Me in Place

Ah – finally! We’ve moved on! DeRosa sadness is still there, but I’ll work on that.

It’s back to get into listing! I kinda drifted from my listing ways last year…sort of by circumstance, sort of by choice. I wanted to see how I did/functioned without lists. It was weird and strange and I felt fluttery and had to eat my emotions and forgot things like toothpaste when I stopped by Target.

I don’t know how you feel about goals. But here’s my general Goal Planning Approach.

1. Get yourself a new notebook.

2. Get a nice, new, pretty pen.

3. Sit by yourself for a while. Review last year. Jot down any big plans for this year. (I.E. “Trip to Hawaii – November.”) (Wow, can I be your friend??)

4. On the next page write down four headings: Spiritual, Intellectual, Emotional and Physical.

5. Under each heading write down two to five general, long-term (you set time limit) goals.

6. Now, for each of those goals, write down specifics having to do with those goals. How are you going to accomplish that goal? What steps do you need to take to get those done?

7. Ahhh… close your notebook. If you want, have a friend or relative read the goals so you know that someone else knows what you’re working toward! Or so they know to start packing for Hawaii.

I’m not telling you what to do. I just listed those out so you know how I come about with my goals. Next post, I’ll share some of my goals with you. Not all (I don’t write about spiritual goals because well, it seems odd.), but most of them I’ll share.

Do you write out goals for the New Year? Do you ever write goals? Are you going to Hawaii? Can I come?

Long-time readers (otherwise known as “Grandma”) will maybe, possibly remember that I keep track of how many right and wrong answers I get on the annual Jeopardy calendar. Here is last year’s post about how smart I wasn’t. Last year I hit 73% right on the answers.

I kinda thought each year I would get a little smarter. A little wiser.

Nope. Just finished up this year’s, and I only came in at 69% smart for the year. Only being 69% smart is very very scarily close to being…not smart!

I am trying hard not to blame it on the fact that one of the final topics was Greenland. The closest country to Greenland is this one, a mere sixteen miles away. Greenland is an autonomous dependency of this nation. A peninsula in northern Greenland is named for this arctic explorer who had his sights set even further north.

At least I knew Justin Timberlake was one of the members of ‘N Sync. Kept me from being dumb.

Here is SuperBoy’s (4yo) list of Ten Things to Do With Mommy (I helped a little bit, but mainly these are his ideas):

1. Color with mommy.

2. Go out for ice cream. Chocolate and strawberry.

3. Go to a pizza place.

4. Go to the library and get some books.

5. Go to Starbucks to get mochas.

6. Take a hike in the woods.

7. Go to a children’s museum.

8. Make cupcakes.

9. Go to Legoland.

10. Go to a movie.

Here is 6yo’s list of Things to Do With Mommy (I tried to offer as little guidance as possible, so the kids would come up with their own ideas. I did have to nix “Go to Disney World.”)
1. Go shopping and each spend $5 on ourselves.

2. Take a hike in the woods.

3. Go to McDonald’s and play in the Playplace.

4. Make chocolate chip cookies.

5. Go to the Field Museum.

6. Go to Chili’s and get the pizza.

7. Go to Petland and see every single animal there, then get a milkshake.

8. Go to a donut shop on a chilly morning.

9. Go miniature golfing.

10. Go see a play.

11. Go horseback riding.

I asked my 8yo to come up with a list of Ten – Okay, 11 -  Things to Do With Mommy. Here’s that list:

1. Go to a museum with dinosaur skeletons.

2. Ride our bikes on the Waubonsie Trail.

3. Get chocolate fondue at Graham’s 318.

4. Find a factory tour to go on.

5. Bake a cake and frost it.

6. Go to breakfast at IHOP.

7. Go to a place where they have cheese (Mozarella) sticks.

8. Put together a foam house that we buy from Michael’s.

9. Go to the Art Museum. 2/26/09

10. Read 100 books (that we read together).

11. Go horseback riding.

We accomplished one other item on Jeff’s List of 25 Things Everyone Should Experience in the Northwoods this past weekend. It was #2: Camp out alone in the woods. I decided to go a step further and make this one actually a Challenge. And what can be harder than sleeping alone in a tent? That’s right! Inviting your three children and hubby to join you! We made it and lived to tell the story. There aren’t even any freaky bears, rainstorms or anything awful to share. We actually had a great time and a lot of fun.

