Answer to prayer

I have been struggling to love Teddy, and today he showed me that I need to slow down and really see how beautiful he is.

This morning we did errands to the south and then went straight to Lucia's speech therapy.

Lucia at her speech therapy. The sound of the week was /p/, so we worked on that.

She got the /k/ sound on her own and/or listening to her little brother.

We had three children running around: "Gok! Gok! Gok!"

Fr. Peter had to go straight to church to deal with the door and the locksmith, so I had the three kids who were having lunch at two o'clock as well as getting all the groceries in and put away. So I took a nap. (Let's just pause for a moment, because it really was a beautiful nap.)

So I noticed some movement, and there was Teddy at the doorway looking at me. I really didn't want him to need me to do anything that requires either speech or movement, so I asked, "What do you want?" and the reply was a simple: "I was going to kiss you when you were asleep." And I got a hug, and held his hand and closed my eyes. He stuck around, but didn't seem all that keen on just standing there, so I said he could come around and lie down next to me.

Then I figured I should say something, because I didn't want to just lose that lovely connection, of just liking him. I asked, "What was your favorite part of today?" and he said, "Having a balloon." (We went to a store for the first time ever and each child got a balloon on a stick.) Next question: "What was your favorite part of yesterday?" "Communion." It still floors me how important this is to him, just simply and viscerally. I don't know how to recover my conversational footing, so I asked, "What are you looking forward to?" and he replied, "Getting my balloon back."

I've been really praying to have the lightly-held connection between us get reinforced, and today it was. I am so grateful for his sensitive spirit. Sometimes—most of the time—that is hard to remember.

We also got permission to leave for our road trip a day earlier, splitting a 12-hour drive into two days, meaning we get to see some dearly beloved people for more than a fuel-and-stretch stop and still getting to our destination hours late. Of course, now that means there is less time to get everything in. I meant to do laundry today...

Third 101 Things Update

I'll skip the "I meant well" introductory part of this post and just admit that I haven't really thought about this project for about, oh, two entire months, not even counting the several months before that when I didn't make any progress but at least thought about it.

For each section, there's a count of the number of items in that section, then a breakdown of what is finished, what is in progress, and what hasn't been started yet.  The numbers of finished items are in bold, those of items in progress are italicized.

Health and Fitness (9:3/3/3)
001. Take a walk every day for a week (of at least a mile)
-----You can laugh with me. It's okay.
002. Floss teeth daily for a month
003. Go to the gym 15 times, working for at least half an hour [0/15]
004. Do daily exercise for 30 days
-----This has gotten changed several times, but is simply: exercise consistently. After a visit to my sister's house, we bought a Wii and one of the "Just Dance" games that she doesn't have (so when she visits, she'll have something new to play), and have done that four times in the past month. The kids really like watching me, which is creepy but flattering at the same time. So there may be progress on this one sooner rather than later.
005. Get a massage (two times) [1/2]
006. Visit an eye doctor and check my prescription/glasses/contacts
-----Hooray! New prescription: new contacts and new glasses, and a friendly new optometrist. Very happy that things are no longer uncomfortable/fuzzy or literally peeling, respectively.
007. Go to the dentist yearly (three times) [1/3]
-----Even though we go every six months, I'll only count the first visit of the year for a "yearly" visit, and that will be this month.
008. Set a bedtime and stick to it for 30 consecutive days
-----See 001.
009. Take a multivitamin for 30 consecutive days

Learning (12:4/2/6)
010. Read the New Testament [27/27]
011. Read the Old Testament [0/49]
-----I think I should start over since I hadn't read any more in Genesis since I last wrote.  *sigh*  Again.  (Repeat these notes, especially the *sigh* )
012. Read a month's worth of Church Fathers [31/31]
-----Although I reached my 101/1001 goal, I kinda want to catch up and continue this project... which is now extremely behind.
013. Learn Romanian Trisagion prayers and Nicene Creed.
014. Learn the countries of each continent (sporcle.com quizzes, first time success in a day) [6/6]
015. Read 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
016. Memorize the first five kathismata (Psalms 1-37) [1/37]
017. Learn apolytikia for all family saints (Peter, Mary Magdalene, Theodore the Studite, Gregory Palamas, Lucia, Catherine, Timothy the Apostle, and Moses the Black) in English [0/8]
-----We've done several of these, but may need to update this goal in July (see Thing 090).
018. Memorize the books of the Bible in order
-----Probably should review this...
019. Learn the 8 resurrectional apolytikia in English [0/8]
-----Still haven't decided on the translation yet.
020. Learn the 12 great festal hymns: apolytikia and kontakia in English [0/24]
-----Haven't gone any further with this either.
021. Learn to make a prayer rope.

Social Ties (7:1/2/4)
022. Have a dinner party
023. Invite others on a ladies' night out
-----We even had another, smaller one with just four of us at a coffee shop playing board games. It was very fun.
024. Invite Matthew to visit our family
025. Make a birthday list and send out birthday cards to at least five friends (namedays also count) [2/5]
-----I am not good at staying in touch, even though I think about people and miss them often...
026. Set up five playdates [0/5]
-----My children are doomed.
027. Send out annual letter (twice) [0/2]
-----Still haven't finished the pictures for the 2011-2012 version.  Yeah, the one that tells about our TWO younger children.  *sigh*  Maybe this will be a decade project rather than an annual one.
028. Host a Lego party

Better World (7:2/0/5)
029. Volunteer at the library
-----Haven't heard back after (I think) turning in my volunteer application.
030. Donate blood
031. Donate to Matt and Tara in Niger
032. Put together and send kits to IOCC; put together some "blessing bags" to keep in the car
033. Volunteer at the soup kitchen with Philoptochos
-----I may change this to volunteering somewhere else, as this soup kitchen gives mixed messages and doesn't get back to me....
034. Visit a nursing home with the children
035. Buy a cow/goat/bees from the Heifer Project

Homestead (20:5/3/12)
036. See about southeast corner landscaping/drainage
-----We've made the basement this year's goal. In order to get someone to look at our water-proofing options, we have to take down what's covering the basement walls, which we've decided to leave until the temperature goes back above freezing.
037. Get gutters cleaned (install gutter guard?)
038. Put up outdoor Christmas decorations (wreath, lights)
039. Get chimney/fireplace inspected and put in working order
040. Replace bathtub drain (main floor)
-----After looking into this, I decided to just go with a new tub-stopper (less than $5) and take out the broken mechanism for the bathtub drain, rather than going into walls and spending lots of money. Also, the kids really like the tub stopper (which we haven't affixed to anything), as it makes a great censer or general toy.
041. Secure the threshold for the walk-in door to the garage
-----The husband went ahead and made the door close properly, so the threshold is even worse, but at least the door closes and the wind doesn't open it any more. Maybe when temps get above freezing...
042. Properly mount the safety reverse on the garage door (eyes)
043. Figure out what all electrical switches go to
044. Replace light in street lamp
045. Add light to upstairs closet
046. Install a programmable thermostat
-----Just $30 with our free home inspection, installed!
047. Fix main floor bathroom sink flow issue (clean aerator?)
-----Replaced with low-flow whatsit by home inspector.
048. Replace shower heads
-----Even the home inspector couldn't get the upstairs one off, so this may be something to think about more.
049. Fix upstairs bath handle leaks
050. Stick with bi-weekly cleaning day (laundry, cleaning bathrooms, dishes) for four instances [0/4]
-----See Thing 001.
051. Plant Lucia's Christmas tree
052. Introduce ourselves to each of the neighbors on our street/block [5/14]
-----Went around the day before our Fall Greek Dinner with koulourakia that I'd baked, so nabbed about five introductions.
053. Get a free energy check-up for the house
-----And, boy, was it worth it! Free light bulbs, low-flow things, advice on insulation and what gets a rebate, and an installed programmable thermostat. We've had attic access put in, insulation, and with the new doors, have been definitely more comfortable this winter (with extremely low temperatures) and saved money doing it. I'm glad we gave the inspector some tickets to our Fall Greek Dinner, but I wish we had his contact information so we could treat him again this spring.
054. Sort through and organize ALL clothes (his, mine, and the children's) for what fits, what needs repair, and by season (store, donate, repair as needed)
-----Recently sorted through children's clothes again, but see Thing 090 for reasons why I won't be going through my clothes just yet.
055. Unpack everything from the move ... and put it away
-----See Thing 001.

Computer (7:1/1/5)
056. Organize desktop icons
057. Organize files
058. Make wedding photos more accessible (i.e., find them)
059. Upload photos from computer to online albums
060. Select and order photos from online albums for physical albums
061. Update physical photo albums
062. Completely clear out gmail inbox
-----Started with 103 important-and-unread, 172 unread, and 3900 total in my inbox. As of the first update, I have 80 important-and-unread, 151 unread, and 1770 total in my inbox. As of the second update, I have 161 important-and-unread, 579 unread, and 1129 total in my inbox. As of this update, I have 165 important-and-unread, 1087 unread, and 2951 total in my inbox. Not quite progress. I need to unsubscribe from things and take care of other things.

