Last year was not the most productive year of my life...some things got done...some things did not. But with Matt in school ALL YEAR, it feels like an accomplishment that anything really got done at all...
Original 24 in 2024 list
1st quarter update
2nd quarter update
3rd quarter update
Inside Home Things
1) Paint kitchen cabinets (0%)
I have test colors on 2 doors...which have been there nearly 18 months at this point...
2) Replace kitchen cabinet hardware (0%)
No, all connected to the above...and this is the first step that never got going.
Yes! 100% done and have gotten a lot of compliments on it. This is one I thought about for many years and I'm glad I finally did it. (This is how it looked for Christmas, there are 5 more frames behind the tree.)
This was a fairly easy one but it is done.
Outside Things
5) Plant Dahlias (100%)
Did this, they grew decently. Better than my attempt the year before!
January, February, and December were colder than I normally would have run but I still did it! And I didn't hate it as much as I expected to. Just slightly stressful getting them in.
Nagging Tasks
7) Finish our will (5%)
This really needs to happen.
8) Buy cemetery plots (100%)
We did this, as morbid as it sounds. But it's done!
As our kids are growing older we are leaving them home alone (usually together) more so we got a flip phone so they can call us when they are home without us. Sometimes, even when we are home, they use it to text me...things like "Hi Mom" or "butt".
10) Sell a Lego Millennium Falcon (0%)
I've been intending to do this for 2 years...
Food
11) Try a new chicken recipe every month (100%)
Yes! This was a great project to take on as I aimed to fill out my dinner queues below. We found MANY chicken recipes that are now in rotation and that Sam actually admits to liking! Which is super rare. (When I make something new he likes he very enthusiastically tells me "put this on the list of things I like!")
12) Make a standard fall/winter and spring/summer menu plan with grocery list (75%)
Spring/Summer was done but I was only 1/3 done with fall/winter by end of year. Hoping to wrap this up in the next month. It will be helpful because I HATE menu planning but I also really see the benefit in it.
Hosted 7 if we're getting picky. This is one we've slowly been working on doing more and this year it felt the most manageable!
14) Go on 10 dates (100%)
Fit this in with a few weeks to spare, especially feels like a big accomplishment with the frequently mentioned "Matt in school all year".
Yes! Often on dates but the boys joined in many times as well. And frequently more than once a month.
16) Finish 4 photobooks (2023, Luke, Sam, summer 2024 vacation) (75%)
If I had to pick one thing off this list I would have guaranteed I would get done, it probably would have been this one. AND YET...I didn't make it. I had our OBX book at about 85% at the end of the year, December just got too crazy to get it done (it's still not completely done but much closer, it will be soon.)
6 times feels like a good number of times for us. That meant twice to the inside market in the winter/spring, twice to outside market in the summer, and twice back inside in the fall/winter.
18) Get really good at family games we own but rarely play (1/month) (100%)
I don't know that I would say that we got "really good" at all 12 games but we did introduce 12 games to at least one of the boys (Sam, Luke maybe participated in 9 of them?) and have some good ones to keep in rotation.
Helpful items
19) Buy a grey sweater (to keep) (100%)
This took many tries but I finally found one late in the year. This was like an 18 month search.
Very happy with how this turned out and I dyed a sweatshirt then too!
21) Figure out how to use Gmail better (clear-up inboxes) (0%)
This one will probably reapppear on this year's list. I've been using Gmail for 20 years and I still don't feel like I use it well.
22) Fix tags (25%)
I fixed some but not all, the key is that I need to keep writing down messy ones when I catch them and then bulk fixing them. But I did fix a good number of the ones I had noted at some point in the year.
23) Art books (10%)
We're getting close to "work on this or take it off the list" status on this one. I don't even know how many years it's been here. The more I procrastinate the bigger this project becomes!
24) Make a step on green project at school (50%)
Not as much of a step as I'd like but maybe baby steps. I don't know. Many things have lead to my enthusiasm and energy for this depleting. I started stronger but then...things slowed.
A passing grade but not a great one: 68.33%. Actually, better than I expected when I did a 3rd quarter check-in. I've been on a downward trend since 2021 (my best year at 89.5%)...maybe I've been taking this into consideration when making my 2025 list. That's coming soon! It would be nice to finally get an A on this!
