Works For Me Wednesday - Thank You

What works for me is something I heard years ago. I was at a seminar and one of the speakers said something to the effect… I write Thank You in the memo line of all of my checks. The checks to the phone company, the cable bill, the credit card bills, everything. He went on to say that he was thankful every day that the lights were on so he could do his work.

It is an attitude of gratitude that he is talking about, but sometimes even paying the bills can be a process of Thanks. It also makes the process a bit more pleasant.

I write Thank You on checks most of the time – I admit that I do forget sometimes but I do it very often. In this age of paying online, I haven’t found an easy way of posting a Thank You for an online payment, so I tend to say it out loud as I push send.

If you enjoyed this WFMW post, please let me know! WFMW is being held over at Don’t Try This at Home this week. Over 200 people have joined in this week.

Thanks so much for coming to my place for a few minutes.

Have a Great Day!

Kristin

Taking My Picture

I have a new profile picture - I just took it today.
I thought I'd give a few hints on taking this particular type of photo.

1. Get hair colored and cut day of photo
2. Get home quickly before hair totally falls flat
3. Go into bathroom, forget to apply lipstick, but smile at self for 10 minutes, trying to get just the right "look"
4. Toss hair a bit, then straighten hair again because now it is all sticking up due to static electricity.
5. Find camera
6. Look in mirror and take picture
7. Realize that the flash was on and of course the mirror caught the flash
8. Look at picture on digital camera. Notice vanity needs cleaning.
9. Clean off bathroom counter and wash mirror.
10. Realize that maybe the mirror shot isn't the best.
11. Turn around and *Lightbulb Moment* use mirror to see the picture on the screen of the digital camera! Click
12. Click 25 times adjusting smile, neck, chin and shoulders.
13. Bathroom mirror trick was great - highly recommend that if you are taking your own picture.
14. Immediately load photos onto computer - delete photos from camera
15. Two photos were keepers - the rest pure comedy
16. Insert new photo on blog.
17. Blog about it :)

Have a Great Day!
Kristin

Works For Me Wednesday

I’m so excited, this is my second submission to Works For Me Wednesday and we have a special assignment this week. “…a themed edition--we'll all be listing our favorite on-line stores. Whether it's your favorite source of good bargains or unusual products, post your links of best places to shop on the web. The marketing people will love us for this.”

So be sure to go to Rocks in my Dryer for more shopping spots from folks around the world. Oh and be sure to check out my sources right here.

I have to say that I have fallen in love with Design*Sponge. She has so many links to so many coooooool products and people. When I have a free hour, I go to her site and just click on everything. Lol One of my favorite parts of her site is the Guides page. The top part of the page are city guides that people have written for Design*Sponge readers about cool places to see and shop in cities like Philadelphia, Detroit, Baltimore, Chicago, Toronto and Kansas City. Just below that she has guides to finding Recipe boxes, kitchen timers, wingback chairs, room dividers and affordable art. Further down the page were the gift guides she had for Christmas. Now I’m sure that some of the items were holiday specific, but there still is a ton to see. I think I clicked on each and every link in all of the Gift Guides before Christmas.

I found this wonderful, awesome calendar on Etsy. I thought the calendar was going to be a nice gift for my Mother-in-law but when it arrived I was in love – so I asked my husband to get one for me for Christmas lol My MIL loved the calendar, too. Now I’m anxiously awaiting the cards I purchased recently.

Another etsy seller with whom I’ve done business is this one….Elfrida She has the most wonderful printed tags. I have 12 of the tags hanging on my office cork board – the rest of the package of tags have already been attached to gifts and sent away.

For a bit of retro try Brainiac the art of Matte Stephens. He has some fun stuff there. I just purchased Simon the cat for my husband for his birthday. Hopefully by September I’ll be able to get it framed lol Gotta start early with stuff like that.

I have also just recently posted a blurb on Things I Love – so browse through my blog to find the post on Merri Mail and the Candelas.

I have a lot of fun Internet Window Shopping, where I browse, look, bookmark and possibly come back to it again. Looking is a lot of fun – I can’t wait to see all the places everyone else in WFMW submits.

Have a Great Day!
Kristin

The Cold part II

All I could do for two days was wish that I could breathe using my nose. You never know just how much you use a body part until it stops functioning properly. Did you know that it is hard to drink water or any type of liquid when your nose doesn't allow any air to pass through it? It is also hard to sleep, eat, talk or even hear properly.

I am usually not a whiner when it comes to being sick - usually I have too much going on to be able to whine about anything lol However, this week I had the time - I had the time to lay in bed and then move myself to lay on the couch. I sat in a chair for a little while to read a little email but pretty much being horizontal was my MO for the past two days. Being horizontal and whining. Hopefully it was just a little bit of whining. Mostly when I was trying to eat something and I would take a bite that was far too large for the amount of breathing space I had. Since eating was one of the few things I wanted to do, that only happened a few times this weekend.