Car (3:0/0/3)
063. Clean out car, including vacuuming and car wash [0/3]
-----Again with waiting on the weather.
064. Clean out minivan, including vacuuming and car wash [0/3]
065. Transfer minivan title to Iowa

Crafty (6:1/0/1/4)
066. Finish knitting (Teddy's) toddler pants
-----New goal: 2T pants so that Timmo can wear them. At least I know where everything is, and there might be people at church who knit and so could help me. I think the tricky part (other than doing it) will be figuring out (even approximately) where I left off.
067. Make epitrachelion
068. Make a dollhouse church
069. Write a children's story about a family saint
070. Make (liturgical) seasonal notebooks (New Year to Nativity Fast, Nativity Fast to Triodion, Triodion and Lent, Pascha to Pentecost, Apostles' Fast to end of liturgical year) [0/5]
071. Replace the elastic in all the white diapers (legs) and all diapers (backs) [0/8; 0/24]

Food (5:0/0/5)
072. Make a fasting menu plan for a week
073. Make a non-fasting menu plan for a week
074. Eat salad four times a week for four consecutive weeks
075. Make a meal with the crockpot
076. Work on Auntie Leila's "Happy Home: Food Organization" list every day (even a little bit) for a week

Activities (7:1/1/5)
077. Find an Irish dancing school near Cedar Rapids
-----The closest one is in Dubuque, and they meet on Sunday afternoons every other week. This is not the season for trying that, however, but I found it. (See Thing 090.)
078. Play the flute for half an hour every day for a week
079. Play the fiddle for half an hour every day for a week
080. Find a piano teacher and something to practice on
-----The husband said he'd move a piano into our house if I made space for it (of course, the best space is the place in the office with all the stuff I've been meaning to sort through and work on... forever), and if I found a free one. I think the first part will be harder than the second.
081. Go to see live theater with my husband and no children
082. Go to see live theater with the whole family (children's performance)
083. Attend a retreat or icon workshop (no children)

Travel (6:2/1/3)
084. Visit a monastery with the family
085. Visit three different museums [0/3]
086. Go to the zoo
-----I remember going with the family to the Blank Park Zoo, with farm animals. There was a lot of walking involved, and ducks are still scary.
087. Go to the park with the children 20 times [1/20]
088. Ride a train with the children
-----For Teddy's birthday, we went to see and ride Thomas. Lucia was non-plussed at the train ride, but Teddy had a blast. They set the record for going through the bouncy-house. (Even Timmo and I went through twice.)
089. Go to the St. Emmelia Homeschooling Conference
-----The husband printed out our registration form for this year, and I've started filling it out. We need episcopal permission to be absent, and then we can start making plans on where to start and where to stay for the two-day drive...

Miscellaneous (12:1/3/2/6)
090. Have a baby
-----So I may exceed my expectations on this one. In addition to Timmo, I'm due in July!
091. Make a passwords book
092. Get children a tape player and record three books [0/3]
093. Make a will
-----Have gone to see the lawyer, and made sure our "if we both die, will you take the children?" people are okay with four kids plus their own newborn.
094. Have a written funeral plan (find out about laws for green burial, transport across state lines, burial at monastery)
-----Went to St. Raphael's for one meeting and one book discussion group about Christian burial and options, etc. Found out that Michigan laws are quite strict, so may need to do even more research.
095. Make to-do list for Romanian paperwork for children's citizenship
096. Read (or re-read, to be in order) all the Newbery Medal books (assuming there will be three more as this 1001 days goes; ordered holds on the first three to be picked up at my local library) [13/94]
-----The next book seems to only be available at one local library (the one I don't go to) and it's a reference book, so I'll have to figure out how to arrange that... which still hasn't changed since the second status update.
097. Complete a monthly photo challenge
098. Get new Iowa credit union account(s)
099. Participate in {phfr} on "Like Mother, Like Daughter" for four weeks in a row [4/4]
101. Make/find/buy a homeschooling curriculum
101. Sort through and cull the filing cabinet


So what's the score?
Made obsolete: 2
Completed: 22
In progress: 16
Unstarted: 61

Well, that's not as bad as I had feared, although it seems that most of the progress was due to the home inspection. I'll take it.

A friend from church and I have alternated (once each so far) with going to the other's house and helping for several hours. Organizing, cleaning, replacing light bulbs, tidying, etc. We've each decided it's much more fun at the other person's house, mostly because it's not my mess, so I don't have any guilt about not having cleaned it up before. Also, after she left, the husband made pumpkin pie (which isn't pie-shaped at all, but whatever) and I made banana bread.

Now that I've finished this post, I'll get back to the rest of today's to-do list.

Second 101 Things update

I've had this on my calendar since the first week of June...  I've been having a tough time getting myself to do things.  (I know, story of my life.)

For each section, there's a count of the number of items in that section, then a breakdown of what is finished, what is in progress, and what hasn't been started yet.  The numbers of finished items are in bold, those of items in progress are italicized.

Health and Fitness (9:2/3/4)
001. Take a walk every day for a week (of at least a mile)
002. Floss teeth daily for a month
-----In the "attempting to start a good habit" this has slacked off quite a bit.  May need to put the floss in the way of something else in the medicine cabinet so I notice it.
003. Go to the gym 15 times, working for at least half an hour [0/15]
004. Do midwife-approved strengthening exercises after giving birth
-----I have fallen off the exercise wagon pretty severely, but recently tried a session of yoga and am looking forward to starting an eight-week session next Tuesday.
005. Get a massage (two times) [1/2]
006. Visit an eye doctor and check my prescription/glasses/contacts
007. Go to the dentist yearly (three times) [1/3]
008. Set a bedtime and stick to it for 30 consecutive days
-----I may need to point out to myself that three in the morning is not what I'm aiming for. More like 10 or 11.  *sigh*  But that's when there's quiet.
009. Take a multivitamin for 30 consecutive days
-----Although I meant to continue this regularly, it's been a bit hit-or-miss since buying vitamins at Costco, since the new containers are giant and do not fit in the medicine cabinet and have been relegated to the kitchen with the kids' vitamins.  (Theirs are gummy, so I am less likely to forget.  Also I have a free bribe a day built in with those.)

Learning (12:4/2/6)
010. Read the New Testament [27/27]
011. Read the Old Testament [0/49]
-----I think I should start over since I hadn't read any more in Genesis since I last wrote.  *sigh*  Again.
012. Read a month's worth of Church Fathers [31/31]
-----Although I reached my 101/1001 goal, I kinda want to catch up and continue this project.
013. Learn Romanian Trisagion prayers and Nicene Creed.
-----Oh, right.  This was a goal.
014. Learn the countries of each continent (sporcle.com quizzes, first time success in a day) [6/6]
015. Read 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
016. Memorize the first five kathismata (Psalms 1-37) [1/37]
-----I found my old steno pad where I'd been working on memorization.  Then I put it back in a box...
017. Learn apolytikia for all family saints (Peter, Mary Magdalene, Theodore the Studite, Gregory Palamas, Lucia, Catherine, Timothy the Apostle, and Moses the Black) in English [0/8]
-----I have some of these printed out, but I don't know where I put them.  (Must organize office!)
018. Memorize the books of the Bible in order
-----Probably should review this...
019. Learn the 8 resurrectional apolytikia in English [0/8]
-----Still haven't decided on the translation yet.
020. Learn the 12 great festal hymns: apolytikia and kontakia in English [0/24]
-----Haven't gone any further with this either.
021. Learn to make a prayer rope

Social Ties (7:1/2/4)
022. Have a dinner party
023. Invite others on a ladies' night out
-----The week after my birthday, I invited several ladies to A Taste of India and to see the Keira Knightley version of Pride and Prejudice which was offered for free at Theatre Cedar Rapids thanks to Linn Area Reads.  Everyone, myself included, seemed to enjoy the non-meat selection at the restaurant (seriously, "veg" and "non-veg" are their menus), which made it a great Lenten option; the servings were huge as well as tasty.
024. Invite Matthew to visit our family
025. Make a birthday list and send out birthday cards to at least five friends (namedays also count) [2/5]
-----Got two out, to friends with birthdays at the end of January and start of February.
026. Set up five playdates [0/5]
027. Send out annual letter (twice) [0/2]
-----Still haven't finished the pictures for the 2011-2012 version.  Yeah, the one that tells about our TWO younger children.  *sigh*
028. Host a Lego party
-----It doesn't quite count, but we did go with the parish youth group to the Matter Building Lab, and have gone twice to the Lego Club at the Marion Public Library.  (Added bonus: the lady in charge of Lego Club at the library is the homeschool liaison.)

