Saturday, December 31, 2011

Goals for 2012

Time to say good-bye to 2011.  It wasn't a great year but not a terrible year.  I guess it was a year of growth.  I'm hoping for 2012 to be every better.

Ok, I started making this list of goals, and somehow I managed to delete it...so let's see if I can get started again...

No certain order:
  • Start and get up to date J's cub scout scrapbook.  This is a small enough project to helping get me moving toward scrapbooking again regularly.  - When I was a CM consultant I told people to start with your current photos. Therefore I'm ignoring the YEARS of photos and started albums, to start and work on a new album. The hope here is that once I have his album up to date, I will want to scrapbook and work on other pages.
  • Walk Chancy (the dog) at least 3 times a week, because the poor dog doesn't get regular walks often enough.  Good thing she's not a puppy or she would be going nuts.
  • Save at least $100 a month or a total of $1,200 over the course of the year by using coupons/couponing methods (see other blog).
  • Read at least 52 books in 2012. - I used to read constantly, but have gotten out of the habit of reading. I love to read and need to do it more.
  • Drink less soda and more water - not exactly sure how I'm going to measure this goal, but I'll figure it out.
  • Post at least 52 new blog posts in 2012.  By wording it that way, if I miss a week I'm still good, and it's measurable. :)
Now, if I could just figure out how to get one of those little tickerfactory things to appear on my blog page, I would have an easier way to track these.  Every time I try I get an error saying "Bad URL". *grumbles*

Friday, December 30, 2011

This Week's Task List Revisited...

Copied from earlier blog ---
This Week:
* clean and organize the office
* clean and organize the game closet
* clean the living room, loft, and Jacob's bedroom carpets (while we have Joy's carpet cleaner) - My goal is to get these rooms ready, then do this Thur morning.  Brent & Chem-Dry of Indianapolis will forever have my carpet cleaning business!!!  Look for more details in my next blog!
* laundry, cooking, etc. the everyday things that must be done.

 So, I still haven't finished my office or started the game closet, but I have 2 days left this week.  I have asked David to help me with the game closet so I'm hoping we will tackle that today.

As for my office, I have made progress.  The desk is clean and organized, and I'm slowly moving through the rest of the room.  Unfortunately, it's a slow process and I'm easily distracted.  Plus we spent yesterday with my family having Christmas with them, which was a nice time playing card games and teaching them some new games.

I am going to adjust my Task list a bit.  Wal-greens is doing a free printing of 25 4X6 photos (promo code "PRINTNOW". So to help kick off the other goals of getting back into scrapbooking, I'm going to try to also sort and send 25 photos to Wal-greens to be printed before the 12/31/2011 deadline for this.

Here goes...

EDIT: The game closet is clean and organized!!!!  Just need to finish the office.
EDIT: Photos sorted at least to the point that I sent 25 to Wal-green for FREE :)

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Chem-Dry of Indianapolis - Quick but Important Blog

Sorry, this is going to be a quick blog, because I have places to be and people to see today...but this is one of the most important blogs I might write, because it's about good customer service and great friends.

So on Tuesday I blogged asking my friends to hold me accountable so I got my list done, and my friend Brent contacted me and was like "hey, want Chem-Dry to take care of your carpets"...after he and I messaged back and forth, I scheduled them to come out this morning.

Ok, Chad was our tech, and Brent is the manager there (I think. I meant to ask him his title, but forgot), and they will forever have our business.  Chem-Dry of Indianapolis doesn't use hoses so they don't put a huge amount of water in your carpets.  They got up spots that other places (I won't name names, but let's just say no more train cleaners *wink*) left or created...as I don't recall a spot being there before the other guys came.  Anyway, they did a great job!  Brent gave me a *GREAT* rate, even better than Do-It-Yourself.

I have a Refer-A-Friend card here at the house, but I bet if you called Brent at the office and told him "Hey I heard you're awesome from Lisa" he would honor the referral without the paper card.

The link is up there...We had Chad as our tech, and I would recommend him to our friends as well.  So give them a call, ask for Brent or Chad.  - Chem-Dry of Indianapolis 317-867-5550

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Couponing - Lisa Logic Style...