Today I am much better. I have some air space in my nose. It isn't great, but it is so much less full than the past two days that I feel like a new person. I hope that no one gets the crud from reading this - quick go wash your hands. If it is any consolation, the worst part only lasted two days. I'm saying that like I'm well again, but I firmly believe that I am on the mend...I have to, I've got a ton of things to do, of course.

Be well,

Kristin

A Cold

I have a cold. How can I possibly get a cold, I hardly even speak to people lol Actually my husband came home with this cold a week ago and I have washed every surface he has touched in order to keep the dreaded thing fom me. If he could have only used his own air supply that would have been nice because I'm sure he contaminated mine.

I woke up this morning and I could feel it. The nose was stuffed up and the back of my throat had that dry itch. This afternoon the cough started. Just little coughs that grow larger and larger if you let the coughing continue. Supressing a cough makes it look like I'm hiccuping backwards or something. It is not a pretty sight.

I can't help but wonder how I got the cold.

I have this little cart. OK that isn't right, it is more like a milk-crate with wheels and a handle. It is advertised as collapsable (Ha!) I use it every day - it never has a chance to collapse. I'm on my third one, so I guess two have indeed collapsed. I'm cracking myself up. Anyway, I seriously use it every day. I go to the grocery store with it among other things & I put all of my groceries into my bucket (as I loving call it) and when I get to the check-out I unload my bucket and then I give it to the bagger to fill up - no bags either. Just put it in there. I will have to take pictures of this proceedure, it is a hoot. I load it into the back of the car & then unload it at the condo and roll it into the elevator and up to our house. How cool is that!

Why do I do this? and why is this part of my "I've got a cold" post? Because a friend of mine talked about the germs on a shopping cart once that just turned my stomach. I'd wiped down the carts a few times before, I knew about the germs in a brainy way, but honestly it just didn't bother me much. I hardly ever got sick anyway, so I must have been immune to all that. Well, after she told me her version of shopping cart germs - lets just say I was hooked on bringing my own cart (Bucket) from now on.

So, I didn't get the cold from my shopping excursion - at least not from a shopping cart - so it is all my husbands fault.

Now there's a great way to end a blog post -- blaming my cold on my husband LOL

Have a Great Day

Kristin

#42 - Laundry

101 Things to Do in 1001 Days

I've been working on several of my 101 Things but tonight something interesting happened. I did several loads of laundry today and as usual I folded everything as soon as they were out of the dryer & the freshly folded laundry was placed into the now empty laundry baskets. So there they were, my laundry baskets. All lined up, just sitting in the family room. I was finishing up the dishes after dinner tonight and I started thinking about my list & it flashed that putting away the laundry was on my list.

It seems so odd that putting away the laundry is a task that has to be placed on a list that lasts 1001 days! Shouldn't putting away the laundry just be part of the routine? Why is it that my routine for laundry includes gathering it, washing and drying it and folding it, but doesn't include putting away. What happened that my routine ended with folding it.

So tonight, I put away the laundry. All of it. I had three baskets of it. I even had about 6 shirts that needed to be hung up & I had 4 or 5 shirts that were from last week, that never got hung up (But did today.)

Three baskets of clothing took me 5 minutes to put away. I set my timer for 15 minutes, sure I would still be putting away clothes when the timer went off, but I still had 10 minutes left.

I don't think I can get away with not putting away the laundry any longer. It is absolutely ridiculous that I normally allow several baskets of laundry to live in the living room when it only took me 5 minutes to put away three baskets today.

So, this will still be left on my list until I get a few months of this GOOD behavior down without a relapse.

I can't possibly be the only one with this issue.


Have a Great Day!

Kristin

Candela Lighting

This is one of those Things I Love and it's called a Candela, that I found at the OXO website. I must have seen this in a catalog or on someone elses website, because one day I tracked it down. I asked for these for Christmas and when my mother-in-law sent money and asked me to please pick out a few things for myself, I went right to OXO and bought these.

This is the picture from the OXO site - isn't it such a professional shot? The lighting is great, the Candela looks graceful and elegant. The Candelas look just that lovely in my home, but boy-howdie, this gal needs to learn how to shoot some pictures lol

This is what my photo look like...do you think I could have gotten any further away? The Candelas are currently just sitting there maintaining their charge just waiting for a power outage, so they can spring to life!

This picture is what the Candela looks like when it is turned on and a flash isn't used. They really cast off a large amount of light. It is diffused, so it isn't like a flashlight. The light from the 4 of these Candelas can literally brighten up a room enough so you can see the whole place - not just a tiny spot.

