May Goal Check

May is always busy around here. It begins with Nick’s birthday (which is celebrated for about 2 weeks), and our anniversary falls right there near the end. This is the first year I haven’t had all the end of school year stress/paperwork added to it, so I took that opportunity to pretty much kill my goals.

1. Complete at least 1 crafty project per month.

My best friend since 4th grade Kristina had her 1st baby in April (the 27th to be exact). Kristina is a brave soul who didn’t find out the sex of the baby until delivery (such patience), so she opted to have the shower after Lyla was born. I made 2 buntings for the cakes, 2 flower arrangements, and painted the L. Of course if you’ve ever hosted a baby shower (or birthday party…), you know there’s more to it than that. All those lovely decisions that have to be made so it will all look just right – a total right-brained, crafty labor of love.

Oh yeah and I finally added straps to Ramona’s romper I made last year. Small craft. Minimal sewing. New wearable outfit.

2. Read at least 1 book per month.

via

I began with Michael J. Fox’s book A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Future. Yet another read inspired because it was free on Amazon Prime. It is basically like a long commencement speech. I liked it. It was an easy read and made me laugh. Crazy to think that Fox dropped out of high school, moved to the states (he’s from Canada), and then succeeded in Hollywood. He did talk about how he reads a lot of books that are turned into movies which may have influenced my next book choice(s)…

via (but I did add the little READING banner to make it apply to me)

Yeah that’s right I read 7 more books after I already met my goal this month. I probably would have finished more, but I checked these out from the library (Kindle + Free Digital Library Books = best. thing. ever.) and had to wait to get a few of them. I seriously read about 1 a day in the Sookie Stackhouse series. I have been thinking about reading it since I saw it on the 40 Books You Won’t be Able to Put Down list.

I always read the book before I watch the movie, but I thought tv is different. I tried reading Dexter once and couldn’t make it through (too much alliteration??). I watch True Blood, so I kinda knew what to expect for the first 4 books. Now that I am 7 books into the series, here are a few of my thoughts…

• The characters are a million times more likeable in the books. I mean a million.
•  You don’t have to deal with subplots that aren’t related to Sookie and whatever shenanigan she’s gotten herself into now.
• There are some things HBO has done that are really smart that aren’t likely to happen in the books.

I don’t want to say more because I still have 5 more books to read. I was a little leery of starting such a long series. I figured at some point it would just get stupid for lack of material, but Harris has keep it suspenseful and created characters you actually care enough about to continue reading. I don’t know if Harris will write more after the 12th (okay just googled and according to this there will be a 13th and final book), but I am 7 books in and can’t get enough. I am sure I will finish the series in June and will have more thoughts on my next goal check. Go read them now. Then chat with me about them because I’m dying to sort through my feelings about the books and the show and all my inappropriate feelings toward a certain vampire who shall remain nameless…

3. Do more fun things with Ramona.

Ramona had her first official sleepover with her BFF/cousin Macie. Of course her cousins have slept over before, but this was just a girls night (and it wasn’t because Macie needed to have a babysitter). Dinner was complete with cupcakes then a trip to the park. Mainly because they needed to run off the sugar. (Notice the purse…I can’t get enough of color blocking.) Getting them to sleep is always difficult, but other than that they played so well and had so much fun. We need to move west in a bad way, so this can happen more often.

4. Journal every day

Mother’s day began with breakfast in bed. Nick and Ramona made me Nutella and banana crepes. As I look through my journal it is filled with food stories. Nick has been a cooking machine lately. I even got pancakes in bed for no reason the other day. (Also he doesn’t eat carbs, so it’s not like he was making them for himself.) I have been so blessed with a wonderful husband who always does sweet things for his girls. I hope Ramona thanks him later for showing her what it is to be an amazing husband and father. (Did you see the precious Knuffle Bunny picture of the 2 of them?)

So maybe all this public accountability has helped me!