Better World (7:1/1/5)
029. Volunteer at the library
-----I had forgotten this was a goal, but I did ask about it at the children's desk.
030. Donate blood
031. Donate to Matt and Tara in Niger
-----Hooray!  I forgot this was on here, too, but we've done this once so far, and now have even more specific information.
032. Put together and send kits to IOCC; put together some "blessing bags" to keep in the car
-----This 101/1001 project is making me realize how skewed the talk/action ratio is.  Fortunately our parish is awesome and will be putting together school kits relatively soon, so I hope to actually exert myself.
033. Volunteer at the soup kitchen with Philoptochos
034. Visit a nursing home with the children
-----Again, forgot this was on here, but have a tentative date to do this with the children on Friday!
035. Buy a cow/goat/bees from the Heifer Project

Homestead (20:1/2/17)
036. See about southeast corner landscaping/drainage
-----I've gotten some names of general contractors...
037. Get gutters cleaned (install gutter guard?)
-----So the place where I got the Groupon had a full phone mailbox and a non-reachable website, so I got a refund... and then they contacted me.  I'm going to see what I can find out with general contractors.  I might do the garage gutters myself (ha! like I do anything ever), but the ones on the house are gigantically high.  Back to square one.
038. Put up outdoor Christmas decorations (wreath, lights)
039. Get chimney/fireplace inspected and put in working order
040. Replace bathtub drain (main floor)
041. Secure the threshold for the walk-in door to the garage
042. Properly mount the safety reverse on the garage door (eyes)
043. Figure out what all electrical switches go to
044. Replace light in street lamp
-----Have figured out it's not the lightbulb, so this will need someone who knows more than I do.
045. Add light to upstairs closet
046. Install a programmable thermostat
-----May not get a Nest after all.
047. Fix main floor bathroom sink flow issue (clean aerator?)
048. Replace shower heads
049. Fix upstairs bath handle leaks
050. Stick with bi-weekly cleaning day (laundry, cleaning bathrooms, dishes) for four instances [0/4]
-----Augh.  I haven't even done all my paltry little list has aimed for once.
051. Plant Lucia's Christmas tree
-----Well, it's planted in the front yard.  By my husband.  And we think it's dying.  But I'll count it as done.
052. Introduce ourselves to each of the neighbors on our street/block [1/14]
-----Our next-door neighbors moved, but I did meet the man across the street and one house to the left when the power went out.  Combined with other information from my husband, there are a lot of men with names starting with J, including the former owner of our own house.
053. Get a free energy check-up for the house
054. Sort through and organize ALL clothes (his, mine, and the children's) for what fits, what needs repair, and by season (store, donate, repair as needed)
-----I made a brave effort on the children's clothes and then fizzled out.  There are four tubs and a pile as well as the drawers and shelves for the two younger children.  All of our folded clothing is in drawers (or trunks), and I've hung up new clothing from my sister and given away most of the maternity clothes to a friend (huzzah, O blog-stalker!) who is expecting a January birth.  Of course, that sounds like a lot, but I haven't done anything really in over a month.
055. Unpack everything from the move ... and put it away
-----My husband bought wire shelves from a Blockbuster that was going out of business, so all the books are unpacked into little piles, which is much easier to access than in boxes, but I still can't find everything I'm looking for and have that horrible "Did I give it away, lose a box, or am I simply insane?" query running through my head whenever I can't find anything.  (A Guide to the Divine Liturgy by Robert Krantz, where are you?)

Computer (7:1/1/5)
056. Organize desktop icons
057. Organize files
058. Make wedding photos more accessible (i.e., find them)
059. Upload photos from computer to online albums
060. Select and order photos from online albums for physical albums
061. Update physical photo albums
-----Well, the boxes of photos are in the office rather than the basement.
062. Completely clear out gmail inbox
-----Started with 103 important-and-unread, 172 unread, and 3900 total in my inbox.  As of the first update, I have 80 important-and-unread, 151 unread, and 1770 total in my inbox.  As of this update, I have 161 important-and-unread, 579 unread, and 1129 total in my inbox.  Not as bad as it might be, but another proof of laziness and backsliding, etc.

Car (3:0/1/2)
063. Clean out car, including vacuuming and car wash [0/3]
-----Well, I brought in all the stuff from my husband's road trip from Florida to Iowa, but then there was snow and a baby and more snow, so I'm not going out there for extended periods of time, nor planning on vacuuming with snow on the ground.
064. Clean out minivan, including vacuuming and car wash [0/3]
-----Almost got a free car wash in May when I drove up to MN, but the whole weekend was crazy-busy, so, ahem, that was a wash.  Figuratively, of course.
065. Transfer minivan title to Iowa

Crafty (6:1/0/1/4)
066. Finish knitting (Teddy's) toddler pants
-----New goal: 2T pants so that Timmo can wear them.  Ugh.
067. Make epitrachelion
068. Make a dollhouse church
069. Write a children's story about a family saint
070. Make (liturgical) seasonal notebooks (New Year to Nativity Fast, Nativity Fast to Triodion, Triodion and Lent, Pascha to Pentecost, Apostles' Fast to end of liturgical year) [0/5]
071. Replace the elastic in all the white diapers (legs) and all diapers (backs) [0/8; 0/24]
-----We bought new diapers.  Not sure what to do with this item.

Food (5:0/0/5)
072. Make a fasting menu plan for a week
073. Make a non-fasting menu plan for a week
074. Eat salad four times a week for four consecutive weeks
075. Make a meal with the crockpot
076. Work on Auntie Leila's "Happy Home: Food Organization" list every day (even a little bit) for a week

Activities (7:0/0/7)
077. Find an Irish dancing school near Cedar Rapids
078. Play the flute for half an hour every day for a week
079. Play the fiddle for half an hour every day for a week
080. Find a piano teacher and something to practice on
081. Go to see live theater with my husband and no children
082. Go to see live theater with the whole family (children's performance)
083. Attend a retreat or icon workshop (no children)

Travel (6:0/0/6)
084. Visit a monastery with the family
085. Visit three different museums [0/3]
086. Go to the zoo
087. Go to the park with the children 20 times [1/20]
088. Ride a train with the children
089. Go to the St. Emmelia Homeschooling Conference

Miscellaneous (12:3/2/7)
090. Have a baby (this one is definitely already started)
091. Make a passwords book
092. Get children a tape player and record three books on tape [0/3]
-----I'm going to change this to a digital recording so that we can play it back on a kindle.  Since I wrote that my sister has given us a children's tape recorder.
093. Make a will
-----Have gotten the name of a lawyer.
094. Have a written funeral plan (find out about laws for green burial, transport across state lines, burial at monastery)
095. Make to-do list for Romanian paperwork for children's citizenship
096. Read (or re-read, to be in order) all the Newbery Medal books (assuming there will be three more as this 1001 days goes; ordered holds on the first three to be picked up at my local library) [13/94]
-----The next book seems to only be available at one local library (the one I don't go to) and it's a reference book, so I'll have to figure out how to arrange that.
097. Complete a monthly photo challenge
-----I'm going to count this as done since I took one photo of each child for most of Lent and put it in a Facebook album ("For the Godparents").
098. Get new Iowa credit union account(s)
-----Our current credit union has decided to behave decently for now, so this might not be necessary.  Since writing that, they screwed up my debit card (again), so they're back on the status of being looked at warily.
099. Participate in {phfr} on "Like Mother, Like Daughter" for four weeks in a row [4/4]
101. Make/find/buy a homeschooling curriculum
101. Sort through and cull the filing cabinet
-----I have a proper desk now (delivered when I was in MN with the kids), but haven't organized things, so there's in-boxes and to-be-filed piles everywhere. *sigh*

So what's the score?
Made obsolete: 1
Completed: 13
In progress: 15
Unstarted: 72

One of my main problems is not reviewing my overall goals, so I haven't been putting down on my to-do list the smaller goals to help me complete these tasks.  It's also a struggle not to get overly depressed about what I haven't done (still).  But I made brownies today and the baby is working painfully and loudly on getting teeth, so I'll go off and do other things.

I should also consider blogging more between these posts.  There are other things floating around in my head.

***
Update: Regarding the daily routine sorts of things (January 54%, February 48%), I seem to have gotten worse in those:
March 37%
April 47%
May 38%
June 37%
Definitely room for improvement.

Another thing I have been attempting is keeping track of reading minutes for three children as well as books read for myself... for three different reading programs each.  And I made my husband do a reading program, too.  (One of the prizes is a chance at a $50 gift card to HPB.)

First 101 Things update

Finally.  I've been looking forward to the three-month mark, even though my initial sprint has slackened.

For each section, there's a count of the number of items in that section, then a breakdown of what is finished, what is in progress, and what hasn't been started yet.  The numbers of finished items are in bold, those of items in progress are italicized.  Notes are added because I'm chatty like that... so this may get too long.

