I was surprised to see that I have already accomplished quite few of the backlog annoyances that had been haunting me for so long.

So far I can check off in the homemaking area.

I plan on continuing to serve healthy meals to my family. That takes planning. Books to use are Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocratsand Cooking Free.

I scrapped Cooking Free for now in favor of a few more beginning raw books and have added The Raw 50: 10 Amazing Breakfasts, Lunches, Dinners, Snacks, and Drinks for Your Raw Food Lifestyle and Eating in the Raw: A Beginner's Guide to Getting Slimmer, Feeling Healthier, and Looking Younger the Raw-Food Wayalong with a few others.

I have purchased The Raw Gourmet 3-DVD Setand plan on viewing them soon (and selling them again on Amazon-they were a little pricey)

I will try again at meal planning. What seemed so overwhelming to me is now starting to come into focus. Burn out from a few years ago nearly left me paralyzed with dread everytime I had to face the kitchen. I had so many issues to deal with that I think I just crashed and burned.

The first was my daughters minor health crisis when she was 16, and a radical change in her diet, then shortly after my own sensitives discovered that needed healing. Then my husband changed his diet to more of a low carb menu and then my youngest decided he did not like a whole lot of foods. There was just about nothing at all that I could make for all of us and for about 6 months made two and sometimes three separate meals to accommodate everyone's requirements.

I know, I know, a sure way to crash and burn and I did.

Now I’ feel like I am coming out of the fog and into the sunshine again. I am even starting to make up my weekly menu plans I advance and posting them on Organizing junkie. From a lady who whipped up a months menu plans in a half hour for years to a 5:00 pm dreaded dinner hour hangover and washout, I see the start of a return. Being proactive really helps and I’m getting there again. Yeah.

I plan on Reading the following books.Home-Makingby J R Miller
Check. It is an excellent Book! Highly recommended!

and re reading Don Aslat's books on housekeeping. Not done yet but I have made major accomplishments in the order of the home area. To start the year out I went through almost every closet, drawer and room organizing and de cluttering. Now weekly I am still collecting not needed items and have been donating them to Goodwill or Value Village. They see me coming!

I am a messy, and my husband is a neatie. There are times when I feel like the two shall never meet. Furthermore, I have raised 4 messies!

Disclaimer, artsy people can tend to be messies, and I would not want to squash any of my children's creativity. It just needs to be tempered a little with some discipline and respect for those that are neaties in the family-Dad!

I am requiring that our house is completely clean and chores done when we start our school day and cleaned up again at 5:00 pm. So far so good with a minor infraction now and then!

My goal is 1/3 - 1/2 raw, mostly vegetables, sprouts and salads, and an increase of cultured foods, such as daily- Raw yogurt, kefir, sour cream and cream cheese.
So far, I am centering on about 60% + raw with my children trailing behind. My husband really cannot consider any changes right now so I work out one meal that is a compromise for all of us and that is my cooked meal of the day-dinner. Mostly breakfast and lunch for the boys and I are completely raw. I love it and feel great!

I have purchased my Excalibur dehydrator with some eBay money I made last December, and am running it quite steady. I made flax crax (cracker like bread) yesterday- I have found my lack of bread problem solved!

You can do so much still with the round cheaper dehydrators but I thought I'd move up a step and see if I like it. I love it!

I also need to find a source of clean raw milk that is NOT $10.00 a gallon (which is what it is in our local Health Food store)
See what I discovered at my local HFS- ½ price milk the day before expiry! (for raw milk, this is no problem- it will only sour anyway, which is the start of sour cream, cream cheese and whey. Either way fresh or ready to sour in a few days, I'll take it for 1/2 price!

I also plan on including some cultured vegetables.
See my post-the sauerkraut is good but the pineapple chutney needs some taste acquisition.

I want to use my microwave less.
Accomplished! I use it almost never. It is built in so I cannot dispose of it completely!

I plan more and cut down on our grocery budget … Still in the works-

I'll be doing more sprouting....
My favorite sprout is now buckwheat for buckwheat granola. I continue to sprout clover, sunflower seeds, almonds (germinating only so far) and just about any seed in sight. I have returned to my first love in the remembrance of my first stumbling success at alfalfa sprouts- some 25 years ago!

and making some delicious salad dressings. Doing well. - still need some regular written down versions of the my favorites dressings.

