June Goals and Balance Wheel

It's the first of June and time for June Goals.  My goals don't change much from month to month, but that's OK with me.  I just want to make sure that all areas of my life are touched upon well balanced.  The focus in June will be the Environment and Health, since these areas were a bit out of balance in May.

Spiritual: Continue with daily devotions/meditations.  I will probably not be able to attend the monthly prayer meeting due to a schedule conflict.   Focus on gratitude and abundance.

Environment:
- Outside: Continue to landscape the front garden: plant more drought tolerant plants/succulents, etc. 
- Inside: Continue to clean and declutter;  go through each room; get the donations organized and call for a pick up

Daughter:  Continue to be there for her; enjoy her visit in mid-June  :)

Family:  Continue to keep in touch with family members: phone calls, letters, emails, etc.

Friends:  Continue to keep in touch with friends through email/phone calls/video chat, etc.

Career:  Continue to manage work load efficiently; do 1-2 days of overtime.

Finances:  Revise budget to accommodate increased expenses related to daughter's rent.  Keep to the grocery budget of $75.   

Health:  Big goal is better health!  I have a doctor's appointment coming up and some referrals to call and schedule appointments. 

Leisure/Crafts/Hobbies:  Continue to sew from fabric stash:  I want to make a set of placemats for everyday use, some summer nightdresses, and maybe a couple of other items.  Just have to make time to sew!  2 library visits, too. 

Productivity and Time Management:  Continue to make efficient use of my time and be more productive: weekly cleaning routines; meal planning; bulk cooking; etc.



What are your monthly goals for June?

Weekend Productivity and a New Lunch Bag

I've had a productive weekend.  I've updated my Weekend Plans post to show which plans I was able to accomplish.

But, briefly, I did laundry and washed a quilt and blanket, I vacuumed the house, dusted and tidied the family room, and cleaned the bathtub; I bought cactus planting mix and more terra cotta pots, as well as a few other household items from the dollar store (a battery for the smoke detector, a spray nozzle for the garden hose, etc.); I took cuttings from my Swedish ivy plant, which has mostly died due to neglect (and almost lost my balance when I stepped on a paving stone that has shifted and was hidden by weeds and my ankle twisted under me!  I was afraid I'd fall, but managed to recover my balance.)

I baked banana bread with some overripe bananas, washed a heap of dishes, called a friend and spoke on the phone with relatives, did some mending and sewed myself a new lunch bag.   The new lunch bag is something I had been wanting to make for some time now. 

My old lunch bag was faded (it was originally pale green with a white "eyelet" like design), stained, and worn:

Old Lunch Bag

Sometimes I used daughter's old lunch bag:

Daughter's Old Lunch Bag

But, that, too, was faded and starting to tear.

I wanted a new lunch bag:

New Lunch Bag

The fabric was in my stash; it was given to me by a former neighbor.  It looks a bit like patchwork, but that's the print.  I have several more pieces of fabric that were given to me by her.

The bag is not insulated or lined; it's just a bag in which to carry my lunch to work.

After I took this photo, I decided I wanted a pocket on the outside...

Outside Pocket

It's hard to see the pocket, since I used the same patterned fabric, but I inserted the pair of scissors to show that there was a pocket.  I'm happy I was able to attach the pocket even after I had sewn the bag.  It was getting dark by this time and I put the overhead light to take the photo, which is probably why the colors look different in this photo.  The colors in the earlier photo are more true.   


There were other things I had planned to do this weekend, which I didn't do for one reason or another.  I will work on them during the week.

How was your weekend?  Were you able to do all what you had planned to do?

May Goals/Balance Wheel Month-End Review

Can you believe that today is the last day in May?  Already?  Time to review the goals for the month and see how balanced my wheel of life is:

Spiritual: Continue with daily devotions/meditations; attend the special ceremony at the temple; monthly prayer meeting, if possible - Daily devotions continued; didn't attend the ceremony at the temple since I wasn't feeling well; attended the monthly prayer meeting; all in all, this segment of my life is nicely plumped; on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being highest, I'll give it a rating of 9 because I didn't go to the temple; it would have been a 10 if I had gone.

