Monthly Archives: December 2010

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Uberlist 2011

Oh yes, it’s that time again. Time for the vision, time for the madness.

For those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about, I copy and paste from last year’s entry:

Yet again I have braved the madness of creating an Uberlist. An idea stolen from a friend of a friend, it consists of coming up with a to-do list for the coming year, containing the same number of items as the year it is.  (When it began in 1998 or so, there would have been 98 items on the list. This year there are 111.)  It’s brash and bold and I love it.  To quote whoever it was I stole the idea from:

“I think I only accomplish about 30% of the list in any given year (one year, I didn’t finish MAKING THE LIST) and generally by June there are a good 10 items that are no longer applicable or even desireable, but it’s a fun thing to have nonetheless, and it keeps me focused for the first few months of the year. Then I forget all about it until about, oh, say, NOVEMBER, at which point I scramble about trying to remember where I put last year’s list.”

This year I completed 63% of my list, which is pretty dang amazing. Last year I did 49%, which means either I was more productive this year, or I got better at salting the list with things I knew I’d do anyway. Don’t judge me! :)

So here’s this year’s list, with a couple of things edited because they concern gifts for people who read this blog.

    Books

  1. Read 50 books
  2. Re-read a childhood favorite (Little Women)
  3. Read bio of Pres. Monson
  4. Read 5 education/child development books
  5. Reread Charlotte Mason companion
  6. Read 5 Shakespeare plays
  7. Read a book/author I’ve always meant to try (100 years of solitude?)
  8. Read a volume from a poet I’ve never tried
  9. Participate in book club

    10. Local attractions

  10. Go to Winchester Mystery House
  11. Go to aquarium
  12. Go to Oakland zoo
  13. Go to SF zoo
  14. Go to sky high
  15. Go to beach

    16. Trips

  16. Go on 4 overnight trips with B
  17. Visit Karen & Bruce
  18. Go to the snow
  19. Go camping
  20. Go to Disneyland

    21. Spirituality

  21. In depth study of Book of Mormon
  22. Read lessons for Sunday ahead of time
  23. Fast purposefully each month
  24. Study temperance
  25. Go to temple
  26. Meditate 5 minutes a day for a month
  27. Keep gratitude journal
  28. Memorize 12 scriptures
  29. Memorize 12 new hymns

    30. Service

  30. Work on Family History
  31. Make standing appts for visiting teaching
  32. Volunteer to help with activities
  33. Teach Rachel to sew
  34. Make something for ****

    35. Personal development/education

  35. Meet a new sister each week
  36. Go to enrichment each month
  37. Write thank you notes
  38. Use Rosetta stone to review Spanish
  39. Get sketchbook and draw nature
  40. Take a dance class
  41. Revisit priorities once a month
  42. Paint a decent picture
  43. Look into piano lessons
  44. Get CPR certified
  45. Invite 3 couples over
  46. Get some new clothes

    47. Leisure

  47. Go to tea with Liz
  48. Go to a musical
  49. Go to a play
  50. Have date night once a month
  51. Try new music
  52. Get a manicure
  53. Get a massage

    54. Home

  54. Purge craft closet
  55. Purge girls’ books
  56. Purge kitchen
  57. Purge game/coat closet
  58. Purge storage
  59. Get new plants
  60. Get carpets cleaned
  61. Finalize housing options
  62. Get 72 hr kits stocked
  63. Super clean apartment

    64. Writing

  64. Finish draft of Mystery’s End
  65. Submit it to publisher
  66. Do Nanowrimo
  67. Research Who Made the Monsters
  68. Post weekly to the girls’ blogs

    69. Health

  69. Go to dr.
  70. Get new toothbrush
  71. Go to dentist
  72. Figure out time to workout
  73. Do it consistently for 6 months
  74. Order Jillian DVD
  75. Figure out what I should be eating and do it
  76. Start running

    77. Homemaking skills

  77. Try 12 new recipes
  78. Come up with food budget and stick to it
  79. Revisit cleaning schedule
  80. Make jam
  81. Learn embroidery

