My goals for 2017
Get 7- 8 Hours of Sleep Each Night
Eh. This wasn’t the greatest week for sleep. There were a few nights when I got in a solid 7 hours and others were I woke up in the middle of the night with a major headache. It probably doesn’t help the The Girl and I are both sick with head and chest colds and pretty much felt like zombies the last few days.
Normally I get sick around mid October {I always thought this was due to the “back to school cooties” my kids brought home} but this year my annual cold was a few weeks late. Also, I’ve been thinking about getting a flu shot lately. I’ve never had one before and half the people I talk to end up getting sick when they have one so I’m still on the fence about it.
Make Saving a Priority, Not an Idea
It was a horrible, horrible month for saving money and we ended up not making any extra payments towards our mortgage. I placed a big wool order, we had a bunch of home maintenance stuff, bought a bunch of groceries for Monkey Boy’s first place {he will be moving out with his buddies in a few days} and just a few other not so typical bills this past month. Oh well, some months are better than others, right? I’m not worried.
Live a little
It snowed at our house on Friday and so the puggle princess and I snuggled by the fire. How is that living a little you ask? Well I had the HH turn the pilot light on the gas fireplace for the first time in like 2 years. 🙂 I forgot just how much heat that fireplace puts out. Especially with the fan going.
Visit 52 REAL Bakeries
I am all out of bakeries to share but we have a few more on our list we want to try and get to before the end of the year. So far we have visited 29 bakeries this year and you can find them all right here.
Have 1 “no spend” week each month
I think I’ll try for a “no spend” week for next week as I just checked the Fred Meyer ad and I didn’t find anything real exciting. Our Albertsons ad comes out on Wednesdays so I they have a deal on something I can always wait until next week to pick it up. I’m 9 for 10 so far this year… and hoping I can make it 11 out of 12.
Any hookers out there? I’ve got all 12 of my patterns listed on Etsy.
Turn My Wool Stash into $2,500
This past week I sold $549.69 in my Etsy shop which brings my total so far this year to $11,034.68. How crazy is that? I sold a large turkey rug {$299.99} a rug hooking kit, flowers and a few bundles of hand dyed wool. Giddy up!
Purge 250 Items Mission Accomplished
329 items so far this year!
Learn to Crochet Mission Accomplished
I tried to love it but it’s not for me. I’d rather spend my time hooking.
Dote on My Husband Even More Than I Do Now.
As I type there is snow falling outside our window. I LOVE SNOW!!! This means all honey do items are on hold and the HH and I can just relax and take it easy today. As soon as I’m done with this post I’ll go to the kitchen and make him some breakfast {I’m thinking fried potatoes, zucchini and eggs} and then figure out what to do with the rest of my day.
Sometimes doing nothing, is the best cure for a long week.
Lose the Muffin Top. {again} Mission Accomplished
Here it is November already and still…. I’ve been able to keep the muffin top at bay. Wahoooo!
Wear out {most of} the clothing I already own.
Working on it..
Try 52 New Recipes
Mrs. HB and I got together on Halloween and made Jen’s Alien Autopsy Dinner for her kids and they thought it was pretty cool. It didn’t really turn out very alien like, but hey, we aren’t pro’s like Jen. Ha!
Read 52 Books
I feel like I am always saying this… but I need a new books to read {or rather listen to}. I wish more people would write autobiographies.
Give Back to 12 Different Organizations in My Community
January – Donated to Quilts from the Heart in Memory of my brother.
February – Donated to Empty Bowls Fundraiser for the Boys and Girls Club.
March – Donated to my daughter’s mentor who was in a horrible car accident.
April – Donated again to my daughter’s mentor who was in a horrible car accident.
May – $100 Tip to a waitress on Mother’s day.
June – Started collecting men’s shirts to donate this winter.
July – Donated to the Chew Dog Rescue
August – Donated to the Houston Flood Relief Fund
September – $100 Tip to our amazing server at The Grey House and bought a tin of caramel corn from a Boy Scout
October – I still need to do something.
And then, there’s those top secret goals we’re not talking about yet.
Secret Goal #1Sell East Coast House Mission AccomplishedSecret Goal #2Chickens! Mission Accomplished- Secret Goal #3 Totally working on it!
- Secret Goal #4
How about YOU? Did you set any goals for 2017? How are they coming along?
~Mavis
Read About My 2017 Goals HERE.