I have my handy dandy yard stick in the background of the next picture, so you can see that these are only 6" tall. The mosaic pot in the background will be discussed within the week. If you wanted to read a book by Candela light, I would suggest having all four of them next to you - but if you just want to read a note or directions to something, one would do the trick.


They looked so much larger on the OXO Site, that I was kind of shocked when they arrived, but I totally love them, no matter how tall they are. I did read the fine print, I knew they were six inches tall - but who knows what that really means until you see it in person! haha

I enjoy the light of a nightlight. I have nightlights on all over the house, but ya know what? a nightlight doesn't do squat when there is a power outage. However, these babies immediately turn on as soon as they are lifted from their base, or the base is no longer sending a signal to them (like when the electricity is off.) If you have the Candelas off the base but you do not want the light on, there is an on/off switch on the bottom.

On the OXO site they talk about these being great for children, outdoor dinners, emergency lighting and other such things - I like them because I can grab one and put it up next to the thermostat in the middle of the night and I can see everything clearly. I have a flashlight by the thermostat, but I swear that button to turn it on gets harder to find each day. lol So just the act of picking the Candela off the base turns the light on. That is a great thing.

Have a Great Day!
Kristin

WFMW - Works For Me Wednesdays

Works for me Wednesday

I’ve been reading the WFMW posts for about a month now - you all have some great ideas. This is my first week posting a tip for WFMW, I do hope you enjoy. I love to clean things, but I also want to spend the least amount of effort doing it. I want it to be fast and easy and I don't want to use smelly chemicals. I'm a fan of soap and water.

If you’d like to see more Works for Me Wednesday posts, please click here.

I have a love affair with my shower. It is a man made composite material of some sort, it is bright white, it is supposed to look like tile, but it isn’t. It is supposed to look like there is grout between the tiles, but there isn’t - it is just one big plastic-like tub surround...I just love it. I hated it when I first saw it - When I toured other condos in our building I was shocked that even those folks who upgraded their bathrooms, still kept that awful tub surround. THEN I found the trick...

It is a chamois type product - It is called The Absorber - I googled it and this is just one of the many places I found -- The Absorber. It is the best thing EVER. I found mine at Target in the clearance section a few years ago, but now that I know how awesome it is, I would gladly pay the going rate.

When I get done showering, I pick up the absorber from its throne (laying across the tub faucet) and I get it wet -- I then wipe off the walls of my plastic-like tub surround. It takes a moment - maybe three moments. The fake tiles, two years later, look like they have never had a drop of water on them.

The Absorber is stiff like cardboard when it dries - but when you get it wet you can literally roll it up. I have placed it on the floor of the tub so you can get a little bit or perspective on the size of the cloth. Have I mentioned that I love this product!

For the tub, I use a magic eraser once a week - I keep it in the shower and just before I finish up in the shower I just grab the magic eraser and clean the entire tub, hose it down, turn off the water, wipe the walls with my absorber and my tub and shower are tide-clean!

My quick tip - Clean the shower while you're in it.

Have a Great Day!

Kristin

Broken Pottery - Looking for the potter

Once upon a time in a land far far away a newly smitten couple went shopping in a pottery studio/gallery and fell in love with a pair of plates.

Once upon a time - June or July 1995 - in a land far far away - Lansing, MI - a newly smitten couple lol my husband and I - went shopping at Reynolds Art Studio on Lake Lansing Road and purchased these awesome plates. I am such a forgetful one that I suggested to my husband that he could just wrap up the plates and give them to me for my birthday in October and I'd never remember that we bought them and I'd love them all the same. Knowing he had a good thing, he did just that... He listened well at the time. haha


We have used these plates nearly every day - mostly for dinner - they were great for eating on the couch, because they were deep and stuff wouldn't spill off the plates it you happen to move funny. Just before Christmas 2007, just over a month ago, I smacked one of the dishes on the center divider of the kitchen sink, as I was gently handwashing and rinsing my beautiful plate. Not sure if I had a spasm or what, but I smacked it pretty good. Then I saw it - the crack. It was hardly visible, but I could see it - on both sides of the plate --- it was a goner. I knew the day would come that they would break, but we'd only had the plates for 12 years - surely I could get another 12 out of them before I had to give them up.

I have included pictures of the top, sides, bottom and signature of the original potter. Since a blog is such a great place to make a plea, I'm making a plea!! I would love to have two plates, in the same shape and style and of course, I'd love to have them from the original potter. The art studio where I purchased the plates has been out of business for a very long time - and the pieces were not made in the studio, so I have no idea where in the world the potter hails. If you recognize the signature, recognize the pattern, anything! talk to me. The signatures are different on the bottom of each plate - but they are the same potter. Please see the photos.

The pattern doesn't need to be the same, they don't need to be the same colors, they don't even need to be a pair of look alikes - but I would like them to stack nicely and be as similar in shape and style as the ones I love so dearly. If you are a potter or know one that does a similar type of work, please comment and we'll talk.


