My goals for 2017
Get 7- 8 Hours of Sleep Each Night
I finally gave up and asked my husband to sleep in another room friday night because I couldn’t stop blowing my nose and making pathetic moaning noises. All I wanted to do was turn on the tv and drink hot tea. Which I did until about 2, maybe 3 in the morning.
Being sick is lame. So is sucking on a cherry flavored menthol cough drop and then remembering about 5 minutes later that the last time you had one you broke out in hives. I don’t know if it was the red dye #40 or what, but I wasn’t going to take any chances so I popped 2 Benadryl and was pretty much useless for the rest of the day.
Life. It has a way of telling you when it’s time to slow down.
Make Saving a Priority, Not an Idea
This past week I harvested oregano, sage and thyme from the garden as well as stayed home all but 2 days. Other than bakery treats I didn’t buy anything new and pretty much stuck close to home. Which, in my opinion, is the best money saving strategy on the planet.
Live a little
I bought a London Fog Latte. Best.Drink.Ever.
Visit 52 REAL Bakeries
The Girl and I hit up another bakery this week. Stay tuned!!
Have 1 “no spend” week each month
So far I’m 9 for 10 this year. I was planning on doing a no spend week this past week but it didn’t work out. Next week?
Start a Line of Rug Hooking Patterns Mission Accomplished
Wahooo! I added another pattern to my collection and that brings my total up to 13 patterns available in my Etsy shop. I have many more patterns drawn out and ready to hook. It’s just a matter of finding the time. Who knows, maybe this time next year I might be up to 24! 🙂
Turn My Wool Stash into $2,500 Mission Accomplished
This past week I sold $729.99 in my Etsy shop which brings my total so far this year to $11,764.67. If you would have told me at the beginning of the year my little hobby would have brought in that much money, I would have thought you were crazy. All I have to say is DO WHAT YOU LOVE. Whether it’s baking pies, making ornaments out of pine cones or growing a few extra vegetables and selling them at the end of your driveway, if you like what you do, it doesn’t seem like a chore, and the money you make from your hobby is just icing on the cake.
Purge 250 Items Including Selling Larger Items We No Longer Feel We Need
It’s official. Monkey Boy and his two buddies have all moved out of their family homes and are out on their own. He didn’t want to take his bed {which has excellent storage space!} but just took his mattress instead. When I moved out I didn’t even have my own mattress to take with me so hey, that’s a huge improvement, right?
Word on the street is the boys are all headed to Ikea today. I can’t wait to hear the details and see what they ended up buying for their bachelor pad. Ahhh to be young again. No parents. No rules. And lot’s of Top Ramen. Those were the days.
Oh, and I almost forgot, Monkey Boy also let some clothes and other odds and ends behind for me to donate. The Girl scavenged a sweatshirt, a notebook and three pennies. Yee-Haw. Maybe we will pass 400 items purged 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.
Nothing says I love you like a night stand full of tissues.
Lose the Muffin Top. {again}
So far so good.
Wear out {most of} the clothing I already own.
Totally rockin’ this goal this year.
Try 52 New Recipes
Last week I made a turkey chili, which in my opinion is perfect for this time of year. This week though, I plan to try out a recipe from the book Sheet Pan Suppers by Molly Gilbert. My Mom had it in her kitchen and the spine wasn’t even cracked yet…. so home with me it went. 🙂 🙂 🙂
Read 52 Books
This week I’ve been listening to The Story of a Happy Marriage by Ann Patchett on Hoopla. It’s not so much about marriage as it is about everything in life and it playing out and coming together. It’s read by the author, I’m about 2 hours in and I like it. I don’t’ remember who suggested it, but thank you.
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.
Melissa says
I know your rug hooking is a hobby and you’d do it anyway, but I’m just curious if you’ve figured out how much you make per hour doing it?
Mavis Butterfield says
No, not exactly. It would be very rare for me to hook something all in one sitting. I suppose I could set a timer or something but most of the time I am hooking while watching tv, in a car, plane or waiting for something.
