Category — updates

As you may have heard, I am participating in the Arlington Relay for Life on June 4-5.

The video linked below helps describe why I am doing this – in remembrance of those that we have lost to cancer, and in honor of those that are still with us as SURVIVORS.

http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/RelayForLife/RFLFY11?sid=1058&type=fr_informational&pg=informational&fr_id=33738&first_name=Jennifer&last_name=Hudson&cons_id=19525365

This year, over 1.4 million Americans will hear the words ‘You have cancer’. I know too many people who are touched by cancer, and that is why I have joined the American Cancer Society on a mission to save lives and create a world with more birthdays by participating in the Relay For Life here in Arlington.

The Relay is a huge part of the fundraising for the American Cancer Society, and the money raised goes to a variety of areas within the organization.  If you want more information on how the money is used, please take a look at this page: http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/RelayForLife/RFLFY11GW?sid=1044&type=fr_informational&pg=informational&fr_id=33738

Please, support me in my efforts by using the link below to visit my personal web page and make a donation. Every dollar raised brings us one dollar closer to a cure, and to a time when the number of people who have to hear the words “you have cancer” is zero.

My personal goal is to raise $200 – if you could give just $10, that goal will be reached very quickly. Please consider supporting me as I walk in this year’s Relay for Life!

Here is the link to my personal page: http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/RelayForLife/RFLFY11GW?px=19525365&pg=personal&fr_id=33738

Thank you so much for your support.

Oh Fine… I’ll go through the 101 list again & update it for New Year’s…

For the original post, take a look here

My 1001 day is Wednesday, January 12, 2011

house and yard maintenance

1. get stairs on the deck
~ this WILL happen… someday
2. clean and plant flower bed in backyard
~ it’s more of an herb garden, but it is planted!
3. build a sunflower house for the girls
~ this was a dismal failure last Summer – the sunflowers finally grew around October!  We will try again though…
4. clean and maintain the flowerbed outside the office
5. finish planting the pathway to garden
~ umm… yeah…  now I have to pull the weeds ont first!
6. finish making stepping stones for path
7. terrace back hillside for garden
~ it has been begun… just waiting for weather to cooperate to finish it!
8. find a new home for the evergreen trees before they get too large to move
~any takers?
9. paint the outside of the house
10. finish M’s mural
~ as soon as I can get too the wall, I will paint more
11. finish A’s mural
~ ditto
12. get laundry room remodeled
~ may have given up on this idea… more involved than originally thought
13. finish bathroom remodel
14. put down hardwood floors
15. re-carpet the downstairs
16. tile the stairs
17. clean out the garage
~ I can once again get 1 car parked inside!  Certain people want BOTH inside though
18. fix the garage door opener
19. fix the side fence and gate

office
20. get all the fabric organized and PUT AWAY
21. get filing done
22. KEEP filing done – do all filing 1x per month
23. get all buttons, clasps and hooks organized
~  got  them into the drawers, now I just need to get to the drawers…
24. make and hang a ribbon organizer
25. hang pictures/whiteboards up
~ I even hung some decorative ironwork up too!
26. get rid of the extra boxes
27. post unwanted fabrics to sell every 6 weeks
28. unpack and put away office supplies from move
~how about donating them?  Got rid of 2 boxes worth in 2008!!!
29. donate/pass on patterns that are too small for the girls

work
30. get rid of excess flowers
31. remove flowers from website
32. find a new home for Carole’s table runners
33. finish moving TC products over
34. Clean up website – delete old product pages
35. sell/donate purchased bags
~ DONE!!!
36. build wholesale site
37. send out newsletter to wholesale companies every 6 weeks
38. make swatch books
39. hire a bookeeper
40. get all patterns copywritten
41. review 2 products each month
42. update/catalog orders & donations 1x per month
43. send out newsletter 2x per month
44. post new blog 1x per week for Mimsi
45. post 6 blogs per month for gift guides family (recipes, reviews, etc)
46. find wholesale supplier for fabric
47. make 1 RTS/art bag each week
48. do inventory
49. meet with mastermind group each week