Here’s us faking sleep (I’m sorry, but have a seen a cuter fake sleeper? SuperBoy, I mean, not me.):

Here’s what we did before bed – I’m writing my name, but wasn’t good enough to do it backwards so the photo would come out right. I’ll have to practice that before next year:

Awww….

#3 on Jeff’s List of 25 Things Everyone Should Experience in Northern Wisconsin is “Build a fire and cook supper on it.”

I can’t say I placed the logs so beautifully – Jeff did. I did, however, set it aflame, so I got that going for me.

Here’s Bro Jeff telling me how to do things. Which is so not how it was in our growing up years. I taught him everything. Except how to build fires.

Here he’s telling me to put the pine needles in. He had to teach me that. Because if there’s anything little brothers are good at it’s adding fuel to the fire. They, like, totally hand out that spiritual gift to all brothers before they’re born.

Here’s SuperBoy about to burn himself on the rock next to the fire that Mommy built. Poor SuperBoy. But a good lesson. In the future, SuperBoy will always ALWAYS remember to stay away from fire. (Sometimes known as “girls.”)

I helped Aunt C put together the dinner, but then I was treating SuperBoy’s burns and she did a lot herself. I’m still going to mark this off my list, though. Because it’s my list and I should get credit for putting children first while tending to SuperBoy’s little burn.

And here’s me roasting marshmallows for the S’mores we made using Ande’s mints instead of Hershey’s chocolate. You must try! That was Aunt C’s idea. She’s very smart, that Aunt C. Notice that little bro Jeff is still hovering in the background waiting to tell me what to do next. Once you let them think they’ve Taught You Something, they’re impossible to shake off.

#21 on Jeff’s 25 Things Everyone Should Experience in Northern Wisconsin included a photo with the Rhinelander Hodag. (We accomplished a couple of the items on the list over the weekend – I’ll post photos for proof):

Just pulling my list up to the top, so I don’t have to search for it everytime. I’ve highlighted book titles I thought I’d recommend to you:

