86 Percent

Sigh....Let's get this 30 by 30 thing done with already, shall we?  Considering I was completely bored with half the things on my list by the time I finished writing it (what can I say, I'm fickle!)  completing 86 percent of it is pretty good.  The four left uncompleted places me solidly in "B" territory, and I have always been a "good enough" kind of girl.  So really this 86 percent just sums up my entire life.    Here's what we still need to cover.

7.  Read a "classic" book...One I haven't already read.  Again, I am open to suggestions if you have any you liked.

I'll give you a hint as to how this one went.   When I started the book it looked like this outside---

And when I finished it, it looked a lot more like this---

I'm just going to have to say it.  I might not be a Jane Austen girl...Please still be my friend.  It just took me a long time to get into it.  Like 300 or 400 pages.  But when I was finished,  I rewarded myself by watching my favorite movie (inspired by this very book).  

#7 definitely wins for taking the longest time to complete.

9.  Make 72 hour kits for my family.

Done and done!  The biggest thing keeping me from it all this time was the logistics of it all.  So once I gave up on that things went pretty smoothly.  If I have to get out of dodge on foot I am pretty much out of luck. But, let's face it, with two little ones, if I had to get out of dodge on foot I would be pretty much out of luck anyways.  All this junk now resides in our garage.  Except the food, which resides under our bed.

10.  Learn how to properly clean a bathtub.  This is one household chore that continues to best me time after time.

Pinterest taught me this one.  That dish scrubber is filled with dish soap and vinegar.  Between that and a little  magic eraser action I think I finally have it figured out.  Although, still looking for advice on how to complete this chore without getting soaking wet.

11.  Stay at least 50 dollars under my grocery budget one month.  Right now I pretty much go over every month, so heaven help me with this.

You guys, I killed this one.  Here's how.  I switched Harper to the Costco formula and kept my sorry behind out of Target.  Boom.  Problem solved.  That 83 dollars saved was in addition to the $50 I was trying to stay under.

13.  Make my passwords more secure.  I am currently probably asking to get hacked...Dear Internet creepers, I am doing this one soon, so don't get any ideas.  Thanks.

Hopefully I actually deterred the internet creepers from hacking me, because despite what I claimed, this one was almost the last one to be completed.  No pictures of this, because, well,  you know...

14.  Finish organizing my photos.  I got a good start earlier this year, and then gave up halfway through.

Hands down the most time consuming (completed) thing on my list.  Those black books now hold all the photos we own..  Don't judge the empty spots on the bookshelf.  The photos have been done for a while, the shelf holding them all is new and still in need of tchotchkes.  

19.  Cook a ham

It was edible.  It might take a few more tries to make it delicious.  I may or may not ever try that hard.

25.  Learn how to cook an artichoke.  Those little poke-y vegetables intimidate me to no end.

While we're discussing food related tasks...
I'm adding artichokes to the "more trouble than they are worth" category of food.  This category includes, but is not limited to, seeded watermelon and corn on the cob.  And now artichokes.

26.  Complete this 30 day Mom Challenge. 

This little list helped me survive some of the toughest months of Holden being three.  I plan on pulling it back out every time I need a little perspective.

28.  Put aside enough money for a car rental/gas for our Hawaii trip.  (Probably around $500).

Done. And booked!  In case the creepers are still reading I won't disclose when this delightful event will be taking place, but you better believe you will be hearing about it after the fact.

30.  Set up a chore system for Holden.  Besides me begging him to help me pick up and him saying  "I will just watch you do it."

Simple concept.  He looks at his chore cards.  He finishes his chores.  He gets a punch.  He fills his punch card, he gets a prize from the bucket.  (All crafty related items purchased on Etsy, and not at all made by me.)  Some punch cards are completed more frequently than others (neither of us are big fans of afternoon chores), but overall the system is working well!

 

 

We even threw in a bonus card for good measure.  It also has a hit or miss track record.

Ok.  Let's quickly gloss over the failures:
12.  Buy a good pair of jeans.-- I couldn't commit.  For reals.  Those things are pricey and I didn't want to risk getting a dud.  I'm still open to completing this one though, any fave brands?
17.  Complete a Couch to 5K program.  Given my current situation and my overall laziness, this is probably the most unrealistic goal on the list.--  See?  I knew it even back then. I'm having some weird foot problems that made this tricky, and also I hate running.  I did lose all my baby weight anyways, though, so if I cared about stuff like half credit, I would totally give myself half credit for this one.
18.  Fix the giant hole in the bumper of my car.--Sad story.  A series of unfortunate events (ie a hit and run, Holden taking a sharp rock to our window tint, and the ever encroaching demise of Reo's car) has made us determine that keeping my car nice is a pipe dream, and the money for fixing the giant hole is being squirreled away in the new car fund.  Because quite frankly, the giant hole is the least of my poor car's problems at this point.
22.  Get CPR/First Aid certified. No excuses.  It was expensive.  I am lazy.  The dummies freak me out.

Aaaaand there concludes the (hopefully) most narcissistic post I will ever write.  Let's just all forget this 30 by 30 thing even happened.  And while we're at it, we can all just go ahead and forget that I'm 30.  Thanks tons.