July Goals

I'm keeping my list shorter this month and underlined the ones to do first. Note that I do not include the routine house & yard maintenance, cooking, laundry, paying bills, etc. or the chores Hubby does regularly as that all gets done without reminders or goal setting.

July GOALS 

Me

Note: I probably won't be going swimming as the city pool requires some serious repairs. We'll see when it is going to be closed.

• Focus on increasing exercise especially bone and muscle strengthening plus more aerobic walking
• Go at least one new place

Paperwork

• Update Kaiser final wishes documents
• Update passwords
• Check beneficiaries on all accounts (both of us to do)
• Get credit score
• Additional credit card
• Credit freeze

House/Yard (Repairs, Improvements & Non-Routine Cleaning)

• Clean/Declutter final 3 kitchen cupboards (Done: 4 cupboards; 16 drawers including stove)
• Check flickering can light - call electrician or replace bulbs?
• Clean windows upstairs
• Deep clean office including spot cleaning rug
• Outdoor benches paint touched up
• Rotate couch and chair cushions after vacuum

Socialize

• Dates with Hubby- trying for weekly
• Spend time with family/grandgirls (on out of town on vacation 2 weeks)

June goals wrap up

I'm pretty happy with all that was done! I'm especially glad that there was more social activity. 

The unfinished items are being moved on to appropriate lists. I do not include the routine house & yard maintenance, cooking, laundry, etc. as that all gets done without reminders or goal setting.

June Goals Completed

Yard

• Pruned neighbor’s shrub overhanging fence (Hubby after I borrowed tool from son)
• Bought 2 replacement plants for by patio & Hubby planted
• Moved bench to make patio step obvious
• Cleaned outdoor furniture and put on patio along with rug

House - Repairs, Improvements & Non-Routine Cleaning

• Mop wood floors
• Steam clean main bath floor incl shower
• Clean frig inside and outside

Socialized

• 4 Dates with Hubby
• Lunch with friend
• Email conversation with brother
• Spent time with local family on 6 days

Other things added

• Got prescription sunglasses adjusted
• Cobwebs cleaned up outside
• Washed 4 trash cans
• Cleaned sticker residue off windshield & washed car
• Mended a top
• Rotated mattress

Five on Friday

We went out to eat twice this week - Greek for lunch on Monday and gourmet tacos for Thursday dinner. Such a nice change of pace. I'll see if the grandgirls want to go out for ice cream/frozen yogurt tomorrow or Sunday given whatever their social calendar is.

No heat dome here just the usual wide temperature swings for this time of year in the East Bay. Sorry for all of you suffering from the heat as I do know what it feels like from having lived in different parts of the country.

1. Books, books and more books. I've almost finished the 52 books challenge so I decided to start trying to fill and expand my reading by tracking what country, state, etc. books are set in. No deadlines on this but I suspect it will lead me to some interesting fiction and non-fiction.

2. I used Hoopla to stream the next episodes of a show I enjoyed recently through PBS Passport, but they have a limit of 4 checkouts a month which is really limiting. I ordered a DVD player to use with my laptop as the library has lots of DVDs including shows that aren't available on our streaming services. My son gave me a purchase recommendation and they aren't very expensive.

3. I had a good laugh at Pilates this week when my trainer said "You are quite strong". I responded that I wished I felt stronger and she said, "Well sturdy then". That made me think of the tall variety of pony I rode during lessons. A good laugh for both of us. I do know I am getting stronger despite my lack of consistency with a daily exercise schedule. I used to be so disciplined - sigh.

4. I am again watering plants and checking the house of the neighbors across the street. They are from Europe and left for a 3 week trip to visit family. I am thankful we moved into a neighborhood where people look out for each other.

5. I'm also thankful for our dog who is affectionate, funny and also generally well behaved now that he is an adult. He got groomed yesterday and was as usual extremely excited and happy to go there which makes me happy.

It’s officially summer and I want to get out and about

And I think I am finally getting used to what that means weather wise here in the Berkeley area. I reminded myself that although I have lived almost all my life in areas of the country where summer is HOT, there were those 6 years in Seattle lol. We are having warmish sunny days and in September the real hot ones will arrive and of course there is no rain.

And after living here for two years I really want to get out and do more. Hence, my summer exploring idea list.

DONE - Go to the upscale farmer’s market for fun. Live music, lovely if expensive organic produce, flowers and baked goods plus great smelling food stands and trucks. We only bought produce and fancy hummus but I have high hopes for the peaches.

The Berkeley Art Museum (possibly with a granddaughter or 2 when they have their art lab)

Car show on July 4th (we did this last year and it is a good walk plus fun to look at the old cars)

A botanical garden (we have two very large ones to choose from)

Ice cream or frozen yogurt plus a meandering walk

Go swimming (the city pool is an easy walk away)

San Francisco, Sonoma or somewhere in Marin county

A state park, the zoo, a museum, a beach, or winery - so many options

Deer - 5 vs Us - 4 but at least there are flowers

 

Apparently just ready to open Agapanthus flowers are a deer munchie! Last year we only had one flower sprout so this is still a win.

Five on Friday

1. I had several things to look forward to this past week - I was able to get the latest Laurie King novel about Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes - Knave of Diamonds - from the library. Just started reading it. Saturday I took my dog sitting neighbor out to lunch at a restaurant next to the bay as a small thank you. Sunday was Father's Day brunch at our house. Pilates on Wednesday and the rest of the week normal stuff.

2. Father’s Day brunch at our house motivated us to put out the outdoor rug and some furniture on our newly painted patio. For now we are using a bench we already have to mark the one step between the larger and smaller concrete sections. We can easily pull it up onto the rug or down to the yard flagstone patio for additional seating. We also have extra folding chairs and small table in the garage.

3. We spent time outdoors on Father's Day with the two girls throwing the dog's tennis ball, blowing bubbles and the older one turning cartwheels on the patio while the little one ran around. Later we sat outside with just our son and had a nice long visit.

4. Our 8 year old granddaughter made double chocolate meringue cookies as her gift for Father's Day. Melt in you mouth delicious but also intense sugar bombs to be taken in small doses

5. I’ve made a good dent in my June Goals & To Do list and will keep going. I did decide some of the things on my original list weren’t important or necessary to do so have crossed those off. I've added an addendum though of things I think of that need doing.

Do you have a "tariff" or food shortages pantry?

A reference in a post by the Domestic Mrs. Murphy to stocking up her tariff pantry got me thinking about what may become very difficult to purchase or outrageously expensive as we try to survive not only the ever changing impulsive tariffs but also the decimation of the farm and meat industry workforce.

Of course one could answer for the latter "Everything!" but what specifically is likely to go away first due to tariffs and second due to crops not getting processed. What might we want to add to our pantries.

I used a CVS coupon before it expired to buy a small bag of granulated sugar simply because we were getting low but it also dawned on me that sugar may be affected by tariffs. However this particular product was from a Colorado coop of sugar beet farmers. Cane sugar however is mostly imported I believe.

Let's hear what you are adding to your pantry as backup whether in small or large quantities please.