Health and Fitness (9:1/4/4)
001. Take a walk every day for a week (of at least a mile)
-----It's snowy outside, and I'm not coordinated enough to either figure out a time when my husband can be with the kids while it's still light out but not during school hours (because my planned walk is at the track at the nearby elementary school and I don't want to freak anyone out at some random adult circling the school) or to dig out the double stroller and wrap the baby on and ... yeah, that sounds like something my husband would need to be around for just in case. Maybe I should just invite him on a walk and we'll all go.
002. Floss teeth daily for a month
-----The dentist (#7) gave me a filling for a cavity, so I have new incentive.
003. Go to the gym 15 times, working for at least half an hour [0/15]
-----Not ready yet to figure out the leaving-the-baby in the free childcare at the Y yet.
004. Do midwife-approved strengthening exercises after giving birth
-----This has changed to a more specific item: Do 20 reps of headlifts twice daily for 30 days.  This is a little tricky, because I don't want to lie on the floor, and the only place firm enough is the couch, and I have to move things, etc.  I am trying to repair my diastasis recti before I get into anything more strenuous, so I'm using a post-partum band while I do these exercises, so I have to remember where I put it last, but there is discernible progress.  I've also added 10 daily neck stretches.  I'm using my two minutes of toothbrushing time (the best part of an electric toothbrush, IMHO) for wall sits and calf raises.  The wall sits are not so bad if I'm reading a book at the same time.  I'm not really keeping track of the leg exercises, though.
005. Get a massage (two times) [1/2]
-----I was in town before our official parish assignment started, without my husband, so I thought it would be better to attend another Orthodox church that Sunday.  The parishioners at St. George's were so welcoming.  One sweet lady even gave me her card in case I needed anything... and she happened to be a licensed massage therapist.  Then I lost her card in my desk kerfluffle, and recently found it again and called her before the baby's baptism and out of town guests and my mother coming for a week and a baby shower.  And she came to my house.  I am looking forward to calling her again.
006. Visit an eye doctor and check my prescription/glasses/contacts
-----Going to wait at least six months after giving birth, but I really want to go, as my eyes have started to bother me.  I did ask about LASIK, but, first, it's elective surgery, and second, AUGH! LASERS and MY EYES! So that's slightly off-putting, even though my sister had LASIK and she didn't die or go blind.  I am not very brave where my eyes are concerned.
007. Go to the dentist yearly (three times) [1/3]
-----Asked parishioners for their recommendations, and took the one which didn't have music on their website and found The Best Dentist we've ever been to.  Unfortunately, I had a cavity, but Teddy is already reminding us that we go to the dentist again in August.
008. Set a bedtime and stick to it for 30 consecutive days
-----Yeah, this is going to be hard.  I can do the first part...
009. Take a multivitamin for 30 consecutive days
-----I've managed to make this a habit, and include vitamin D as well.  I guess my sister was right, and I do feel more even-keeled in terms of mood.

Learning (12:4/4/4)
010. Read the New Testament [1/27]
-----It took well into January (the 17th), but I managed to finish it.  I read somewhere that one should read Scripture out loud (in the back of the Orthodox Study Bible?), so that's what I did.  I feel quite relieved and feel like I better understand St. Paul.
011. Read the Old Testament [0/49]
-----I still want to read this out loud, but have so far only read the first nine chapters of Genesis.  Oh, and I'm not sure where I got 51 books; there are 49.
012. Read a month's worth of Church Fathers [31/31]
-----Kinda glad I only had a month's worth of readings to go, because I've fallen off the wagon here, leaving off in Against Heresies, Book 2 (about January 19).  It went pretty slowly because I found out that if you sign up as a member of CCEL, you can proofread the pages for typos.  So, of course, I did.
013. Learn something in Romanian
-----I've decided what I should learn, at least: the Trisagion prayers and Nicene Creed. I haven't gone so far as to get a written copy yet, but I have been trying to follow along with my husband's Lord's prayer when he does that at the Liturgy, since I had started trying to learn that a while ago.
014. Learn the countries of each continent (sporcle.com quizzes, first time success in a day) [6/6]
-----This was surprisingly easy, and I managed this on December 10.  I go back occasionally and get most; the few I miss are usually because it's just one random country I've forgotten whether or not I've named.
015. Read 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
-----Not started, but I'm sure I can get this at the library.  I've started it twice in the past, and hope to take notes while reading.
016. Memorize the first five kathismata (Psalms 1-37) [1/37]
-----I used to have a notebook for copying the verses, but that's still in a box somewhere.  Haven't gotten very far, therefore.  And it should be 37 psalms, not 36.
017. Learn apolytikia for all family saints (Peter, Mary Magdalene, Theodore the Studite, Gregory Palamas, Lucia, Catherine, and two more to be decided in January...) in English [0/8]
-----Two more were decided in December: Timothy the Apostle and Moses the Strong/Black/Ethiopian/of Skete.  I've found all of these at the Divine Liturgies Music Project, and a few more at eMatins, even getting St. Timothy's directly from the redoubtable and beloved Fr. Seraphim.  I've gone over a few of these a few times, but Lucia keeps trying to make off with them, so that's tricky.  I need to come up with a more rigorous plan for this, and get some recordings to listen to in addition to working with the piano.
018. Memorize the books of the Bible in order
-----It took a tiny bit of hunting, but I did find a sporcle quiz to help with this one, too, using the Orthodox canon.  I managed to do this a few days in a row, getting it right a few days in a row, but this will be something to keep brushed up.  It's much easier to look things up in the Bible when you know at least roughly where the books are, especially with all those minor prophets.
019. Learn the 8 resurrectional apolytikia in English [0/8]
-----I haven't even decided on the translation yet.  Our parish uses the Kevin Lawrence books, but I'm definitely in the Fr. Seraphim Dedes camp.  Obviously, something gets practiced/exposure twice a week (vespers and Liturgy).
020. Learn the 12 great festal hymns: apolytikia and kontakia in English [0/24]
-----Again with the too-many-translations problem.  Haven't gone any further with this either.
021. Learn to make a prayer rope
-----Thanks to pinterest, I found a nice tutorial.  No further progress yet.  The next step is to buy material.

Social Ties (7:0/2/5)
022. Have a dinner party
-----We had a Superbowl party, which was also in celebration of having three main areas (kitchen, living room, bathroom) somewhat presentable, but that's not really what I had in mind for "dinner party."
023. Invite others on a ladies' night out
-----Not yet.  Maybe after Lent would be a better time.
024. Invite Matthew to visit our family
025. Make a birthday list and send out birthday cards to at least five friends (namedays also count) [2/5]
-----Got two out, to friends with birthdays at the end of January and start of February.
026. Set up five playdates [0/5]
-----Hoping for more progress with better weather.  Would meet-ups at the library count for this?  I have plans to contact another mother to go to storytime together next week.
027. Send out annual letter (twice) [0/2]
-----This year's (okay, really two years' worth... plus) text was drafted, and I started putting pictures together... but then my husband's father died and lots of things just kept us busy (baptism, etc.), so I haven't gotten back to that.  Maybe we'll aim for a St. Patrick's Day letter.  I remember seeing a little archive of one family's St. Patrick's Day letter in our family photo albums, and that was pretty cute.  If done annually, thought, I'd probably still want to focus on getting it out by Christmas so that it would get out by March.  *sigh*
028. Host a Lego party
-----I was going to do this at home, but then I saw a Facebook post about the Matter Building Lab, so now I want a birthday party there.  (For me, of course.)

Better World (7:0/0/7)
029. Volunteer at the library
030. Donate blood
031. Donate to Matt and Tara in Niger
032. Put together and send kits to IOCC; put together some "blessing bags" to keep in the car
033. Volunteer at the soup kitchen with Philoptochos
034. Visit a nursing home with the children
035. Buy a cow/goat/bees from the Heifer Project
-----I'm going to call "new baby" on this whole category.

Homestead (20:0/2/18)
036. See about southeast corner landscaping/drainage
037. Get gutters cleaned (install gutter guard?)
-----I bought a Groupon to get the gutters cleaned, but I'm not going to call anyone out here to do that with as much snow as we have.
038. Put up outdoor Christmas decorations (wreath, lights)
-----Didn't happen this year.
039. Get chimney/fireplace inspected and put in working order
040. Replace bathtub drain (main floor)
041. Secure the threshold for the walk-in door to the garage
042. Properly mount the safety reverse on the garage door (eyes)
043. Figure out what all electrical switches go to
044. Replace light in street lamp
045. Add light to upstairs closet
046. Install a programmable thermostat
-----I want a Nest, and have decided to get one using the prizes from Swagbucks (please use referral link if you sign up), so I should be able to afford it before the end of the year.  Of course, we haven't yet checked the wires to see whether it would work in our house yet...
047. Fix main floor bathroom sink flow issue (clean aerator?)
048. Replace shower heads
049. Fix upstairs bath handle leaks
050. Stick with bi-weekly cleaning day (laundry, cleaning bathrooms, dishes) for four instances [0/4]
051. Plant Lucia's Christmas tree
052. Introduce ourselves to each of the neighbors on our street/block [0/14]
-----My husband and son met up with next door's husband and son, but all I found out were a couple of names and that they're expecting another child.  Again with the weather.
053. Get a free energy check-up for the house
054. Sort through and organize ALL clothes (his, mine, and the children's) for what fits, what needs repair, and by season (store, donate, repair as needed)
-----The unorganized children's clothing is getting a bit of attention thanks to my mother and her hostess going into the basement and improving on my sister's organization.  I've put away most of the maternity clothes; unfortunately, I'm still in maternity pants because I have a limit to how large a size I'm going to purchase in pants.  Must exercise more!  I did buy new church shoes because the others were falling apart, and have set aside some clothes for donation (which, irritatingly, do not leap up and vacate my house on their own).
055. Unpack everything from the move ... and put it away
-----This is getting slightly better, I hope.  I worry that I'm just rearranging boxes of junk that I will never throw away.  My sister helped me organize the boxes (mostly books) in the basement into categories, so at least I can look at the basement without wanting to retch.  If I don't stay down there too long.  We need to get a dresser and bookcases, though, before this item gets finished.

