11 down, 1489 to go

There was a sale at one of the local libraries this weekend. I got the complete set of Harry Potter in hardback for $7 and a set of Beatrix Potter books for $7. I’m going to give the Beatrix Potter books to my son’s classroom. The teacher asks  parents buy a book for the classroom to celebrate a birthday instead of sending in a treat to eat.  She’ll take a picture of the child with the book and then places the picture inside the book so everyone can see where it came from. Also picked up a few paperbacks that I have wanted to read.

This weekend’s reading included 6 fiction books – Trial of Fire, Ghost Moon,  Stop Me,  Deep Waters,  Blood Ties, and Gone With the Witch. They were all a mixture of mystery and romance.  Blood Ties is by Kay Hooper and is part of a series that she writes. The series deals with a special unit of the FBI and the various psychics that work within the unit. I really enjoy reading series. It is fun to follow along with the same characters and see how they grow and change.

Want to figure out a way to put all the books in  one list somewhere on this blog – eventually I’ll figure it out.

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A few random thoughts

I had hoped to do more on this but so far I haven’t quite figured out when I’m going to sit down and update things. I would like to post several times a week but it hasn’t worked out that way. Hopefully, as time goes on I will get better at this.

It is tough for me to stick to a schedule – there always seems like there will be time for everything –  but things don’t seem to get done. Mostly because I have little self-discipline and no one to check up on me. Let’s face it – most husbands and children don’t really notice how clean the bathroom is. Cleaning tends to fall by the wayside until it is an all day task. I know life would be easier if I would stick with a few chores everyday but it is so easy to get caught up in a good book/blog/puzzle and lose a day(or two).

Need to think things through and try to come up with a workable plan. We’ll see how that goes.

One of the books I read this weekend was Your Money Ratio$  by Charles Farrell. It was a good read but it was a bit depressing. I knew that I was spending too much on my house and not saving enough but this really brought that into focus.

I love my house and I really love my yard. We have a small orchard with fruit trees and grape vines, raspberries, space for veggies and herbs, lots of flowers and plenty of space for the kids to play and run around. I’m really not willing to downsize at this time so I need to find some ways to decrease our expenses or increase our income.  We probably will sell when the kids are up and out because the house really is too big for just two people.

Need to get more organized so that I can keep a better handle on our savings.  Also need to be more serious about taking money out of the general accounts and putting it into a dedicated savings account and leaving it there.

5 down, 1495 to go

Had a good weekend for reading – was able to complete 5 books – 2 fiction, 2 non-fiction and one cookbook.  The cookbook was a combination of  how to plan a garden and then how to use what you planted. Found quite a few recipes I’d like to try. The 2 non-fiction books were about finances and I’ll talk about them in another post.  For fun I read KillJoy by Julie Garwood  and Sex and the Psychic Witch by Annette Blair. I have enjoyed several other books by Julie Garwood and this was also quite good. I had never read anything by Annette Blair before but I really enjoyed this one. It was a fun read – I enjoy mysteries, paranormal elements and romance and this had all three.  I’ll be keeping an eye out for the other books in this series.

here goes

Been thinking  about this for awhile and have finally decided to take the plunge.  I have been saying that I don’t have time to work on my dreams but now both my kids are in school. I have free time now but haven’t done much with it and I’ve decided it is time to change that.

I want to use this space to record the steps I am taking to make my dreams a reality.  I’ve chosen 6 goals that I’d like to reach by the time I hit 60. I will be keeping track of these steps and writing about the joys and struggles I face along the way.

Here’s my list  –  in no particular order

1  Read 1500 books

2  Make a quilt for each of my children

3  Take a trip to the Galapagos Islands

4  Make something from glass

5  Take 6 solo retreats

6  Have $250,00 in savings 

More on each of these  in the days to come