(I don't know why these photos are so yellow lol That should probably be a part of my 101 Things to Do list -- Learn how to take Photos.)

Have a Great Day!

Kristin

Paper Sack Journal

I can't remember where I got this idea, but I really started thinking about it when I was organizing (Ha! Stash and Dash is more like it) and I kept finding these little pictures or fun things that I tore out of magazines. I never felt like these things were scrapbook worthy because I don't really have photos of people, it is just interesting things to me.

So, I decided that it would be "safe" to glue them onto a lunch sack. Each sack can then be put with the others to form a journal, someday. But for right now, it is safe. I don't have to dedicate an entire book to the process, if I don't like a page I just don't have to include it (unlike in a journal, where I'd have to rip the page out or try to live with the fact that I didn't like it) and I like that I can tuck photos or stuff I don't want glued, into the sack and just fold the end over to keep it in place.

I've made 9 sacks so far. Here are a few pictures.

Here are a few of them, displayed for the moment, while I take the picture on a really cool bench that we bought at Hold Everything before they went out of business. I loved that store.

This is a great looking graphic from the magazine Skirt. I folded the paper so that I didn't have to crop it any smaller - I like being able to just fold a piece to fit - it makes it more casual, just like the paper lunch sacks. Casual, we like casual lol

One bag has two fun things also from Skirt Magazine and the other, you can probably read, is a cut out from the last pottery barn catalog. I just love those dishes. I also LOVE yellow walls. My bedroom has been painted yellow in the last three places we have lived. Not sure if plates belong in a bedroom though lol

This is just chock full of numbers, letters, artwork and an organizing system (it also folds out) all from the pottery barn catalog.

Right now I have the paper sack journal clipped together with a binder clip. I really like it. I seem to be able to get "crafty" for just a few minutes - get out the paper, the scissors, a sharpie and the glue stick and I'm set -- 10 minutes later I've satisfied my crafting urge and I've hardly messed up the desk or the coffee table - Bonus!

Have a Great Day!

Kristin

Random Act of Kindess

One of my 101 Things was to do a Random Act of Kindness and then repeat it as many times as possible. Today I was able to do an act of kindness, but of course I don't think it counts because I do it so often.

I went to the grocery store and I saw a man unloading his cart, I was walking by as he was finishing up. I looked at him and said "Let me take that for you" and I reached out for the cart and pushed it into the store.

It was funny, he acted like I was an employee and I supposed to take the cart - Oh well. I know I did it because I wanted to.

One of my favorite "cheap thrills" to do at the grocery store, or any other place where there are the automatic doors, is to rush up to the door and say to the person behind me -- "here, I'll get the door for ya." Maybe it is only funny to me, but I laugh every time!

Have a Great Day!

Kristin

Tiki Hut inventory photo's

We couldn't resist the cat sculpture
"You mean there were two lobsters present at the birth of Jesus?" *Love Actually*
Everyone needs a Woody!! but we only have two in stock lol
Your own private Tiki man wine bottle holder
Cool carved mask

Colorful wooden bird statue

This is the metal fish sculpture that started the avalanche today.

Tiki Hut Weekend adventure

Tiki Hut

It’s the weekend – this means that Tom’s Tiki Hut is open for business. Last week I told you how we purchased some new inventory – well it is being snapped up like crazy. Tom spent a few hours over there yesterday and he is there right now. He is wheelin’ and dealin’ and having a good ole time. I’ve got some pictures of the new stuff, I’ll see if I can’t load that onto the site when I done with the “journaling” part.

The Tiki Hut had a mishap though, just an hour or so ago – Tom was putting up some more signs or totems or something on the wall and when he finished pounding the heck out of the walls, he must have disturbed something because this giant metal fish sculpture came crashing down off the wall. Of course it brought half the items on the wall with it. The half of the items that fell, of course, crashed into the statues on the floor. Tom called me nearly instantly. I swear I could still hear the items falling. He was alone, he had sent our nearly adopted 18 year old worker bee and his brother to go get some lunch. He was standing in the middle of a mess. He was sure everything was broken or damaged – At least the everything that had fallen! He was sure it was $1000 worth of inventory. Now that’s a lot of inventory!!! I suggested that he just calmly pick up the pieces and assess the damages and call me back.

The call just arrived – One fish sculpture – damaged, but possibly repairable (value $30), One very ugly pelican statue – broken, now glued back together with a half-price sticker on it (Value $15) personally, I’d call this one trash and chuck it in the garbage, one or two flamingo statues, I really can’t remember, – broken and now also glued back together with a half-price sticker (Value each $12) and one bird statue same as above (Value $12.) So not a thousand dollars in damages, that’s good. Looks like it is less than a hundred dollars, even better. My husband picked up the pieces, literally, all by himself. I am so proud of him.