I also plan on getting my recipes organized- in one spot and findable when needed. Mission accomplished.

I plan on improving on getting dinner on the table at a more reasonable hour, 6:30pm if possible. Almost consistently accomplished! We now eat no matter what time my husband gets home because it is usually quite inconsistent.

I will be using Don Aslat's clutter free living. Haven’t read again yet. Not sure I have the time. I feel like I have made such huge strides forward that I may not make this a priority next quarter.
Well that ‘s enough for now. It looks like I am going to have to set some new goals in the homemaking arena. I will post in a day or two the headway that I have made in the spiritual area, parenting, physical, and business and personal growth arenas. Until tomorrow- happy homemaking. I think I'm on a roll!

I'm a Woman on a Mission

This Month, January, I had some steep goals. I wanted to get my house in order for some reason, any reason, if only just to be able to refocus and start moving forward with some other goals I had in mind. It's funny how unfinished tasks and disorder can weigh you down and clutter up your motivation.

Distractability must be a problem of mine as the intentional focusing needed to accomplish lofty goals doesn't come easy. But Oh, what a charge you can get when you check off another area of accomplishment, another room tidyied, another drawer done. Once things are in order, it is much easier to set up routines and maintain that order with daily and weekly chores. Spring cleaning can be addictive!

Please don't get me wrong - my house is not a complete mess. In fact I do get the occasional compliment that I keep such a lovely home. But it is not an organized home and that has always bothered me. Plus, being married to a neatie, exasperates the problem. Anything out of order drives my husband to distraction, literally.

I do love organizing and so to set up these schedules is my thing. That's fun! Doing them is another. That's work! And on top of that I am coming to terms with the lack of training I have worked in my two boys at home.

Well, OK all four of them.
My daughter in law is very gracious in mentioning that she has noticed her sweet husband's "artsy" nature as well. (Artists are messy people! Creativity is a wonderful thing but is almost a polar opposite from "neat and orderly")

And my grown daughter, well, what can I say, she really is an artist! Not much hope there.

So I have been realizing that I still have some character training to do on my myself and my children still at home.

A list for this and a list for that. What would I do without lists! They are motivating, and never ending but I could not do without one. (or two, if I cannot find the first one)

So, we are off again to assess and refocus on what is left to do and then prioritize that list and start some plans for February. Once the physical house is in order I have some spiritual and educational goals to accomplish. (Future posts brewing)

I'm a woman on a mission. Hear me roar!

I Love January!

For a compulsive organizer, taking down the tree, packing up decorations, and vacuuming up the last of the Holiday cheer spurs a flurry of uncontrollable Spring cleaning. I know it isn't Spring yet but January is an excellent time to purge and replenish.

Have you ever noticed "white" sales are always in January? Furniture stores usually boast large sales numbers in January as well. I think it is more common that I thought. The urge to clean up and clean out comes naturally in the dark inside days of January. Furthermore, this is still our school break and I so rarely have start and "finish the job" time to spare so I am on a rampage, every closet, every drawer, everything in sight must have an excuse for being there. I become merciless in tossing, donating and reorganizing. And I'm in my glee. You see for compulsive organizers such as myself, this is the most delightful time of the year. I rethink systems, work on economizing products that we use, and restore order and fresh air in closets, etc. Some of the most inspiring books on cleaning and dejunking I have read are two books by Don Aslett:

Is There Life After Housework?
Clutter's Last Stand

Even though I read them years ago I still use many of the systems that I put in place almost 10 years ago. I still have spray bottles with dilutable cleaning solutions in every room for specific tasks. Bathroom cleaning takes only 3 and a half minutes when done daily. I can wash all the windows of my house, sparkling clean, inside and out in about two hours. (This is the only exception, I do NOT clean windows-in Seattle-in January. I let the rain do that.)

By the time Spring really does come I can be outside planting and preparing for a great summer show of blooms and tomatoes.

Being proactive throughout the year really does mean you can be on top of events and unexpected happenings as they come up instead of drowning in mess and dysfunction.

So, let's see, Kitchen drawers-done, laundry room-done, office and downstairs bathroom-done. Now, onto the school room. Hmm, I wonder if library late fees are tax deductible?

Get Organized and Get Focused!

