May Update – New Year’s Resolutions

The year continues to fly by, and tomorrow begins my favorite season of all. There was a time in my life when I liked fall and winter more than summer, but that was before I became a teacher and got the three months off. I am looking forward to having some hours of relaxation, as well as time to work on more projects around the house and go on trips. Honestly, I have so many plans for this summer that there is no way that I am going to be able to fit them all in, but I am going to love every second of trying.

As for my goals, here is where things stand right now.

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, the Temple of Heaven Park, Nanluogu Xiang and the Hutong and the Lama Temple and Natooke. After writing those posts, I decided to fit all of the events in one day per blog post. The posts from our time in Shanghai are by date: March 20, March 21 and March 22. I will be writing more posts about our trip every Monday for at least one more month.

2) Write at least one post a month in Spanish – It has been difficult for me to find the motivation to keep up with this goal because so few people read my posts in Spanish. However, some of my family in Venezuela does like to follow my projects, so I will soldier on. It is also good for me to keep up the practice of writing in Spanish. 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, March, Marzo del 2013 and April, Abril del 2013.

3) Move more – I seem to have lost the momentum I felt when we got back from China. I was working out regularly and staying active until about halfway through May when I totally lost steam. I hope that it will come back now that school is over.

It is not as though I did not do anything. This month I did eight hours and forty five minutes of yoga and walked Kahlua for three hours and a fifteen minutes. I also did three hours and forty five minutes of miscellaneous workouts. Part of that was due to the fact that I filled in for the zumba instructor for three days, and I also met with a personal trainer once for an hour and fifteen minutes. I had planned to go regularly but ended up going once and never returning. That is a total of fifteen hours and forty five minutes. Still over my original goal, but I need to improve.

4) Visit one of the last six states on my list – We have been to Florida, Texas and Illinois 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 friend’s wedding in Illinois in May.

5) “Finish” the kitchen – This is getting depressing. If we do not make some progress soon, I am going to start crying. We 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 were taken in April to prepare the garden for summer.  Then, I planted the garden when my mother came to visit for Mother’s Day. This is what it looked like the day that we planted it and what it looks like now. Everything is still small, but it has all sprouted and looks promising. I have already used some basil and radish tops from the garden.

7) Do more for Douglas – He told me last weekend that I was a wonderful wife, so I must be doing something right. I took him to Illinois last month where he got to visit his brother, sister in law and nieces and nephew.

8) Finish cleaning out and organizing the basement – I made some progress down there in early May, but there is still more to be done. I hope to clear out about half of what is down there and have a yard sale this summer.

9) Paint all of the trim in the living room and dining room – This will hopefully happen sometime this summer.

10) “Finish” the dining room – Yet another project for the summer. 

11) Regrout the tile in the bathroom – Another thing that I hope to accomplish this summer. Are you starting to see why I think I have over-planned this vacation time?

Now that my summer vacation is beginning, I am losing my work excuse and will hopefully get in gear on some of these projects that have been in limbo. It is up to you guys to hold me accountable!

Happy Homemaking!