Routines

One thing I need to work on is having a consistent morning and evening routine. It helps the day to run much smoother. Here is a basic routine that, if followed, helps my days to go well.

Morning Routine

Feed Cats

Quiet Time

Exercise

Shower

Make Bed

Breakfast

Cat box

Start laundry



Evening Routine

Pick up downstairs

Kitchen check & clean if needed

Set up coffee pot

Read

Check calendar & menu

Catch up checkbook

Get to bed by 11 pm

Menu Plan Monday - Jan 19 Edition

One of my goals for the new year is to use my time more wisely. I am hoping that planning menus will help me to accomplish this goal.

Monday: Martin Luther King Jr., Bday – No school/Plan School Day
Jake works 7 – 12
Tuna Noodle Casserole/peas

Tuesday: Inauguration – Take cats to vet
Italian Dressing Chicken, Boiled Potatoes, Carrots

Wednesday: Take mom Shopping
Jake Works 7 – 12?
Spanish Rice/green beans
Life Group

Thursday: Josh/Ben - Dentist
Go visit Grandma
Oven Fried Chicken, baked potatoes, carrots
(Turkey Tetrazzini for dinner @ grandmas)

Friday: Baked Ziti, Salad, Garlic toast

Saturday: Cook Breakfast or have Jake cook
Pancakes, sausage, applesauce

Out with the Old in with the New - 2009

Reading several blogs and chatting with my daughter and friends has caused me to consider my goals for the new year. I have not firmed them up yet, but here is a partial list of what I hope to accomplish in the new year.

- Grow to know Jesus in a deeper fuller way. - Unfortunately this one is hard to measure but I plan to do this by having more consistent bible study and prayer time. I started by reading one of the gospels and am now reading through the gospel accounts as presented in the Chronological Bible - NIV. I hope to gain a new perspective of Jesus through some of the books I read as well. I will also start a new prayer journal to keep track of how my prayers are answered.

-Use my time more productively by establishing a better morning routine and evening routine.

- Read at least 6 worthwhile books this year. The Headmistress of The Common Room is challenging herself to read 12 worthwhile books this year - you can read about her challenge here. I haven't figured out all of the books I would like to read but here are the first few on my list. My list may not measure up as worthwhile in other peoples minds, but I see something worthwhile in them for me:

The Jesus I Never Knew by Philip Yancey

The Last Sin Eater by Francine River

Paradise Lost & Paradise Regained by John Milton

Great ExpectionsGreat Expectations by Charles Dickens

- Gain some sense of Health - both Physical and Spiritual

On the physical side I plan to start by moving my body each day and drinking more water each day and I spoke to the Spiritual side on the first goal I listed above.

- I want to declutter my house this year. Coffeemama at Our Blue Castle has blogged about her goal in this area here and I want to come up with a similar plan to divide up my house into bite sized pieces to accomplish this goal.


I actually started this post the first week in January and am just now getting back to it. I have been following through on some of my goals and need to work more on others. I will post on my progress in a later post.

More Winter Photos

Here is Josh with his new friend.

I took these photos today. We have had a couple of days break in the snow, it was actually pretty nice out today. There were a few snow flurries and we are supposed to get more snow tonight and tomorrow - anywhere from 1 - 6 inches depending on where in the Puget Sound area you live. My sister and her family are supposed to come up tomorrow, I hope the roads aren't too bad.

Homemade Snow

Baking

I don't usually bake very much because I eat too much when I do. At the holidays I do try to bake some Christmas cookies and some other treats to help make the season special. This year Galen and I baked spritz, lemon cream cheese spritz, chip & dip, and Russian tea cake cookies. I also baked Fruit Cocktail Pound Cake and Kuchen. Kuchen is a pastry that has a sweet dough crust with a custard filling and you can add fruit to it also. I make peach and apple and we usually eat it on Christmas morning. The Fruit Cocktail Pound Cake was my mother in laws answer to the traditional fruitcake that so many people don't really like. I will try to add photos of the pound cake and kuchen later.

Holiday Time

Like many people, we have been busy during this holiday season. We started by celebrating Thanksgiving with my mom and then my sister and her children joined us for shopping and gingerbread house and cookie decorating. My children have also made paper snowflakes of many shapes and sizes, so that we could have snow inside the house as well as outside. One of our annual traditions at this time of the year is to go out and cut a christmas tree. Although it has become an expensive tradition, it is one that holds a special place in our hearts.

Winter is Upon Us

Once again I have let the blog go by the wayside while attending to other activities. Winter has hit very hard here in the Pacific Northwest and it is just now officially arrived. We have had snow, more snow than we have had in a very long time and colder temperatures than I EVER remember. It was 3 degrees at 8:30 yesterday morning and I have never seen that temperature. I was born and raised here and am well into my 40s - so you can see how long that has been. There is even a possibility of a white Christmas this year and I don't remember ever having one of those, at least not where the white came down on Christmas. I know that people in other parts of the country get this kind of weather every winter, but those of us in Western Washington don't see much snow and most of us don't get much experience driving in these conditions. Due to that, driving around here has been a bit tricky. We are supposed to see a break in the snow tomorrow before more snow on Tuesday. Even with the difficulties the snow and ice brings, I must say that I think it is beautiful especially since I haven't had to get out and drive in it.

Our Mitten Kitten

Mitten Kitten likes baskets. Isn't he cute. He also likes Rusty Kitty.

More Kitty News

Star - Oreo - Splash

Star is a very friendly kitten, playful but also loveable, our friends adopted him. Oreo and Splash are great kittens, both are very playful. Splash is rough and tumble and loves to play fight with his brothers and him mom. Oreo is a purr baby and will cuddle up with you. Yesterday they both went off to an adoption event and if they didn't get adopted there they will have been placed into one of three area pet stores. I had mixed emotions about them leaving, I was tired of having and taking care of so many cats but they had become part of our family after living with us for so long. I hope they find loving forever homes.

What have I learned from this whole experience? It is hard for me to foster, I get emotionally attached to the little kittens. I have learned how important it is to have your animals spayed and neutered. Ignoring stray animals around your neighborhood can endanger your own animals through disease and fighting. Would I do it again? Possibly, if we had an extra room that we didn't need regularly - such as a spare bedroom. I won't be volunteering anytime in the near future, especially since we now have three cats of our own, one of whom is not keen on other animals - including the two she lives with.