Computer (7:1/1/5)
056. Organize desktop icons
-----I'd say going from 170 desktop icons to 10 is as finished as it's going to get.
057. Organize files
-----I have most things in folders, but I might have too many subfolders and need to archive long-finished projects.
058. Make wedding photos more accessible (i.e., find them)
-----I found some on flickr, but I should find a previous computer backup and see whether there are any more to keep accessible on this computer and, heck, maybe even get one print from our wedding.
059. Upload photos from computer to online albums
-----I've done this spottily, but not in an organized fashion.  I may need to remove some photos from online albums, because I don't want to pay for lots of storage.
060. Select and order photos from online albums for physical albums
-----Hahaha.  No.  This will wait until the current prints are in physical photo albums, I think.  I have at least two boxes of my childhood photos to organize.
061. Update physical photo albums
062. Completely clear out gmail inbox
-----Started with 103 important-and-unread, 172 unread, and 3900 total in my inbox.  As of this post, I have 80 important-and-unread, 151 unread, and 1770 total in my inbox.  I had gotten into the high 1600s for total in inbox, but it can be hard to keep up with, as I'm finding out.

Car (3:0/1/2)
063. Clean out car, including vacuuming and car wash [0/3]
-----Well, I brought in all the stuff from my husband's road trip from Florida to Iowa, but then there was snow and a baby and more snow, so I'm not going out there for extended periods of time, nor planning on vacuuming with snow on the ground.
064. Clean out minivan, including vacuuming and car wash [0/3]
065. Transfer minivan title to Iowa
-----Not sure that I need to do this, since I still have access to the MN address.  At least I have the title now.

Crafty (6:0/2/4)
066. Finish knitting (Teddy's) toddler pants
-----New goal: 2T pants so that Timmo can wear them.  Ugh.
067. Make epitrachelion
068. Make a dollhouse church
069. Write a children's story about a family saint
070. Make (liturgical) seasonal notebooks (New Year to Nativity Fast, Nativity Fast to Triodion, Triodion and Lent, Pascha to Pentecost, Apostles' Fast to end of liturgical year) [0/5]
-----I started an online outline for the Triodion and Lent notebook and put a few reminders in there about crafts that I want to do and menu planning and shopping and whatnot, so that's at least a first step.
071. Replace the elastic in all the white diapers (legs) and all diapers (backs) [0/8; 0/24]
-----I'm adding leg elastic to the green diapers, too.  Two kids in diapers makes them wear out much, much faster.  I may need to give up on this just because the fabric itself is getting holes in it.  Evidently, according to Mothers on the Internet, you're doing well to get cloth pocket diapers to last through one kid.  Since we're on kids two and three, I guess I'm winning.  Still, I'm glad for the three new diapers my sister sent us.  Those get used at night when we really don't want any leakage, since they are more reliable.  As far as fixing the first iteration of diapers, it's going slowly and I haven't really kept track of which ones are done.  I may need to write numbers on the tags... but, again, everything, including my permanent markers, seems to be in a box in the basement.
----Somehow I thought this category had seven items.

Food (5:0/1/4)
072. Make a fasting menu plan for a week
073. Make a non-fasting menu plan for a week
074. Eat salad four times a week for four consecutive weeks
-----Almost having gestational diabetes gave me enough incentive to work on this one, but I never made enough for the consecutive part.
075. Make a meal with the crockpot
076. Work on Auntie Leila's "Happy Home: Food Organization" list every day (even a little bit) for a week

Activities (7:0/0/7)
077. Find an Irish dancing school near Cedar Rapids
-----The nearest credentialled teacher may be in Dubuque.  March is probably not the best time to reach an Irish dance teacher, though.
078. Play the flute for half an hour every day for a week
079. Play the fiddle for half an hour every day for a week
080. Find a piano teacher and something to practice on
081. Go to see live theater with my husband and no children
082. Go to see live theater with the whole family (children's performance)
083. Attend a retreat or icon workshop (no children)

Travel (6:0/1/5)
084. Visit a monastery with the family
085. Visit three different museums [0/3]
086. Go to the zoo
087. Go to the park with the children 20 times [1/20]
-----We lasted seven minutes in the cold and wet, but we went, by gum.  Lucia was not happy to leave, but Teddy has no body fat and was shivering.
088. Ride a train with the children
089. Go to the St. Emmelia Homeschooling Conference
-----Not going to happen this year, due to other necessary travel plans (vacation days are limited as well as finances).

Miscellaneous (12:1/2/9)
090. Have a baby (this one is definitely already started)
-----Unqualified success!  Timothy Moses was born in the wee hours of Christmas morning.  I like how we've done the past two births: put children to bed, go into labor, call midwife, midwife and assistant come, baby is born, there's a shower and a meal, and we go to bed.
091. Make a passwords book
-----I found a blank journal to use for this purpose and then it got buried on my desk, but now I see it so maybe there will be some progress soon.
092. Get children a tape player and record three books on tape [0/3]
-----I'm going to change this to a digital recording so that we can play it back on a kindle.
093. Make a will
094. Have a written funeral plan (find out about laws for green burial, transport across state lines, burial at monastery)
095. Make to-do list for Romanian paperwork for children's citizenship
096. Read (or re-read, to be in order) all the Newbery Medal books (assuming there will be three more as this 1001 days goes; ordered holds on the first three to be picked up at my local library) [9/94]
-----Now that I've finished the first book, this is one of the easiest items on here.  Which reminds me that I need to order the next round of three from the library. ... Okay, that's done.
097. Complete a monthly photo challenge (already started, and I'm counting doubles and skipping one so far) [0/31]
-----I'm thinking I'll need to write my own photo challenge, and I had the thought that it would be specifically of our children and with an audience of their godparents and grandmother.
098. Get new Iowa credit union account(s)
-----Our current credit union has decided to behave decently for now, so this might not be necessary.
099. Participate in {phfr} on "Like Mother, Like Daughter" for four weeks in a row [0/4]
101. Make/find/buy a homeschooling curriculum
101. Sort through and cull the filing cabinet
-----Still working on filing things into the filing cabinet, so I haven't started this yet.  Currently have six "in-box" piles on and around my desk, and uncounted boxes of things which need to be filed, perhaps at least a box from each move.

So what's the score?
Completed: 7
In progress: 20
Unstarted: 74

I'm a little worried that I tackled just the easy ones first, that I've run out of steam, that I'll abandon this whole thing, that I'll have less time for these goals with three kids, etc.  So part of accomplishing this project is saying no to worry, and just buckling down and finding one thing on the list to work on and doing that.  One thing that has helped is our happy little friend, the spreadsheet.

I've tried lists, handwritten and online, and while those can work well for one-off things, I have things that I need to do with some regularity (some daily, some biweekly), and I don't want to rewrite an entire daily routine or struggle to get some software program to refresh my daily routine tasks as well as keep track of how I've done.  There's something about that crossing-off action, and something about looking back to see how much progress one has made that makes the to-do list a success.

So I'd been keeping track of my progress with this project, with the items in one column, and each date getting a column to the right, adding a column with each day.  It's a bit unwieldy, but it works.  Once I realized it was working, I tried that for my daily routine, and got a bit excited with keeping track of my progress with a binary percentage system. (If I've done it, it gets a one; if not, a zero; then I can do a sum and an average and sort of grade myself.)  Each month gets a new sheet.  It's easier to see what I need to work on, whether I'm being consistent, and how I'm doing overall.  January was a 54%, February 48%, and I'm really bad about making beds (something I am trying to do consistently for the first time in my life).  I'm also pretty good about doing the first things on the list, while the rest of it just gets done as it can throughout the day.  It's also a good reminder to start the baby laundry; with two in diapers, forgetting to do the laundry is not something that would be fun in the morning.

This was long but fun.  Back to the regular mayhem.

101 Things in 1001 Days

Shamelessly borrowing from my friend Reve and her sister, but with possibly less chance of success, I am going to attempt to complete 101 things in 1001 days.  The start date is Friday, December 7, 2012, and the end date is September 4, 2015.

One of the (many) things I love so much about Reve is that she doesn't wait around for other people to do things. She figures out what she wants to do (which can be difficult in and of itself), and makes the attempt, paying attention to what she's doing and how she's doing it, but, most importantly, doing something about it. Sometimes I feel enervated because I wait on other people to do things, so I am hoping that this list will help motivate me to act on my own amelioration. (Also, I have had some success with two recently started projects: a photo challenge and a reading challenge. I am behind, but still working, on another reading challenge.)