Ok, so I have no desire to be on Extreme Couponing!  Seriously, the college student who had 12 years worth of laundry detergent is strange! And I have serious health issue with having 10 years of toothpaste sitting around, because doesn't toothpaste expire before that???

But I would like to save some money and if couponing can do that, then I'm willing to give it a try. But I'm doing it "my" way...not sure if this blog will be helpful to anyone, but it's mostly for me to get my thoughts out and sort them for myself.

I have a binder and page protectors, which I sort the coupons and put them in as I collect and cut them. Jacob loves to cut the coupons, so that's an added plus.  I found a place called "Coups For Troops" where I can send my expired coupons, so that military families overseas will get the coupons and can use them up to 6months after they have expired.  I keep an envelope addressed in the back of my binder, so that as soon as I find an expired coupon or I just decide this isn't a product our family would want/need, I put the coupon there.  At the first of the month, I seal the envelope and mail it off.  I do the first of the month, because a lot of coupons expire at the end of a month.  I love this, because I love helping military families and this cost me nothing but a stamp!  Plus, I print a lot of mfg coupons, and this way I feel like my ink and paper isn't going to waste.  Speaking of ink and paper, I print my printable coupons on scrap paper.  Lucky for me as a teacher, I have tons of pieces of paper that were printed on one side.  So I just flip them over and print on the other side. :)  When I have a piece that is too small to print another coupon, I have a cute little basket on my desk that the scrap pieces goes in when I need to jot a note or calculate something.

I signed up for daily email summary from Couponing 101, which gives me heads up for coupon matching for the various sale ads.  I also found Coupon Divas, which is a great place for printable coupons, coupon policy for various stores, and tips and pointers.  Coupon Divas has a Facebook page that I use a lot to find deals.

I am determined not to buy something that we will never use, just because it's free or cheap.  But I am willing to try new products or a different brand. For example, we had a coupon for Ice Mountain Sparking Water.  I love Ice Mountain water; in fact, I am a bottled water snub, I admit it.  So Kroger had Sparking Water on sale for $1.00 with my Kroger card, and I had a coupon for $1.00 a Sparking Water, so guess what, we tried it.  I had 2 coupons, so I brought 2 bottles....Well, that case, we decided we won't be buying Sparking Water again.  Now, on the other hand, we have tried different brands of other items and liked them, I just can't think of an example off top of my head. :)

I also learned that the coupons you print from online sites normally expire within 14- to 30-days, but the coupons you get from the paper normally doesn't expire for 60- to 90-days.  Unfortunately we don't get the Sunday paper, so I just get the coupons that are in the free inserts on Wednesdays here.

One of the biggest change I have made in this couponing thing is breaking the "norm" of my shopping.  I have always shopped at either Kroger or Marsh for our groceries.  Every once in a while I will go to Wal-mart, if I need a lot of non-grocery things. But mostly it's Kroger or Marsh for us.  But with Coupon Divas, I see CVS deals and Target deals, I have never brought groceries at either place.  Frankly, I go to CVS for my prescriptions and if I need to talk to the Pharmacist because I need an over-the-counter medicine and I want to know what's best.  So, today I went to Target, armed with my Target web coupons (did you know Target had special coupons for each week on their website?  I didn't until about 2 weeks ago!) plus my mfg coupon binder.   I knew what they had advertised as sale prices, I knew what store coupons they had, and I knew what other mfg coupons I had...and guess what! I saved over $46 with in store sale prices and coupons.  Of that $46, eighteen ($18) was from clipped coupons.  Now, before I started this, I used my Kroger and Marsh cards, so I would get in store deals, but I never bothered to do coupons, because most of the time I would cut them out from the paper then forget to take them with me or forget to use them when I was in the store.  Today, I got cleaning supplies, groceries, light bulbs, heath & beauty items, and paper products.  The only item we got that wasn't either on sale or I had a coupon (most were both!) was David's compressed air to clean the laptops!  That means, that $18 was savings I would not have made before I started doing coupons.  Yay! Oh and on top of that $46 of savings, I also got a $5 gift card for my next purchase, a rain check for K's favorite shampoo/conditioner since it is on sale this week, and more COUPONS! :)  So really, if you consider the $5 gift card, I really saved $51, and I can park in the garage, because I don't have a "stock pile" LOL

