Thursday Thoughts


It has been quiet here the last few days.  The only thing of much interest was the End Of Year Pre-K 3 Program at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic School in Keller.  It was a lovely program of about a dozen little 3-4 year olds.  The first part of the program was a medley of patriotic tunes, the middle was a popular song that the children performed to with big flower headdresses and the last of the program was a slide show of photographs from throughout the year.  It was delightful and I cried.  Yes, I did.  I have a tendency to get weepy when it comes to milestones and this was definitely a milestone.  There was a lovely little reception afterward and here is our little songstress enjoying her refreshments.

Other than that, all I have been doing is a lot of thinking.  As I have noted in prior posts, I am tending toward a minimalist approach to things and have been giving a lot of thought as to what needs to be eliminated in the house, condensed or re-evaluated. I will be spending the first couple of weeks in June going through a number of things beginning with clothes and accessories.  Books are always an issue here but we are adding two new bookcases to the furnishings.  However, I will still be sorting through and passing on a number of books.  I was thrilled to learn, this week, that the library we frequent accepts donations so that is where I will be taking my books.  I don't like selling them and I can't keep all of them so I think that is a worthy place for them to go.

Another thing I have been thinking about is reading challenges.  I just love to read and don't really have enough time for it but I get it in snatches whenever I can.  I seem to always be distracted by what I "need" to be doing but I would love a day when I can just sit down with a good book and a cuppa and read without guilt -- possibly when I get through the books and the clothes.  That is what I am hoping.   But, back to book challenges.  I find that when I am involved in book challenges I don't enjoy the books as much.  It is like a race to meet a goal and I find that I can't get "into" the book as much.  So, while I am still going to add to the Goodreads 2014 Reading Challenge as I go, I don't think it is going to be a goal anymore.  I will continue to review and list my books on here but I don't think I am going to adhere to a challenge anymore. 

I have also been thinking about exercising.  I don't do enough of it but I am still wearing my pedometer to track my steps. However, this week I have done something a little different.  I have started doing some regular ol' exercise like sit-ups, leg lifts and toe touches, etc. after I have gotten up in the morning.  I find it easier to just do a few of these -- it doesn't take long -- first thing in the morning rather than wait until night because at night -- well, truthfully, it isn't going to happen.  I was also watching a Leslie Sansone walking video on YouTube the other day and was inspired.  I used to have her tapes, in fact, I probably still do -- I just don't have a VCR anymore.  However, her approach is to walk in place, almost like marching.  I have been doing that for the last couple of days while I am standing in the kitchen or waiting for the washer to stop or during commercials on tv and it has definitely upped my step count.  Finally, I did a bit of arm exercise with some cans of green beans.  It is amazing how you can get some exercise in without too much of an effort of expenditure of $$$$.  I have actually enjoyed the morning exercise -- I feel so accomplished.

I have also been thinking about planners.  Everybody I know uses a planner.  I like the idea, I feel like I should use a planner and I WANT to use a planner.  The problem is, I don't have anything to plan.  Once you have your kids grown and your schedule changes, well, a planner is sort of unnecessary. Plus, the commercial versions never seem to work for my needs. However, I ran across this on Pinterest and decided it would be a fun project. 

http://charminglymodern.com/moleskine-notebook-turned-planner/

So, I went to Barnes and Noble and bought the Moleskine -- a black, large, gridded model.  Then, I went to work.  I am not done by a long-shot but I think it is going to work.

Basic Moleskine notebook, gridded, $18.95

Monthly View

Weekly View

Closeup, albeit it blurry, weekly view

I started with January 2014 even though it has passed but I didn't add the weekly pages.  I started the weekly pages with June.  I intend to use the weekly pages for meal planning.  I think the reason that I can't stick with a planner is that they never seem to work for me -- the divisions are too small, they aren't flexible and there isn't any extra room for notes (and doodles, if you will).  So, I am thinking this might be the answer.  I am going to use metallic stars (I love gold stars) to denote birthdays and will maybe use stickers to emphasis other events like Christmas and Easter. 

I am going to use the weekly views for meal planning.  I keep looking for a way to do simple meal planning and I keep trying to use a different notebook, dry erase board, etc. and none of it works for me so I thought I would just do it here -- that it would be a good thing to have it all in one place in my purse.  I figure if I have coupons for products I will be using during any one week I can paper clip them here and just have them with me without so much fuss.

Since there are a LOT of pages in these notebooks, I am planning on using some of the empty pages in the back to keep up with the books I am reading in series.  I have about three or four series going and I keep forgetting which books come next, which I have read and which I own so I thought this would be a good way to keep up with that as well.  I have these lists on my Nook but I find I don't like carrying the Nook with me all the time.

I am not finished with it -- I have only gone to July.  I have ordered some index tabs to put on the monthly view so I can see the month easily.  They are on their way.  I am also planning on using this as somewhat of a diary as well -- making note of anything memorable that happens in a day.  I have never been very successful at journaling so maybe if it is here, in this one place, I will be able to at least attempt it.

I will post more photos as I finish with it, with some pics of embellishments and such.  I haven't decided if I want to embellish the front cover or not -- I have a tendency to just throw things in a bag and am not particularly careful with stuff so it might get really wrecked -- I don't know, more thoughts later.

So, anyway, that is what has been going on.  Not much but apparently enough to ramble about a little too much.

Have a great weekend!