july.

 

July 2-5
Independence Day ~ Sunday
Holiday ~ Monday

July 9-11
SAR @ WW ~ Friday
Rearrange master bedroom
Vacuum bedroom, hallway
Wimbledon Finals

July 16-18

Family Birthday Fun for my sister & nephew ~ Saturday
Clean upstairs bathrooms
Clean Kitchen, Powder Room

July 23-25

Work on house plants (add soil, water, re-pot a couple)
Hang B/W Gallery Wall in Living Room
Hang Daisy Gallery Wall(s) in Stairway

July 30-31
Begin Summer "Sort/Organize/Purge/Donate"
Office & Closet

june.

The month I turn another year older, summer is officially here, the mania surrounding "the plan" is finally waning, and now that I PASSED MY CERTIFICATION EXAM and don't have to worry about restarting the study sessions again for the fall exam, I can turn my attention towards home projects, having fun, and anything else I want to do. :)

June 4-6
College Baseball Regionals
Clean master bathroom (inside out & top down)
Clean guest bathroom (inside out & top down)
Clean master bedroom (dust/vacuum)

June 10-13
College Baseball Super Regionals
Bake my birthday cake
Celebrate my birthday early with my family

June 18-20
Father's Day
Paint stairway, upstairs hallway, kitchen island
Fill remaining holes
Touch up painting in master bedroom, bathroom

June 25-27
Hang art in living room, stairway, hallway
Empty and start working on office & closet

May.

 

April showers bring May flowers


Girls' Day ~ May 8
Lunch at J. Alexander's and Shopping at Crabtree

Exam ~ May 14
Exam was May 6 and encountered technical issues at the testing center; I waited 2 hours since they had a similar issue earlier in the week that took an hour to fix - they were unable to fix my issue so I had to reschedule my exam.

BIL's Birthday ~ May 14
Just need to pick up some bourbon for the ol' guy :)

Work on Outdoor Spaces, Landscaping ~ May 15-16, 22-23
A bit late this year due to a couple late freezes and my exam...my outdoor spaces need some major love! I'll hit Homewood for some flowering inspiration, clean up the furniture and put the cushions and seasonal items back out, power wash the house, windows, porch and patio, rake up old mulch (the HOA landscapers use crappy mulch), dead leaves, plant & pot flowers, and add fresh mulch/ground cover.
Plus, rework my drainage area out back - move edging and add more rocks.

Memorial Day Weekend ~ May 28-31
Begin the comprehensive and long-term project of getting rid of the excess
AKA sort, organize, purge (donate and toss) EVERYTHING, starting in the guest room (AKA my hoarding space)

April.

 

Thursday, April 1 ~ Vacation Day
Friday, April 2 ~ Good Friday
Sunday, April 4 ~ Easter

This year is flying by! Hard to believe it is already April. Just about 30 days until my exam...dun, dun, dun. ;)
So far, this month is off to a positive start with an early Easter holiday. I attended Good Friday and Easter services at Bay Leaf with my parents, and we had a tasty Easter lunch with my sister's family Sunday afternoon. I took the 1st off to have a 4-day weekend. I fit in a pedicure so I could start wearing sandals since the weather is finally nice again...except for the pollen. I've upped my intake of KORS shots while the pollen levels are high to help curb any allergic reactions that may arise, as well an increase in stress -- work has been REALLY busy since I've taken on more responsibilities. Fortunately, our section is now stacked and some relief should be coming soon to help with sign permit processing and reviews. There are a lot!

Monthly Goals
STUDY!!!
Clean the bathrooms (April 9-11)
"Finish" my room (April 9-11)
Do & send in my taxes (asap)

spring!

Here we are nearly 1 year after "15 days to flatten the curve" and still deeply divided as to what and how businesses, schools, etc. should reopen since in most states, not everything is back to normal. With the arrival of the so-called vaccines, there is even more divisiveness over reopening and what "normal" means. Our so-called President has been MIA, yet to give regular press briefings or even hold a State of the Union Address. What ever your thoughts, I think we all are looking forward with hope for the new year. 