Have a Great Day!

Kristin

Merri Mail

Merri Mail

I just love that name - Merri Mail.

Last year I bought a gift subscription to this wonderful little company - They had only started a few weeks earlier, but I loved their ideas and the concept behind the subscription. It is called Merri Mail. Four times a year they send out a little gift, along with a newsletter that tells a little about the product they sent and the people behind the product and a few different articles that relate to the gift in some way. I also gave a gift subscription to my sister and to a dear friend of mine. Oh and I gave one to myself! I love to get gifts, too!

You can see what my gift recipients received by looking at the past issues on their website. The little birds, that are salt and pepper shakers were just the month before I subscribed, so we came in when the green vase was sent - what a beautiful vase. I chose to put the vinyl sticker on a bamboo box that I had, instead of the vase, so my vase is just green. My sister put the sticker on her vase and her vase is much darker than mine. The honey was quite a treat! My sisters husband had never tasted real honey with the honeycomb intact, so that was fun. My friend called me seconds after the honey arrived to tell me that was one of her favorite things to eat! How exciting. The gifts really were a hit with everyone.

I am so glad that 4 times last year my sister and my friend (and myself!) were able to come home, pick up the mail and find that the big box was a gift! It instantly put a smile on my face. It was also fun that three of us - one in Michigan, one in New Hampshire and me in Florida all got the same thing - mostly on the same day & it almost always prompted a phone call that same day. It was always a great day when Merri Mail came.

The women that run Merri Mail are just the nicest people! Let them know that Kristin sent you to their site and I hope that you consider sending the gift of Merri Mail to your friends, family or yourself. It makes gift giving to those that are even the slightest bit difficult, a breeze! It comes out each quarter, so you can jump in anytime.

Look for more glowing reviews of things that I love in the weeks to come. I plan on this being a regular part of my blog.

Have a Great Day!

Kristin

***I hear that Merri Mail is not accepting any new subcribers at this time. I hope it is because they have a huge list of people that they are currently serving. Please keep this site bookmarked and check back with them... Thank You!

Moving Day

I rent condos to people who are in the process of going through an organ transplant - usually a lung or a liver transplant. My husband had a liver transplant, so we know what these people are going through...it has been a real nice way to help others out. We purchased three - one bedroom condos and fully furnished them. All the transplant patient and their caregiver needs to do is just bring their personal belongings and take trip to the grocery store to buy some food.

One of my "patients" just got released from the clinic, so that means they get to move back home. This also means that I am put into full gear to get the condo sparkling again to rent to the next person. Today was moving day - they moved out and I moved in. I came with cleaning supplies and food and they left with bags and bags of stuff they had accumulated in the past 4 months.

I really like cleaning the condos when people leave because the condo is back to its original condition - no clutter, just 4 or 5 books, no clothes in the closet and nothing just sitting around with no place to be stored. Every single thing has a place. I wash all of the linens - bedding, towels, comforters and duvet covers. Every single item in the condo gets dusted or submerged in soapy water. I am always so pleased to give the keys to a new renter because I know I am giving them a nice, healthy, restful place to stay during a time when they need it the most.

So today was moving day for the people I met as renters and now leave as family. I hope the next people who rent from me will be just as fortunate to have a successful transplant and can leave with many many years of life ahead of them.

Have a Great Day!

Kristin

Tiki Hut

What would life be without a Tiki Hut business?

My husband purchased a little flea market booth that sells Tiki items -- oh and some metal sculptures, wooden beer signs, nautical items and welcome signs. Ooops forgot the Totem poles. We've got some of those, too. We've sold about $500 so far from the flea market booth & since we had a few open spots on the walls, we decided that today was the day to go get some fresh inventory. It probably would have been cheaper to stay home.

We walked into this fairly small warehouse full of fun things. The man who initially purchased the inventory for the Tiki Hut came to this same place -- boy oh boy did he have a different vision. The coolest things were in this warehouse and he didn't see any of it! We arrived just 30 minutes before they closed (that's a story in and of itself) but the owners of the store knew a good thing when they saw it, so they kept the doors open until we were done buying. I actually stopped the buying process by saying, "Put down everything you have in your hands - We are officially done" and we were...except for the three canes that I saw in the retail shop when I went in there to use the bathroom --- at $2.50 each, I just couldn't pass them by.

The car is now full of metal scuptures of palm trees and fish, scary canibal looking fellows on surf boards, tiki masks, sun mirrors and lighthouse key holders. We got a few umbrella stands and now three canes to put in them! We found wooden gekkos and turtles and a dolphin statue that holds a wine bottle. We've got it all. Even a few cat sculptures. They were wooden. That's about the only reason they fit into the Tiki, nautical, fish categories we have... Well, my husband and I also really likes cats. That might have had a teeeny tiny influence on that decision. We only purchased 4 cat items, so I'm considering that a huge victory.