Health and Fitness (9)
001. Take a walk every day for a week (of at least a mile)
002. Floss teeth daily for a month
003. Go to the gym 15 times, working for at least half an hour [0/15]
004. Do midwife-approved strengthening exercises after giving birth *
005. Get a massage (two times) [0/2]
006. Visit an eye doctor and check my prescription/glasses/contacts
007. Go to the dentist yearly (three times) [0/3]
008. Set a bedtime and stick to it for 30 consecutive days
009. Take a multivitamin for 30 consecutive days

Learning (12)
010. Read the New Testament [1/27] (New Testament Challenge already started, although I am very behind)
011. Read the Old Testament [0/51]
012. Read a month's worth of Church Fathers (already started) [6/31]
013. Learn something in Romanian *
014. Learn the countries of each continent (sporcle.com quizzes, first time success in a day) [0/6]
015. Read 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
016. Memorize the first five kathismata (Psalms 1-36) [0/36]
017. Learn apolytikia for all family saints (Peter, Mary Magdalene, Theodore the Studite, Gregory Palamas, Lucia, Catherine, and two more to be decided in January...) in English [0/8]
018. Memorize the books of the Bible in order
019. Learn the 8 resurrectional apolytikia in English [0/8]
020. Learn the 12 great festal hymns: apolytikia and kontakia in English [0/24]
021. Learn to make a prayer rope

Social Ties (7)
022. Have a dinner party
023. Invite others on a ladies' night out
024. Invite Matthew to visit our family
025. Make a birthday list and send out birthday cards to at least five friends (namedays also count) [0/5]
026. Set up five playdates [0/5]
027. Send out annual letter (twice) [0/2]
028. Host a Lego party

Better World (7)
029. Volunteer at the library
030. Donate blood
031. Donate to Matt and Tara in Niger
032. Put together and send kits to IOCC; put together some "blessing bags" to keep in the car
033. Volunteer at the soup kitchen with Philoptochos
034. Visit a nursing home with the children
035. Buy a cow/goat/bees from the Heifer Project

Homestead (20)
036. See about southeast corner landscaping/drainage
037. Get gutters cleaned (install gutter guard?)
038. Put up outdoor Christmas decorations (wreath, lights)
039. Get chimney/fireplace inspected and put in working order
040. Replace bathtub drain (main floor)
041. Secure the threshhold for the walk-in door to the garage
042. Properly mount the safety reverse on the garage door (eyes)
043. Figure out what all electrical switches go to
044. Replace light in street lamp
045. Add light to upstairs closet
046. Install a programmable thermostat
047. Fix main floor bathroom sink flow issue (clean aerator?)
048. Replace shower heads
049. Fix upstairs bath handle leaks
050. Stick with bi-weekly cleaning day (laundry, cleaning bathrooms, dishes) for four instances [0/4]
051. Plant Lucia's Christmas tree
052. Introduce ourselves to each of the neighbors on our street/block [0/14]
053. Get a free energy check-up for the house
054. Sort through and organize ALL clothes (his, mine, and the children's) for what fits, what needs repair, and by season (store, donate, repair as needed)
055. Unpack everything from the move ... and put it away

Computer (7)
056. Organize desktop icons
057. Organize files
058. Make wedding photos more accessible (i.e., find them)
059. Upload photos from computer to online albums
060. Select and order photos from online albums for physical albums
061. Update physical photo albums
062. Completely clear out gmail inbox

Car (3)
063. Clean out car, including vacuuming and car wash [0/3]
064. Clean out minivan, including vacuuming and car wash [0/3]
065. Transfer minivan title to Iowa

Crafty (7)
066. Finish knitting (Teddy's) toddler pants
067. Make epitrachelion
068. Make a dollhouse church
069. Write a children's story about a family saint
070. Make (liturgical) seasonal notebooks (New Year to Nativity Fast, Nativity Fast to Triodion, Triodion and Lent, Pascha to Pentecost, Apostles' Fast to end of liturgical year) [0/5]
071. Replace the elastic in all the white diapers (legs) and all diapers (backs) [0/8; 0/24]

Food (5)
072. Make a fasting menu plan for a week
073. Make a non-fasting menu plan for a week
074. Eat salad four times a week for four consecutive weeks
075. Make a meal with the crockpot
076. Work on Auntie Leila's "Happy Home: Food Organization" list every day (even a little bit) for a week

Activities (7)
077. Find an Irish dancing school near Cedar Rapids
078. Play the flute for half an hour every day for a week
079. Play the fiddle for half an hour every day for a week
080. Find a piano teacher and something to practice on
081. Go to see live theater with my husband and no children
082. Go to see live theater with the whole family (children's performance)
083. Attend a retreat or icon workshop (no children)

Travel (6)
084. Visit a monastery with the family
085. Visit three different museums [0/3]
086. Go to the zoo
087. Go to the park with the children 20 times [0/20]
088. Ride a train with the children
089. Go to the St. Emmelia Homeschooling Conference

Miscellaneous (12)
090. Have a baby (this one is definitely already started)
091. Make a passwords book
092. Get children a tape player and record three books on tape [0/3]
093. Make a will
094. Have a written funeral plan (find out about laws for green burial, transport across state lines, burial at monastery)
095. Make to-do list for Romanian paperwork for children's citizenship
096. Read (or re-read, to be in order) all the Newbery Medal books (assuming there will be three more as this 1001 days goes; ordered holds on the first three to be picked up at my local library) [0/94]
097. Complete a monthly photo challenge (already started, and I'm counting doubles and skipping one so far) [6/31]
098. Get new Iowa credit union account(s)
099. Participate in {phfr} on "Like Mother, Like Daughter" for four weeks in a row [0/4]
101. Make/find/buy a homeschooling curriculum
101. Sort through and cull the filing cabinet

*I need to be more specific about this goal (4 and 13).

An Environment of Obedience

Today we visited St. Raphael in Iowa City for their altar feast (first Saturday of November: St. Raphael of Brooklyn).  Since we all travelled together and my husband always wants to be in time for Orthros, the kids and I were in and out of the sanctuary quite a bit.  In their bookstore, there was a little booklet I hadn't seen before called On the Upbringing of Children by Bishop Irenaius.  Lucia hadn't had any breakfast, so I fed her a breakfast bar and skimmed the chapter on obedience.

Bishop Irenaius (of Ekaterinburg and Sibirsk) wrote that if the environment is not one of obedience, then any lessons in obedience will not take root in the child.  That is, the parents must obey God, the Church, and the laws of man.  He also spoke of showering the child with love as well as tolerating only prompt obedience from the child.

Recently I have been pondering the meaning and practicing of love.  If I say I love my children, but only feel lovingly towards them and do not act lovingly towards them, how can I mean what I say?

I fall down on the job so many times, it is hard to see that I am ever rising to struggle forward.

I want our children to become good Christian adults, and that is enough of a motivation to wash the dishes, run the laundry, and scrape up the layers of debris which have collected over the office and living room (layer one: crayons, layer two: laundry, layer three: an entire box of stationery) so that everyone will have bright and cheerful rooms to greet them when they come downstairs.  Okay, so that at least the first person (probably Lucia) will have bright and cheerful rooms to greet her when she comes downstairs, and everyone else will have at least a brief reprieve from stepping on crayons and looking for socks and slipping on pieces of paper.  ...although it was pretty funny to watch Lucia struggle to wear Teddy's underwear on her head, pull the waistband over her eyes, and then snuggle up to Daddy as though she'd accomplished everything on her to-do list for the day.

I may not fall and get up and fall and get up, but at least I can creep forward on hands and knees.

Re-solving

I'm sure you've heard of the little story about "getting up again," and this is what makes me excited about preparing for the new year.

Changing the calendar.
Filling out the stewardship form for our parish.
Deciding our twelve favorite charities for our monthly tithing, and when each should receive the donation.
Coming up with family goals, and trying to figure out concrete ways of effecting (and remembering) them.

I have tried several times to read the Bible all the way through, so I'm especially happy that my husband has agreed to a goal of each of us reading through it in 2012.

It's wonderful to think of the spiritual benefits of all of these things, but secretly, maybe it's just that I'm devoted to spreadsheets.

Another challenge I've set for myself is not buying any books this coming year.  I went to visit my mother for a week, and a main goal of that trip was to sort through childhood books and toys.  I was so thrilled about the books that I rashly gushed to my husband, "I won't need to buy books for a whole year!"  And the rascal took me up on it.  (I didn't say that he couldn't buy any books for me, and I did make sure that I could buy until the end of December.  What?  Light-and-Life had a sale for 20% off children's books, and All Saints' Monastery (Calverton, NY) came out with a darling little book.)

Things which are not official resolutions, but I am attempting anyhow:

I am walking more (to and from the produce stand, once from the oil-change-place to the library and back, and once from church) these past two weeks, and I seem to have escaped the most recent weight plateau (the same weight for about three months).

I am trying to keep my temper.  Please pray for me, as it is a constant struggle.

I want to put my house in order, physically, bodily, and spiritually, and actually post about it to my project blog rather than just putting it off and saying, "Oh, I should get to that..."  The benefits of accomplishments are so marvelous!  Why is it, then, that it is so difficult to get started?

Bedtime stories

I'm still struggling along, trying to deal with philosophical questions like death, why bad things happen to good people, how to love others (especially when they drive me/my husband crazy), and bringing up children (in the way they should go, especially considering that I'm not all that great at staying headed in the right direction).

Reading to Teddy at bedtime seems to have helped more than anything else in terms of my having patience with him.  We are in the middle of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and he is pretty good about asking for it.  We read one, one-and-a-half, or two chapters each night, and only skip if either of us is not feeling up to it or it's much too late for reading.  I think he is getting more comfortable using his words to tell me when he's had enough, and (I hope) I am getting better at talking to him and drawing out answers without jumping all over him and expecting too much (which just frustrates both of us).

I've found that I'm calmer through the day, with Teddy, Lucia, and VP.  Our home seems more peaceful (although this has not seemed to affect the dreadfully neglected laundry or dishes).

