2020 To-Do Lists.........January Edition

Here's how the January To-Do List turned out...........


JANUARY

* Pay Bills  DONE  It's always done early or on time each month..

*  Read 1,2 Books  DONE 
I read this one........

"Tethered Citizens:Time to Repeal the Welfare State"
by Sheldon Richman

I am going to use an excerpt from an Amazon buyer's review here as it sums up my feelings so well about this book.
By A. Locke.....
"'Tethered Citizens' is truly an eye-opener.  Sheldon Richman illustrates persuasively and with much historical evidence why our welfare system fails and why it will always fail.  He shows that in fact our welfare system, which many believe helps the poor and uneducated, in fact tethers and enslaves them to the state.  He proves convincingly that welfarism does not work no matter where it has been implemented and in what fashion.  He also shows how the idea and methods used to implement welfare are inherently wrong and inhumane.
I especially enjoyed Mr. Richman's detailed historical examples which help to brilliantly illustrate and prove the point he is making.  Not only does it show the blunder that is the welfare state, it also proves that it is a blunder created not by one of the two major parties, but equally by both......"

I was given a stack of this book by one of the Porcfest speakers, Jacob Hornberger, when I attended his lecture last June, with an eye to distribute it among my readers who wished to read it.
If anyone would like a free copy of this book, email me.  I'll send them via media mail until I run out.  Just pass it along after you read it if you want or keep your copy.

And this one...........

"The White Princess" by Philippa Gregory

At Bosworth Field, Henry Tudor(later King Henry VII of England)defeats King Richard III of England. One is affiliated with the House of Lancaster, one is of the Houses of York and these and additional cousins have been battling over the crown of England, also known as the War of the Roses(Lancastrian sides' emblem was a red rose, Yorkist sides' emblem was a white rose-thus the name given to their ongoing struggle over who ruled England in that time).

In order to unite the country Henry Tudor must take as his bride Elizabeth of York, reported to have been Richard III's lover before his death in battle, and the oldest sister of the 2 Princes(Edward and Richard)who were locked up and purported to have been murdered by Richard III.
But even after wedding Elizabeth of the enemy's camp, Henry VII can't unite England, due to the unknown nature of whether the 2 princes are dead or merely in hiding.  The House of York supporters plot to put a York on the throne and it drives everything Henry VII does as king. (Spoiler Alert-Henry VII was NOT a popular king. lol)
Elizabeth is torn between her familial ties(she was also the daughter of King Edward IV-my 1st cousin, 18 x removed)and her new role as a Tudor Queen and her children, including the future King of England.

I enjoy reading these English historical fiction books by Philippa Gregory and this one didn't disappoint either.  After all, the subject of this one, the White Princess aka Elizabeth of York is my 2nd cousin, 17 x removed.  Her husband, Henry VII is also my 3rd cousin, 17 x removed.
They were the parents on good ol' Henry VIII whom everyone is familiar with(as well as his 6 wives). 8-)))
These Gregory books are an easy and enjoyable way to expand your historical knowledge of the ruling class of distant English history.  They are part history and part filling in all the details of all those interpersonal relationships/emotions that are lost to history but are plausible, the fiction part.

*  Hold Giveaways  DONE

2 Giveaways were held.

* Mail Giveaways  DONE
Both were mailed, one on Friday and the other on Saturday.  Still waiting to hear from Wendy if she got her box a ok.

*  Go to Louisiana  DONE
We drove to LA for the wedding.  Between the cost of flying and getting to the airport and driving and those costs it was a lot cheaper to drive there.

*  Wedding  DONE

It was a lovely evening and my daughter glowed.  More on the wedding and our trip another time.

*  Come back from Louisiana  DONE
We had some fun both on the way to and on the way home but of course there was a clusterfu**k on the last leg of the journey since of course this is how my life goes. lolz  More on that later too.

*  Put Christmas Away  DONE
It took about a week to get it all put away once we got home so mid January before this got accomplished.  But then again, we were in no hurry.

*  Declutter Linen Closet  DONE
With Hubs and Ex-CB shoving stuff in there all willy-nilly the linen closet had become unmanageable.  So I tackled that mess.
Before......

After.....

It's more organized now, stuff taken out and other stuff put in and more stuff moved around to make better sense.

*  Declutter Pantry  FAIL
I didn't get around to this item so it goes on February's To-Do List.

*  Clean House  PASS  
While I didn't get a deep clean accomplished between  putting Xmas boxes away, cleaning the living areas and a bit of garage reorganizing most of the house saw a good deal of cleaning.