So today was Tiki Hut day. We spent twice as much as we planned on, but considering the amount of totally cool stuff that was in that warehouse, we spent about $2000 less than I could have purchased!! Tomorrow my husband and our 18 year old partner in the tiki business, will be taking my car to the Flea Market and unloading it and pricing everything. I hope they have fun!

Have a Great Day!

Kristin

Day ONE of 1001 & Ned's Birthday

Chances are real good that I won't document each and every day of my 101 Things to Do (in a 1001 days) list, but it really would be great if I did post on my blog each day about something!



Today is my Father-in Law's birthday. He turns 80 today. I will be 80 in 38 years lol I wonder what my life will be like when I'm 80. When I think of him the first thing that pops into my head is...He is a lovely man who swims everyday and loves his wife & boys and adores his grandchildren. I know he is a well known person in the community but I always seem to come back to -- He swims everyday and loves his wife LOL Isn't that funny. I hope I'm remembered for the simple things like this - the loving simple things. The other thing about him that is so striking is that he is quite tall and he has thick white hair and he is the nicest man. I wish my husband and I could have gone to the birthday party on Friday, but it is a long trip from Florida to Michigan. At least we remembered to get a card out to him. whew.

Let's see, if I were to list the things that I'd like to remembered for... just the fun stuff...

hmmmm

Kristin loved to laugh, caress pottery bowls, do dishes in the sink just so she could use her dishtowels, kiss babies*, play with the pink pads of her kitty's paws (my cat of course hates this!), dance like a dork to various commercials and other songs that just lead themselves to dancing like a dork, drive around town or across the country, and she loved to be inspired.


*I'm not sure anyone would actually put this on their list, if they were indeed writing a list of things they loved about me lol but I have to admit that I love to kiss babies.

I'm sure there are at least 101 other things that I do that people may see or do or hear that reminds them of me (hopefully in a good way) but for now that is a pretty short and sweet list. Good thing my sister is having a baby again and I'll get to induge in the "Kissing Babies" part real soon. This saves strangers from me wanting to kiss theirs LOL It also saves me from actually having children. I'm afraid my love of babies could have gotten me into a lot of trouble if I had actually started down that road -- I might have been in the running with the Duggars.

Oh, I should add to that list above --- I love the Duggar movies...or documentaries. I've watched everyone of them several times, but I don't think I'd ever win the "Name that Duggar" game. I love the new house they built and I'm so happy to see that they finally have space indoors to spread out, if only a little bit. I guess it really doesn't matter if they had a big house or a little house, they are a great family.

Happy Birthday Ned! Grandma's birthday is tomorrow.

Have a Great Day!
Kristin

I'm excited

I am so excited about the 101 Things to Do list -- When I first started coming up with the list a few weeks ago, I was amazed at how many things equal one hundred. It sounds funny to say it out loud, but a hundred things is a lot. I thought I had exhausted all of my brain power on coming up with this giant list and when I counted it, I was at 35! Obviously I figured out 101 Things to Do.

One of the things that I put on my original 35 was "Clean out the Storage Unit" number 25 on the list. I was just so excited to have it on my list, that I actually made a plan to get it accomplished. I found out that my next payment was due on the 13th, so in order to save an additional $190 for that month (which turns out there was a $13 rent increase, so it would have been $203) we hired a kid off of Craigs List to help us get it all out once and for all.

What a glorious day it was to have that space empty.

It all started in 2006, February I think... we moved from a large house, with a garage and an airplane hangar (not kidding!) to a smallish condo with no real long term storage. When we finally got everything moved from the old place to this place, we completely ran out of room. I had boxes and boxes piled high. Since my husband was just getting well again I had no time to sort - I had to just pack it up and move it off site. Having it all moved away was a blessing and a curse - It wasn't an urgent matter anymore and the credit card it was being charged to had lots of room on it, so I just ignored it. Dave Ramsey would call that a Stupid Tax, boy oh boy, I agree. Well, It is DONE! done done done skip skip done done done!!

I am truly excited about this.

Have a great day!

Kristin

101 Things to Do in 1001 Days

101 Things to Do in 1001 Days
I found out about this from someones blog and traced it back to Day Zero - Home of the 101 Things to Do in 1001 Days.

There I found how to write my own list, what the criteria should be and also how to stay focused. Focus, boy do I need focus. You can add your own 101 things to do in 1001 days, if you have it posted on a blog and you can also use the handy dandy little calculator to figure out when your 1001 days are up. I have found that if I start my 1001 days on January 21st, 2008 that the end date is my Birthday in 2010. What a great incentive to get my list completed. To see when my birthday is, go to Things to Do #101.

I may edit this to get things into categories, but for right now, I'm going to just list my 101 Things to Do in 1001 Days. Green is "In Progress" - Like a traffic light - don't stop, just keep going. Purple is completed! My favorite color.