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Laura T. says
Yay snow! I love snow too! None here yet by me in Illinois. It’s going to be very cold this week though. I can’t believe it’s almost time to start working on goals for next year! My how time flies! It seems like the last three months of the year just just swoop by too quickly!
Katelyn says
Have you read Trevor Noah’s BORN A CRIME? I just finished it. It was fabulous – funny, thought-provoking, and informative. I think it’d be even funnier as an audiobook, which I know you prefer.
Jessica says
Mavis, get a flu shot!!! And, really, your family needs flu shots too. It’s free with (the vast majority of) insurance so it won’t take away from you making extra principal payments! I know people will argue with this, but, scientifically, a flu shot cannot give you the flu! It uses a dead virus (not a live virus like the nasal one that was offered for a few years). I don’t think anywhere has the nasal version anymore, but if you’re given the option, do not get the nasal one.
If you have questions about the flu shot you can always ask your (or any) pharmacist!
The CDC has a whole page dedicated to flu shot misconceptions. https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/qa/misconceptions.htm
Leslie says
Funny- seems like the randomized study reveals that you’re going to get fever and body aches whether you get the shot or not :-/
Kara says
Have you read We Took to the Woods? I highly recommend it!
https://www.amazon.com/Took-Woods-Louise-Dickinson-Rich/dp/0892727365
Mable says
People who get the flu after the flu shot are thought to get a less debilitating version. Also, the more people who get the shot, the better the herd immunity. This protects people who cannot, for medical reasons, have the shot.
Tracy says
Flu shots are Controversial .However The elderly and compromised can die from the flu. I have sickly parents And would feel awful if I passed something to them
Also I work with the public so I have a lot of Exposure .
That and when you actually are puking from the flu I do about anything to.have a shot to make me feel better.
Jessica says
The FLU ( Influenza) vaccine is for respiratory influenza.. if you are puking you have a gastrointestinal bug and that has nothing to do with the flu or flu shot
Lauralli says
Yes, please do not confuse actual Influenza with a stomach bug–they are most definitely not the same but so many people use the word “flu” to encompass a wide range of illnesses!
Brianna says
Flu shots are hit or miss. Some years they are effective against the virus, but others not as much. My hubby always gets one because of his job. My one child cannot get one because he had an adverse reaction and was in and out of the hospital for two weeks. I get one every other year or so and same with my other two children. I’m not consistent. This year I am having a very hard time finding a place that will give them to my 3 and 6 year old without going to their Dr. (80 miles away). I’m not so sure how comfortable I am having a pharmacy do them, especially after watching my oldest react to the shot and how quickly he went down hill. I am around someone this year who has an autoimmune disorder, so I should get them done for her health and not risk exposing her to anymore than she has to be exposed to. I am too on the fence.
lynne says
Book Recommendation: Caitlin Dougherty “Smoke gets in your eyes” – about her experiences working in a crematorium. Changed my whole opinion on death, and what I want done with my body after I die. She has a great YouTube channel as well!
Flu Shot: Never had one, never will. The 5 years my HH had one, he was sick with the flu each time. The shot does not cover every strain out there. Too controversial in the pros and cons, and i’ll stick with the cons.
Congrats on your hooking success!!! I took a class once to learn how to do that, and really enjoyed it – but quilting is my love. LynneinWI
Mel says
I would love snow or even crisp fall days, but it’s still unseasonably warm here. We’re still picking beefsteak tomatoes!
I made a bit more progress on my goal of homemade Christmas gifts, so I just have 3 more to do. I’ve started them all–it’s just finding the time to finish.
I also went ahead and started on next year’s goal of making a set of reusable gift wrap. I was planning on buying fabric next year, but I found a great fabric sale and some good eBay listings, so I just went for it now.
MEM says
I work in health care education and I say you should get the flu shot, once you are over your cold. I get a flu shot every year and have not had the flu in 15 years. The one year I did get it I was on vacation in Florida at Walt Disney World and exposed to a strain from God-knows what part of the world. Its true you cannot get the flu from the flu shot. Some people try and make the connection but it means, usually, that you were exposed to the flu before the flu shot became effective. Yes, some people feel feverish after the flu shot and have arm pain but that is your body’s immune system reacting to the vaccine. It doesn’t last more than a day. The people at my work who do not get the flu shot always get the flu! And expose others to it.
