To Do List

I am a list maker.  If you have seen "I Don't Know How She Does It" (or read the book, or both), think about Kate Reddy.  I can identify with her.  Working mom, always feels like she is juggling a million things at once.  Kate is a list maker as well.  Like Kate, I lie awake at night and think about all the things I want and need to get done.  This can be anything from grocery lists, projects around the house, reminding myself to read something or plan a lesson, etc.  The lists can be for work or home, for immediate action, to do in the near future, or they can fall in the "wishful thinking" category.  Sometimes I have SO much on the to do list that I will randomly email Jeremy a list of things we need to do, just because I feel like if I share this list with him, he can then share the burden of trying to figure out when we are going to get it all done.

This year I didn't write down any New Year's resolutions like I did last year.  That is still on one of my to do lists.  For now I just have a bunch of things swirling around in my head of what I want to do this year.  One of the things I know I wanted and needed to do was to set a goal of cooking more.  A lot more.  With both of us working it is very easy to make an excuse for going out to eat.  We were spending an insane amount of money on food each week.  So for 2012 I made it a goal to try reeeeeaaaalllly hard to cook every night of the week, except for Saturdays- I am giving myself a break on those days.  So far I have done really well.  I have cooked every night since December 30, with the exception of last Saturday.  I am counting last Friday, since we went to dinner at some friends' house.  Hey, we didn't go out to eat at a restaurant, and I did make the salad, so that counts.  This goal has really helped me be more creative and accountable for leftovers.  I am finding creative ways to use all the leftover frozen turkey and ham from Christmas dinner and putting it to use, rather than throwing it out.  And we are finding out some yummy recipes- like copycat chicken wonton tacos from Applebees.  Mmmmm. 

Another item on my to do list is to potty train Joey.  I really was not planning on doing this so soon.  I figured I would wait at least until she 2 and then start, but I think she has other plans.  Shelby never went through a phase of taking off her diaper, but Joey loves her naked booty cheeks to flap in the wind.  She also doesn't love sitting in a wet diaper.  I found that whenever she would pull her diaper off, 99% of the time she would have just wet it.  So, every time she took her diaper off I started sitting her on the potty.  At first she would just push and toot, then laugh, grab some toilet paper and wipe, and then flush.  She was so proud of herself.  Then I started trying to get her to sit on the potty for longer.  I would sing a couple songs wither her.  Still nothing.  Then the other day, it worked.  On Thursday she peed on the potty!  Twice!  Shelby and I both made a huge deal out of it and you could tell Joey was so excited.  I thought Friday would be even better, but she didn't do it at all.  I haven't really tried since then.  So, potty training is on the to do list.  I just have to gear myself up for it a little bit.  It is a very time demanding task.  I think I'm also sticking it at the bottom of my list because I don't want Joey to grow up.  How is she almost 2?! 

Another item on our to do list is reading the scriptures more.  I think this one is permanently etched onto the list.  But we are doing really well with it right now.  We had the "My First" scripture board books to read to the girls, but since Shelby is a bit older now, we just bumped up to the readers.  I remember reading these as a kid and loving all the pictures.  Shelby loves these too and is really paying attention to the stories.  She is very smart and asks great questions, and it is really great to see her testimony building and growing!

Well, time to go tackle more on my lists...