Good to see everyone's goals for May. I haven't posted in this group in a while just because it's been busy, and we've been trying to keep on track. Here are some of our May goals as well as April results.
Personal
- Eating healthier: Went to the cardiologist about 3 weeks ago. He told me I needed to make some changes. Basically, he told me to cut back on red meat and eat more chicken and fish. Been a slow change to more chicken and fish, although we did make a chicken and rice crockpot meal using canned chicken (I'll use canned when I cook). And I do get shrimp sometimes if we go out to eat, but DW won't let me cook seafood in the house because it stinks up the place.
- More Exercise: Also, he wanted me to start exercising more. So, I've started walking between 2-3 miles per day except for Tuesdays when I have bible study and Wednesdays when we have prayer group and choir practice. I've also pretty much cut out fried food too. I've started eating fewer breads/carbs, a lot fewer sweets and more veggies and fresh fruits. As a result, I've lost approximately 8 pounds. It was a tad more, but we went home this weekend because my dad fell and broke both arms. So, we ate out a little more than normal (4 straight days of Tex-Mex), so I gained a pound back.
Financial
- Stay afloat financially: We're managing to do that. We had some money leftover (for now anyway) going into our next check. And considering it was the first part of the month when rent is due, that's a huge deal. It's always toughest at the beginning, especially with an unexpected trip home. However, I did miss a CC payment since we had to rush to town to be with my dad. I just forgot it was due. So, I'm going to call them and see if they can waive the late fee since I've never missed a payment.
- Lower our eating out: We've continued to lower this, but we did fail this weekend when we went home as we ate out every meal. Luckily, her grandmother paid for 3 of the 4 meals. But we've cut it back to just a couple of times a week. Usually, Chickfila after choir on Wednesdays and then a meal out at some point over the weekend.
- Sell, sell, sell: We've started going through some of the boxes we've had packed for the 3 years since we moved to DFW. And we've started selling some stuff. DW likes to sell on Marketplace, although I'm not a fan. Been ok thus far. But I worry about her meeting strangers in public. She's sold off 4 unused purses, 4 pairs of my shorts (3 with tags still on them) and 15 sets of scrubs from the days when she worked in the medical field. We do have boxes and boxes of china from our wedding, but we don't know where to go to sell those. So that'll be the next part of the sell, sell, sell project.
- Save for Chicago: We've just stockpiled the money from selling stuff as we're going to Chicago for the National Sports Collections Convention this summer. It's for my 50th birthday and our 20th anniversary, so it's a pretty special trip. We've paid off the hotel, booked our flights and we got our tickets to the Cubbies game (they were a gift from my parents for our birthdays since hers is the day before mine). So, Chicago is paid off except for spending money.
Home/Projects
- Create an office space upstairs: The goal was to go through the boxes and sell/get rid of as much as we could, so I could create an office space in our upstairs bedroom. It's also our guest room, so it can't be a big space. But I'd like to have a small desk and a shelf/cabinet up there for my sports card side business.
- Growing veggies: I failed miserably on my first try at it. I believe the frost hit them a few weeks after I planted. Or something. Not really sure. My grandmother and mother both had green thumbs. I didn't get that gene, lol. I think I missed planting season for DFW, but I might try something else here in the coming weeks.
- Keeping yard: I have kept it mowed until recently when it seems we've had 10 inches of rain in the past month. It's so wet right now that I couldn't get a bush hog on it. So, I will have to wait. However, it's supposed to rain all week. I did, however, manage to trim back a tree a few weeks ago. Got all those limbs hauled off. Need to trim back roses once the weather cooperates as well as weed and fix the flower bed.
I have so many things pinned and saved to try, because if Sally from Iowa can do it, so can I! (This is wildly tbd)
and then doing my son's room (they're switching rooms so I need to get his less pink and purple 
our everyday dishes finally bit the dust and were getting wonky in the microwave (microwave safe but they were getting hot to the touch) so when got rid of them and now use our wedding china day to day. at least we are getting some use out of them.