Environment:
- Outside: Continue to spruce up the front garden: plant more drought tolerant plants/succulents, etc.  Took one step towards that, today, and planted some succulents along the side wall - Succulents planting along the front garden side wall completed; still need to finish landscaping.
- Inside: Continue to clean and declutter;  go through each room; get the donations organized and call for a pick up - Did a lot of surface cleaning and tidying; did some deep cleaning and decluttering, but not enough; will continue in June; the environment segment is "fair to middling"; could be better; I'll give it a rating of 6.

Daughter:  Provide long-distance support as she studies for finals during the first half of the month; enjoy her visit over Memorial Day weekend.  :) - Daughter completed her first year of grad. school; she had straight A's again; we had a wonderful visit over Memorial Day; we have her housing situation sorted for the summer and next academic year; and she started her paid summer internship; this segment is very well plumped and rates a 10! 

Family:  Spend time with cousins visiting from overseas - spent some time with cousins, but would have liked to have spent more time with them; got together with other relatives a couple of times; kept in touch with others through emails, phone calls etc. (actually, just got off the phone with one cousin); this segment is doing well; I'll give it a rating of 8.

Friends:  Get together with a couple of friends to share a meal; email/phone calls/video chat, etc.  - had a friend come over for lunch; met some friends at the prayer meeting; kept in touch with others through emails and phone calls; all in all, another nicely plumped segment; rating of 8

Career:  Continue to manage work load efficiently - work is coming along well; I was able to delegate some of it to a new person and that makes my work load more manageable; shall rate it 9.

Finances:  Continue to keep a spending log.  Keep to the grocery budget of $75 - went slightly over the grocery budget, but will take that into account in June; other areas of spending are at or under budget; rate this segment as nicely plumped and a 9.   

Health:  Big goal is better health!  I had a doctor's appointment today; I have a sinus infection!  Since the symptoms started in mid March, I guess I've had it for at least 6 weeks!  I just thought I was having allergies!  I was prescribed antibiotics and a sinus rinse; did some lab work, too, and made an appointment for a physical for next month.  Need to improve nutrition (increase vegetables/decrease sweets), get more exercise and more sleep.  Lose 5 lbs. by the end of the month - the good news is, I seem to have recovered from the sinus infection; the bad news is, I didn't lose any weight; oh, well, at least I didn't gain any!  This is another segment that needs more work; going to rate this a 6.

Leisure/Crafts/Hobbies:  Continue to sew from fabric stash: new lunch bag for myself; 1-2 summer nightdresses; 1 blouse; mend 1 skirt; 2 library visits - well, I did the library visits, but didn't get around to doing any of the sewing I had wanted to do!  Definitely need to make more time for crafts and hobbies; going to rate this at 7, because I am going to try and get some sewing done this afternoon.

Productivity and Time Management:  Continue to make efficient use of my time and be more productive: weekly cleaning routines; meal planning; bulk cooking; etc. - Being sick during the early part of the month put a damper on the productivity, as I didn't have the energy to do much.  But I did do some bulk cooking and meal planning, so all was not lost.  Will give this segment a rating of 7 and move on.



And that has been my month-end review of the various segments of my life.  All in all, not too bad.  There is a bit of a wobble since some segments are very nicely plumped and one or two are definitely needing some additional plumping!  I need to focus on those segments for June.


Do you do a similar review of the month to see how you did with your goals for the month?  Do you think such a month-end review would be helpful?  How do you keep tabs on how you did during the month? 

Weekend Plans

Weekend plans - sounds better than "weekend to do list" doesn't it?

According to the weather forecast, this is going to be a warm weekend with highs in the upper 80s, maybe low 90s.  Since my dryer isn't working properly and I am air drying everything, a warm weekend will be a good time to launder the blanket and quilt that are on my bed.  So, plans for the weekend include:

Housework:
- Laundry - wash quilt and blanket - done
- Do dishes - done (several times!)
- Tidy/dust the family room - done
- Vacuum - done
- Clean bathtub - done


Gardening:
 - Buy cactus planting mix (done) and mulch
- Pot up the succulents given to me by gardener - I'd like to do one of those "fairy gardens" I've been hearing about
- Take some plant cuttings to propagate - done

Cooking/Baking
- Bake banana bread - in the evening, when it has cooled down - done
- Make something with the apples in the fridge

Paperwork/Filing
 - Go through a stack of papers

Sewing/Crafting
- Sew on a button that came off a sweater - done
- Mend skirt - done
- Sew a new lunch bag - done
- Sew on the Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt

That sounds like a nice, balanced weekend to do list, doesn't it?  Let's see how well I do with my weekend plans.

