To-Do List.....April Outcome

Another month in the books so let's see what go accomplished or not..............

* Pay Bills  DONE  Always first thing, then we move on.

* Read 1, 2, 3 Books  PASS 
Since I read a record 4 books last month I hope to read 3 in April what with Coronavirus and all but I only finished off 2(though I got about 1/3 of the way through #3).

First I read this one..........

"Everything All At Once:How to Think Like A Science Guy, Solve Any Problem and Make A Better World" by Bill Nye

I have always felt a connection to Bill Nye-first my kids loved his "Science Guy" shows on TV-especially my daughter who grew up to be a scientist and second because his mother went to my college alma mater(and was recruited from there to work in a secret code breaking department during WWII-the Dean of my college, Dorothy Stimson happened to be a cousin of Henry Stimson, whom FDR brought back into government as his Secretary of War once WWII broke out, so with all the men off fighting Henry asked his cousin if any of the ladies attending her school would be smart enough to help out behind the scenes and Bill's mom, Jacqueline Jenkins, was one of those selected).  And who doesn't love a man in a bow tie? lolz

Anyway, this book took a long time to slog through.  Basically it's a book on how to think like a nerd.  Be forewarned going in that Mr. Nye is passionate about two things-space and climate change, so much of it involves those subjects.  There are some interesting biographical tidbits and peeks at his early career that I found lovely.
After I got through with this book I decided that Mr. Nye is an odd duck overall but I am glad I read his book.
3 Thumps Up

Then I read this one........

"Beethoven's Skull; Dark, Strange and Fascinating Tales From the World of Classical Music and Beyond" by Tim Rayborn

I needed a "light" read after Nye's book and this didn't disappoint.  If you like the macabre and strange read this book.  It's all about the strange tales of famous(and not so famous)musicians/composers in history from the Middle Ages to the 20th century.
Who knew that Anton Bruckner had an unhealthy obsession with dead bodies?
Or that Arnold Schoenberg suffered from Triskaidekaphobia(fear of the number 13)?
I even found one of my direct ancestors in this book!(Of course I did, I am related to everyone. lol)-William IX, the Duke of Aquataine, my 27x Great Grandfather.  He was a Troubadour, one of the first of the Middle Ages who's musical works survive into today.  

This author has written a book in a similar vein about theatre called "Skakespeare's Ear" which I'll have to find and read as well, because....theatre!
4 Thumbs Up

* Hold Giveaway  DONE

I actually held Two Giveaways in April........

* Mail Giveaway  All mailed and received.

* Clean the Masterbedroom  DONE
Hubs helped me do a thorough Spring cleaning in our bedroom the last week of April.

* Clean the Masterbath  DONE as well.  Well except the bath as Hubs has to do that one.

* Make Face Masks  DONE  I made about 16 masks(maybe a few more)I didn't keep records of them all.  In PA we were required to don them early on, especially if you worked at a drug or grocery store.

I made a few for friends at Rite-Aid before corporate got them PPE.
A couple of them were fighting over this one above. lolz

I made myself some masks..........

I made one for Ex-College Boy and when I sent Eldest son toilet paper in March I threw in a mask as I figured he'd need one eventually down in VA.

I sent this lot to Daughter in LA, both elastic looped over the ears small ones and larger tie behind the head ones for work(these cover more area with less gaps).

I didn't make tons for donation as just making these many killed my hands(I had medical issues with my hands).  If I get a "good hand day" I'll make more.

* Take Load to Food Bank  DONE  The Food Bank finally called me back and they were at least at the beginning of April still accepting food donations and not just money so Hubs took what I had gathered  up...........

All that baby food I got back in February.

And then stuff I bought(or got for Free on Freebie Friday until they stopped doing that until further notice)for donation and foods I gleaned from the stockpile.

* List Items on eBay  FAIL I figured with this pandemic folks wouldn't be buying stuff on eBay much unless you had TP or hand sanitizer for sale or other essentials so I didn't bother to put anything up there.  The bouts of anxiety last month didn't help either.  When I didn't  have a pressing task I was pretty much paralyzed and didn't get much done other than what HAD to be done.
sigh.