Health/cooking
50. cook 3 vegeterian/vegan meals per week
51. learn to use 1 new ingredient per month
52. post 2 new recipes per month (1/24)  cottage-recipes.com
~ I posted about 5 today… does that count for anything?
53. exercise 3x per week
54. drop 4 dress sizes
55. learn to use the dutch oven well
56. bake bread once per week
~ This has been happening for some time – about every 4 days I bake 2 new loaves.  I’m now spoiled on the store-bought stuff.
57. clean out the fridge 2x per month
58. use/freeze leftovers
59. grow corn
~ the seeds have sprouted!   And then they died…
60. go on a walk with the girls & eric at least 1x per week (0/7)
61. climb the stairs at the end of the road 2x per week (0/7)
62. make healthy snacks for the girls
63. use up the CSA produce each week
64. learn to bake with flours other than wheat
65. make 1 entire meal from a different country 2x per month
66. get a bike
67. get up by 7 every day
68. go to bed on time
69. eat 1 raw meal per week

personal
70. read psalms each morning
71. make Eric’s pants
72. make Mom H’s piano bench cushion
73. keep the granite cleaned off (0/7)
74. have a clean, empty sink each night before going to bed (0/7)
75. make at least 1 trip to goodwill each month
76. save up for a new car
~new car purchased May 2nd!!!
77. build up an emergency fund
78. post cd’s to swap or take to sell/trade in
~ freecycled a BIG box of cd’s
79. get last summer’s camping trips scrapbooked (and the summer before…)
80. teach the girls to sew
81. teach the girls to garden
82. memorize 1 scripture per week
83. memorize with the girls!
84. find the cord the the keyboard
~ I bought a new one… then I found the old one!
85. practice the piano again (0/7)
86. teach the girls the basics of playing the piano
87. get M into violin lessons
~ well, lessons lasted about 4 months, then she got tired of it.  Moving to the piano.
88. go on a date with Eric 1x per month
~ want to know how sad it was?  we went from 12/1/07 to 11/1/08 with NO DATE NIGHT!!!!
89. find a good babysitter
90. have QUALITY 1-on-1 with M each week (1/7)
91. have QUALITY 1-on-1 with A each week
92. have QUALITY 1-on-1 with Eric each week (1/7)
93. finish A’s curtains
94. have “girlfriend time” 1x per month
95. send a handwritten letter 1x per month
96. send a letter to Norma 1x per month
97. pray more
98. read the bible through
99. read 1 book every 6 weeks (but don’t ignore everything else!)
~ does this limit me to one?  I think I’ve read about 30 in the past 6 months.  I read 5 last week.
100. be a better mom
101. be a better wife

Who needs resolutions?  I have a list that I still have 2 years to finish!  I like 2 years…

If you want to make a 101 in 1001 list, you can get the details at triplux.com

I was really looking forward to keeping the theme all about Christmas this month, but something has come to my attention that simply must be addressed.

There was a congressional committee recently that decided to pass some regulations regarding products intended for kids under 12.  Really tight regulations.

I know what you are thinking… with all of the products coming out of China recently with lead in them, this is a good thing, right?

yes & no

The regulations are rather broad, and will affect more than just products imported from China.  It will affect small businesses in the USA, Canada & Europe that make good toys.  Natural toys.  Handmade toys.  Handmade clothes.  The alternatives to the plastic junk that lines the shelves at your local Wal-mart.

These small businesses will be put out of business around about February 10, 2009.  Yep, gone.  No more hand-carved wooden toys are craft fairs.  No more unique boutique clothes for your little ones.

Why will these businesses be gone?  They can’t afford to have each & every produce tested.  Rumor is pegging these 3-rd party tests to be around the $4,000 mark – not part of the budget for a work-at-home-mom hand-sewing boutique clothes and Waldorf dolls in her spare room.  Out of the budget for the grandfather who carves wooden toys and sells them at street fairs.

