Odds and Ends

Here's my randomness for the week:

• Sad that the twins are leaving today
• Flies in our house are driving me nuts. If I can kill them outright, I keep closing them in our bathroom to die a slow death.
• Moving back to reading books on my iPad is a weird transition
• Not sure which room to tackle packing next. I hate packing kitchen stuff but we do have a ton of things that can be packed from the kitchen. Ugh!
• I need to do a pantry inventory to start cleaning it out before we move.
• I hate selling things on various sites. Just please buy my crap so I don't have to move it...

Next up on the TBR pile:

Currently #6

Reading: Give Up the Ghost  by Juliet Blackwell. Love my cozy mysteries!

Watching: J and I started watching Bounty Hunters and it is a treat.

Listening: I'm behind on all my podcasts but I have been listening to a lot of Alt Nation. 

Making: A week off from to do lists and chores has put me behind. I'm spending some time today making new to do lists to get back on track.

Feeling: A week of vacation activities while still at home was much needed. I'm feeling a bit more steady. 

Planning: I'm getting the birthday party and retreat planning started this week. Both are happening in September, but I like to be prepared early.

Loving: We stopped by the fudge place in the city and I do so adore the fancy flavors. My favorite was Cheesecake Brownie. Yum yum!

Next up on the TBR pile:

Odds and Ends

Here's my randomness for the week:

• I really love playing cruise director. I may need to pursue this angle for a future profession.
• Macarons are my weakness. Definitely had to buy some while in the city yesterday. And I'm not sharing with anyone!!!
• I will miss walking along the water if we ever move out of the Bay Area. 
• I need to make some time to read today.
• The pantry needs to be cleaned out soon. I've built up lots of random odds and ends that need to get used or tossed. 
• Quentin's belly laughs are getting me through his toddler tantrums. 

Next up on the TBR pile:

Currently #5

Reading: Picked up Symbiont by Mira Grant (Parasitology #2) and am flying through it!

Watching: J turned me on to What Would Diplo Do? and it is glorious. So sad that there was only five episodes. Hope it gets picked up for another season.

Listening: I downloaded and have been binging Nothing More's The Stories We Tell Ourselves. Love love love this album and keep coming back to it.

Making: My online community is obsessed with Smitten Kitchen's Summer Strawberry Cake. We love it so much that it's become #teamcake. I've been making my own and recently experimented with peaches instead of strawberries. So good! 

Feeling: The last few weeks have been difficult. This week has been a bit better. 

Planning: The in-laws are coming next week for a visit. And if you know me at all, you know that I love planning and scheduling. I'm putting the finishing touches on our plans next week. 

Loving: Arthur and Quentin have been spending most afternoons in the backyard running around and playing with their toys. I've been taking a few minutes to sit and watch, play with them, and/or read a chapter in my book.

Next up on the TBR pile:

July 2018 Life Goals

Let’s check in on June's goals and my progress.

• Make our Summer Bucket List -- Success! And we're making progress. 
• Work out our whole living situation -- Success I guess. Things are still sorta in limbo.
• Fill three bags for Goodwill -- Fail. I really need to get on with some destashing. 
• Sell books at Half Price Books -- Fail. Although to be fair, I'm waiting until I fill a second bag before we go. I should be ready to sell at the end of July.
• Start the Library Summer Reading Program -- Success! We've been reading and recording.
• Try 5 new recipes -- Fail. I think I tried one new recipe this past month...
• Read 25 books -- Success! 
• Implement our new chore chart -- Success!

July's Goals:

• Sell books at HPB -- Carry over goal.
• Read 15 books -- I don't have a huge stack of comics this month to read. So there will be less books but hopefully a comparable page count.
• Enjoy a week with the in-laws -- They are visiting for a little over a week right after the Fourth of July. We have some fun activities planned!
• Gather the twins's school supplies -- We need to get our lists together, backpacks selected, and supplies either bought or sent home.
• Start the birthday party idea gathering -- We're going with a Mad Scientist theme this year and I need to start thinking about what we want to do.
• See at least one movie in the theater (without kiddos) -- J and I haven't seen a movie in the theater for years. I would love to sneak away for a movie or two before the twins leave. 