Today, I am grateful for:

- A warm, sunny weekend
- A washing machine
- New plants for the garden
- The sight and sound of the mama bird sitting in her nest (in my front porch light) and chirping
- Being able to plan my weekend to my satisfaction

What are your plans for the weekend?

Home for the Baking Trays

I baked another batch of curry puffs, yesterday.  I will also, most probably bake some banana bread this weekend, since I have some over-ripe bananas.  I like to bake. Therefore, I have quite a few baking trays, etc.

I used to bake all of daughter's birthday cakes when she was a little girl (well, actually, until her 21st birthday).  Each year, we did a different theme with a matching cake, and I built up quite a collection of specially shaped cake pans (teddy bear, Big Bird, Barbie, etc.)  I gave away the majority of my shaped cake pans a while back.

But I kept the rest - the cookie sheets, the large baking and roasting pans, the muffin pans, the smaller rectangle, square and round cake pans, the Bundt cake pan, the loaf pans, two flower-shaped cake pans, the one that had inserts to form letters of the alphabet and numbers, etc.

Some, the more specialized ones that I use only occasionally, I keep in the detached garage. I am not too happy with this storage location because things tend to get dusty in the garage, but I don't need to keep the mini-bundt cake pans or the one that makes the letters and numbers on hand for everyday baking.

Some, like the pyrex baking pans (1 large rectangle, 1 smaller square, 1 casserole dish and 1 loaf pan), I keep in one kitchen cabinet. Pushed to the very back of this rather deep cabinet, with more frequently used bowls stacked in front, they are not that easily accessible (I have to take out the stack of bowls to get to them), but accessible enough for the frequency of their use.

It is the rest of the baking pans - all metal - that were in search of a good home. They include the previously mentioned baking pans, cookie trays, muffin pans, etc. For the longest time, they were  stored in the oven, itself.

Which was not a problem, except when I went to bake! Every time, before I could preheat the oven, I had to remove everything and stack them on the counter, or on top of the stove, or on the floor in the hallway, etc.  Often, when I had a luncheon or a dinner party and needed to use the oven, I ended up storing the baking pans in my bedroom!

So, one day, I decided that I shall store the baking pans in the cabinet above the stove!

I had been storing my crock pot up there (since I used it only a couple of times a year). But I was able to make room for it in a lower cabinet, which left one side of the above-the-stove cabinet empty (I store the citrus juicer and some empty jam jars on the other side).

I was able to fit in the cookie trays and the big baking pans, etc. up there, standing upright on their sides (as opposed to being stacked one on top of the other) for easy retrieval.  However, I don't have enough room for all the baking pans - the Bundt pan and the loaf pans don't fit up there, yet, because of the empty jars (need to find another home for the jars). 

And then, I realized the sad truth...I am too short to reach them for easy retrieval!  I need to drag the step stool over to access them.  And if I can't access them easily, I'll probably end up storing them in the oven because that would be easier!  Oh the trials and tribulations of the barely 5' tall!

But, for the time being, the majority of the baking pans have a home and I don't have to find temporary homes for them each time I bake!

Where do you store your baking pans?  Do you have a convenient home for them?

Utilities Bill

I received my current utilities bill in the mail, yesterday.  I get one combined bill, every 2 months, for water, electricity, sewage services and curbside solid waste (trash/yard waste/recyclables) collection.  I generally allocate $150 per month, in my monthly budget, towards this bill.  Most of the time, I come under this budgeted amount; occasionally, however, usually in the summer, I go over it, because the garden needs more watering during the summer.  This current bill is for $209.83.