What can we do to help these businesses stay afloat?  Well, other than buy up as much as we can before Feb 10 (ha ha) we can get informed, tell others and tell our government that this is too over-reaching.  The Handmade Toy Alliance has some great modifications that could be made to these regulations, and still have the desired effect.

There are a ton of sites out there that have great info on this issue, so it is not hard to get informed.  Read through the regulations, see what small business owners are worried about, and see if there is anything that you feel led to do.

As for me, I already wrote to my congressmen and -women.  I also wrote to CPSC, asking them to take another look.  I’m telling you about it, and I have emailed many others about it.

Why do I care?

Well, I rather like the natural toys.  I like the handmade toys.  I would rather purchase wooden toys and fabric dolls than the plastic junk that lines store shelves.  I like to support small businesses.  I also happen to own a small business that could be affected.  If these regs stay as they are, I will no longer be able to sell handmade nightgowns, oven mitts and cloth dolls, because I can’t afford to get them tested.  Is there any possibility of lead in any of these products?  Not so much.  They are all made from cotton or wool.  No paint to worry about, but that doesn’t seem to matter.  No plastic to worry about, but that doesn’t matter either.

Why should you care?

Look at our country – we are already in a recession, people are already losing their jobs at an alarming rate.  Businesses are struggling to stay afloat as it is.  Come Feb 10, there will be a lot more people struggling to stay afloat.  There will be a lot more small business loans that go into default.  There will be a lot more small businesses that will have to lay off their employees because they can’t afford to pay them.  There will be a lot fewer small businesses open in America.  And a lot more unemployed American citizens.

Oh, and those small business owners may be your neighbors – neighbors who can no longer pay their mortgage payments.  More houses going into foreclosure or being sold vastly under market-value.  More people trying to figure out how to feed their kids.

Yes, we need to come together as a country to support our fellow Americans in this.  We need to care.

Please, take a few moments out of your busy Holiday schedule to get informed, to get active, and to tell others about this.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and thank you for your support.

Merry Christmas!

… and now back to our regularly scheduled programing!

Yes, I changed the theme again… it IS breast cancer awareness month, after all!

I know, I finally found a theme that I LOVE… and I’m not letting myself use it for a month!  But it IS for something important!

For today, this is a pink as it gets… but I really love the quote at the top… it somehow seems fitting.

Are YOU changing your theme to pink for breast cancer?  If so, you can join me & the hundreds of others over at PinkForOctober.org – and get yourself added to the list.

There are so many pink themes out there, just google (or yahoo or MSN, whatever your preferred method is) pink [blog platform] theme inserting your blog platform (wordpress, blogger, typepad, etc) and choose one.

I’m looking for some more breast cancer related giveaways to share, so I’ll add another post in a bit.

Have a great day!
Jennifer

Well, I guess I didn’t technically fail, as my “official” start date is Aug 1, but I did go out and buy some plants on Friday… vegetables & herbs – quite useful for a family! And they were all half price too, so that was a bonus.

We now have peppers and lemon balm, curry and a few others that I am hoping will take off well and get established before it gets too cold… again. Good to feed our family!

In other news, we got the first portion of the retaining wall build on Saturday… after a loooooooong hard day of work, it looks great! Although after that many hours, it seems like there should be more to show for it. Now we just need to cut in the next section and get the bottom row placed so that the next load of bricks can go right up. I will post a picture as soon as I take it and can get it uploaded…

Oh yeah, and I am sore… lugging around those blocks is hard work!

Also, I heard about another giveaway over at the Natural Family Living blog… the deadline is Friday, Aug 1st, so if you want to get entered, head over there quick! This one is for a natural baby prize pack – perfect for those with little bundles coming to bless their lives! Check it out at naturemoms.com/blo

Well, that’s the updates I have for today… however I’m wondering if I technically need to post the oops button or not, since I’m not “officially” doing the compact yet… any thoughts?

well, just in case…