Because I'm the mom, that's why!

 It can be hard to work on your goals on your own. This can hinder my progress because I want to be doing what the rest of the family is doing. If they are all in the living room kinda watching TV/kinda watching YouTube, I do the same thing. 

I seem to have forgotten something important. I'm the mom, I can make my family do things....so,  now all of us have a reading goal! #Goalhack 

I told the boys they are going to read one book a month, and we are going to have a short reading time every day. Four days in and we have kept to it! My goal is 20 books this year, but I have more weeks to read, since they probably won't do this at dad's house. 

After dinner we settle in with our books for 22 minutes. Sometimes we have ice cream other times we just get to reading. Daryl is reading a book that is too easy for him, but I broke it to him yesterday that he will just have to start another book when he finishes his. He tried to work the system but mom knows the kind of books he can read. Alex is finally reading a book that he got early in the school year. He is enjoying it! 

You guys, if you have a goal you are struggling with, make other people do it with you! Spread the word! 

Left to Right is Daryl's book, my book and Alex's book

The focus is extreme! 

2021 Goals, Getting Stronger

 I did so well with my 2020 goals that I've been thinking about 2021 for months. While 2020 had plenty of challenges I ended up with a lot of time on my hands. That is why it is so important for me to have my yearly goals, I didn't waste the extra time that was given to me. I had things to work towards and it was a boost to my mood the closer I got to completing my goals. I feel my best when I'm focused and improving myself. I want to keep that going! 

I maintain that resolutions are about changing yourself while goal are about bettering yourself. Goals also should come with an action plan if you want to actually achieve them. I'll get on my soapbox that get on every January, drop the resolutions, set some attainable but challenging goals, and track your progress! 

So as I look at how far I've come in 2020 I'm now looking forward to what I want out of 2021. 

Starting in August I made weights an important part of my fitness routine. Before I would go once a week and miss every once in awhile. Well, with no night meetings or being out of town for work I made getting to the gym three times a week a priority. And I see a difference. I'm running faster and I'm stronger than I was in August. I'm hooked and my goal theme of 2021 is to get even stronger! 

First I want to be mentally stronger so I'm upping the book goal to 20! Yikes! I know the amount of time I spend watching Netflix so this is doable. Especially since The Office is not longer available....

Next I want to be a stronger runner. So I'm upping my yearly mileage goal to 800. I should be able to get there if I make my monthly mileage goal 65. Then I will have some longer months when I'm running races. My race goal is 4 halves in 2021. Yay! 

I'm changing house goals to money goals. Because I have some things that will cost extra funds that don't have to do with the house. So I have 6 money goals that will make me financially stronger: 

• Pay Off my Car
• Replace my Car's Windshield
• New Fridge
• Fix Stairs
• Install a shower in hall bathroom and fix my sink in my bathroom
• Add $2,000 to savings 
• Replace some windows

I need to get creatively stronger too. So I want to knit four things this year. And one can't be a hat! LOL! 

Ok friends, these are my goals and I will update monthly to keep myself accountable. Feel free to share your goals and I can cheer for you too! 

I don't really have any good photos for this post. 
So here is Purl tucked in a blanket. 

Giving myself a little head start, should have a knitted thing soon! 

December Goal Update!

This year K-State gave us the week between Christmas and New Year's off, so Happy Holidays to us! Seeing how I completed most of my yearly tasks in November I didn't have a whole lot of motivation for this month. So I relaxed, enjoyed the Christmas decorations, went to the gym and spent couch time with my Purl. The house is a little bit of a wreck but that might be a sign of a good holiday. 

Next post is 2021 goals! I had to make them a little more challenging, I don't need to be coasting into every December. LOL 

2020 Goals 

Read 12 Books: DONE SEPT.  2020 13/12 

After starting a couple of books and never finishing them I did finish a book this month. I read Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno Garcia. It was a clever piece of fiction that had some juicy twists and turns. It was what I needed after trying to be good and read some non fiction. Every once in awhile you just need a haunted house story. It is what it is!  

Knit 4 Things (and no new yarn!): DONE Oct. 2020 9/4

I ended up making one more hat this month for my niece's Christmas. her school color is purple and I knit up my favorite pattern for her! I was afraid it would be too big but I actually could have made it just a touch larger. She takes after the rest of us and has a big noggin. 

Make 2 Quilts :DONE May 2020

Run 600 Miles:  DONE NOV 2020 668

Dec. 2020 727

I ran 59 miles this month! I expected my mileage to fall off but it never got really cold like it usually does. I didn't do long weekend runs but I was able to run 3-4 times a week. I also kept up with my gym classes. So I ended the year with 727 miles! That is 127 miles over my 2020 goal. I'll take it! 