So, my goal for 2012 is to save $100 per month or a total of $1,200 over the course of the year, since I figure they might be some months that we get better deals and others not so much.  To make it "fair" (even though I'm competing with myself), in-store savings received on Kroger or Marsh cards will not be part of this.  I'm doing that because I would have gotten those savings just by watching sale ads and not using coupons.  I will only count savings received by clipped coupons or coupons loaded onto my card, because it requires me to go do that via the Kroger/Marsh/CVS website.  By the way, Kroger has stopped mailing coupons out from their Kroger card, you have to go to the website and load the coupons onto your cards.  I figure Kroger did this because they know most people are too lazy or forgetful to do this step, plus it saves the postage of mailing out the personalized coupons.

Unfortunately, today didn't cut though the 2012 goal...because if it did, I would already be at $51. 

By the way, if you use coupon, let me know because I would gladly send you the ones I have from the paper for products we would never use.  If you don't coupon, I would gladly take your coupons from the paper if you get any. :)

Anything you learned from couponing? Tips for a beginner?  Thoughts?

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Someone hold me accountable - Please!

Not feeling very motivated today, so I figured this is the best way....someone out there hold me accountable, ask me how I did, motivate me and/or kick my butt if I don't get it done.

Here it is! My Task List I want to get done today and this week:

Today:
* take down the Christmas tree
* vacuum the carpets - Living room, office, loft, J's bedroom, master bedroom & stairs
* move the loveseat back to its normal spot
* clean the kitchen
* clear off the piles of papers on my desk and sort them

This Week:
* clean and organize the office
* clean and organize the game closet
* clean the living room, loft, and Jacob's bedroom carpets (while we have Joy's carpet cleaner) - My goal is to get these rooms ready, then do this Thur morning.  Brent & Chem-Dry of Indianapolis will forever have my carpet cleaning business!!!  Look for more details in my next blog!
* laundry, cooking, etc. the everyday things that must be done.

Now I'm off to pour myself a cup of coffee, get dressed (yes, I'm still in my PJs! I said I was not motivated today!), and get started on ...something.

EDIT 1:44pm - tree down, living room vacuum, and kitchen clean.
EDIT 4:11pm - loveseat moved, carpets vacuumed (except J's room and stairs because J has to clean his room so I can find the floor and I have to charge the DirtDevil for the stairs), desk completely bare except printer & laptop (see photos below)

 The contents of my desk currently on the couch, ready for me to pop in a DVD and start sorting :)
Everything off my desk - nothing returns to the desk unless it has a "home" there.  Note: the rest of the office is trashed still, so you might see that when I get to the rest of the things on my list :)

EDIT 12:19am Everything is sorted and the basics are back on the desk.  There's one basket of odds and ends that needs to find a new home or needs to go to other rooms of our house.  But for the most part we did pretty well on our list for today. :)

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Some Many Projects ... So Little Motivation

Ok, so do you have tons of projects that you have started and just never seem to find the time to work on them or better yet finish them?

I have TONS of them.  Some are LONG overdue to be finished, such as my son's baby scrapbook that hasn't even been started.  Others are things I want to do, but haven't set down to do them, like scanning in some documents and then burning them to a CD. 

So this blog is one I'm hoping to get comments on....how do you get things done? I'm not talking the daily things like laundry, washing dishes and cooking supper.  I can do the daily stuff, but it seems that by time I do the daily/weekly things, homeschooling, and running the kids to all their activities, there's no time for the other stuff.  I know I waste time online and I have started watching TV again. I used to never watch TV. 

