April Update – New Year’s Resolutions

Oh my! How is it May already?! I am hopelessly behind in what I wanted to accomplish this year, but I refuse to despair. There are only twenty school days left, and we always get more done in the summer. So, here is the summary of where I am on my goals.

1) Leave the country – We went to China!!! We were there from Sunday, March 16 until Thursday, March 27. You can read the announcement of our trip, our arrival in China, our trip to the Great Wall, Beijing and the 798 Art District, the Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven Park. I will be writing more posts about our trip every Monday for the next couple of months.

2) Write at least one post a month in Spanish – I dropped the ball on this one this month. I failed to write any, but I wrote two last month, so I am still averaging one a month. If you can read Spanish, check out my project list, Lista de proyectos, and a recap of what we accomplished last year in January, Enero del 2013, February, Febrero del 2013 and March, Marzo del 2013.

3) Move more – I have been doing well with this goal. I am moving a lot more than I had hoped I would, and I am down five pounds from where I was at the beginning of the year.

This month I did eight and a half hours of yoga and walked Kahlua for four and a half hours. I worked for at least ten hours in the yard. The first Saturday alone accounted for six hours. That gives me a total of twenty three hours of exercise for the month of April, making this my second most active month of the year.

Most of my exercising on the weekends has come in the form of yard work. If you do not think that raking and mulching can get you in shape than you should come to my house and try it!

4) Visit one of the last six states on my list – We have been to Florida and Texas so far this year, but I still have not visited Maine, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Hawaii or Alaska. Boo.

Here are Douglas and I at my cousin’s wedding in Texas in April.

5) “Finish” the kitchen – No renovating at all occurred in April in the kitchen at the Cape of Dreams. It has been sad for me. We still need to consult with an electrician before we can continue. If you know of a good one in Westchester County, please let us know.

Before we ran into a problem with the electrical, we had removed the old countertops and had templates made for the new ones. We had a new countertop installed, and I refinished the cabinets and hardware,  organized the cupboards, and installed under sink tip-out drawers.

6) Take better care of the garden – The first steps have been taken to prepare the garden for summer.  The seeds I harvested last year are soaking in the kitchen getting ready to go into the dirt. I am looking forward to fresh produce!

7) Do more for Douglas – He got to come to Texas and hang out with my crazy and wonderful family. I believe they are why he married me in the first place.

8) Finish cleaning out and organizing the basement – The basement continues to look worse than it does in this picture. I am planning a yard sale for June, so the cleaning and organizing will have to happen before then.

9) Paint all of the trim in the living room and dining room – Another project that is probably not going to happen until summer vacation begins.

10) “Finish” the dining room – No work has been done in the dining room, and we will probably wait until summer.

11) Regrout the tile in the bathroom – Still nothing.

I am hoping to have made more progress in May, but I must admit that things are not likely to really pick up until June. Wish me luck!

Happy Homemaking!