40 things to do before I am 40!

And just so you know that is right around the corner. It is exactly 8 months and 2 days away. I made this list some time shortly after my birthday this year, so I'm thinking it was in late September or early October.

1. Finish cruise scrapbook (we took the cruise in 2008)
2. make a button picture
3. unload the last box in my closet from our move in 2008 done 12/09
4. Volunteer somewhere
5. make a pillow
6. make curtains for the basement
7. start Library of Memories System
8. get all 2008 and 2009 pictures developed off of computer
9. make 25 scrapbook pages 17 as of 1/10
10. finish "paper" closet in den. done 1/18/10
11. go antiquing
12. buy something I love without worrying about the money (maybe wool rug from Target)
13. only get one new purse all year
14. find the perfect brown sandals--buy 2 pair
15. mail cards and letters to my friends on their birthdays
16. write in my journal for the kids more this year
17. blog on a regular basis--maybe weekly
18. put shelves up in my scrapbook area--and put all my "stuff" on them
19. read 4 books I wouldn't normally read
20. see a play
21. see a musical
22. go away for a weekend with just Doug. 11/09
23. do some embroidery
24. do something anonomysly
25. give myself a pedicure once a month
26. have a regular date night with Doug
27. take each kid out to eat by myself Kate 12/09 Zach 1/10
28. go tent camping (cringe)
29. paint a picture
30. update Kate's school album
31. update Zach's school album
32. make an ornament scrapbook with my BFF
33. Serve a dinner on my china 11/09
34. see a major league baseball game
35. wash down all the woodwork in the house
36. walk 3 times a week on a regular basis
37. frame my favorite quotes
38. frame a piece of each kids artwork
39. do 12 scrapbook pages about myself
40. finish landscaping one side of the house

Whew. I better get to it.

Car Trouble

UGH! I've said it before and I will say it again. It seems like the majority of the problems happen when Doug isn't home. Or maybe it just seems like it because he deals with the majority of the problems around here.

Started car this morning and pulled it out of the garage to warm it up before taking Zach down to school to catch the bus. Everything went fine. Told Kate to go out and start the car to warm up again before taking her down to school. (I should have went out there with her to show her since she'd never done it before, but how hard could it be...is what I thought--she can do it) Mistake. She came in saying that the check engine light was on--but I told her it always comes on when the car first starts--well, that should have been my eye opener. When we went out to get in 10 minutes later the car was still cold and only auxiliary stuff was working. Hmmm...I tried to start it--nothing. Brake pedal wouldn't depress---hmmm....then car wouldn't even click. Poor Kate thought she broke the car. Turns out it is the same thing that happened to Doug when he took the boys to practice in Blue Mound 2 months ago--It may be time to take it in and figure out if it needs a new battery or what. Poor Kate. She had to walk to school thinking she had broken the car.

I had to back the jeep out of the garage down the driveway in between the Camry and the neighbor's car and pull it up close to the car. Then I had to find the jumper cables--I hadn't seen any for 20 years (back in my college days when I had to jump Cari's car every other weekend). Doug told me how to do it on the phone, but luckily the brand new never been used jumper cables had directions on them. Now to open the hoods and get started. Doug's jeep hood had to be "unbuckled" (weird) and then I looked around unsuccessfully for a "propper-up" thing. there isn't one. You just lean it back against the windshield (I was praying please don't let me drop it and break the windshield because I don't need anything else to happen today). Jeep done. Camry was easy--hood stays up by itself. Yeah. Red to red--black to black. Start car. It works! Happy dance inside my head--because it is too cold to do it outside. Unhook cables, hoods down, cables away. Jeep pulled back into garage. garage door down by hand. Leave Camry running for 20 minutes. Run inside--make smaller grocery list of essentials that we will need for next couple of days--cereal, milk, diet Pepsi, pop tarts (you're welcome Zach) since I am not running the chance to drive into Decatur and spend 2 hours in Wal-Mart to come out and find that the car won't start again. Run to Dollar General here in town (leave car running while I go in (thank God for small towns)--$21 dollars later and I put car back into garage. Turn car off (Praying all the time that when I go out there later it will start again so I can go somewhere if I need too). close door manually. Go inside and immediately open the diet Pepsi so I can get my caffeine for the day--it explodes. UGH! Anything else? Bring it. Ha.

Day 2-Doug gone

So far so good. Zach is having a few problems in the morning. He can't seem to get up and get going without a lot of complaining and whining. Last night he went to bed at 8:30. That still didn't help. He told me to have a terrible day today when I dropped him off for the bus--because I dropped him off before 7:05 (it was 7:02). So, I don't know what we are going to do about that. Homework and practice went well yesterday--we'll see how it goes the rest of the week.

Kate has been a big help--dishes, dogs, checking Zach's advanced Math homework, helping with supper last night. Gotta love her. We stayed up last night and watched the first half of the news together to get some idea about the weather this week. I wanted the warmest day to go to the grocery store and that turns out is going to be tomorrow--high of 21--woo hoo.

I took the ornaments off the kids' tree upstairs today. Had to do a little hot glue fixing to a couple of ornaments and need to find another small box to put a couple more ornaments in that don't have their own boxes. I will have to buy another rubbermaid container before I can take the actual tree down. Hope I can get that tomorrow at the store. The holidays are almost officially over--I consider it over when all traces of it are gone.