* Hem Hubs' Shirts  DONE  After trying on a shit ton of shirts it was determined that only 2 needed to bee taken up.  In between mask sewing, when I had to change to a color of thread that matched the shirts in question, I worked on those shirts.  Done and Hubs is pleased which is what this was all about.  Though there was a time or two I just wanted to hack him up with my scissors.......*shhh, don't tell him.

* Plan/Goals for 2020  PASS  Well unless you've been sleeping for the last 8 weeks you know why this hasn't been finished.  We did work on it some but with not knowing when it will be safe for us to travel a component of our Plans for 2020 can't be scheduled.....the component related to us moving.  
Once Ex-College Boy is back to work he will be moving out(not right away but sometime later this year)so we can begin repairs/renovations on that bedroom and the main bathroom which gets us closer to the finish line with having the house ready to list.  So there's something.
I am so tired of this stay at home order and I want to travel.  I keep threatening to drive to Kim's Sissie's house since it's pretty close and I wouldn't have to stop to pee anywhere or get gas.  lolz  I could stand to stare at her four walls for awhile rather than my own for a bit. lolz

I am hatching a plan to go see Sonya Ann this coming Winter too.....unless she moves to somewhere cold(but that ain't happening if I know her). ;-)

Eldest may be moving sometime this Summer and starting a new job in the Fall but with the global pandemic that's all up in the air still too.

While we sit here contemplating our navels we've been talking about where to move.  Besides the probability of back down to Virginia or one of the tax-friendly states I've identified there is also maybe staying in PA, but further South in the state and not here.  Not living on a mountain in PA means less snow than here and I am sure we can find someplace closer to Maryland but in PA that has less expensive housing.
I don't know and it's all still up in the air for us.

So what did you get knocked off your To-Do list in April?

Sluggy

The To-Do List.......October Update

Let's take a look at how the October To-Do List turned out.........

* Pay Bills  DONE  Always the top of the list, always my priority.

* Read 1,2 Books  PASS  I didn't get the 2nd book finished before October was over(and traveling got in the way of getting #2 finished)so I get a Pass.

I read this book..........

"Letters to America" by Tom Blair

An interesting and highly readable book.  Mr. Blair has written a collection of stories about everyday Americans, from the 1600's immigrants to Virginia, to the 1990's which was the actual authors life story.(None of the other stories are of real people, but anonymous ictitious  people who lived through certain times and struggles in our country's history.)
Some of the stories didn't seem fully fleshed out (the young girl who worked in a sewing factory at the turn of the 20th century and the Jewish youth with an Uncle named Mordecai)and some just went on and on and on(you can tell that Mr. Blair is an aircraft/aeronautics and WWII fan).
Could have been better but the good parts were excellent and worth the read.


* Purge Inserts and Q Envie  DONE  If I don't do this one it makes like difficult as far as shopping goes so I do it monthly.

* Hold Giveaway  DONE

* Mail Giveaway  DONE  Mailed and received

* Make Tomato Sauce for Freezer  DONE  Well I made the sauce but I didn't freeze it.  We used it up in October.

* House Train Puppy  IN PROGRESS  Still working on this one.  A bit of a setback due to Dixie going into heat.  Not fun.

* List Items on eBay  DONE  I got about 5 more items listed and 3 items sold n October.  Nothing to write home about but I'll take it.

* Put Garden to Bed  DONE  Hubs did this mostly while I was in Ocean City.

* Work on Christmas Gifts  IN PROGRESS  I got Kim, her Sissie's, my brother and sister in-law's gifts wrapped and packed up.  Everything was delivered to the recipients in October.  I've got the rest of the folks I buy for to wrap up but that can wait until after Thanksgiving.

* Pack for Oct. Trip  DONE  I packed it all up and filled my car.

* Go on Oct. Trip  DONE  

Craziness in OC

And warehouse stores in VA

* Have FUN!  DONE  Fun was had and merriment ensued............
It was a good month.

Onward and upward to November!


Sluggy

The To-Do List....the June Edition

Let's take a look at what got accomplished(or didn't)in June.......