    82. Entrepreneur endeavors

  82. Take pictures for Etsy
  83. Post 3 items
  84. Make banner for site
  85. Send out link for site

    86. Creativity

  86. Make 5 items from Wee Wonderfuls book
  87. Make 5 items from Fleece animals book
  88. Make quilt (30′s repro)
  89. Make tumbler quilt
  90. Make Z’s Cars quilt
  91. Make felt board globe
  92. Make Tiny’s birthday book
  93. Make king sized bedspread
  94. Make shutterfly books for girls
  95. Make Christmas quilt for ****
  96. Make The Year You Saved Christmas books
  97. Get Bird book illustrated
  98. Get bird book printed

    99. Girls’ Education

  99. Order Math-U-See
  100. Get info on Ocean Grove
  101. Get signed up
  102. Determine curriculum
  103. Determine schedule
  104. Figure out preschool for Tiny
  105. Figure out adventure/trip days
  106. Get girls outside – figure out nature time
  107. Regular and effective FHE
  108. Get art cards
  109. Teach girls primary songs
  110. Figure out assessment and tracking system
  111. Look into Daisy Girl Scouting for Z
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Books: A Year in Review

I realized last night, as I looked over my list of books read this year, that apparently I got behind writing about them (that was in February) and I never started again. Whoops!I vow to do better next year. As for now, here is the complete list, for anyone who cares. If you want to know about a particular book, let me know and I’ll post about it. :)

My goal for the year was 50 books and I managed 55 (56 if you count that I read one twice). The year’s not over yet, so I may add to this list in the next couple of days.

Some stats:

44 were fiction, 11 Non- Fiction. That’s  12 non-fiction less than last year.

14 were re-reads.

11 were bought in hardcover or paperback. 14 were from the library. 5 were free on the Haunted Kindle. 11 were bought on the Haunted Kindle. 12 were books I already had or were given as gifts.  So 22 were paid for, and 33 were free. That’s pretty dang good!

So here they are, with my favorite new reads in bold. (Assume that if it’s a reread I love it.Or had to read it for book club. :) ) :

The House of Lost Souls- F.G. Cottam

Simplicity Parenting – Kim John Payne with Lisa M. Ross

Ilorich- Steven Brust

Persuasion- Jane Austen

The girl with the Dragon Tattoo- Stieg Larsson

The Wild Things- David Eggers

Steady Days – Jamie C. Martin

#1 Ladies Detective Agency- Alexander McCall Smith (reread for book club)

Heart of Darkness- Joseph Conrad

The Humbling- Phillip Roth

Exterminate all the Brutes- Sven Lindqvist

Horns- Joe Hill

Screwtape letters – CS Lewis

Writing Motherhood – Lisa Garrigues

We Never Talk about My Brother – Peter S. Beagle

The Remarkable Soul of Women – Dieter Uchtdorf (reread)

Calm and Compassionate Children – Susan Usha Dermond

Nineteen Seventy-Four  – David Peace

Where the God of Love Hangs out- Amy Bloom

Hotel Iris- Yoko Ogawa

Normal People Don’t Live Like This- Dylan Landis

Changeless- Gail  Carriger

Keeping House: The Litany of Everyday Life- by Margaret Kim Peterson

Kneadlessly Simple –Nancy Baggett

Old Testament (reread)

What the world will look like when all the water leaves us – Laura van ven Berg

Hamlet – Shakespeare (reread)

Trinidad Noir – many

Coco Chanel and Igor Stravinsky – Chris Greenhalgh

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz – L.Frank Baum (reread)

The Story of Doctor Dolittle – Hugh Lofting 7-12-10   (twice)

Becoming Jane Eyre – Sheila Kohler

Treasure of the Golden Cheetah – Suzanne Arruda

Two Gentlemen of Verona- Shakespeare (reread)

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory- Roald Dahl (reread)

Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator- Roald Dahl

James and the Giant Peach- Roald Dahl (reread)

A Girl of the Limberlost- Gene Stratton-Porter

The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles by Julie Andrews Edwards

Johannes Cabal the Necromancer – Jonathan L.Howard

Bamberts Book of Missing Stories by Reinhardt Jung

The Witches – Roald Dahl (reread)

Johannes Cabal, Detective by Jonathan L. Howard

Catcher in the Rye – JD Salinger (reread)