1. Freakonomics; Levitt, Steven &Dubner, Stephen; 207; rating: 8; 1/2

2. Moon Over Tokyo; Mitchell, Siri; 291; rating: 8; 1/3

3. My Father’s Dragon; Garnett, Ruth Stiles; rating: 7; 1/3 (kid’s book – the kids love it!)

4. Confessions of a Shopaholic; Kinsella, Sophie; 312; rating: 8; 1/7

5. Ralph S Mouse; Cleary, Beverly; 160; rating: 7; 1/9 (kids)

6. Castle Diary: The Journal of Tobias Burgess; Platt, Richard; 112; rating: 9; 1/10 (kids)

7. One for the Money; Evanovich, Janet; 320; 1/17

8. David Copperfield; Dickens, Charles; 1/20

9. New England White; Carter, Stephen L; 558; rating: 9; 1/28

10. Follow Me As I Follow Christ; Dunlop, Cheryl; 195; rating: 9; 1/29

11. A Seahorse in the Thames; Meissner, Susan; 284; rating: 7; 2/20

12. The Appeal; Grisham, John; 358; rating: 7; 3/3

13. Chill Out, Josey!; Warren, Susan May; 343; rating: 8; 3/5

14. Remember Me?; Kinsella, Sophie; 389

15. The Hidden Art of Homemaking; Schaeffer, Edith;

16. Don’t Waste Your Life; Piper, John; 189; rating: 8; 3/17

17. The Hole in the Wall

18. The Little Lady Agency; Browne, Hester; 406; 3/17

19. Reclaiming Nick; Warren, Susan May; 360; 3/18

20. Sky Blue; Thrasher, Travis; 386; 3/18

21. Blind Side; Lewis, Micahel; 339; rating: 7; 3/29

22. Laced; Clark, Carol Higgins; 329; rating: 7; 3/28

23. All She Ever Wanted; Austin, Lynn; 400; rating: 7; 3/26

24. Whispers of the Bayou; Clark, Mindy Starns; 337; rating: 7; 3/25

25. Owl Babies; Waddell, Martin; 32; rating: 10

26. Secret Life of Josephine; Erickson, Carolly; 329;rating: 6; 4/2

27. Shoeless; 344; rating: 6; 4/6

28. Born Standing Up; Martin, Steve; 207; rating: 9; 4/8

29. Where Are You Now?; Clark, Mary Higgins; 289; rating: 7; 4/15

30. The Five Love Languages: Chapman, Gary; 175; rating: 9; 4/21

31. The $64 Tomato; Alexander, William; 288; rating: 8; 4/21

32. Baltimore Blues; Lippman, Laura; 288; 4/23

33. Do Your Kids a Favor, Love Your Spouse; Smiley, Kendra & John

34. Mountains Beyond Mountains; Kidder, Tracy; 322; rating: 9; 5/5

35. Quaker Summer , Samson, Lisa; 401; rating: 6; 5/14

36. My Name is Russell Fink; Snyder, Michael; 355; rating: 7; 5/18

37. Total Money Makeover; Ramsey, Dave;

38. Bitter is the New Black; Lancaster, Jen; 400; 5/24

39. Such a Pretty Fat; Lancaster, Jen;

40. Ultra Marathon Man; Karnazes, Dean; 292; 6/1

41. I Am America: And So Can You; Colbert, Stephen; 240; 6/22

42. A Life That Says Welcome; Ehman, Karen;240; 6/23

43. Rekindled; Alexander, Tamera; 336;6/28

44. There’s No Place Like Here; Ahern, Cecilia;352; 6/24

45. Losing It; Bertinelli, Valerie; 288;7/2

46. Trespassers Will Be Baptized: The Unordained Memoir of a Preacher’s Daughter; Hancock, Elizabeth Emerson; 276; 7/7

47. Desiring God; Piper, John; 243;7/3

48. Dogwood, Fabry, Chris; 240; 8/3

49. Don’t Bet Against Me, ; Favre, Deana; 241; 8/3

50. Thorn In My Heart; Higgs, Liz Curtis; 480; 8/6

51. I heart Bloomberg; Carlson, Melody; 292; 8/4

52. A Stranger in the House of God; Koessler, John; 216; 8/6

53. The Reason for God; Keller, Timothy; 241; 8/18

54. The Glass Castle; Wells, Jeannette; 288; 8/23

55. Happily Ever After; Warren, Susan May; 384; 8/26

56. Playing for Pizza; Grisham, John; 8/31

57. The Story of the World: Vol 2: The Middle Ages; Bauer, Susan Wise; 409; 9/3

58. Paula Deen: It Ain’t All About the Cookin’; Deen, Paula; 279; 9/3

1. Freakonomics; Levitt, Steven &Dubner, Stephen; 207; rating: 8; 1/2

2. Moon Over Tokyo; Mitchell, Siri; 291; rating: 8; 1/3

3. My Father’s Dragon; Garnett, Ruth Stiles; rating: 7; 1/3 (kid’s book – the kids love it!)

4. Confessions of a Shopaholic; Kinsella, Sophie; 312; rating: 8; 1/7

5. Ralph S Mouse; Cleary, Beverly; 160; rating: 7; 1/9 (kids)

6. Castle Diary: The Journal of Tobias Burgess; Platt, Richard; 112; rating: 9; 1/10 (kids)

7. One for the Money; Evanovich, Janet; 320; 1/17

8. David Copperfield; Dickens, Charles; 1/20

9. New England White; Carter, Stephen L; 558; rating: 9; 1/28

10. Follow Me As I Follow Christ; Dunlop, Cheryl; 195; rating: 9; 1/29

11. A Seahorse in the Thames; Meissner, Susan; 284; rating: 7; 2/20

12. The Appeal; Grisham, John; 358; rating: 7; 3/3

13. Chill Out, Josey!; Warren, Susan May; 343; rating: 8; 3/5

14. Remember Me?; Kinsella, Sophie; 389

15. The Hidden Art of Homemaking; Schaeffer, Edith;

16. Don’t Waste Your Life; Piper, John; 189; rating: 8; 3/17

17. The Hole in the Wall

18. The Little Lady Agency; Browne, Hester; 406; 3/17

19. Reclaiming Nick; Warren, Susan May; 360; 3/18

20. Sky Blue; Thrasher, Travis; 386; 3/18

21. Blind Side; Lewis, Micahel; 339; rating: 7; 3/29

22. Laced;  Clark, Carol Higgins; 329; rating: 7; 3/28

23. All She Ever Wanted; Austin, Lynn; 400; rating: 7; 3/26

24. Whispers of the Bayou; Clark, Mindy Starns; 337; rating: 7; 3/25