My 14 Goals for 2020
Goal #1 – Take Full Advantage of Having My Husband Home 24/7
Husbands who cook are pretty awesome. Even if they have their own special way of opening cans. 😉
Goal #2 – Take Better Care of Myself.
Lot’s of beach walks this week and I collected enough small pieces of driftwood to fill the planter the HH gave me for Mother’s Day. 🙂
Goal #3 – Get Organized
After decluttering last week and having a yard sale to get rid of the extra things we just don’t need anymore, I’m happy to report 98% of the stuff in our house are things we genuinely use or want to keep. And that feels good.
I gave the medicine cabinet in the bathroom a fresh coat of white paint and re-painted one of the walls {it had a few scuff marks} in the bathroom as well. Apparently the bathroom was previously painted lilac. Interesting!
Goal #4 – Get Proper Window Coverings on All Our Windows.
All that’s left is window coverings for the sunroom. Which I’ll probably finish this fall because right now, we are enjoying the sunshine that streams through the windows all day everyday.
Goal #5 – Master Bedroom Make Over {almost done!}
Still left to do:
Paint Writing Desk a Glossy Black- Paint the Creamy Closet Doors White
- Refinish the Floors {late summer project because I don’t have the supplies and the windows will need to be open all day because of the fumes}.
- Find {or make} something to hang over my writing desk.
Goal #6 – Kitchen Update
Well, I finally got around to painting the double dutch doors white, which is good but it only reaffirmed what I already knew…. We need to paint the kitchen cabinets out white. The cabinets just have too much of a yellowish tinge to them.
If I had to guess, I’d say the cabinets were at least 15 years old. And while the cabinets themselves are in great shape, they could use a fresh coat of paint and after having white cabinets at our HOA house {and loving the way they brought a lot of light into the kitchen} now we are researching exactly how to go about painting the cabinets.
I think spraying might be the way to go. We’ll see. I gave the HH a deadline of 30 days to figure that part out so we can have everything done in the kitchen by the end of the summer. PROGRESS… it’s a good thing!
Goal #7 – Install Vegetable Garden Done!
The vegetable garden is in!
This week we harvested basil, cilantro, sugar snap peas, rhubarb and lettuce.
Goal #8 – Explore More of Maine
Visited a new garden center! I’ll tell you about it this week. 🙂
Goal #9 – Host Some Sort of Get Together
Does having a yard sale count?
Goal #10 – Read/Listen to 12 Books
This week I’ve been listening to Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers and it has been interesting to learn about all the behind the scenes work of his show and personal life.
So far this year I have read/listened to:
- Olive Kitteridge #3
- Olive, Again
- Birdseye: The Adventures of a Curious Man
- Smitten Kitchen Every Day: Triumphant and Unfussy New Favorites
- Natural Color: Vibrant Plant Dye Projects for Your Home and Wardrobe
- The New Bungalow Kitchen
- Container Gardening by Stephanie Donaldson
- The Nightingale #1
- A Piece of the World #2
- The War I Finally Won
- Vertical Gardening
- Front Yard Gardens
- The Complete Cooking Light Cookbook
- Beach House Style
Goal #11 – Learn A New Skill or Craft
Waiting for my neighbor to get his glass kiln so I can see if I want one too. 🙂
Goal #12 – Visit 12 Museums, Historical Homes or Botanical Gardens {and bakeries too!}
Sadly a lot of museums and botanical gardens are not open {or the effort is go is too great} that this goal has sort of fizzled. It started out great, but quickly went downhill. 🙁
January
- Maine Maritime Museum
- Maine Mineral and Gem Museum
- The Island Market
- Cafe DiCocoa
- Hungry Hollow Country Store
February
- Two Fat Cats Bakery
- Portland Museum of Art
- Speckled Ax
- Atlantic Baking Company
- Rockland, St. George, Cushing and Port Clyde Maine
March
- Bar Harbor and Desert Island Adventures Day One, Day Two and the Summer Cottage Rental Tour.
- Tinder Hearth Bakery in Brooksville, Maine
May
- Puzzle Mountain Bakery Pie Stand in Newry, Maine
June
- Red’s Eats in Wiscasset, Maine
- The Bees Knees Honey Stand in Kennebunkport, Maine
- Rococo Ice Cream Kennebunkport, Maine
- Beech Hill Farm Hopkinton, NH
Goal # 13 – Reach 5,000 Etsy Sales by the End of The Year
As of this morning, I have made 4345 sales on Etsy. That’s up from 2804 on January 1st! Only 655 more sales to go before I hit my goal.
I have some new bundles to list {I was hoping to list them yesterday but ended up painting all day instead} and 2 new kits to introduce so I’ll be working on those today and tomorrow.
Goal #14 – Once a Month Menu Planning {for 2}
The HH’s meal plan for the month: Snacking!
My meal plan for the month: Ice Cream, Pie and Salads
*********
Have YOU made any goals for this year? If so, DO TELL! We all want to hear about them.
Have a great Sunday everyone, enjoy the sunshine.
~Mavis
Linda M says
You can give husbands a deadline and it works??? Who knew!
joely says
Mavis must have superpowers!