To-Do List for June

* Pay Bills  DONE  Everything got paid on time or early including credit cards so no interest charged or paid.

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

"To Kill A Mocking Bird" by Harper Lee

I hadn't read this since high school so it was worth picking it up again and reading it for "fun" this time.
I got a lot more of the subtext this go around.  Comparing  it to the 1962 movie starring Gregory Peck that was in my head was a challenge.  The book is so much more nuanced and delves deeper into characters other than the few leads.
If you know anything about Nelle Harper Lee's life you know that much of what is in this novel is autobiographical.
A classic novel is always worth a leisurely read.

And this one......

"Muskets and Applejack: Spirits, Soldiers and the Civil War" by Mark Will-Weber

This is a strange little book which explores a small corner of American history from a whisky soaked perspective.  As one reviewer on Amazon wrote, "....Spoiler Alert-nearly everyone drank and behaved badly."  I think that summed up this book perfectly! lolz
Spirits fueled the men who fought this war from the Generals on down to the lowly foot soldier.  It on one hand helped and on the other hand hindered each sides campaign against the enemy.  
There are many first hand accounts written by folks who lived through(or not)and saw the effects of alcohol on the war years about beyond.  After reading these journal entries how anybody stayed upright enough to wage war is beyond me.   Maybe applejack(and the sobering up time it took)is why it went 5 long years to finish this bloody shoot fest?
And another Spoiler Alert--troops from Louisiana were obviously the champion Wallpaperers and best friends of John Barleycorn!

An interesting, light read.....easy to pick up and put down, reading in fits and starts, which is how my June went. ;-)


* Get Chester's Shot  DONE  Chester needed a shot for Bordetella(Kennel Cough)before he could go to the doggie spa.

* Change out Clothes for Summer  DONE  I finally got all my clothes gone through and changed over for the hot weather.  Some clothing got thrown out, some packed off to Salvation Army and a pile was made of items that needed to be hemmed/fixed/taken in.  Of course I haven't gotten to any of the mending/fixing pile as the house is still in chaos with the bedroom redo.

* Have Trees Taken Down  DONE  Another item on our home projects was having 4 trees removed.  The bank account is very sad but I am glad to mark this project off the list.

We had 4 trees total cut down-2 on the side yard by the road and 2 in the backyard.  3 of them were to open up the yard, to get more light.  The monster tree above was a worry to me.  So tall and massive and not very deep roots.  With all the excessive rain and windstorms we'd gotten the last few years I'm amazed it hasn't fallen yet and taken out half our house(because it's so tall it could if it fell just right).  This was something that we needed to do in order to sell the house eventually(and for my peace of mind). 
It was interesting to watch(free entertainment! lol)the whole process and the massive combination saw and crane gizmo they used on the monster tree was way cool!
I can post some more photos and video if anyone is interested.....

* Repair Bedroom Walls/Ceiling  DONE  
Ex-College Boy and I got the bedroom repaired and painted early on in the month.  It has been sitting since then awaiting new carpeting being put in by the carpet folks.  Hurry up and wait.........sigh.

* Paint 1, 2 Bedrooms  PARTIALLY DONE  We got 1 of the Bedrooms painted, ceiling and walls.  Can't really do the second bedroom until we can empty it and we can't do that until the carpet gets replaced in the first bedroom(and it's STILL not in at the store yet, let alone on the schedule for installing ugh!). 
Here's a piece of what Dan's room looks like until we can move all my crap out of there........

* Take Chester to Doggie Resort  DONE  Chester went to stay HERE while we were away.  I think he had a better time than us! lolz  


* Clean Out Closets  DONE 
 I had a burst of energy one day and got lots of closets cleaned out and organized, my bedroom closet, the foyer closet and the linen closet.

*  Clean Out Fridges/Pantry  DONE

The fridges still need a good washing down inside but I got them cleaned out/organized.  I also got the pantry in the kitchen cleared out.

I found TWELVE open boxes of crackers in there!  TWELVE and many were duplicates of the same crackers.  Heck, I didn't even know we had TWELVE boxes of crackers!!  
After consolidating, and repurposing some(crumbs for breading)we have a more manageable amount(and certain people here have been warned under penalty of death NOT to open another box of crackers until the open boxes are gone).