*  Prefill Giveaway Boxes  DONE
I couldn't finish cleaning the living and dining rooms until I finished this item since filling them meant spreading toiletries and candy all over two rooms. lolz

But it's done now and I have 7 giveaway boxes ready to deploy when needed.
Added bonus(ie-cleaning....all the giveaway items left after filling these 7 boxes fit into 4 Rubbermaid tubs and are neatly stacked away.

*  Clean my Desk Area  FAIL
Again, parts got straightened up but it's still a mess.  I may need a better system and just less stuff kept there.
And I didn't take a picture of this mess. lolz

*  Celebrate my Birthday YAY!  DONE

It was a nice low key celebration....a cake, a steak dinner out and a matinee discount movie.  That was plenty for me though. 8-)

*  Have Dixie Fixed  FAIL
Well this didn't get accomplished due to not being able to book an appointment with the vet until February.  It's scheduled and getting done in February though.

*  Have a Financial Meeting  DONE
We got the meeting about our finances finally done right before the month ended.  With so much going on in January I didn't get the 2019 calculations finished until mid to late month, then we both needed time to sit down separately once I had all the numbers written out to ponder areas we needed to take action in.
But it's done and at any time in 2020, if we feel the need to reevaluate and change course that will happen too.

*  Plan Goals for 2020  IN PROGRESS
I am still working on what Big Goals need accomplishing in 2020.  Mostly these would be home repairs/improvements to get the house ready for market, any big trips/vacations, and some projects I need to progress on....more of those later in another post.

So it was a pretty good month with many things accomplished.
Three fails but one is not my fault. lolz

Onward and upward to February!  I still have some items to add to my To-Do List for this month.

Do you keep a To-Do List?
How did you do knocking items off your list in January?

Sluggy

January To-Do List Update

Here's how the January To-Do List turned out.....

* Pay Bills  DONE  Number one priority each month.

* Read 1, 2 Books  DONE
I read this one..........

"Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" by Ransom Riggs

A fun read and a pretty quick one as well.  I also have the other two books in this trilogy sitting on the ready for me to get to.  I don't know how I feel about viewing the motion picture Tim Burton and Hollywood made based on this tome.  Perhaps after I read the whole trilogy?

And this one.......

"Coolidge-An American Enigma" by Robert Sobel
Most people wouldn't make it their business to read about our previous POTUSes or even read about American history.  It's the past and so dry so why spend your time on it?  
I find history fascinating(why else would I be "into" geneaology?!lol)and unfortunately, enough folks today don't care or think learning from our past is important.

What did I learn from this book?
Calvin Coolidge didn't follow the formula to getting elected that most men do in politics.  "Cool Cal" was his own man who had a strong moral compass who took the office seriously and wanted to serve his fellow Americans.
He was different and again, one of the few POTUS in the last 200 years(and especially the last 100 years) that didn't piss all over the Constitution and use his office to enhance the power of that office and feed his own narcissism/megalomania.


* Hold Giveaways  DONE

* Mail Giveaways  DONE  Everything has been received. 8-)))

* Plan Winter Holiday  FAIL  Well I did some work on it but Hubs hasn't been giving me input plus I need to hear back from my brother before I can actually book anything....but I have worked on this a bit.  Will carry over this item into February and get it DONE!  Have to since we are going in March so we're running out of time. lolz

* Start Getting Tax Stuff Together  DONE  I just need to print out the 1099 from our online bank.  UPDATE-Just did that so this is checked off the list.

* Put Xmas Stuff Away  DONE  All the Holiday decorations got put away well before my Birthday without having to nag.

* Celebrate my Birthday  DONE

An amazing Birthday week!

* Organize Toiletries Stash  DONE
I spent 3 hours up in the Stash gleaning out some stuff to give to friends and family and more stuff to put into Giveaway boxes.  That still leaves me with a LOT of toiletries, et al. for us to use.  Last January the big purge/organize in there took all. day. long.

* Put 2018 Paperwork Away  DONE  Files have been purged and all the 2018 paperwork(except what is needed to file taxes)have been put away.  We are ready for the influx of 2019 paperwork now....ugh.  ;-)


Basically I didn't have much on my list in January to accomplish.
After a busy December/Holiday Season I tend to take it easy on myself in January....plus it's my Birthday month. ;-)

So what did y'all do in January? 
Did ya'll get stuff done that y'all wanted to get done?
Is there anything you avoided doing/getting to last month?


Sluggy

January To-Do List.....Update

* Pay Bills--DONE  Everything paid in full either on time or a bit early

* Read 1, 2 Books--DONE
I read this one......

Sort of a YA read though quite violent so I wouldn't recommend it to a teen with any sort of "issues".  It was a very well crafted story but didn't make for a good nighttime "before going to sleep" read if you know what I mean.  ;-)

And this one.............