1. Get MRJ online and visible

2. Get the rest of the websites up by the end of April 2008 -- StomperNet Seminar is in April, so get going on this... get going...get going) I need to reevaluate this one.
3. Watch one Video or Tutorial on SN every week (Bonus points for multiple days in a row!) (143 weeks)
4. Read MAC OSX Missing Manual guide
5. Do one business action a day - write it in notebook or in blog

6. Read Dr. Oz books - I have 2 (I am in the process of reading the first one.)(11/08/08)I have read through most of both books, but not quite finished yet.

7. Get to first goal weight - :) Written down in secret book, by December 2008
8. Get to second goal weight - :) Also written down in secret book, by February 2009
9. Walk once a day 5 times a week (143 weeks)(yep yep)

10. Stop drinking all carbonated beverages as of day one. (I've craved carbonation since the day I wrote this down. I used to go months, now it has been just days. Lets start again, Groundhog Day, 2008. 1st day - 5/3/08 nix that, I've had a ton of soda lately. Working on the flip house has me craving it. Two sodas a week is about my average. I'll keep it as an ongoing project.) (11/8/08) I haven't had any carbonation in weeks.

11. Stop drinking caffeine as of day one.(I keep buying something that has caffeine in it. I must stop, caffeine and my body hate each other - pay attention)(11/8/08) I haven't had any caffeine in two months at least.

12. Swim once a week - Summer 2009 May - Sept
13. Plan 2 months of dinners
14. Try 2 new recipes in a 6 month period (6 - 6 month periods)

15. Pay It Forward at least once a year - I gave some gals in the grocery store line several dollars to pay for their food since they were short on cash.

16. Write in Gratitude Journal for 365 (purchased New Years Day and am current) 05/03/08 I am not current. ugh (11/08/08) still not current. I will have to just start again in the same book.

17. Create 2 Challenges for NBU in 2008 - done done done :)

18. PM at least one person a day during each NBU session.

19. Get dressed to shoes 5 days a week by 9am (30 days in a row - Bonus points for continuing the practice)
20. Clean off coffeetable each Monday. ( I still haven't even started this one 2/2/08, I just have to keep remembering that this is a project lasting 1001 days and I am building a foundation)

21. Write to Zora twice a month (05/03/08 More like every three weeks - I need to get this into a habit.) I am pretty good at once a month. I need to step this up.

22. Send 5 care packages for absolutely no reason at all

23. Send Thank You cards (handwritten) to people for unexpected things. I sent Thank You cards to all of the people that met us at the Cafe in Maywood, NE.

24. Empty Storage Unit (Done!!!!!) Saving $190 a month!!!

25. Empty one garage and sell it by the end of 2009

26. Photograph household inventory.

27. Photograph condo inventory (all three units) done!

28. Take a daily self-portrait for a year (join the Flicker group that does this?)(2009, 2010)
29. Learn to Meditate (begin in 2008)
30. Meditate every day for a month (start this in 2009)(Bonus points for continuing the practice after the month)
31. Go to an art exhibit or gallery opening 5 different times
32. Put coins into an expired meter. I'm going to try to do this while we are in Denver this coming week. I'm just never around any place with parking meters (and I'm just assuming that Denver will have some!) I forgot when we were in Denver.
33. Have a dinner party (bonus points for having more than one!)

34. Do not purchase pens or sharpies for an entire year (this should start today :^)(1/21/08) 05/03/08 - I still have not purchased any sharpies. This is TOUGH! (9/14/08) I STILL have not purchased any sharpies. I've wanted to. A few of my sharpies have run out of ink, so my stash is getting low, but no Sharpies will be purchased this year.

35. Frame one thing every four months (3 times in 2008, 2009 & 2010) - (9/14/08) I still have NOT done this. I even needed to get a picture framed for Tom's birthday (5 days ago) but never though of it. So I gave Tom an unframed print.
36. Get a Safe Deposit Box
37. Decorate patio

38. Create a Paper Sack Journal and blog about it - do this for 30 days (30 sacks - 9 so far, need to blog about it & take a photo)

39. Send 20 Postcards using postcrossing.com (9/14/08) - Not sure if I want to do this.
40. Join 30 Day Challenge in August (or whenever it begins in 2009)

41. Write in my 10 year journal every day. http://www.journal10.com/ very very cool journal - Still on track. 05/03/08 I am still on track. I have one entry each day of this year. YES! (9/14/08) still writing in it every day. :) (11/08/08) Have not missed a day.

42. Put away laundry the same day it is dried (6 weeks) (Bonus points for continuing the habit!) First post about it, Second post 05/03/08 DONE!! This is a done project. I have it as a habit now.