 

The solid waste collection fee is fairly straight forward.  Each single family residence is issued 3 containers, a 60 gallon black bin for trash, a 90 gallon green bin for yard trimmings, and a 90 gallon blue bin for recyclables, which are collected weekly.  These are standard sizes for the containers, although I don’t generate anything close to 60 gallons of trash a week (and larger containers are available for a higher rate).  However, the rate at which they are billed can change over time, and the amount billed will vary with the number of days in the billing period.  My trash collection charges have varied between $76.42 and $69.26 in the past 18 months.  The current bill's trash fee is $69.26. It is a standard fee based on the size of the containers, which I can't reduce by reducing the amount of trash I generate.

 

The sewer service fee is based on winter (i.e. rainy season) water use; it is calculated once a year, based on the lowest daily average of water use during the winter months ( generally October to March) and the rate stays the same for that year; any variation in the billed amount is due to a change in the number of days in the billing period.  My sewer service fees have fluctuated between $35.40 and $15.99 (the current bill).   I can lower the fee by reducing the amount of water I use during the winter.

 

Both electricity and water are billed on a tiered system, with higher rates for increased usage.    

 

There are 3 tiers for electricity:  Tier 1 rates apply to the first 1,000 kiloWatt-hours (kWh).  Tier 2 rates apply to the next 2,000 kWh.  Tier 3 rates apply to any electricity more than 3,000 kWh.  The current Tier 1 rate is just under $0.15 per kWh.  I don’t know what the rates are for the other 2 tiers as I’ve never used that much electricity.  According to the newsletters enclosed with the billing, “typical” residential customers use 500 kWh per month (thus the 1,000 kWh for the 1^st tier for the 2-month billing period).   I have consistently come under 750 kWh in my electricity usage; this most recent bill indicates that I used 472 kWh during the current billing period (March 20-May 19).  My bill for electricity came to $69.15; with City utility taxes and State energy surcharges added, it comes to $76.21.

 

I do most of the usual things to reduce electricity usage - I turn off lights in rooms that are unoccupied, replace regular bulbs with energy saving bulbs, unplug most appliances such as the microwave, toaster, and rice cooker when not in use (but not the stove, washer, dryer, etc.) to minimize "phantom" energy use, air dry clothes.  I don't have central air conditioning, just a small window unit which I put in my bedroom window during the summer, so that's a big energy use I don't have.  I am sure there are other things I can do; I should probably go around and unplug a few other things. 

 

There are 2 tiers for water.  But, because of the drought and mandatory water conservation measures in place, things are a little more complicated.  We are given a water allotment based on our “temperature zone” – there are 3 zones: low, medium, and high, based on average temperatures.  My house is located in the Medium Zone.  As such, I am allocated 24 hundred cubic feet (HCF; 1 HCF = 748 gallons) of water at Tier 1 rates during the winter and 29 HCF in the summer.  Currently, I pay $4.84 per HCF, at Tier 1 rates, but water rates fluctuate.  Last summer, I paid $5.89 per HCF.  The current Tier 2 rate is $6.16 per HCF.  According to my current bill, I used a total of 10 HCF during the billing period and my charge for water is $48.37. 

 

I am doing what I can to conserve water.  While we are allowed to water the garden 3 times a week with sprinklers, before 9 a.m. and after 4:00 p.m., I water the back garden, using sprinklers, once a week.  I usually hand water the front garden, but although we are allowed to hand water every day, provided it is done before 9 a.m. and after 4:00 p.m., I water the front garden only once, or occasionally, twice a week.  I am also planting more drought tolerant plants such as succulents and have stopped watering the lawn.  I haven't started to replace the lawn with a non-lawn option, yet, though.

What are some of the things you do to save electricity and water?  How do you keep your utilities bills low?

Wednesday's Productivity

I woke up with a slight headache (probably due to insufficient sleep; went to sleep late and had to wake up early), which lingered throughout the day.  Still, I was able to have a productive day at the office.  Got my banking done during my lunch break and stopped by the dollar store on my way home to exchange one of the items I bought, yesterday.  Met a friend and her daughter in the parking lot as I was leaving the dollar store (they were on their way in to the store).  Came home and had an early dinner as I was hungry.  Later, I put away the laundry from yesterday, video chatted with daughter, and watched some TV.  Not a very exciting day, but that's OK.

Today, I am grateful for:
- Getting my errands done
- A chance meeting with a friend while running errands
- Easy, hassle-free exchange at the store
- Sweet fresh cherries
- Warm chocolate pudding!

How was your day, today?