My 2013 Baker's Dozen

I have a friend who wrote a list of yearly goals last winter.  She called it her Twelve for 12.  I thought this was a fantastic idea, but Thirteen for 13 just doesn't have the same ring to it!  So, instead, I'm calling it my Baker's Dozen.  And technically, I started this month, so I have 13 months to reach my goals.

Here's my list:

1. Build the bookshelf.  Well, not me really, it's more like have the bookshelf built.  We have this really awesome bookshelf in our living room!  It even has this fun rolly-ladder, like in a library in Downton Abbey or something.  But, it's about 4 feet off the ground, and there's this weird space below it.  I'm sure the previous owner, who built this originally, had some piece of furniture there.  I want a custom-built extension of the bookshelf...and I think I've found someone to do it.  Now I just have to find the money!

2. Finish knitting sweater.  Last April I started a project.  I'm always good at starting projects...it's the finishing and following through that's the hard part!  I started knitting a sweater.  It's a cardigan, which are very practical here in Phoenix.  And it's not real heavy (also practical in Phoenix).  My goal was to have it by the time the baby came since that's when the weather would change.  Oops!!  So, I'm officially making it a 2013 goal to finish my sweater!

3. Paint Sadie's room.  Slowly I am going to get this house painted.  It's a lot of work (especially since I usually paint alone) and I want to make sure I choose the right colors.  8 or 9 months ago I bought this really cute fabric for Sadie's room.  I wanted to make her a valance and a pillow case and then choose paint based off the colors in this fabric.  The valance is made (but not hung), the pillow case is made (even though she doesn't really use a pillow), and I have paint swatches of colors of pink picked out.  I gave the leftover fabric to my mom to make Sadie a big-girl-bed quilt, and once I see that final product, I will choose colors for sure and decide what I'm going to do in there.  It's a small room and a good place to start.  I almost put Ezra's room on my list too, but I thought that might be a little too ambitious!

4. Do a triathlon.  I found one in July in Flagstaff... think I can be ready by then?  I might give myself 2 years on this one.  As long as I do it before I get pregnant again!!

5. Run at least 3 charity runs.  I really miss running.  It seems like I started when I wasn't totally healthy and since then I've had one problem after another.  As much as I want to be a runner, I'm just not built for it.  That's okay though, I can still do 5Ks, right?  That's not that far, and I could easily walk it if I needed to.  The first one I'm looking at is for Ryan House...in March.  Think I can run 3 miles by March???

6. Put family pictures up on the wall.  We've lived here a year and all our family pictures are still in boxes.  That's because I was going to paint before I put them up.  But then I got pregnant.  So, whether I paint or not, my goal is to get all of those out and start hanging them.  Plus we got all these nice, new family portraits, and we have a new baby...so now I have more pictures that need hanging on the walls!

7. Make my own pasta and/or tortillas.  I've always wanted to do this.  I kind of think if I put it on a list, maybe I finally will.

8. Organize Sadie's paperwork.  Raising Special Kids has a workshop where you bring all your child's paperwork (IEPs, IFSPs, medical records, etc.) and they give you a binder and teach you how to organize it all into one place.  All of Sadie's stuff is in one place...but organized?! hahahaa

9. Create a Home Management Binder.  This might actually be more like a Home Management Day Planner.  But I'd like to work on keeping everything in on e place and not scattered all over the house...especially now that I have a child who will soon have grabby hands!

10. Try at least 3 new recipes each month.  I told Brian I'd like to make something new each week and he thought this was too ambitious.  3 a month, though, is doable...it's too easy to get stuck in a rut with our menus each week!

11. Keep a housekeeping schedule.  You'll notice that my goal isn't to MAKE a housekeeping schedule!!  I'm good at making a plan (aka. starting a project), and then I stick to it for the first week, maybe 2 before my house turns back into a trash pit.  I made a weekly chore schedule, as I've done before, but, as I stood in the shower the other day enjoying my alone time, I realized I needed more off-days/catchup days.  Because sometimes things don't go according to plan!  I also realized that once I clean the bedrooms or bathrooms, they don't necessarily need to be cleaned the next week... they're probably good for 2 weeks.  So I rewrote my chore schedule to span 2 weeks instead of just one.  Here's my plan:

Week 1:

Monday - Bedrooms

Tuesday - Vacuum living room rugs

Wednesday - Mop

Thursday - Rest or Catchup (it's like building a leftovers day into your weekly menu!)

Friday - Kitchen (this is a weekly chore...it's gets really gross really fast)

Saturday - Errands and Groceries

Sunday - Rest or Catchup

Week 2:

Monday - Outside (including the car)

Tuesday - Bathrooms Day 1

Wednesday - Bathrooms Day 2 (we have 3 bathrooms and I often find I get 2 of them done and run out of time or steam, so I allowed myself to split this chore into 2 days.  I think I'm more likely to actually complete it this way!)

Thursday - Sunday look the same as week 1 above.

12. Stick to a budget.  Enough said.

13. Write my kids monthly letters for them to read someday when they're older.  I don't want to ever forget this time when they're little.  As they get older, maybe it'll just be on their birthdays...

There you have it!!  I look forward to updating you on this throughout the year, and I hope you are encouraged to make your own 2013 Baker's Dozen!