From the author who gave us "The World According to Garp".  John Irving also wrote the screenplay for "The Cider House Rules"(a movie I very much enjoyed).  
I found "The Hotel New Hampshire" a bit "out there".  It was a long novel but highly entertaining.  I hear the movie they made from it was horrendous though and Mr. Irving didn't particularly like the finished product.  This makes me want to watch it though. lolz
I saw this novel in December on a list of 50 novels to read, each novel that takes place in one of the states in the US.  This was the New Hampshire book obviously due to the title(even though this novel takes place in NH, ME, NY and Vienna Austria).  I had it on my bookshelf so I moved it to the top of my reading list for 2018.

* Hold Giveaway--DONE

* Mail Giveaway--DONE  Mailed away and received(and enjoyed).  ;-)

* Load to Sallies'--FAIL  I just need to kick my ass in gear and do this one.  There is a bag of castoffs that's been riding around in Hubs' car's trunk for over a month.  Will definitely do this in February.

* Purge Files--DONE  I went through lots of our files in January and purged old papers that aren't needed any longer.  I had quite a pile to add to what was already in the shred folder.

*Shred Old Papers--DONE 

Generally this is one of Hubs' chores but I got tired of waiting on him to do this so I did it.  Filled a garbage bag too.

* Gather 2017 Tax Info--DONE
I believe we have all the forms now-W2s, assorted 1099s.  I went through and did the bank interest my profits for blog revenue and eBay sales too.  We just need to sit down and fill out the tax forms and see what we are on the hook for to Uncle Sam(that insatiably greedy Uncle!)

* Load to Food Bank--FAIL
I have a load sitting in the living room(plus some in the garage)all bagged up waiting on me to get the motivation(and weather cooperation)to go drop this off. ugh.  It will definitely go in February.

* Get back on my usual Diet--DONE
It only took about a week after New Year's to get back into my usual eating/drinking routine.  Between not as much exercising as in good weather and not restricting calories like I did this Summer I am not losing right now but I am holding steady.  I'll call that a win. 8-)

* Put all Xmas Away--DONE
The Xmas stuff got put away soon after New Years however it didn't get put away correctly(in the wrong places).  Plus a few things were forgotten.  We drug all the boxes out again and repacked and stored everything away in the proper places.....except for the rolls of .50¢ gift wrap I picked up on clearance after it was all stored away. lolz  Hubs just needs to chuck those into the bag on top of the cabinets in the garage when he feels the spirit move him.  ;-)

* Plan possible 2018 Travel--PASS
It's still early in the year so I am giving myself a pass on this one.  We have been thinking and doing a little research and planning but nothing is firmed up yet.  Hubs has a trip later this month to get done.  I trip to LA on house stuff there.  A lot of what we can/will do in the travel realm depends on what transpires on that trip. sigh.  Plus we also have a dog and his needs to consider now when we plan our trips.

* Have Financial Meeting about 2018 w/Hubs--DONE
We had our big money meeting for 2018.  Decisions were made and we'll revisit the 401K withdrawal schedule at the end of March.

* Work on 2018 Goals--PASS
I have a few goals for the year and most of them are big(drop more weight, get healthier, sell house in LA, work on the PA house in prep to sell it).   I need to come up with some smaller, filler goals.  As the year goes on I'll decide on what else to tackle in 2018.

* Work on 2018 Budget--PASS
Again, we came up with a loose budget so far for 2018 in our big money meeting in Jan.  But there are things up in the air still for the year so the budget will be tweaked and realigned as we go forward.

Not bad for January overall.  The two items I didn't do are readily taken care of in February.  Now I have to flesh out the February To-Do List.

Did you meet your goals for January?

Sluggy

January To-Do List Update

Here's the results of my January To-Do List.......

* Pay Bills-DONE  I rock this goal. lolz

* Bike Something-FAIL  Hubs is monopolizing the bike right now.  Yeah, that's the reason. ;-)

* Read 1 Book-DONE

I found another Fannie Flagg novel at Ollie's for $2.99(+ a 10% discount)in January so I picked it up. Ms. Flagg writes some great characters.

* Shred Papers-FAIL  Didn't happen in January and goes onto February's list now.

* Hold Giveaway-FAIL  Didn't get to it in time for January.

* Mail Giveaway-FAIL  Didn't do the giveaway thus didn't mail anything. lolz

* Put Tree and Decorations Away-DONE  Surprisingly we got this all done before January was half over with.

* Pay College Bill-DONE  Paid a little early but I didn't want to wait until the last minute.  College Boy is paid up until next Fall now.  Only 2 more semesters to go....woohoo!