* Hold Giveaway  DONE

* Mail Giveaway  DONE  And it was received and enjoyed by the winner. 8-)

* Pack for Trip  DONE  I got to break out my new fancy shmancy lime green suitcase.

* Go on Trip  DONE

This trip was so out of my comfort zone and Hubs and I didn't know a soul going in.  But we had a good time.  I'll blog about this trip soon.

* Use Ollie's & CVS Chits  DONE

All this was free from CVS and I earned $5 more in Extra Care Bucks before going on our trip.

I rolled some Bonus Cash before we left and again while on the trip as we passed by some Rite-Aids in Maine and New Hampshire.

I also used my 15% Ollie's discount before we went away.  I hit some 50%, 60% and 75% off food stuffs and used the 15% off on other things like bird suet for Hubs' feeders and potting soil.

* Continue to Clean Out Garage  PARTIALLY DONE

After 3 weeks worth of crap from Daughter moving out leaving the porch and garage we again had a clear passage through the garage on both sides of my food storage shelves.  
I wish I could say that I've made more headway in there but it's been too hot since getting back from NH to spend much time out there.  Maybe I'll take this item off the To-Do List until September when it cools off.

* Move More $ Into a CD  MAYBE DONE  I didn't get this goal finished in May before the month ended so it straddled both months.  The money is now moved.

* Sell More Locally  PARTIALLY DONE  Well I listed some things when we got back from NH but I didn't actually sell them yet. lolz  I tried.....  I am putting this item on hold until after garage sale season and it's pointless to try now.

* List Items on eBay  FAIL  I didn't even get one thing listed on eBay as there is just too much still going on here to concentrate on that.  Fall is the high season for eBay so I'll wait until September to list there.

* Gardening  I know I didn't put this as an item on the To-Do List for June but we did have some growth even with our wet/cool month...........

Other than the broccoli and cauliflower the plants didn't seem to visibly grow much in June.

But the lettuce seeds I sowed mid month in June popped up quicker than they usually do and are making strides.
We should be in salad material by mid July.

That's about it for my June report.
Did you accomplish anything in June?


Sluggy

To-Do List.....August Update

Here's how we did with our To-Do List for August........

* Pay Bills  DONE  First thing I make sure gets done each month.  Don't pay your bills and you are in for a world of hurt.  I don't like to hurt.  ;-)

*  Read 1, 2 Books  DONE  The second book was monstrously long and I didn't finish it until 3 days into September but I am still counting it done. lolz

The first book was "Immortal Irishman" by Timothy Egan.  I haven't to this point in my life done much reading about Irish history, specifically about the 1800's and the time of the Great Famine and all it's fallout so this was a great place to start delving into that subject.  But that's just the beginning of the book!
Timothy Egan is a great storyteller IMHO and this was a great read.  I knew nothing about the person detailed within, Thomas Francis Meagher, before picking up this book.  Meagher lived about 4 lives during his time on earth.
The most interesting(oh to just pick one!)fact I garnered from this book was that Thomas Meagher had an unrequited love/infatuation with a woman named Jane Francesca Agnes Elgee while they were both a part of the Young Irelanders-a revolutionary movement in Dublin during 1840's/1850's.  Jame wrote under the psuedonym of "Speranza".  She would go on after this period in her life to marry Sir William Wilde, a Dublin ear and eye surgeon.  They were to become the parents of famous Irish writer, Oscar Wilde.
But I digress.......this is a good book about a fascinating person's true life, go give it a read.

The second book I read was Alex Haley's "Roots".  It was a groundbreaking book back when it was published.  I, like almost everyone on the planet, had watched the TV miniseries they made from the book back in 1977 but had never read the book so I finally picked up a copy and did read it.  
The tv show pales in comparison especially the original show from back in the day, which was jammed with "stars of the day" over quality of actors to tell Mr. Haley's story(such a bad tv production!).  I also watched the remake of "Roots" the tv show that the History Channel remade a couple of years ago and found it amazing how the two productions can be so different and take the story in unique ways that almost have nothing to do with the other and veer from the book quite a bit!