43. Vote in the 2008 November election

44. Donate or sell one box of "stuff" each month (Box in guest room) (I haven't done it each month but I have gotten rid of most of my clothing that I didn't like or didn't wear often.)

45. Write 12 new Kirby Mail posts in 2008 (3 completed)(9/14/08) I now have 6 completed

46. List the Plexiglas & the diamond tread on Craig’s list and get it gone by July 2008. (9/14/08)Oooh, we were flipping that house in July -- I forgot all about it. Lets move the date to March 2009.

47. Travel to...Hawaii
48. ...France

49. ...England, Ireland, Scotland (5/19/08 My father asked us last month if we'd like to all go to the Isle of Man next summer - so this trip is scheduled.)

50. ...Maywood, Nebraska (5/19/08 My mother asked me a few weeks ago if I'd like to go to her class reunion with her & visit Maywood! - My answer was YES!)(9/14/08) we leave in a few days!!!!!!!!!

51. ...Chicago
52. ...Memphis with Bob
53. ...LasVegas
54. Sell the early editions of the MSL magazines by the end of 2008 (this doesn't look it'll happen. Maybe I can get them listed the first week in Dec.)
55. Make a shadowbox or some kind of covered display for the BK items. (End of 2010)
56. Get China doll repaired - replace the string that held her together
57. Create a Home book - household inventory, floor plan, color chart, maintenance, etc. (end of 2009)
58. Buy a new mattress for King bed (2009)
59. Buy a new mattress for Queen bed (2010)
60. Memorize U. S. Presidents
61. Learn how to change a tire on both cars.
62. Send flowers to someone.
63. Send a Get Well package to someone that includes crayons and a coloring book.

64. Hold the door open for people (10 minimum but continue the practice)(done done done!)

65. Have a Chick Flick sleep-over party

66. Replace all of my socks & chuck the old ones - all of them. 05/03/08 I did this the other day -- I totally forgot it was on my list. (Or maybe I didn't forget!)

67. Renew my passport - I HAVE to do this soon. we are going overseas next year.
68. Add additional $2000 to my emergency fund
69. Get a Museum Membership
70. Put together an Emergency Kit (post what's in it in a blog post)
71. One Random Act of Kindness (this can be repeated often) 05/03/08 the other day I did all sorts of nice stuff for people and places. It was fun - I'll post something about it.
72. Purchase Photoshop (or other photo editing software) & blog about how I am using it each week for a month.
73. Make a list of 100 things that make me happy. (05/03/08 - I don't know why I haven't even thought of starting this...)
74. Go one month without using my Credit Card (Bonus points for Debit Card, too)
75. Go to grocery store only once a week for an entire month (Bonus points, big bonus points for continuing this habit)

76. Go out to dinner once a month with a neighbor or friend. (12 months in a row)

77. Write a letter or card to someone other than family every week.

78. Call Tom's parents at least twice a month.

79. Flip a house in less than 4 months. This is absolutely being done right now. We are 3 weeks into it. (we did it in 4 months!!!!!)

80. Make a condo book listing the food, maps, suggestions, etc. Have the patients write in it. Make it interactive if possible. (9/14/08) I just started working on this last week.

81. Make a calendar for the family with all of our bdays and anniversaries in it. (Ask Marg for help on this)
82. Purchase a new rug for the bedroom & another for the computer room
83. Go to a taping of the Oprah Show (could do it while I was visiting Chicago!)
84. Acquire new bedding for the guest room (donate the current bedding
85. Wash all of the exterior parts of the windows.
86. Recover the yellow couch.
87. Sell Grandma's Treadle machine
88. Finish up the State Quarters book - it ends in 2008.
89. Create a small prop closet - this has been started and it is just going to be a basket in the closet. I will blog about it when I have more items, but it is started.
90. Get out of town with Tom 2 weekends a year.
91. Buy a black velvet dress or one that seems just as cool and wear it to an event.
92. Paint a picture and frame it. It doesn't have to be great - just do it!
93. Transfer Nebraska tape to DVD and give it to myself and family.
94. Toss out or give away all video tapes.
95. Make a Paper Crown - photograph it. (Bonus points for doing this again, if it was fun lol)
96. Start writing down the family funnies -- Big Gulp, W/D on the curb, Kitten on his shoulder, elusive noodles, etc.
97. Clean out a dresser drawer once a month.
98. Write down the crafty ideas so you don't have to try to remember them all. Create a book or gasp, a blog post, to put them in.
99. Get rid of, recycle, gift, donate or otherwise move out of my possession every piece of electronic equipment or computer that hasn't been used in 2 years.
100. Get a professional family portrait taken & frame at least one of the photos with in a month.
101. Plan my own birthday party for the 18th of October, 2010 - the very last day of the 1001 days and celebrate the successes in the 101 goals!!

The 30 Day Challenge

What a year, what a year.