There's some of the "projects" I want to get done....in no special order:
  • scan the cub scouts popcorn forms so I could destroy the actual pieces of paper. (Do I really need to keep these? I feel like I should, but at the same time, I don't have a good reason to why I would ever need to look back at them.)
  • scan the GFH volunteer forms (need kept for records)
  • make J's baby scrapbook
  • finish the scrapbook of hubby's childhood photos (I started this when K was about 3, and she's now 14).
  • get back into genealogy research and find more interesting stories about my family.
  • de-clutter and organize the game closet
  • de-clutter and organize the office
  • work on some cross-stitching projects that I started and frankly don't even remember what I started.
  • work on the quilt I started before J was even born
  • hang the decoration we picked out and purchased when we were redoing the master bedroom
  • repaint the baseboards in the kids bathroom to finish the painting of that room.
  • Get the GFH donated games checked, sorted, and stored (not in our garage waiting), so they can be used in the game library program.
  • Redo my kitchen on a non-existing budget.
I'm sure there's more projects that I want to get done, but that's all that comes to mind as I type this.  Now it's a question of how do I get any of these things done? I really don't believe I don't have time...It's more I don't have the interest or motivation to do them things, but yet I don't want to give up the desire to do them.  But now it's time to fold clothes, so guess I'll work/think on it another time.  Suggestions?

Monday, December 19, 2011

Christmas - Is there a better way?

You shop, you buy, you wrap, then in minutes, it's done and over.  I'm not saying I don't like Christmas, but seriously, there has to be a better way!  How do we get the real feel for Christmas back into the season?

My husband and I didn't really ask for anything major for Christmas this year. The oldest child just wanted a Nook Color, which was more than we planned to spend on her, so she purchased half with her birthday and saved money, and we paid the other half.  So, she's not getting anything under the tree besides that.  The youngest child, he's 8, so he wants everything he sees on TV.  However, he's also the age that he loves just spending time with family and his friends.  A family vacation or some time with the cousins to play with the toys they already own would be just as good for him.

It's the same with any gift-giving holiday really. Hmmm, maybe it's time to talk to the family and see if we can declare 2012 a "Quality over Quantity" year.  No gifts except for the gifts of time...hmmm think they would go for it?

Friday, December 16, 2011

VAN - Geeky View On Life

So back when I was working full-time, pre-kid days I headed up a project moving our company into the EDI world.  Now EDI stands for Electronic Data Interchange and it's basically exchanging data electronically from one company to another using standards and procedures, at the time it was the cutting edge of moving data without human interaction.  In other words, one company's computer retrieves the data, formats it, transfers it to a VAN (we'll discuss that in a moment), receives back a response, processes the response, and stores it, all automatically. I attended classes to learn how to format this data, use the software, know the standards, etc.

A VAN was a Value-Added Network and that was a service that stored the files of data during the interchange.  The Value-Added part was because they also verified the formatting of the data to make sure it made the standards agreed upon between the companies.  It also allowed a company to up/download the data at one place instead of having to transfer didrectly between each individual company that it does business.

So, to my more techy readers I'm showing my age, since this is old school nowadays and to the others, you're starting to wonder "what does this have to do with anything?".  I'm glad you asked :)

So this morning, I was thinking about friendship, life, and "Value" and I realized that I have a VAN all of my very own, and I suspect you do as well.  The only difference is, we don't have to pay for this service! BONUS!  The friends who supports us, encourages us, motivates us, gives us a smile by a compliment or maybe a Facebook post, who takes the time to drop us a Christmas card or says a prayer for us, this is our VAN. This is the network what adds value to our lives. Don't forget the spouse, children, parents, siblings, co-workers, and neighbors, they also add value to our lives! 

We also have the risk of VDN (Yes, I just made that up) - Value-Deduction Network - it's when we have friends or people in our lives who devalue or shots us down rather than building us up.  I don't know about you, but I would rather surround myself with people who are going to add value to my life than just one who is going to reduce it.  I wonder if I'm adding value to all my relationships. Sometimes we have to decide who we allow in our network or rather who we allow to stay in our network, because we need to surround yourselves with the ones who add value. Sometimes we also should check ourselves to make sure we are building up and doing the things for others that add value to our friends. This is especially important I think for parents, because the words we say to our kids impacts their image and their future.  Hmmm, something to think about...

I'm blessed to have a VAN and thanks for being part of that network. :)

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Answered prayer or added stress....haven't decided yet.