Anyway, I highly recommend this book and if you saw the original or the remake of the tv series try to wash that from your consciousness before you read the book.  It is a VERY long tome and at times your going will be slow as Alex Haley writes in the vernacular of his characters(especially slow I think if you didn't grow up listening to Southern accents and colloquial speech).  And I don't recommend this book because I have an ancestral connection to his family either.  It's a jolly good read......well maybe not "jolly" given the subject matter.  ;-)

*  Close CU Account  DONE  We closed out one of our bank accounts, the one at the Credit Union.  I always heard such good things about CUs so we moved our main account to one back in 2008-9 after the housing collapse/recession because away from a reg. bank that took TARP funds during the bank bailout.(It was Wells Fargo and you have all seen what a disaster they have been lately....)Anyway, this CU must have been a dud(unfriendly as hell tellers/staff, bad business hours, constantly sending us spam snail mail about loans/life insurance/etc.).  We also simplified our banking life by consolidating all our accounts/funds into one brick and mortar bank(we also have a few online banks).  We are quite happy with this decision.

*  Cash in Matured Bond  DONE  Another Savings Bond matured and cashed out.

*  Move Some $  FAIL  I am still waiting on Hubs to decide when to do this.  He keeps waiting for the interest rates to ratchet up again but I say just put it somewhere for now where it will earn something! Men.

*  Cell Phone  DONE  Got my new cell phone and I am still learning it.  What can I say?  I am an old lady who is set in her ways...lol

*  Hold Giveaway  DONE

*  Mail Giveaway  DONE  Rhitter won and received her box o' goodies.

*  Harvest Garden  DONE  Lots of squash and tomatoes this month and I've put up 11 quarts of tomatoes, made 14 pints of relish and frozen some zuke too.

*  Survive the Heat  DONE  I've made it through August pretty much intact and the temps are slowing starting to go down which pleases me a lot.  I am not a hot weather gal, never was, never will be........

*  Survive the Rain & Build an Ark  DONE  And it's raining again today. as remnants of Hurricane Gordon depart. Ugh.  We'll get more rain next week from Florence's visit after she wreaks havoc on the Carolinas, et all.  No ark in sight.....yet. lolz


How did you do on your To-Do List for August?


Sluggy

To-Do List...........June Update

The To-Do List update for June....let's see how it all shook out!


* Pay bills  DONE  Everything got paid on time, no interest or fees assessed or paid.

*  Read 1, 2 Books  DONE

My Brother's Crown by Mindy Starns Clark and Leslie Gould.
I picked this one up because of the Huguenot emblem on the cover....had no clue if it would be good or not.
It's one of a series of books by these two authors all about women from one fictional family, a Huguenot family from France that immigrated to Colonial America.  It jumped from a story line in present day Virginia to 1600's France and a story line of the present day person's ancestor.  It was well done and flowed well, very readable.
Not too heavy on the history but I still enjoyed it.
If you have Huguenot ancestry you might want to give this a go.

Then I read.......

"The Great Influenza" by John M. Barry.  This was a historical account of the Spanish Flu Pandemic that swept the world between 1918 and 1920.
As the generations that actually experienced this world changing pandemic have died off, the horror of this time in our history has faded from our collective memory.  Just to refresh the scope of this disease, the Spanish Flu killed more people in 20 weeks than AIDS has killed in 20 years and killed more people in a year than Bubonic plagues during the Middle Ages killed in a century.
Choked full of detailed medical history, important researchers and leaders in the field of American medicine, as well as timelines, how authorities greatly mishandled the outbreak(from the government to the military to the news media) and the first hand accounts of victims and others from that time.  This book gives one a real sense of just how devastating this influenza outbreak was everywhere in the world and how it's consequences affect our lives today.
The influenza affected the waging of World War I all the way to the terms of surrender and our then current POTUS and his life and term in office.
Any history fans out there need to pick this one up and give it a go!