Next up on the TBR list:

Summer Bucket List Update #1

It's time for another season and another bucket list. The twins will be here for the first two months of summer, so our list will reflect a wide range of activities and tasks. On to the list:

1. Two beach days (Half Moon Bay and Stinson) -- One down! We went to Half Moon Bay Beach a few weeks back.
2. Jelly Belly Factory
3. Go to the Warped Tour ✓ -- We had such an amazing time even with the high temperatures and full sun.
4. Sonoma Train Town 
5. Pool party 2x -- One down! We had a lovely morning at the pool with some friends.
6. San Francisco Wharf/Musee Mechanique
7. Make popsicles 3x
8. Pacific Pinball Museum
9. Go on an easy hike with all the kiddos ✓ -- The boys and I explored Point Pinole and went on a fun and easy hike through the park. 
10. Escape Room adventure
11. Rocket Fizz Visit
12. Baskin Robbins ✓ -- We got ice cream after our beach day. It's become our tradition.
13. Mini Golf ✓
14. Movie in a Theater ✓ -- I took the little boys to see Ninjago. It was Q's first theater movie.
15. Summer brunch party
16. Make your own pizzas party
17. Make Donuts 2x
18. Treasure Island Flea Market or Jack London Square Market
19. Fourth of July Festival at Berkeley Marina
20. Waterpark day
21. Cookout
22. Read a romance series
23. Make smores
24. Try a new (to us) ice cream place
25. Take the ferry to SF

Next up on the TBR pile:

Odds and Ends

Here's my randomness for the week:

• Monday's time at the beach was definitely needed
• Feeling a little lost when it comes to meal planning for the next few weeks
• Watching Q drive his trains through the house is too cute!
• I really miss ice cream (I can only have a little before I have some tummy issues)
• Still need to finish June's book club selection; book club is on Sunday
• The little boys have a large stack of library books to read this week
• Super sad and angry about the state of politics currently
• I seriously need to organize my planner supplies; it's a bit out of control

Next up on the TBR pile:

Odds and Ends

Here's my randomness for the week:

• It's so great to have all four of my boys in the house again.
• Once again, I'm flying through books. So excited about the among of reading I have been doing.
• My crafting well is full again, thank goodness. I was in a dry spell last week. 
• Warm, just out of the oven cookies are heaven.
• My sandals have given me a weird criss-cross tan on my feet. Guess it's summer time here!
• Speaking of, I just wish the temps would stay warm so we could go swimming. We keep missing the hot days.
• I can't wait to go mini golfing today. I do so love it.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Summer Bucket List

It's time for another season and another bucket list. The twins will be here for the first two months of summer, so our list will reflect a wide range of activities and tasks. On to the list:

1. Two beach days (Half Moon Bay and Stinson)
2. Jelly Belly Factory
3. Go to the Warped Tour
4. Sonoma Train Town 
5. Pool party 2x
6. San Francisco Wharf/Musee Mechanique
7. Make popsicles 3x
8. Pacific Pinball Museum
9. Go on an easy hike with all the kiddos
10. Escape Room adventure
11. Rocket Fizz Visit
12. Baskin Robbins
13. Mini Golf
14. Movie in a Theater (maybe Incredibles 2, opens June 15th)
15. Summer brunch party
16. Make your own pizzas party
17. Make Donuts 2x
18. Treasure Island Flea Market or Jack London Square Market
19. Fourth of July Festival at Berkeley Marina
20. Waterpark day
21. Cookout
22. Read a romance series
23. Make smores
24. Try a new (to us) ice cream place
25. Take the ferry to SF

Next up on the TBR pile:

Spring Bucket List Wrap-up

Spring (at least in our house) is over. We're heading into summer, but first let's see the finally tally. 12/25 