If you know me at all, you know I hate waiting, especially waiting on the unknown.  So I tend to push the issue until I get an answer, rather it's the answer I want or not. In this case, I'm not sure what answer I wanted, but at least I got an answer.

A couple weeks ago, a former co-worker told me they were looking for instructors again and planted the seed if I wanted to go back to teaching now might be a good time.  I decided to at least test the waters and contact the new dept chair to see what's available.  I heard via some former students that they were struggling to find instructors for the next semester as well. My initial email was returned with a "we'll be in touch" message, then I heard nothing for almost two weeks.  So I decided yesterday to send a "just checking in" kinda message, and I got back the answer that they wouldn't be needing me this coming semester.  So, the unknown is now known...but I'm left examining how I feel about it.

In some ways, I really don't want to go back to teaching right now. I'm home with my son, I'm enjoying this time in his life. Homeschooling is going...OK.  I pledged to be honest in these blogs, especially to myself, even if I don't want to admit something.  Homeschooling is challenging, because it means keeping a schedule.  Some days, that's fine because deep down I like a schedule.  But there's other days, when the schedule seems too restricting, like today, when I need to run some errands, and homeschooling isn't done.  But I do feel like he's learning well, and getting the work done, just not as structured as I would like at times.  We are about 2 weeks behind the "schedule" of where we should be, but at least it's not a month, and we are working to close that gap and be back on schedule.  So, it's all good.  I just would rather be "on schedule".

At the same time, I worry that my son is falling into bad habits with homeschooling.  He doesn't sit still during the lessons, like I know he would be expected in public school. He takes too many breaks, and he watches more TV these days then he did when he was in public school.  I'm sure these plays into the being behind, so it's a cycle we must break!

Part of me is also a little saddened, because I would have rather been offered a class or two for ME to decide if I wanted to teach them, rather than be told I wasn't needed.  I mean everyone likes to think their employer recognizes their value and wants their contribution. Plus I have always been told I was good at what I did; I felt like I was good at what I did, so I would have liked to have had the opportunity to do that work again.  I would have at least liked the opportunity to evaluation what she offered and decided if it was right to go back or not.  But instead it feels a little like I wasn't "good enough" to be asked back. I know that's not the case, truly, but the devil sitting near ready to whisper negative things, did get that in before I could shut him down.


The bottom line is I will be continue homeschooling come January. I will be more determined than ever to get us on schedule, because I want us done with our school year at the same time that our daughter is done with her public school year. I will continue to try to get this "couponing" thing figured out, because without my teaching income, things are tight at times. And I'll continue to spend time at home with my favorite little guy and the dog.  That's the best part of the entire deal!

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

First Blog Posting...so it begins!

There are so many things going on with my life right now...I am wanting to share it with you. I hope you will read, comment, offer advice and suggestions as you feel moved. Some things might be of interest to everyone, some only to a few...some people might read things and think "this lady is odd", but hey that's all part of Lisa Logic.  I never said I wasn't odd. I'm as normal as anyone else is normal. I don't even expect everyone who reads to agree with everything I write (how boring would that be!), but keep in mind that all readers are welcome to their opinions, as long as they are presented with respect and consideration toward others.

I don't know how often I will write, but over time I plan to write about:
  • Money savings tips & couponing
  • Our church's E100 Challenge starting Jan 1st
  • Homeschooling
  • Challenges of a SAHM
  • Dog ownership
  • Life in general
  • Whatever pops to mind :)
I have also recently decided to start a business. My daughter helped me name the company, and my husband immediately said "how geeky" but well, you know it fits!  I decided to attempt to put my organization ability to work in something I enjoy. I love planning social events, birthday parties, holiday parties, conventions, training sessions, etc. I realize it's very time consuming to plan these events, but I love it. I am pay attention to details
 and love handling all the details. Anyway, I don't plan for this to be a sales pitch! The name is "Parties By Proxy" because we plan the party you want for you, "by substitution". Yes, it's Geeky, but then so am I. :)

But now, instead of writing more...it's time for me to stop writing and get busy with Life! Maybe I'll write again tonight!

~Lisa