*  Clean Laundry Room  DONE  Our laundry room was in need of a good cleaning, including the machines.  The pan under the washer was removed and scrubbed down(and then promptly broken but fixable)and the dryer was disconnected and the hose and back of the machine were cleaned out.
The pan being broken happened because Hubs didn't reconnect the water hose tightly enough and a week later we found that the leaking hose started to over run the pan with water which meant moving everything AGAIN to dry it all out and during this transfer period it got cracked on one corner.  Luckily there was no floor(or ceiling on the first floor)damage since we found the problem quickly and some duct tape fixed the pan edge.
After all the extended work we had to do cleaning and moving stuff times 2 I am calling this a....

 *  Do 1 Home Improvement Project  DONE  The floor has never looked so clean in the Laundry Room after two scrubbing downs. lolz  Hubs even removed the louvered vent where the dryer hose attaches and I scrubbed that.  Other than some paint the laundry room is in ship-shape shape now.

 * Organize Garage  FAIL  It's been too hot and Hubs hasn't cooperated  when it wasn't too hot to go through stuff.  I have been picking up in there and moving stuff around a little and tidying a bit but no major clean out yet.  I did get Hubs to dig out the old a/c unit to give to his brother and the nephew as they have no air in their apt. and we had a week long of 90+F heat wave.  It's an even bigger mess at the moment and I am hoping I can get Hubs to help me this weekend(the weather is suppose to be less humid and cooler)to go through and put some of it right.
The garage can only get so clean until next Spring when Daughter moves out and takes all her stuff stored in there(plus the stuff stored IN the house).  I guess I need to be less critical and don't expect too much until that happens. ;-)

* Hold Giveaway  DONE

*  Mail Giveaway  DONE  Mailed and received.

* Purge Coupon Inserts   DONE

Went through all the inserts, clipped a few Qs that weren't expired yet that I might use before they did and put back about 10 whole inserts on my bookshelf.
It feels so good to purge papers sometimes.  8-)))

*  Plan possible 2018 Travel  DONE...sort of
We've got a possible plan....nothing wild or crazy or long and nothing happening until September.  Still working on some Winter plans too and lots of details need to be fleshed out still.

* Work on 2018 Goals   PASS  some of the big yearly goals have been worked on or finished, some have not.  Here they are.....

  *  Sewing--NOT DONE  Other than hemming and mending I've done nothing yet on this one. I'll try to dig out and decide on which fabrics to use in July for the table runner I want to make.

  *  Dropping some weight--NOT DONE  Well I have lose some weight but it was weight I put back on this Winter.  Winter and being sick for 2 months is not conducive to weight loss I have decided. lolz

  *  Culling more of my toiletries stockpile--SOME DONE  Until this week, I had been scaling back on the freebies from Rite-Aid but having to roll Bonus Cash within 2 months is crappy. 8-P
I did make a Food Bank donation already this year(Was it March? I don't think I wrote about it when I did it.).
I'll be giving the Brother In-Law and Nephew some stuff in July which will jump start the purge again.  And once we go traveling I'll be giving stuff away too so I see more toiletries flowing out of here.

  *  Make a new Password/Log in Book and new Address Book  DONE AND NOT DONE.

  Password Book done.
  Address Book not yet.  I still need to buy an Address Book.

  *  Deal with the house in Louisiana.  DONE!!!

  Goodbye house!

  * Sell more stuff.

   Done and done.

    I should start ramping up some more eBay stuff in the next 2 months since we aren't leaving      town until September.

  * Start putting together a punch list of things to address in the house here in preparation for         putting in on the market--NOT DONE
     We will sit down and put a preliminary list together in July, along       with a timeline and           how to handle paying for it all.

  * Put my genealogy stuff in a software program--NOT DONE Still looking for which software        I want to use.  Will make this a priority to get done by January 2019.

  * Gardening and travel--DONE  Gardening got done in May.  Travel is still up in the air                 though we do have a soft plan now.

Looking at the Yearly Goals list we still have plenty to finish there along with smaller monthly goals I have planned.

June was productive overall and we'll head into July with good intentions on getting lots accomplished.

How was your June in terms of getting to chores and plans?
Any successes or epic fails?

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