1. Have an Easter Egg Hunt ✓ 
2. Dye Easter Eggs ✓  
3. Beach picnic ✓ 
4. Ride the steam train at Tilden ✓
5. See the baby goats/sheep/pigs at the farm ✓
6. Go to the farmer's market
7. Make fun cupcakes
8. Make a fairy door
9. Have a cookout ✓
10. Visit Happy Hallow ✓
11. Create a gardening project for Arthur
12. Paint my nails a springy color ✓ -- I painted them a shade one darker than Stampin' Up's new Highland Heather
13. Play with sidewalk chalk
14. Go to a botanical garden
15. Visit five different parks ✓ 
16. Fly a kite
17. Make strawberry shortcake ✓
18. Have an ice cream sundae night
19. Visit Chabot twice before our membership runs out ✓
20. Blow bubbles ✓
21. Make a rainbow craft
22. Host a tea party
23. Make dirt pudding
24. Bake flower pot bread
25. Go berry picking

Next up on the TBR pile:

June 2018 Life Goals

Let’s check in on May's goals and my progress.

• Care Exchange Cards -- Success! I finished sending out all of the cards to the participants of this round.
• Finalize summer plans (buy plane tickets) -- Success! Plane tickets were bought. Other plans have been made.
• Figure out J's travel plans -- Success! He actually left over a week ago and will be back next week.
• Institute a library ban for me -- Um... fail. I fully intended on not checking out any books except for the book club selection and any series I am currently reading. And then I went to Dublin and found so many good comics that I just had to scrap my ban and check them out. Oh well.
• Clean out that darn downstairs closet -- Utter and total fail yet again.
• Knock off 5 items from my Spring Bucket list -- Fail. We did a few things, but not enough.
• Plan out a sample schedule for summer -- Success! We are going to have Movie Mondays and Game Night Thursdays. Plus I have a list of activities and some other smaller ideas. 
• Get my hard dyed -- Success, but it's not dyed yet. Because of schedules, I had to push this goal out to mid-June. However, the appointment is scheduled! I can't wait.
• Schedule our first pool day -- Success. 

June's Goals:

• Make our Summer Bucket List (and get started!) -- I'm working on this, but need to finish.
• Work out our whole living situation
• Fill three bags for Goodwill -- Need to get rid of some of the clutter.
• Sell books at Half Price Books -- I have one bag filled and hope to fill another by the end of the month. 
• Start the Library Summer Reading Program -- Last year, I got two great books as prizes and Arthur got a book and a few tickets to local attractions. 
• Try 5 new recipes -- Falling behind on my 52 new recipes in 2018. Need to try something new this month.
• Read 25 books -- Seems crazy high, but I have a giant stack of comic trades to read. 
• Implement our new chore chart -- I'm putting the finishing touches on our plan.

Next up on the TBR list:

Spring Bucket List Update #3

Not a great showing, but I did finish a few more items off the list. Let's see how we've done so far this season. 8/25 

1. Have an Easter Egg Hunt ✓ 
2. Dye Easter Eggs ✓  
3. Beach picnic ✓ -- It was a bright and sunny day with minimal wind, so perfect! Although I did burn the top of my scalp. 
4. Ride the steam train at Tilden (planned for May 27th)
5. See the baby goats/sheep/pigs at the farm (planned for May 27th)
6. Go to the farmer's market
7. Make fun cupcakes
8. Make a fairy door
9. Have a cookout ✓
10. Visit Happy Hallow ✓
11. Create a gardening project for Arthur
12. Paint my nails a springy color
13. Play with sidewalk chalk
14. Go to a botanical garden
15. Visit five different parks ✓ -- Castro Valley Park, Seven Seas Park, Coyote Pointe, Hellyer County Park, Children's Wonderland in Vallejo
16. Fly a kite
17. Make strawberry shortcake ✓
18. Have an ice cream sundae night
19. Visit Chabot twice before our membership runs out -- Went on April 19th (planned for May 24th)
20. Blow bubbles ✓
21. Make a rainbow craft
22. Host a tea party
23. Make dirt pudding
24. Bake flower pot bread
25. Go berry picking