 

Save 2,000 Dollars: DONE April 2020 

I was able to save 108 dollars this month. I looked back at 2019 and I only saved 50 last December. I was a little disappointed with this number because I had purchased all of my Christmas gifts in November but then the microwave broke. So, I had to allocate funds to a new microwave. When I think about that, I'm glad I was able to save as much as I did. Now all I need is a new fridge to have all new appliances in my kitchen! 

I ended the year saving 3,500 dollars! 1,500 over my goal! 

5 House Projects: In 2021 this will be money projects. A few things for the house and a few other things that I've been needing to take care of. 

Put in a ceiling light in living room:  Done May 
Put in a ceiling light in my bedroom office
Get a new stove: Done Feb
Remove a scraggly tree Done September 
Plant two new trees  Done October 

Almost 200 more miles than last year and 30 seconds faster on pace! Whew! 

I need to get longer arms so I can get all of Daryl in the picture next year! 

2020 Christmas

 It has been over for a couple of days, but the Christmas hangover is starting to clear. I'm wearing my new slippers and ready to blog it out. What a great holiday to end the year. Food (check), Presents (check), Family (check) and remembering to put out the trash(). So you can't have everything! 

Christmas morning the boys got to open their presents form me and Santa. I think the favorites was the Gravy Cat Man merch for Alex and the Muck Boots for Daryl. I got a Mom mug from Alex and a Dunder Mifflin hat from Daryl, so my Christmas was fantastic! My present to me was an amazing Shark vacuum that I've wanted for years. Buy the expensive vacuum people, it's worth every penny! 

Then the Stiles and Browns joined us for more celebrating. It was so much fun that I will just let the pictures speak for themselves. It has been a year since we have been together and I missed all of their faces! Another Christmas in the books, next post will be New Year goals! I can't wait! 

The original gang! 

The Dino hand puppets were also a hit! 

Gravy Cat Man! 

Check out those boots! 

I love my mug, Grandma Rosie helped him go get it! <3

This is fitting since we watched The Office a lot this year! 

Henry is going to be taller than me next year! 

Why don't people dress for dinner anymore?

I was so proud of how Purl handled all the company! 

My buddy Charlie! 

A Christmasy Weekend

 It's been hard to pin point why Christmas has snuck up on me this year. But looking through old blogs I realized we are missing big things that put me in the spirit. The big one is school programs. I love seeing the kids at school with all their friends, dressed for the holiday. There is usually a work Christmas party and a few friends parties. So this weekend we elevated the Holiday Spirit! 

On Friday, we popped pop corn, made hot chocolate and headed out to Lake Shawnee for Winter Wonderland. It is always great and this year was no different. We took the long way home and looked at lights on the way back. 

Today, we broke into our gingerbread train kit. I was kinda expecting it to fail, but we followed the directions and it stood! The boys did a really good job and they ate it the minute after I took pictures. 

This week the first medical professionals in Topeka received the new Covid vaccine. I watched it happen on Facebook live and I let out a sigh of relief I didn't even know I was holding in. If we can get through Christmas and New Years hopefully we will all be back together for the 4th of July! What an independence day it will be! 

Meerpohl Express!

I made the engine :-) 

I think ours turned out better than the box!

 

It's Been 12 years!

 I know people are busy, but I haven't gotten one card for my Blogaversary today. LOL! Meerpohl Manor had it's first post 12 years ago (http://meerpohlmanor.blogspot.com/2008/12/my-first-blog.html). It is officially the longest relationship I've ever had.....LOL! 

I haven't had much to post about lately. The boys are on remote school, so they never leave the house. With it getting dark so soon, I don't want to leave either! We did do a thing over the past two days. We made gingerbread cookies. I realize this doesn't take the average joe two days but when the recipe needs you to chill the dough, you are just asking for me to forget about the project! 

Alex helped roll and cut out the cookies. We all frosted! It was a lot of fun and yes, they taste as good as they look. I'm the kinda mom that makes Christmas cookies with her kids, that's new! 

I hope you all are doing well out there, in so many ways, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel! 

Here's to 12 more years of documenting this crazy family of mine! 

I think they turned out great! 

Daryl frosted one cookie, ate it
frosted another, ate it....you get the picture!

Alex also made cupcakes this week, he would bake every day!

I did a self portrait of me yelling. It's my baking aura.