It seems like it's been so long since I've actually been able to enjoy being with my little boy.  He really is wonderful.  I'm more than a little bit afraid that this is just a fluke, that something will come up to upset the balance and I'll turn into horrible screaming mommy again.  Please keep praying for me.

Irish dance hiatus is over

I've been slightly more busy on the other blogs, and definitely more busy in real life.  I do want to share the news that we've found an Irish dance school for both me and Teddy, after trying two in the area.

While going to sleep the past couple of nights, I've been thinking about Irish dancing.  I was so concentrated on going today (to see the second school) that I didn't even bring a book.  (My husband was impressed.)

Now I just have to get the rest of my body ready to enjoy this.  I'm so out of shape I was only able to put two steps together once, but VP said that I was probably dancing for about 20 minutes, which is longer than I thought I would be able to do ... and much shorter than it seemed!  I have about 20 pounds to lose to get back to my pre-baby weight, and then I'll have to see how much more I'd like to lose.

As a side note, doing lots of exercise and being a nursing mother?  I am so grateful my husband filled the water pitcher in the fridge before we left ... and after we came home, too.

Vespers and Liturgy tomorrow night, or I would go for two nights a week.  Ahh.

Productivity and Prattling

I've been reading organizational and productivity books again, not finding them terribly useful overall, but getting at least one phrase or idea which keeps me going. The latest "thing" is to make a plan: write down the goal, breaking it into sub-goals, and then assign dates by which each sub-goal needs to be completed.

So I've got three pieces of scratch paper (A, B, and C): (A) one for the Metropolis of Atlanta presvyteres directory (needs to be ready and printed before we leave for Clergy-Laity next month); (B) one for the NSP newsletter, which needs to be put together and have address labels printed by about June 1 (thank heavens for two ladies: one who suggested someone else print and mail the newsletter, and the other who volunteered to do it); and (C) one for my AFR transcription to-do list.

I'm way ahead on the directory, but mostly because I was terrified of having dozens of presvyteres to call (no email address) and check on their mailing addresses so I can send them the information to review, correct, and give permission for me to share among the presvyteres. I set aside from Sunday through Wednesday to make all those calls (50), and I'm already done! I still have to call parishes to get any contact information for another 20 or so (phone numbers disconnected, etc.), and then print and mail something, but I'm ahead! I'm ahead on something!

Just to make up for that, I got more assignments for my AFR to-do list. But I get paid for that, and it's fun and ... intellectual-growth-inciting. (Post-partum vocabulary. It's better than the first time, but not all that much.) So I finished another Fr. Thomas Hopko podcast, but I don't dare post it until I'm more lucid. (Man, can he talk. I have trouble keeping up with him even on "slow playback." Occasionally I hear him on normal speed by accident, and it's just scary. I'd hate to have to take notes for a class of his; I'd want to write everything down, and there's no way I would be able to keep up.)

The newsletter has been blocked out, and I got a report in already, and a promise of another one, but those are from two ladies whom I know I can count on already. Getting the other reports, and the letter from the Archbishop (didn't leave enough time between my request and the deadline, due to moving up the dates for the newsletter because of the deadline for the retreat which is advertised in the newsletter ... that was fun, too)—those have a higher risk factor.

The other things I'm working on are staying on top of the laundry (so far, so good, although there's a few dribs and drabs on the sofa currently), the dishes (I emptied the dishwasher this morning! We won't talk about the mess on the counters of the previous days and days until my husband took pity on us and just started the dishwasher even though—gasp!—the top wasn't full.), and the childrenses. THERE ARE LOTS OF SMALL NEEDY PEOPLE NOW. Sometimes they are asleep at the same time (like now), and I almost congratulate myself. Other times my head explodes and I wonder whether I am an alcoholic except with cookies. (I'm breastfeeding. Nobody wants a drunk spitty baby. The spitty is bad enough.)

I should have replaced the leg elastics in all the diapers before Lucia was born. I did four. Her legs are simply too small, and I'm tired of getting hit from both ends. (Did I mention spitty?) I want at least the covered end to BE covered. So I'm up to ten of the 24 diapers being "safe."

In terms of spitty, I feel like I'm in my own private Lent. When I went to the birthing center for Lucia's hearing screen, the lady giving it (wish I'd gotten her name; must remember to ask) asked if Lucia spit up a lot and did I drink milk. Yes to both. She said I should drink less milk, because casein, the milk protein (needs a cape or at least a jingle), is hard for babies to digest. She said I craved milk because I needed protein, so I could get that fix by eating "green leafy vegetables and lean cuts of meat." I think milk is also comfort food for me, and my mother was visiting then; I estimated that the previous day I'd had about 12 cups of milk. So I cut it out. She still spits up, a lot, but I think there's a significant decrease, especially at night. I hadn't realized that there was actually a time when, after feeding, you could just rock and pat the baby on the back and not have to screech because you'd gotten blasted and would someone take the baby and put her elsewhere so you could mop everything up and go change clothes and then change the baby's clothes and find where you'd missed the spot and change the baby's clothes again because she's still erupting. NO. You can sit and rock and be dry. Not all the time, but twice in a row was just magical. There was more rest. There was more dry.

I was supposed to go to the midwife today, but received a call saying there was a woman in labor and could I come in on Wednesday. So we moved the appointment, but the (pregnant) office admin was sad because I often bring in banana bread and had already told her I had three fresh loaves ready to bring. So I told her I have more bananas and would make another batch. This morning I made four loaves of banana bread (the fourth was for the (pregnant) office admin at the chiropractor's office where I needed to go to pay the bill and it's right near the birthing center), wrote five thank-you notes (I was caught up three days ago!), packed up baby goods for donation, and made sure the frozen milk was ready to go for donation. So we'll try all that again on Wednesday. During Teddy's naptime. Woo!

We realized the Clergy Family Retreat (lasting about four days) includes the feasts of Ss. Peter and Paul and the Twelve Apostles (June 29 and 30), so it kind of makes going for the little snippet of time (Sunday afternoon to Tuesday afternoon) not worth a trip from south-ish Florida to near-nothing South Carolina. With a small baby and a 2.5-year-old. This would be harder to accept if we didn't have plane tickets to all go to the Metropolis Clergy-Laity, which is not as much fun, but includes some of the same people, which is the reason I get excited about both. Nonetheless, I told my husband he owes me. I'm not sure whether this debt will be paid off in ice cream, a trip to the beach, or letting me go on some sort of retreat by myself (iconography?), or a regular date night (we've never had one; I think we're still on single digits in terms of dates anyhow), or maybe even TAKING a vacation like our bishop told him (and all the priests) to make sure to do.

He is not good at vacations. He is not even good at days off. I have taken to answering at least our home phone all the time so that I can say, "Father is not available right now," because he won't. (Sometimes he does let a person leave a message on his cell, but usually not.)

I think the babies are the hardest part. I thought I would be a good mother. I thought I would ENJOY being with small people all the time. I would be Julie Andrews. We would sing all the time. I would not be angry and shouting and mean. Nobody ever said about the screaming in my head. Somehow, though, it's easier with more things to do. (I have an appointment to talk to someone, but encouraging words are welcome just the same.)

I may just pass out from overuse of parentheses. Tomorrow we are going to visit friends and show off Lucia and maybe have chicken-fried steak (buy-one-get-one-free, and I will eat my vegetables). I miss milk rather desperately.

Adventures in Homeschooling ... and stuff

I am a great waffler on homeschooling. I think it's a marvellous idea. I just don't know whether it's a good fit for either me or for Teddy.

Recently, I read an article suggested by an esteemed friend regarding homeschooling and socialization.

I remember looking over my Montessori "report cards" from when I was small and seeing non-standard subjects. So I thought about what subjects I'd like Teddy to cover right now and came up with a few: reading, writing, arithmetic, life skills (cooking, cleaning, laundry), beauty (art, nature, music, dance), and religion. I jotted down an age-appropriate goal or activity to go with each section.

Since my husband will be out of town for the next couple of days, I figured that making a schedule for my day would be useful. Today has gone quite well. I'm glad that I put in meal preparation times, and am being flexible with myself. (We didn't take a walk this morning, sending Dadda off on his trip instead, and I was late going on errands and couldn't find the blasted lightbulb (bought others which don't fit the little icon light), so we'll go shopping for foods tomorrow.)

My current goals for Teddy:
*reading: putting letters together, like a hornbook sort of thing; maybe I'll try the second lesson tomorrow
*writing: tracing letters; I need to be more prepared for this, as Teddy only wanted to copy the dots. Maybe I can print something out from here
*arithmetic: counting physical items; Teddy tends to keep on going with the numbers, so there may be three items, but he'll count to eleven or twelve
*life skills:
**cooking: we made banana bread today; Teddy loves watching anything about baking
**cleaning: pick up toys and dust baseboards; he's getting better about the first, and I thought he might enjoy something with a dustrag which would save me some bending over; I haven't introduced the latter yet
**laundry: put away clothes; he's pretty good about moving laundry between baskets and machines, but after it's out of the dryer, it usually ends up on the couch for a few days
*beauty:
**art: look at children's art books; haven't pulled any of the multitudes we have yet
**nature: take a walk; oh, well; we'll try again tomorrow
**music: match pitch; I felt like I should have a goal, but he started singing along with the Romanian Christmas carol cd, so I felt progress was made
**dance: clap on beat; again with the need to have a goal, but maybe we'll try this when I watch more Jeeves and Wooster tonight - there's fun music!
*religion:
**icon identification: he picked up on St. Savas last night from a church school display, and did pretty well with St. Barbara and St. Nicholas
**prayers by heart: he was shouting "Agios athanatos, eleison imas!" earlier, so I'll just slow down the usual bedtime prayers
**listen to Mama read the Gospel: oh, yeah, I forgot to do that this morning because I slept in almost a full hour

I think the hardest thing about the Montessori ideas is "a prepared environment" ... and close after that "a prepared teacher." I am trying to make sure that he knows what clean and tidy is ... and thinks it's normal. I wish this were the case for me. Thank goodness for "Auntie Leila"!

