18 for 2018 update (November)

Y'all!  I almost forgot to write this post!  In fact, I had a post all set to go up today (now you'll have to wait until Wednesday to discover the fate of this year's Thanksgiving turkey carcass) before I remembered that there was something more pressing to discuss. 

I told my phone to remind me on the 4th Thursday of every month to write the 18 for 2018 update post, but this month, the 4th Thursday was not the last Thursday.  So my phone reminded me, but the reminder was not quite as relevant as it is in other months.  I left the reminder where it was, but it disappeared after a few days.  I suppose my phone figured if I hadn't done it yet, I wasn't going to do it, so it was no use keeping that reminder front and center anymore.  And even though it was still on my calendar, it was out of (immediate) sight.  Which made it out of (immediate) mind.

Thankfully, something brought it back to mind, so you do not have to wonder any longer about whether or not I've made any progress on my goals.

Well, you do have to wonder just a little longer, because I haven't told you yet.

But I will.  Any second now.

OK.  Here I go.

The thing that brought the update post back to mind was completing one of the goals.  Yay me! 

I posted my Christmas cards yesterday.  I even managed to write a mini Christmas newsletter (I had to recycle a past writing, but you all have probably forgotten it by now anyway, right?)  Cross goal number 18 off the list.

The other day, I realized that someone to whom I wasn't planning on sending a card was expecting a Christmas card from us, so I need to tell you this: if you sent us a Christmas card last year, your card went out in yesterday's mail.  That's your reward for sticking with us and sending us greetings year after year even when my brain was too ... anxious? depressed? overwhelmed? ... to let me reciprocate.  I really appreciate you thinking of us, and we were thinking of you, too.

Anyone else, we do have extra cards, so maybe you'll get one, too.  Let's see what happens, shall we?

(and urg.  I just remembered that I was going to send out some extra pictures with some of those cards.  Whoops.  Guess some of you will be getting even more actual in-the-mailbox mail that-is-not-junk-mail-or-a-bill.  Yay, you!)

We can cross goal number 8 (purging paper) off the list, too, because I decided I was done.  I don't remember where I left off, and it's not readily apparent, so I decided not to continue.  I stuck the file folder that I picked up off the floor in October back in the file cabinet and called it good.

That leaves goal number 9: create a household binder/legacy box.  I honestly think that if I meant to make a legacy box, as described by Dave Ramsey, I would have done it by now.  I've thought a lot about what I want to include, and in what format, but haven't actually made any steps toward pulling anything together. 

Let's face it, friends.  This is an overwhelming task.  This is putting all of the information that someone might need to step into my shoes into one place.  Plus all the information one might need to take care of me or my family if I become debilitated.  Hubby thinks it needs recipes in it, for george's sake.  So he knows where the snickerdoodle recipe is (in his defense, he would need to know that if he wanted to step into my shoes).

This is also an incomplete-able task.  Even if I do (when I do) manage to get all of the information in one place, the information is going to become outdated.  This is what we call a never-ending task.  Kind of like laundry.  Or dishes.  Or, really, any and all housekeeping tasks.  I'm going to have to keep going back to update.  I should be used to this by now.

Yup.  It's overwhelming and will never be done. 

So let's break it down. 

And let's also give myself grace because it will always be a work in progress, so it is ok for it not to be perfect in the first iteration.  In fact, it is impossible for this thing to be perfect in its first iteration.

Here we go.

• By December 7, I will have written down a list of what I want to include, and have an idea of how I want to format it.
• By December 14, I will have begun gathering information and organizing it.  I will also have made a list of any supplies that I need to purchase (that would be page protectors).
• By December 19, I will have obtained any additional supplies.
• By December 21, I will give myself permission to call this goal done, regardless of whether I feel like it's really done or not, because it will never *actually* be done.
• By December 31, I will have informed all relevant parties where to find the binder and what to do with it.

Friends, I am gasping to the finish on these goals.  But I am going to finish.

How are you doing on your 2018 goals?

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My 18 for 2018

1. ** Make oyster shell and grit dispensers for the chickens
2. ** Plant a garden
3. Can jalapenos-
4. Have everyone in the household take the love languages quiz
5. Go on a date with each of my boys (AKD, MC, Bubby)
6. ** Send friend mail 8 6 4 times
7. Obtain and begin using a to-do notebook
8. ** Purge file cabinet and create paper organization system
9. ** Create a household binder/legacy box--I think my boys would be lost if something happened to me.
10. Delete saved electronic mystery shop screen shots and receipts
11. ** Buy desk task light
12. Buy phone charging cords for each of our vehicles
13. Make a chicken sign--
14. Take a class through community education or a local craft store
15. ** Finish valances for master bedroom.
16. Crochet messy bun hat
17. ** Get the boys' picture taken
18. Send Christmas cards in 2018