An Overdue Update on Our Goals

Well, we only have like 7 weeks left to tackled these, figure it’s time to check in and see how we’re doing. (Spoiler–not great.)

~~1. Add a garbage disposal back under the kitchen sink.~~

Done! Read about this project, here.

2. Revamp the laundry room.

Well, with the whole washer flood issue, and the resulting repair job that followed, I’m afraid this one will get bumped until next year. There’s still hope, though, so I may go down with ship on this one.

3. Declutter and “babyproof.

We have most of this done, but did just buy a couple latches for the kitchen cabinets so we need to get those installed.

Secure furniture to walls (In progress)
~~Get a baby gate for the stairs.~~ Read about this project, here.
Make sure all breakables and other adult-only items are put away/locked up (In progress)
“Cushion” the hard edges of the brick fireplace, TV stand, etc. (In progress)
Add door locks to applicable cabinets (In progress)
Tie up all window blind cords. (In progress)
Get rid of the junk. (In progress)

~~4. Build a new strawberry planter.~~

We got the strawberry planters done. You can read about that project, HERE. Also, sidenote that our garden is STILL producing and it’s the middle of November. Sheesh.

I’m thankful and all, but I am wishing for a freeze to end the endless oak mites we have going on around here.

5. Take Will on his first vacation.

Well, we had a trip planned this fall, but I got sick so we had to cancel. So, we rescheduled. Then, Will was sick so we had to cancel. It was all part of our month of October, which was crazy and full of flu. So, now we’re planning a December trip. Better late than never, right?

6. Conquer the basement storage rooms.

It’s worse than maybe ever before after the whole flooded ceiling incident. We have some new cabinets going in, though, and a lot of it will get reorganized into those.

7. Read 20 books (In progress)

Some of these I’ve read before, and many of these have been audio books listened to on my runs with Will in the stroller. But I enjoy that so much, and I’m so glad to have the opportunity to “read” while I’m doing something else I love. In total so far, I’ve read 17:

The Cat Who Knew Shakespeare – Lilian Jackson Braun
The Private Life of the Cat Who – Lilian Jackson Braun
Grace Based Parenting – Tim Kimmel
Go Set a Watchman – Harper Lee
The Cat Who Talked Turkey – Lilian Jackson Braun
Who Was Walt Disney – Whitney Stewart
The Cat Who Sniffed Glue – Lilian Jackson Braun
The Cat Who Robbed a Bank – Lilian Jackson Braun
Loveable Liveable Home – John and Sherry Petersik
Beautiful Outlaw: Experiencing the Playful, Disruptive, Extravagant Personality of Jesus – John Eldredge
The Cat Who Went Up a Creek – Lilian Jackson Braun
Wild in the Hollow – Amber C. Haines
The Cat Who Saw Stars – Lilian Jackson Braun
The Cat Who Went Bananas – Lilian Jackson Braun
Life on the Mississippi – Mark Twain
The Cat Who Brought Down the House – Lilian Jackson Braun
The Cat Who Dropped a Bombshell – Lilian Jackson Braun

In progress:

Simply Tuesday – Emily P. Freeman
Present Over Perfect – Shauna Niequist
The Cat Who Came to Breakfast – Lilian Jackson Braun

8. Make some cool toys or games for Will. (Sort of done?)

I made him a couple books for his birthday, and we’ve got a few ideas for toys, but the main plan right now is to make a busy board I think. I need to get it sketched out and start shopping for all the fun elements. I also sort of count the homemade homemade maracas and drum I made him out of “trash” as homemade toys. I mean, I did make them…they just aren’t that cute.

9. Make some cool stuff to give to friends and family.

‘Tis the season to get busy on these! We’ve done a lot of canning, though, and some of that was for gifts, holiday and otherwise. So, at least that’s something.

~~10. Make some cool stuff to sell. (And sell it!)~~

We completed two custom orders and I still want to add a page here on the sure where readers like you can reach out about custom orders as well. Fun stuff!

11. Finish decorating our master bedroom.

No progress here. I’d still like to get it done, but with the added expense of repairing the ceiling in the basement, I doubt this will stay a priority.

12. Paint the basement window and door trim in the main living space. (In Progress)

I need to do a bit of touch-up on the window trim, and I have two door frames to paint still. But, this will get crossed off the list year. I’m determined. The big push for this was the door installation down there. And yes, the floor trim is also on my wishlist.

13. Organize the kitchen cabinets.

Not done. Ugh. Is it ever done?

~~14. Buy a new laptop.~~

This is done, but I’m still dealing with fixing the one we bought as it has pretty much been a disaster. So much for doing our research and buying the best one. Please send me all the best customer service vibes, please.

15. End the year with more houseplants than I’m starting it with. (In Progress)

This is going pretty well, and thanks to an Ikea trashcan hack, they have nicer homes, too.