Husband just called to report the delivery of both NSP newsletters to the Metropolis and grandmother's chairs to aunt's house!

How long does it take roofers to put a new roof on and why do they seem to work the loudest during Teddy's naptime?

Looking for things, I cleared off an entire section of kitchen counter which just looks and feels wonderful. This is not the kitchen reorganization I was thinking of doing over the next three days, but it's nice to have the dishes done and a whole flat surface to just ... be flat with nothing on it. (I have a tray of miscellany, but moved that somewhere that was already cluttered so I could have a little bit more of success right now.)

I think it is time for a snack, as I am unable to focus. Either that, or I've run out of things to say.

Meal Plan

While reading posts in Google Reader, I often pause on Mary @ Evlogia's posts, finding them relevant to my current life, or inspiring to some future project. (Most things are on hold, now that we are gearing up for a move this month. The assignment is still not official, so that's all I'll say.)

On the Thursday before last week, I read this post and fell head over heels in love with the idea of a seasonal* meal plan. Mary's meal plans repeat each week within the season, so her family eats the same week's meals (no, not like that) from the Sunday of St. Thomas through the Sunday of All Saints. Then, for the Apostles' Fast, they'll eat using a different meal plan—but one which stays the same week to week within that season.

*Liturgical seasons, that is, fasting for fasts, and feasting for festal seasons.

There are not enough superlatives to describe how awesomely wonderful this is to me. I am struggling with eating vegetables, eating nourishing food, eating varied food**, and preparing meals. I want Teddy to have these things be normal to him, but that means I have to work hard at it now. (Okay, I'd like for these things to be normal for me, too, but that's not as inspiring. Teddy is much cuter.)

**My first academic year at ND included about eight months of lunches and dinners based around chicken patties. And I'm not exaggerating.

So I wrote down all the things we like to eat (feasting-wise) which I could think of off the top of my head, and noticed that three of them (hamburgers, tasty Romanian soup, and seven-layer dip) last for more than one meal. Even with that, it was a bit of a struggle to stretch across to a full 14 lunch and dinner meals, with nothing but the main repeating entree ... well, repeating. Fr. Peter chose seven-layer dip because we'd just had a week of soup, and I don't know whether he will want to have seven-layer dip for weeks and weeks, but so far it is MARVELOUS. I made it on Saturday after the yard sale, and—guess what!—lunch was already made for Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday!

This past Sunday we were so exhausted from the yard sale that I didn't have time to sit down and grind out a meal plan—BUT I ALREADY KNEW WHAT WE WERE GOING TO EAT BECAUSE I REMEMBERED IT FROM LAST WEEK!

Okay, we have a PTO board meeting, paraklesis, and shopping tonight, and fish is on the menu (my one stretch, even though it's Costco fishsticks for me and salmon burgers with garlic for the more adventurous men), and it takes a while. I just wanted everyone to know how awesome this seasonal* thing is.

Thank you, Mary.

On Waiting and Worth

So this weekend (and today, as it turns out) we've been waiting for important news. We're not allowed to say quite a bit at this point (see: tearing hair out), but we're expecting to hear either that we're ready to move ahead on a whole bunch of work, or we're still going to do some work before we're even at that stage of the game.

Fortunately, this weekend our parish hosted the Metropolis of Atlanta St. John Chrysostom oratorical festival. I got to see Presvytera Christine Salzman, who is wonderful, and I met Presvytera Georgia Metropulos, who is also wonderful. (Ahh, basking in unexpected presvyteres memories.) On Saturday, I attempted to have Teddy take a nap (mostly failed) so we could go with the group on an hour-and-a-half dolphin-sighting boat tour (completely awesome, especially for Teddy). We also got to hang out with some very tall priests (Frs. Grigorios Tatsis and James Berends) on the beach. Teddy threw sand, covered himself in sand, lay down and immersed himself in sand, was slightly buried in sand, ran in the sand, and came home with lots of sand and a beach ball. I love being prepared with changes of clothes. On Sunday it rained, and Teddy went out in it to the point where I just took off most of his clothes and let him go for it. (Did I mention loving having changes of clothes?)

However, with the Very Important Call not going to come on the weekend, I still had plenty of nervous energy. So I worked on my to-do list. I have a love-hate relationship with my to-do list. I really love having things written down, as I have a terrible memory, and things niggle at the back of my head (I've got something Important to do ... what is it?). On the other hand, when I *don't* get things done (hello, the internet), I get depressed and pessimistic and feel worthless in general.

But. With the Very Important Call looming, we decided to pray more. So I had my husband pull out a paraklesis booklet from the heap by the icon corner (yes, "tidy and dust the icon corner" has been a repeat entry on the to-do list for a few months now, and is becoming more important as Teddy's reach and curiosity expand exponentially || I have also added "find *small* paraklesis book" to the to-do list as all we could find is the great paraklesis book), and we started using it. Then I realized that, although I drag my feet when it comes to morning prayers, adding a reader's service of the great paraklesis makes me like doing the morning prayers *and* gets my day off to a better start (oh, hush. days can start at noon, right?); I never thought that adding prayers would make me like praying more. Maybe singing them has something to do with it.

Getting things done on my to-do list has really helped my sense of self, most especially my nightly routine. I've had "put away dishes, clean Teddy's chair, wipe counters, and tidy for 15 minutes" on the daily list literally for months without doing them systematically. I did all of those things last night and it was like a drug. I FELT LIKE A WORTHWHILE HUMAN BEING AGAIN. No more moping, feeling oppressed from all the things I have to do (okay, packing boxes and ahaha planning a neighborhood yard sale impinge on that a bit), and no more feeling like I never get anything done: if I can just trust the self who writes out the list, stop thinking, and just follow what I wrote, I might actually be able to be a grown up (eventually). Just don't ask me to eat the shrimp. That's grown-up food.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

I am currently reading Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle for our parish book club. (We have a choice between this and No Impact Man, but, since I suggested that one, I'd already read it.) The focus of this book is on eating locally, and the easiest way to do that is to grown one's own food.

I like the ideas in this book as well, and, as usual, they have made me think about how to make similar changes in my life. And this, understandable to those who know me and can join in, makes me laugh. First off, I don't like vegetables. I grew up a picky eater and am slowly attempting to try new foods. For instance, I turned 30 on March 21 this year, and today was my first taste (that I know of) of beets. (They are not quivering blobs of blood after all, but taste, unsurprisingly, like red tubers.) I even ate fish without turning a hair. (I only started admitting to the idea of liking fish less than three years ago, when we moved here and Presvytera Vasso made salmon for us.)

So I've made a rough plan of preparation for starting a vegetable garden (a long-term goal of mine).

Learn to:
• Eat vegetables.
• Cook vegetables.
• Store vegetables (freeze-dry, can, etc.).
• Harvest vegetables. (I don't actually know how to tell when things are *ready*, which is probably important.)
• Take care of plants (weeding, not killing from over-/under-watering, or bugs and disease, mulch, and plenty of things I'm sure I don't know yet).
• Plant things.

Oh, well, I've run out of thoughts and need to rush out to Bridegroom service tonight. Have a blessed and profitable Holy Week, y'all!

Falling and Getting Up

It's almost 2 p.m. I haven't even gotten dressed or brushed my hair yet. I ought to eat lunch. I'm continuing to write my to-do list while Teddy is napping. (A scheduled naptime when Mommy is tiredest in the day is a beautiful thing.)

The house is a mess. I feel wretched and achy, and am wondering whether this is a new cold or just a resurgence of the one I brought back from MN.

Aqua Zumba did not go well last night, since Teddy could see me but couldn't get to me which resulted in both of us being miserable until I went over to the little pool, Fr. Peter didn't get his full swim in (Presanctified Liturgy was in the morning, so he didn't get his morning swim), and ... okay, it was just a lot harder than regular Zumba without the water resistance. So I'm probably not going to go to another Aqua Zumba for a while. I'm undecided on tonight's Zumba class.

I've been enjoying rereading favorite books (Harper Hall trilogy by Anne McCaffrey, and will start some Robin McKinley today) while I've been feeling low, and might have to be more conscious about how what I read affects my mood.

Yesterday was one sister's birthday, and I'm still working on getting her what she asked for for Christmas (a family portrait).

I will rest, but I will not give up. My house will be messy, my baby will be cranky, and I will be exhausted ... and that's okay. I will continue to write out my to-do list, and I will continue to keep going. By the grace of God, I will get up when I fall. Sometimes it takes me a little longer than others.