* Buy College Books-DONE  I shopped the books around this year and saved a few hundred $$$s.  I have to check with CB as there was 1 book the course professor hadn't chosen yet in January and CB said he needed a book of musical scores that needs to be ordered too. sigh.  It. Never. Ends.

* Do FAFSA-DONE  Now that you can use last year's tax forms/records we got this done in record time.  Usually we are into March before this happens.
And ever better.....THIS IS THE LAST FAFSA I EVER HAVE TO DO!!!!!!
Do I sound happy here? 8-)))))))

* Take College Boy back to school-DONE  We went on Saturday rather than Sunday this time due to weather forecasts.  It worked out better too.  And this gave College Boy extra time to get himself back into school mode too.

* Clean up Garage-FAIL  With the weather so cold when I had time to get to this it just didn't get done.  This goes onto February's To-Do List.

* Finish  2017 Budget-SORT OF  I had things pretty much settled and then BoyFriend decided to go back to Louisiana.  We are good in that this gives us more breathing room with bills for the year and we have sufficient income to meet our needs/wants for 2017.  I'm still going to play around with the budget some and see what/how many trips/traveling we can fit in.

* Take Care of Invalid Patient(and don't kill him)-PASS  Hubs is still alive and breathing despite my best efforts.  ;-)
He has progressed from the cam boot and walker to a cane.  Now he's weaning off the cane and today is his last physical therapy session.  He can now drive a bit.  He tires quickly and has trouble walking on uneven surfaces/terrain but that will come.
It's just a matter of healing now and that just takes time.
He is mobile and self-sufficient and other than driving me crazy by being underfoot all day at home he is doing ok.

I'm overall pleased with how we ended January.
It beats how we came into 2017, that's for sure!

Are you happy with what you got accomplished last month?

Sluggy

January To-Do List Outcome

Let's take a look at how I did with my January To-Do List.

JANUARY

* Inventory Stockpile FAIL  It has been too cold to spend long stretches of time out in the garage so this item goes onto Feb.'s list.

* Un-Decorate DONE

* Put Away Xmas Stuff DONE

* Take CB back to School  DONE

* Finish analyzing bills paid in 2015 and chart DONE  Most line items of spending were down in 2015 compared to 2014.  Nothing worrisome of note but all insurance and tax categories were all more in 2015 than in 2014, which is not surprising.  Another post on this point at a later date will surely appear on the blog.

* Pay Bills  DONE  Everything paid and on time.  'Nuff said.....

* Bike 50 Miles DONE

Smashed that goal and biked 71.25 miles

* Sew hems on 2 Nightgowns  DONE  Now I have 2 new long sleeved nightgowns for the Winter and just in time for the cold.

* Start Taxes x 4(Fed, State x 2)  DONE partly Federal is done, CB's Federal mostly done(waiting on him to get me a figure on something).  Hadn't been able to do state taxes yet as forms were not available earlier in Jan.  This part continues onto Feb.'s list.

* Start Food Bank Donation(toiletries) DONE  I finished both the toiletries gathering and the food gathering.  Now I just have to inventory what I have to take up and lug it into the car so I can take it in.

* Reorganize Fabric Stash DONE I pulled out lots of pieces of fabric to donate to SA in December.  As a result the stash was quite higgledy-piggledy.  I went in and neatened and reorganized what is left on the shelves.

* Hold Giveaway DONE Giveaway is currently running and why haven't you entered yet?!?
Go HERE and remedy that right now!  8-)

* Read 2 Books DONE I finished 2 books- one I got at the thrift stores while visiting Sonya Ann in IL and the other was bought at Ollie's discount store for cheap.  One was a Biography of Cole Porter, the other was a novel called "The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry".  The Cole Porter one was slow going through some of it but if you want to know everything there is to know about Mr. Porter's life go read it.

* Plan 2016 Goals DONE  And posted HERE.

* Plan Travel for 2016  ON HOLD  There are some things up in the air around here and with my family so I am having to put the Travel Plans on hold for now.  I have tentative ideas but I can't book anything or have Hubs mark his work calendar for time off until  some things get settled.  We have at least 2 trips in the works for 2016 but that is as much as I can say at this point, one of which may include some family business and not just all pleasure.
Will revisit this To-Do Item at the end of Feb.

* Celebrate my Birthday DONE  
Me blowing out candles.  Hubs bought a teeny tiny cake the weekend after my birthday.

Puffed out cheeks for blowing is NOT a good look on me. lolz

So we did a decent job on knocking off the items on the January To-Do List.
One point gets put on hold and another gets continued into February.

Now it's onward into the wilds of February!

What would you like to accomplish this month?

Sluggy