Annette says
What brand is your toaster? I vote yes for the white cupboards.
Mavis Butterfield says
It is a Dualit New Generation Classic 2-Slice Toaster. Crazy expensive! Like $250. A family friend was cleaning out their ranch about 15 years ago and asked if I wanted any of the kitchen items. We needed a toaster, so I took that and we’ve been using it ever since. It’s an excellent toaster.
Laura says
OMG….been really thinking those cabinets needed a coat of paint, but didn’t want to be rude and say so. I think you will be happy you did it once you’re done.
Brianna says
We have stark while flat front white cabinets and white countertops and I didn’t think they were too bad, unit I painted the walls and ceilings white. They walls and ceilings we originally a peach color, yuck! I hate how it is too white and there is no definition. I have been looking for new cabinets because the boxes are not in good shape as they are apartment grade junk and they cannot be painted as they have melamine fronts. Cabinet colors are so hard to figure out what will look good and timeless and the trends are interesting too. Cabinets are not as simple as I thought.
Bathrooms are interesting colors in many houses. We had one mustard yellow, one peach, and one turquoise blue with a sea foam accent wall in our house before I painted them. Lots of primer and paint to cover those colors up. The people also freehand painted with a roller and non steady hand and the edges were terrible. I had to repaint all of the ceilings too and scrape paint off the trim, cabinets, and fixtures. I finally have painted 90% of this house in the past 2 years. I have the hubby’s office and laundry room left. The outside needs a paint job too as it is chipping off everywhere, but the deck collapsed a few weeks ago and we are sinking money into that right now. Some homeowners should never be DIYers as they had salvaged a deck from another house and put it on this one and incorrectly constructed it. Had we known about some of the DIY And cheap stuff they did, we probably wouldn’t have bought the house, but our choice for what we needed (single story) in our area was dismal. We have practically redone everything and replaced everything in two years, it has been awful.
tia in boise says
1. Organize 20 areas of the house: 2 projects done–most recent was a deep clean of bedroom blinds.
2. Pay down 20% of debt on one card: recently realized I had underestimated interest, so will need to make even larger payments the last half of the year. (Doing a good job of not using this credit card and making payments to cover anything I buy with the other, so yea!)
3. Cut back on sweets: always easier to do in summer!
4. Soda only on pizza night: doing good here–again, always easier insummer
5. Create and implement cleaning schedule: hmmmmm….where DID i put that plan after I wrote it in January???
6. Set up sewing machine and complete 20 projects: made several bibs and masks and a set of napkins, also took the goofy sleeves off a muumuu to create a kitschy sundress. Up to 16 projects–of course, this is the fun goal!
7. Go on 20 dates with DH: this one petered out with coronavirus, but we’re about to make a week of our 25th anniversary and do some outside activities together. Current count is a sad 7.
8. Lose 20 pounds: 10 pounds down! With ankle healed after over 1/2 year off, started walking during quarantine and got back to running–including running 3 virtual 5ks in 3 consecutive weeks in May.
9. Exercise 20 minutes every day: running about 4 days a week and walking one…need to do some core exercises and some weights. After pushing myself to do those 5ks in the spring, I realized I was starting to get lazy, so I made a goal of 3 5ks this summer–finished June’s on the 30th–plus one in September–our annual community Wellness 5k is going virtual, so I’ll do that one, too. Hopefully improve my time each run.
10. Make 20 new recipes. Current count–12 A couple were good enough to make again. Some were just okay, and a few were DUDS.
11. Get rid of (trash or donate) 20 things: sold a bunch of kids’ books, sold some adult books, sold and donated all the feminine products I no longer need–yeeeaaaaa!
12. Never be without water. Doing great with this–so easy when I’m right by the fridge and can refresh my ice!
13. In bed by 11:00 on weeknights: I think I need to give up on this goal for the summer since it’s pointless and menopause is causing me to be sleepless anyway…
14. Complete 20 acts of kindness: I’ve done at least 4 acts.
15. Purchase and use journal–food, exercise, gifts…Doing a fair job at this…
16. Classroom: Stay focused and leave by 4:00 each day. HA!
17. Stop swearing. Oooops….
18. Complete Book Nerd Challenge–50 books: Currently reading book #9. Got a really late start. Now I have to read 2 books a week to finish by mid-December.
19. Track found money and items. Since I’m not out and about and in as many stores as typical, this goal has not had the typical result ($7-8 a year). Currently sitting at $1.54 and my new running sunglasses!
20. Put stuff away once used–each day. Can definitely get better at this one!
SANDYf says
https://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/contractors/job-solutions/project-advice/alkyd-paint
I recently had to sell my Dad’s house and used this paint-it is a DREAM. Did all the cabinets with it and turned out great.
Alkyd paint is the best!
Connie says
I love your kitchen cabinets and draw pulls. May I ask, did you put black granite or quartz on your counters? Whatever, you choose, it looks great!
Mavis Butterfield says
Hi Connie,
They are the same counters as when we moved in. Quartz I think. Draw pulls are new though. 🙂