Mary says
Please, please, please, dear Mavis: go get a flu shot!! Yes, some people get the flu even with the vaccine; the vaccine doesn’t cover every possible flu strain, just the most likely ones to hit this year. But if you don’t get the flu (because you’ve had the vaccine), you will miss weeks of illness and the persistent cough that hangs on til July. And as we age our immune systems become less able to fight off nasty bugs, and complications get more serious. If you have medical room insurance the flu shot is almost always free anyway.
Melissa says
Ok starting that one paragraph with “any hookers out there?” – – with the ad placement it took a second to process the context – priceless
Cheryl says
I always get a flu shot as well. I got the flu one year from a guy at work and missed the entire month of November, seemed pointless then to get the flu shot, but I did anyway. I find that the older I get the more simple little things like colds flatten me and make me wish I was dead. My sister for the longest time refused to get one, then her daughter had a baby and refused to allow her to see said baby until she got the shot…
I seriously do not have the patience to do hooking. Every time I think about it, it’s like….uh, noooooooooo!
If you like football at all, I read a biography of sorts of Bum Phillips, called Son of Bum. Was pretty interesting.
E in Upstate NY says
re Flu shot. Get it! Totally believe in herd theory. That said, I am inconsistent in getting mine, but get it more often than not. My hubby does not due to his failing health. He figures flu is one way to go. Our son, a nurse, who once worked at our regional hospital does not. Hospital did major campaign to get their employees to get shots. Their vaccine was batch produced and it’s preservative was mercury – reason son wouldn’t get shot. When I do get the shot, it is at the hospital’s clinic and these injections are NOT preserved with mercury. Go figure.
Note: son’s experience is now 3 years ago so don’t know if things have changed. But I always ask about preservative. If can’t be definitively told that there is no mercury, I’ll skip it that year.
Also re pneumonia shot, have same preservative concern. These are supposed to last 10 years. Have it timed such that the last time I’ll get it is when I’m 75. Figure that after 85, my body will have already started falling part worse than it already has, and why help keep it alive. I know, rather pragmatic.
Carrie says
I start Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood last week. Took a bit to get into but it’s rolling now. It is the first book in a Trilogy. I hate when books end so I like finding trilogies, etc.
Lauralli says
Do your research before you get the flu shot. I used to get it as my husband has a chronic form of leukemia so we were (are) advised to get the vaccine. The kids and I often got the flu anyway–I even had one son get the flu twice in one season–two different strains even though he had the vaccine. However, my husband has only gotten it once since his diagnosis 9 years ago. I no longer get it for several reasons: 1) they are guessing every year as to which flu or strain to make the vaccine for. Often times they are wrong. Read the statistics on how effective it really is. 2) other ingredients used in the vaccine are not very good for our bodies 3) A lot of people get the flu when they go to the dr to get the vaccine because there are so many people at the dr for the flu. Since you work at home and generally avoid crowds you are pretty safe anyway. 4) I haven’t gotten the flu since I got my vitamin D levels checked and found out how deficient I was. I take a supplement to keep my D level in the normal range (which I get monitored by blood tests every couple of years) and am rarely sick anymore–I used to be sick quite often. Vitamin D is responsible for a whole host of things but immunity is one of the more important ones. Worked for me! 5) The vaccine is only good for about 2 months. If the flu strikes after that time (as it did here much later than usual this past spring in April!) it will do you no good. And, it takes 2 weeks to provide immunity after you get the shot. Hope you get well soon and stay well! Being sick is no fun!
Lena says
It is the social responsibility of healthy people with easy access to medical care and the means to pay for it to vaccinate themselves and their children in order to protect the people who are medically unable to be vaccinated or who are too poor/circumstancially unable to vaccinate themselves or their children. You and me getting flu shots protects the elderly, chemo patients, newborns, and impoverished children of single moms. I never used to get a flu shot until I realized that it was selfish of me, in my privledge and my without-consequences ability to safely take off work for 2 weeks with influenza if I got it, to risk those people I share a nation with who don’t get flu shots by circumstance, not by educated choice. (And on more directly-affecting note, even if you are exposed to a strain of flu other than the 3 or 4 in your vaccine, the antibodies you produce against the 3 or 4 help your body develop quicker antibodies to the strain you actually get. So the argument that “flu shot is hit or miss, it doesn’t cover all strains” is only partially valid. There is still benefit.)
Lisa says
Nicely said, Lena.
Lisa says
Have you read Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight by Alexandra Fuller? I really enjoyed it.