Well, it's the New Year. Have you spent the day planning, inspiring vision in your kids, serving your family or sitting around watching TV all day? Well, I have done a combination of all of all of these today and that's OK, but tomorrow, it'll be a back to business day and I will be planning and focusing on where we will be going in the New Year. I will be assessing my strengths and weakness and see where I can improve in a few areas. Some coming into focus already are


Homemaking-I plan on continuing to serve healthy meals to my family. That takes planning. What I find the hardest about planning ahead is balancing what my family wants (husband in particular) and what is practical, cost efficient and healthy. (All three don't ways compute in my family) Books to use are Nourishing Traditions, Raw-volution and Cooking free (just ordered from Amazon) I plan on Reading the following books Homemaking by re reading Don Aslatt's books on housekeeping. Anyway, I will try again at meal planning. My goal is 1/3 - 1/2 raw, mostly vegetables, sprouts and salads, and an increase of cultured foods, such as daily- Raw yogurt, kefir, sour cream and cream cheese. I plan on making these myself so there will be a learning curve. I also need to find a source of clean raw milk that is NOT $10.00 a gallon (which is what it is in our local Health Food store) I also plan on including some cultured vegetables. (I've tried them before and enjoyed them but my family-(opps husband again) turned up his nose. I'll try again.
I want to use my microwave less, plan more and cut down on our grocery budget without compromising taste or satisfaction (is that possible)- I'll be doing more sprouting and making some delicious salad dressings.
I also plan on getting my recipes organized- in one spot and findable when needed.
I plan on improving on getting dinner o the table at a more reasonable hour. 6:30pm if possible. I'd like to plan on 5:00pm but there is no way of knowing when my husband will be home. I plan on being tidier and neater and to inspire my children to do the same. I will be using Don Aslat's clutter free living.

Spiritual growth- I will be including in my reading journal for spiritual growth a book by Hannah Whitehall, The secrets to a Happy Christian. and using this for meditation this coming year. I have a prayer goals of certain issues that I need direction on, I will plow on till I receive his will on these issues. I want to reimplemented a daily quiet time focusing in the Lord and his direction in my life. I want to get personal, and have Him dig deep in my heart. It hurts but it is so good to be clean and in his care. I will be doing some word studies and hopefully some character sketches from the Word. I want do a comparative study on David, an example of the spirit controlled life (with a few hiccups) and Saul an example of the flesh) Home Education- I plan on reading 1 book per week, of history, classics etc. I resolve to move along in history moving up to the modern age by the end of this school year.

Parenting- To be more proactive with my children's character training. I have such precious time left and so much more I feel I need to cover and work in them. I will be rereading, Keeping Their Hearts by the Maxwell

Physical- I do regularly exercise but in the last few months,,,.... OK almost a year good habits have gone the way of the fire engine approach. Do what is urgent first. So again be proactive in my intent. And maybe tighten up a little and loose 5 lbs! (That would be great) I will be continuing with Jane Fonda's complete work outs and walking daily with my sons, I hope.

Business-I want to open up a few more areas of product sourcing for our online book sales, adding a new book inventory and perhaps a website to market them as well (not sure) I am looking to increasing sales by 10 percent and stabilizing fluctuating monthly income.

Personal Growth-I plan on learning to type. (gasp she can't type?) Nope, I'm the fastest look at your keyboard typist around but it isn't as good as seeing at all your mistakes happening as you make them, so I plan to attack this weak area.
I plan on organizing the files on my computer so I can find things when I need them most. I really really do want to understand why this ....blessing.... of a computer does all these wacky things when I try to direct it.
Most of all I want to focus on relationships this year; relationships with my two sons, who are still in our home. Time is short and I want to instill a deeper relationship and foster deeper trust.
For my husband I want to enter into prayer on his behalf for his job and a few other important issues and to not let discouragements get me down.
With my grown children and their spouses, I love them all so much. How can I serve them? and my grandchildren.
I want to be a Grandma to be remembered, one with a multi generational goal of spiritual influence. That takes a life a sacrifice, of prayer and of commitment.

OK, so off with the TV and get to work. (actually it's not just plain old TV, it's Hogans Heroes 2nd and 3th seasons collection that my youngest got for Christmas. Hilarious!)

I've got another year to live with gusto. In a nutshell, I need to get organized and get focused.