Dinner with my tiny family later today. Perry is smoking a cherry-glazed ham and I have most of the other food items ready for consumption. Here’s hoping you and yours have a wonderful Easter with loved ones too.
Yesterday, I finished my last winter project. Just in the nick of time, I hung curtains in the upstairs bedroom.
I have a few touch-up paint things to do at some point, but nothing big left that I wanted to get done before spring. TADA!
Next up, spring projects.
The things that need done this spring are numerous:
Brick edging along the sidewalk.
Rubber mulch to cover about a 25-acre area (at least it SEEMS like 25-acres).
Decks painted and re-painted.
Prepare ground for and plant wildflower seeds.
Landscape that 25-acre area.
Open pool.
Drain, clean, and refill the hot tub.
There’s plenty more to do, but you get the idea. And most everything I have to do by myself. My assistants have better things to do.
Seasonal goals are how I get things done.
Do you set seasonal goals — or just do what pops up that needs done? Or maybe you have things you always do — like spring cleaning or yard work — but you don’t necessary consider them goals.
Before I began to set specific seasonal goals, I would flounder around and procrastinate to the point of never making progress. If you find that’s what’s happening in your life, try writing a list of what you’d like to accomplish before summer. And then, start tackling that list a little at a time.
Now you know: Until 2019, male members of the US Marine Corps were not allowed to use umbrellas while in uniform.
Oh, there’s a bajillion things I should work on “fixing” or “changing,” but I’m not going to resolve to do it just because it’s a new year. Some choose a new word to live by each year… like “kindness” or “enough.” Great concept to apply generally throughout a year — but I’m skipping that too.
I do have a general goal moving forward in life.
My life plan for the future is to focus on minimizing output. To be specific, I plan to minimize energy output (what energy I have to expend to sustain my lifestyle) as well as monetary output (future costs required to sustain my lifestyle).
Breaking it down… a couple examples…
Energy output: While I LOVE the outside wood boiler, I don’t want to be trapesing out there to add wood to keep warm. Not now and certainly not 10 years from now (assuming I’ll still be alive in 10 years). I’m going to add a couple gas stoves at the barndo — one downstairs and one upstairs. They can serve as a backup now… and are there if circumstances change.
Monetary output: Rather than spending more on stuff that doesn’t really matter, I plan to get my overall expenditures better organized — long term sustainability so I can work less (which points back to energy output).
What about you?
A new year is a great time to reflect and set positive intentions for the future. Even if you’re like me and refuse to set New Year resolutions just because of a date on a calendar, I hope you take a moment reflect on 2023 as you move into 2024.
May your coming year be filled with new adventures, laughter, and the fulfillment of dreams.
Now you know: The earliest recorded New Year festivities dates back 4,000 years to ancient Babylon. Later, Caesar instituted January 1st as the first day of the year to honor Janus, the Roman god of beginnings.