A Novel Bookstore – Laurence Cosse

Brave New World- Aldous Huxley

Growing Grateful Kids  – Susie Larson

The Homecoming Party – Carmine Abate

Wigs on the Green- Nancy Mitford

From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler – E.L. Konigsburg

Book of Mormon (reread)

The New Testament (reread)

Doctrine and Covenants (reread)

Machine of Death: A collection of stories about people who know how they will die -many

The Crocodile’s Last Embrace- Suzanne Arruda

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At this moment

The girls are sitting at the table eating dinner. This is always an epic event and can take anywhere up to an hour. I just informed Z that she is not allowed to talk again until she finishes her dinner. I said it kindly though.

Tiny is singing a song that she is making up about her cousins getting baptized. Santa and monkeys have also made an appearance in the song. She has finished her food, so she can sing.

There are light up Cinderella dress up shoes next to my desk. Z told me today that she kept seeing a blue light by the dress up box last night, and apparently something was setting off these little shoes. So now they’re going to live in the closet so they don’t freak her out during the night.

There is a pan of homemade marshmallows in my kitchen. My beloved Valerie taught me how to make them today, but I don’t have the powdered sugar necessary to turn them out and cut them up, so they will sit there and taunt me until tomorrow. They’re kind of rude that way.

My knee hurts. I tripped and fell today, and while I didn’t skin it, I whacked it pretty hard. Ow.

I have new flannel sheets on my bed, just waiting for me to sleep on them. I’m excited. And they were only $19.99, which is a ton less than I was expecting, so I’m very pleased about that too.

B is out for the evening, so I’m going to attempt to make a stuffed giraffe (I may have lost my mind), and watch a movie.  But what movie? I always end up watching the same 4 or 5 movies over and over – Gosford Park, Being Julia, The Cat’s Meow, The Royal Tenenbaums… maybe I’ll watch The Darjeeling Limited again. Such a good movie.

I have a new Christmas banner!

I opted for a 6 ft. one this time instead of 9 like last time, and it fits perfectly on the wall. I love it. I have ridiculously cute fabric that I want to make a Christmas tree skirt with, but I’m not quite sure how to attempt it. Has anyone run across a pattern for one?

We’re listening to Pink Martini’s Joy To The World album, which is brilliant and you should click over and get it right now.  It’s got such variety and spunk, I love it. It incorporates music styles from all over the world, and has songs in at least 4 languages, but none of it feels gimmicky, and the whole album holds together really nicely.  I highly recommend it.

I also recommend the book I just finished, A Novel Bookstore by Laurence Cosse. As someone who loves (LOVES!) recommending things (have you noticed?), and who thrived in an environment where I could sell books I loved, this book so hit home. It’s the story of a couple who open a bookstore that only carries “good novels”- books that the couple and their consulting board of authors think speak to the soul and are worth recommending. Things take a strange turn as people take offense at the concept of the store, and things get mysterious very quickly. It’s a fantastic read, and has some brilliant passages.

Now the girls are reading Dora books. Well, Z is reading them, and Tiny is looking at pictures and pretending to ice skate. It cracks me up how I have to wrangle Z to read with me in the morning during lessons, but she’ll spend hours reading on her own. As long as she’s reading, I don’t care though. :)

What’s going on with you at this moment?

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Tis the season

A little bit of what’s been going on around here.

Some crafting:

An elf came to live at our house:

This is Peter Pan, our house elf, I mean, Elf on a Shelf. B’s parents sent him a couple of years ago, and the girls LOVE him. This is when Z found him on Dec. 1, and then her explaining all about him to Tiny.

They have been enjoying him every day.

And our Christmas tree is up, with all its attendant birdies.

and the new bird for this year:

I loves me my birdies. Should you like to know, all of the ornaments on the tree are silver, except for one orange ball (to symbolize it not going dark for the Nephites on the night Christ was born), and the girls’ ornaments. They get one each year from Peter Pan that has to do with something they like that year. (This year Tiny will be getting a panda, and Z will get a zebra.) And then there’s the birds – about 25 of them.

Now it’s time to go clean the house- more to come!