Reading Time

When I first saw the idea for this post, I scoffed at the idea that I would be able to contribute much. I'm very much in the phase of life where I feel like pretty Hot Stuff if I end the day with a clean kitchen. But there are a few little projects and good habits that I'd like to work on and this is a nice way to keep me accountable.

Recently, I've been trying to come up with a better way to help Maddie practice her reading. She knows all her sounds but is still very slow and frustrates easily. Trying to practice when there's a question-asking brother or book-grabbing sister to break her concentration is especially aggravating for her. Last week, she went to school in tears because her little carpool friend spent the ride boasting about her advanced reading level. Maddie draws better than any 6(or 7) year old that I know and learned to tie her shoes and ride a two-wheeler long before her peers. But reading is the academic equivalent of the Golden Child and I want her to FEEL as smart as she is.

So...the plan is that every night after Lucy is in bed, Cameron takes James off to some other area of the house and Maddie and I meet up in the kitchen. She reads to me while I clean-up the kitchen for the night. It keeps my hands busy so I'm not looking over her shoulder and helping her too much. Tonight she read about a newborn litter of puppies. My goal is to make this a nightly ritual and keep it as fun and positive as possible. I will report back!

Drapery weights in, and then some....

 

I did it! I hand-sewed in all the drapery weights, all 32. It took me a lot longer than I thought it would. The process seemed simple enough, but each stitch was very slow because I had to make sure none of the stitching came through the outer layer. If I had not had this goal made public by this blog, I most definitely WOULD NOT have completed the job. I figure it took more than 3 hours on Saturday, then at least 3 today--way too much for me under my own puny motivation. 

 

I love the drapes even more now.

 

Closeup of a weight, handstitched to a drape corner.





Weight on the lining corner.
 

Hanging straighter on the side and bottom hems.



Pretty drapes.

As I was hoping would happen, my setting a goal in one area kick-started me in a few other areas:

• I started reading the Doctrine and Covenants. In fact, I made an important-to-me spiritual discovery in Section 6.
• I washed the front porch and porch furniture, cleaned out a dead asparagus fern, and trimmed a number of dead fronds from two small queen palms in front of the porch. I've procrastinated this project for a couple of months.
• And last, but not least, I'm back to writing my book, after probably two years of doing nothing with it. I'm still doing the same basic book, mainly because another plot is not coming to me. But I'm trimming it down by about a third, and am restructuring it. This week I made some pretty good outlining progress. It's a fun process for me now that I'm at it again.

Go ahead, now, praise me.

Now, for the new goal: I will exercise 15 minutes a day every day but Sunday.

Frames

Dad and I built three frames for cross stitches a few weeks ago. I don't need to finish them now, but I do need to get them sanded since Adrian doesn't have a sander.

As a possible bonus, and if Dad is up to it, I'd like to build three more frames for Adrian's karate black belt certificates. They're really pretty so they'd be a nice decor piece, plus they're a record of big achievements by Adrian.

So by the end of next weekend, I'll accomplish at least the first part of the goal.

Knitting

So I bought some good yarn yesterday that I found at a cute shop and I decided to start a scarf since that is the only thing I know how to knit. It wasn't going great so I undid it and started to knit a tiny scarf for Annie. About 30 minutes later I was finished. She has been wearing it since,  which is a miracle since she would normally yank something like that off.

After I finished her "neck warmer" I started knitting my own scarf. I've got about a foot in length which would normally take me months. My goal this week is to finish my scarf, working on it at times when I am watching tv or just relaxing.

Linda's Project week of 5/20/2013

This week I plan to sew drapery weights in the bottom corners of the drapes in my living room. That's 16 weights (8 panels, 2 bottom corners each). The drapes are beautiful, but the will hang somewhat better with these weights. I'll report next Monday.

Let's Get Going!

To My Five Dear Daughters:

 

As you know, Dad and I are at a crossroads:

the empty nest

after nearly 35 years.

 

There are so many things I want to do in my new life,

things I really like to do.

I have the time

and enough resources.

I even have the energy (I think).

 

But I'm afraid one day will pass, then another,

then a week, and a month, and a year,

and I will have wasted a lot of my precious time.

 

Sure, I may have straightened the kitchen daily,

made my bed (usually),

kept up the laundry,

taught piano lessons,

tidied here and there,

made a little food,

prepared a Sunday School lesson (some weeks better than others),

talked to my kids and mom some.

 

But I want so much more from life.

 

I want to learn to fiddle.

I want to read the whole conference Ensign.

I want to learn to play Chopin's Fantasie-Impromptu.

I want to finish Lucy's and Josh's baby quilts.

I want to be a more involved grandma.

I want to be a visiting teacher who makes a difference.

I want to have people over for dinner more often.

I want to make neighbor Christmas gifts early this year so they actually get out.

I want to do family history.

I want to make something pretty to hang on the stairwell wall.

I want to write another novel--one that works better than the other one.

I want to organize some cupboards.

I want to become an excellent cook of healthy foods.

I want to sew the weights in the bottoms of my beautiful new drapes.

I want to get serious about stretching and walking and stretching.

 

That's just the tip of my list.

 

Do you struggle to find the gumption to just do what you really want to do?

 

I know you're all much busier than I am,

but I'll bet all of you experience some frustration of not getting at

some of the neat things you want to do.

 

I invite you to team up with me.

To get going together.

 

Here's what I'm thinking:

At the first of each week, each of us posts on the blog ONE (only one) project

we want to do that week.

Some projects can easily be started and finished

within a short period of time

(sometimes just minutes), 

while others need to be broken up into one-week-sized pieces.

 

At the first of the next week,

each of us reports on how we did on that one goal.

Photos will be a nice touch, especially before and afters.

And if we end up doing more, let's report on that, too.

 

After the old goal is reported on,

then we set a new goal for the coming week.

 

Let's be generous in our praise and encouragement with one another.

That will be a great source of our strength. 

And let's pray for inspiration and motivation. The Lord will help us.

 

Please comment soon on what you think of this plan.

 

I want to make this so that all of us can post.

Not sure how to do that, but I'll get back with you as soon as I know. (Cameron......)

Meanwhile, just use the comments option.

 

Tell me if you want to participate, or tell me if you don't.

 

Love, Mom