With <65 days to go, studying for my exam is my main priority. I am meeting with my tutor (my mom) 2-3 times a week. My exam is May 6...it's crunch time. Here's how I hope to spend my time when I'm not working or studying:


- ATB-Foodies Event @ Full Moon
- Tutoring sessions after work
- House Projects
-- Reorganize/reconfigure my closet to accommodate spring/summer wardrobe swap
-- Pack up fall/winter wardrobe
-- Organize spring/summer wardrobe
-- Clean/+ my room
-- Clean bathrooms (upstairs)
-- Clean/tweak downstairs
- Custom Framing Order at Michael's for my Nel Whatmore pieces and a couple other pieces
- Celebrate my mom's birthday
- Celebrate my bestie's birthday
- Hang B/W quote gallery wall in living room
- Fill nail holes

December.

SIGH. Just one more month in what has seemed like the longest year ever. We still don't know who is going to be inaugurated in January. MSM has declared a victor but with numerous lawsuits and recounts in play, there will be no official answer until all votes of the electoral college are counted and certified/confirmed. The registration date for the May 2021 exam has been pushed back to January, so I have about a month to get my house projects done before I return to studying and being focused on my exam. I have already started to develop my plan for preparing for the next exam -- reading schedule, quizzes, etc. So let's get into it...

GOAL: FIRST FLOOR
- Add a fresh coat of "Extra White" to the first floor (dining room, living room and kitchen)
- Add vertical white stripes to main wall in dining room
- Add horizontal white stripes to bar wall in living room
- Clean the floors (living room & dining room)
- Re-lay rugs when floors are dry (living room & dining room)
- Rehang rods and drapery panels (living room & dining room)
- Rearrange furniture (living room & dining room)
- Bring down Christmas from the attic
- Decorate for Christmas!
- Install anchors and hang mirrors downstairs
1. Isabella: Fireplace wall
2. Round: Above the bar
3. Diverging Diamonds: back to its original spot in the dining room (on the striped wall)

GOAL: OFFICE
- Empty the office
- Fill holes
- Add a fresh coat of "Extra White" in office & closet
- Add white stripes to main wall in office
- Rehang rod and drapery panels
- Assemble new desk and arrange furniture
- Hang art/+ 
- Organize closet

GOAL: GUEST BEDROOM
- Sort/organize/purge all the "crap" in the guest bedroom
- Have my mom come get my tall white bookcase to take back to my childhood bedroom (it's a nice bookcase that I don't want to donate in case I want it later)
- Hang art/+
- Work on filing and updating my files (in office closet)

12/24 - 12/28  HOLIDAY + Wrap up projects
- Christmas Holiday + Office Closed
- Add a fresh coat of "Extra White" to other areas of house (rest of the kitchen, pantry and staircase)
- Paint Isabella mirror black! 
- Gather end-of-year donations for the Durham Rescue Mission

12/31  YEAR'S END 
- New Year's Eve

OTHER
- Submit my parking receipts for reimbursement
- Wrap and ship presents (to eastern NC) + send Christmas cards 
- Tally up successes and failures for the year
- Look ahead to 2021 and make the "big" goals for the new year (debt freedom, pass my exam, fitness goals; etc.)

November.

I did not post anything for October...I did a draft and then moved on. Just under 2 weeks until my exam, still dealing with stupid restrictions and working towards and through the election...it just didn't seem worth it. So, here we are with just two months left in 2020, I am moving towards a period of reflection and planning for the future which feels more unknown than usual, but I still have hope for the future. I'm hoping this next month will bring a renewed sense of motivation and completion of goals and tasks. 

Important Dates
- (S)election Day - Tuesday 11/3
- Veterans Day - Tuesday 11/11
- Exam - Tuesday 11/17
- Thanksgiving Day - Thursday 11/26

Things To Do
- Pack up Halloween decorations
- Unpack and decorate for Harvest/Thanksgiving
- Fill old holes
- Touch up painting
- Hang new gallery wall in Living Room (I moved the Travel/Architecture-themed pieces including my spoon collection up to the Guest Room and it looks great!)
- Tweak the Office 
- Order new mirror for my bedroom and finish hanging art/+ in Master Bedroom
- Sort/organize/purge/shred...I have at least a dozen boxes/bags/storage containers to sort and so much to get rid of that I've been dragging along for the past several years
- Do another round of donations to the Durham Rescue Mission
- Finish the Guest Room (hang art/mirrors) and closet (need to finish organizing; in October, I reconfigured the shelving/hanging components using what I had)
- Clean the floors and re-lay rugs in Dining and Living Rooms
- Enjoy time with family and friends
- Start working out again now that I'm starting to feel better (cold)