Next up on the TBR pile:

Odds and Ends

Here's my randomness for the week:

• I really need a few hot weather pieces for my wardrobe. Hoping to get shopping soon. 
• Still on a roll with my reading. hoping to keep this up.
• I've scored a few great Groupons lately and it's going to make summer that much better. 
• I need to make a food list for summer. I imagine a Costco run is in my future. 
• Q's love of dogs is just too adorable
• Two cats keep fighting in our backyard. I'm so sick of it.
• Coyotes were spotted near our house after the sun had arisen. They are very bold lately. 

Next up on the TBR pile:

Currently #4

Reading: Mad Hatters and March Hares edited by Ellen Datlow. Really enjoying this collection of 18 Alice in Wonderland inspired short stories.

Watching: We finished Supernatural S4 this week. Starting S5 soon.

Listening: Currently working through the back catalogue of the Bad Times Good Stories podcast. Some of these stories are hilarious.

Making: Still working through all my retiring stamp sets. And making cards for stamp club for Saturday.

Feeling: I have no idea why, but I've been so worn down the past few days.

Planning: Getting all of May's activities set on the calendar. 

Loving: I took s'mores cookies and popcorn to friend's house for playdate last good. Now I'm stuck on s'mores cookies and popcorn. So good!

Next up on the TBR pile:

Odds and Ends

Here's my randomness for the week:

• Q really needs to learn English soon, the screeching is becoming a bit much now...
• Hoping my reading momentum continues through May.
• Secured tickets to the Warped Tour for the twins and me. I might be more excited than they are.
• My scores cookies went a little crazy, but they still taste good.
• So much driving this week. Oh my I am done crossing the Bay.
• Getting closer to a tattoo design. I need to find some time for a consultation appointment.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Spring Bucket List Update #2

Not a lot of tasks checked off this section. Hopefully May goes better. Let's see how we've done so far this season.

1. Have an Easter Egg Hunt ✓ 
2. Dye Easter Eggs ✓  
3. Beach picnic (too cold this month, hopefully we can in May)
4. Ride the steam train at Tilden
5. See the baby goats/sheep/pigs at the farm
6. Go to the farmer's market
7. Make fun cupcakes
8. Make a fairy door
9. Have a cookout ✓
10. Visit Happy Hallow ✓ -- We went yesterday!
11. Create a gardening project for Arthur
12. Paint my nails a springy color
13. Play with sidewalk chalk
14. Go to a botanical garden
15. Visit five different parks -- Castro Valley Park, Seven Seas Park, Coyote Pointe, Hellyer County Park, 
16. Fly a kite
17. Make strawberry shortcake
18. Have an ice cream sundae night
19. Visit Chabot twice before our membership runs out -- Went on April 19th
20. Blow bubbles
21. Make a rainbow craft
22. Host a tea party
23. Make dirt pudding
24. Bake flower pot bread
25. Go berry picking

Next up on the TBR pile:

May 2018 Life Goals

Let’s check in on April's goals and my progress.

• Clean out the downstairs closet -- Fail.
• Read 15 books -- Success!
• Meal plan for all of April -- Success! I even worked in a few new recipes.
• Do a clothes clean-out for me and the boys -- Fail
• Figure out our summer travel plans -- Fail
• Knock off 5 items from my Spring Bucket list -- Fail. We only check off two tasks: host a cookout and visit Happy Hollow. We did make progress on visiting five parks and going to Chabot twice. Our beach day had to be rescheduled due to weather. I'm hoping May offers some good opportunities for activites.
• Try 5 new recipes -- Sorta fail. I didn't get to 5 new recipes, but we did try 2 new ones...
  • Spinach and Blue Cheese Stuffed Chicken -- Needed more blue cheese
  • Caribbean Salmon Quinoa Bowls -- Pretty good...
• Create a grocery and activity budget and stick to it -- Success!

