Resolution Tuesday: 17 Weeks to Go

The summer of 2011 has officially ended. As usual, it didn't last long enough! That's OK. The next season is under way.

Area 1: Weight

With lots of yo-yoing and even at times being HIGHER than my starting weight in January, I have arrived at a whole five pounds . . . LOST. It's not much, but at least it's on the downward side. We're going on a vacation south of the Mason-Dixon soon (Williamsburg!!), and I highly expect those five pounds to return as I eat the foods of my youth. Or maybe not. I intend to supplement my southern food choices with lots of salads and we'll be walking A LOT. Perhaps I might even maintain! (Might as well take a positive outlook.)

Area 2: Family

This sort of belongs here as it benefits my family. I have asked (begged) a lady in our church to give me some lessons in fitting clothes. I have my second lesson this week and I've already learned several places I've been doing things wrong for decades. Her mother was a professional in this area and taught her daughter all the tricks of the trade. It's nice being excited about sewing again.

Area 3: Schedule

As of Friday we finished up our Summer Program in homeschooling. Since we'll be away for half of September (doing educational things), I am not starting our new school year until the beginning of October. It did occur to me last night that I still need to put this new school year together. I haven't even looked at anything yet. I love curriculum planning time--I just need to sit down and do it.

Area 4: Chassis Maintenance

I got nothing here that's new. My toenails have faithfully enjoyed color all summer. That's something!

Area 5: Debt

The vacation to Williamsburg that I mentioned above came about because we wanted to take advantage of the homeschool rates on tickets and lodging that were available. We just finished studying this time period and wanted to bring it to life for J. We were prepared for these costs, so half of it is already paid for. We've been using a mostly cash system for over a year now and it is REALLY nice having things not show up a month later on the credit card bill. We've also gone to an automatic draw on the debt so that every month has the minimum plus a good extra chunk reducing the total. These are at 0% and 4%, so things are beginning to show improvement.

It's slow but steady progress!

Area 6: Garden

The tomatoes are FINALLY starting to come in a bit. We've also gotten a nice harvest of green beans and a few bell peppers. The collards have been plentiful. Irene's winds broke a few of the cucumber, bean, and melon stems, though.

This garden has definitely had to overcome lots of conditions. We had flooding in May, two weeks of absentee gardeners in June, a squash murdering crazy women with shears in July, and a hurricane in August. Now it will have more absentee gardeners in September.

Gee. It's a miracle anything grew at all!