Dawn S says
It is wonderful to see your generosity each month and the reasons you select each organization or individual! I know you are still thinking about a group for October. May I suggest Wreaths Across America? They rely on donations to place wreaths on the graves of veterans at Veterans Cemeteries across the country. They also rely on volunteers to place the wreaths. Thank you for being a fun and informative place on the web!
Kelly F from Oregon says
In regards to wondering if Red #40 can cause hives, I would give a resounding YES!! Both my daughter and I get hives whenever we have Yellow 5 or Red 40. It’s awful stuff and I wish that it didn’t exist! Thankfully, a ton of food companies have started eliminating the chemical colorings and are moving to more natural food coloring. I believe that Ricola does not use Red 40 in their drops.
Thanks for your awesome blog! 🙂 Been reading for years and it’s one of the few blogs I actually still stop and click on when I see it in my Feedly feed. Good stuff!
Lace Faerie says
I just wish they would stop food coloring all together. Now things red, orange, and darker colors are being colored with black carrot juice, including raisens in cereals. I’m deathly allergic to carrots. Good thing I’m one of those weirdo who insist on reading labels on everything I put in my mouth. Every, Time. Because companies change ingredients all the time without any labeling pointing this out (other than the ingredient list, of course).
Oh, and some medical dyes are carrot based, too. That’s how I found out that carrots had gone from something that made my mouth itch to something that cause a trip to the ER from the retina specialist’s office. Fun times!
Rita says
Hope you are feeling lots better. No fun being sick 🙁
Gigi says
I just read Sheet Pan Suppers (library borrowed). It was good but not much new. I already do mostly sheet pan meals. My husband is a neat freak/OCD and hates cleaning the range top. Seriously if it involves any sort of frying or cooking that might splatter, we don’t do it. Too much hassle (complaining on his part) to clean. So I almost exclusively use the oven and sheet pan meals are easy to clean. I liked the thoughtfulness of the author to include the clean up aspect as a pro to sheet pan meals. I found the steak above the asparagus on a grate recipe was intriguing, but though that cleaning the grate would outweigh the grease flavoring the asparagus when I can just throw the meat on the grill. The photos are great though. My two cents.
Mel says
I’ve been sick too, but I was able to spend some time sewing this weekend simply because I didn’t feel like getting up, so I nearly finished a water bottle tote for a friend for Christmas since more handmade gifts was one of my goals. This particular friend carries her water bottle everywhere at work but leaves it behind when we go out, so i designed a purse for her so she can carry the water bottle shopping, sightseeing, etc. It holds all her essentials (wallet, phone, earbuds, sunglasses, etc.) in custom pockets around the outside of an insulated sleeve for her water bottle. It took several weeks, but now I just need to add hardware.
Next year, I need to limit myself to simpler gifts.
Jeanine says
Just curious…do you have to pay income tax on your earnings for hooking rugs. And, do you deduct your cost for supplies from your earnings to get your total earnings for the year.
Mavis Butterfield says
Yes. I deduct everything at the end of the year and usually post the finally tally on my last goals week for the year.
Julie P says
The horrible throat, cold, sinus then cough thing is over here too. Been a wreck since last Tuesday. On the mend since Friday apart from the cough. I too hate being ill and it couldn’t have come at a worse time. It’s always the way.
Pattie F. says
Hi Mavis: Would you consider making your October donation to Metavivor.org
They are a volunteer run organization that donates 100% of donations to metastatic breast cancer research, MBC is the only kind of breast cancer that kills.
Thanks for considering. Hope you are feeling better soon!
Juli D says
I’d never really heard of a London Fog Latte before, and when reading this I googled it. I LOVE Earl Grey tea, and I immediately went and got one for myself. I’m in LOVE! I got it with sugar free syrup, and it’s now easily my favorite Starbucks drink. Thanks for the rec! (My wallet does not thank you, though. 🙂 )
Mavis Butterfield says
Ha!