May's Goals:

• Care Exchange cards -- I had a plan to send out thank you cards to the exchange participants. I've worked through about 30% of the participants. Need to get the others sent out, but first stamps must be bought!
• Finalize summer plans (buy plane tickets!) -- This is getting super close, need to lock our plans down.
• Figure out J's travel plans -- He has to go overseas for work sometime soon. I need dates!
• Institute a library ban for me -- Except for the book club selection and any series I'm currently reading, I am not going to check other books out from the library. Need to get back to my own shelves for awhile.
• Clean out that darn downstairs closet! -- Seriously, I will tackle this one in May!
• Knock off 5 items from my Spring Bucket list -- I need to be a bit more intentional this month. I'm thinking a few crafts, more parks, another visit to Chabot, a beach day, and maybe some food related ones.
• Plan out a sample schedule for summer -- I like to space out our big activities and fill in with smaller and cheaper ones. Need to get on this!
• Get my hair dyed! -- A friend has offered to dye my hair. We talked about what I wanted. Now we need to find a time and actually do it. This may have to get pushed to June due to schedules, but I at least want to get it on the calendar. 
• Schedule our first pool day -- The company has to come and do the big chemical dump, but it should be ready early this month.

Next up on the TBR list:

Currently #3

Reading: The Radium Girls by Kate Moore -- April's book club selection. I just started, but so far it's really interesting. 

Watching: We finally finished S3, so we are on to S4 of Supernatural. Finally they introduce the angels. I had forgotten when that happened. 

Listening: Arthur is still on a Black Veil Brides kick, so that's what we've been listening to in the car. I'm totally okay with listening to a little metal.

Making: I've seen the new Stampin' Up! catalog (launching June 2nd), and know what stamps sets are retiring. In May, I usually devote most of my craft blog posts to cards featuring the retiring sets. I'm starting to make the cards this week. Two sets down, sixteen to go...

Feeling: A bit stretched... Nothing super crazy happening right now, just feel like the boys have been pulling me this way and that way. It would help if at least one of the them would take consistent naps, but nope.

Planning: Tentatively starting to plan out summer activities. Nothing set in stone yet, but I'm thinking a concert, maybe a comic con, possibly a trip to the aquarium, and a ton of the usual park playdates and arcade trips. 

Loving: A friend brought Butterscotch Oatmeal bars to our cookout last weekend and they are heavenly. Currently eating a little piece Yum yum!

Next up on the TBR pile:

Odds and Ends

Here's my randomness for the week:

• Yesterday's adventures convinced me that I'm much happier surrounded by 18 month olds than 4 1/2 year olds. 
• I really need to find some new recipes for dinner. Feeling like we are in a rut...
• I forgot my physical book yesterday but thank goodness, I had my phone! Reading accomplished.
• Tea, tea is good.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Spring Bucket List Update #1

A slow start to this season's bucket list. Let's see how we've done so far this season.

1. Have an Easter Egg Hunt ✓ -- We attended a hunt at our favorite indoor play place and we had a hunt at home on Easter.
2. Dye Easter Eggs ✓ -- Arthur and I dyed a few eggs right before Easter. 
3. Beach picnic
4. Ride the steam train at Tilden
5. See the baby goats/sheep/pigs at the farm
6. Go to the farmer's market
7. Make fun cupcakes
8. Make a fairy door
9. Have a cookout
10. Visit Happy Hallow
11. Create a gardening project for Arthur
12. Paint my nails a springy color
13. Play with sidewalk chalk
14. Go to a botanical garden
15. Visit five different parks
16. Fly a kite
17. Make strawberry shortcake
18. Have an ice cream sundae night
19. Visit Chabot twice before our membership runs out
20. Blow bubbles
21. Make a rainbow craft
22. Host a tea party
23. Make dirt pudding
24. Bake flower pot bread
25. Go berry picking

Next up on the TBR pile: