Wednesday's little bites

Today was my husband's day off. Once again I was reminded that I need to have a very loose grip on my to do list when he is off .... things invariably go in a different direction but I am OK if I am not dead set on accomplishing several specific things, especially things at home. I mean, really, which is more important -- maintaining a good relationship with my husband and doing things together or being able to cross off a bunch of things off my list for the day?

We did get a few things done -- important stuff but not moving me towards my May deadlines. We dropped the car off at the garage and then rode the bus to the bus station to buy bus passes to use for the next few days or so. Then had breakfast together and stopped in at the police department to pick up everyone's new residence card. The kids and I are one step behind my husband so he was due to get his 5 year permanent residence but the rest of us are on our last "temporary renewal" which is normally good for 2 years and then needs to be renewed. When we picked them up all 6 cards had the same expiration date ... they are all good for the next 5 years! Praise the Lord we will have a break from the hassles of paperwork for a while.

Off to the store to pick up a few food items we will need tomorrow and Friday and won't be able to buy since the stores will all be closed for the next 2 days. I think one is a Madrid holiday and the other is National independence day (but don't quote me on that nor ask me which day is which because I don't know.)

I did not translate any today since hubby needed the computer when he was home but we all took advantage of the fact that tomorrow is a holiday and the kids don't have to get up early for school and all rode the bus, and train into the city and then saved subway money by walking the last 1/2 hour to church from the train station. We all decided to walk back to the station after church since we promised the kids if we didn't have to pay for the subway rides we would stop at the walk up window and buy ice cream cones from McDonalds. Yeah, I know it's not Ben&Jerry's but they didn't complain. Plus I walked off some calories and was not even tempted to get myself a cone.

Came across what sounds like an awesome deal tonight if you are needing to print out a bunch of digital photos. (like me) If you sign up with ArtsCow using the link here you will get credits for 400 free prints (spread out over the next 4 months) and a free 8x8 photo book (available after May 31). I look forwarding to placing and receiving my first order to see what their service is like. Can't beat the price!


Tomorrow we try to create a balance between a fun and relaxing day off and some productive time nibbling away at those elephants.

First Day of baby bites

Today I start listing and hopefully accomplishing many little bites on my way to tackling my elephant sized tasks for the month (which, by the way, are 1. translating the VBS program into Spanish for our VBS that takes place the first week of July, 2. Put together a video slide show on the computer which must be done by May 29, 3. Sew costume for #2 son who is the King in his school production on May 20, 4. Find and organize old credit card statements to fill out my form for a return of the large foreign exchange fees they charged us back in 2002-2004 for a "class action suit" that we were mailed. That must be done by the 30th so I can mail it from the States when I go at the end of the month 5. Pack and plan for friends to watch the kids after school during the few weeks that I will be away in June.)

Today's goals:
1. Translate for 30 minutes solid or the first Primary lesson, whichever comes first.
2. Call the states and find out the answers to some info I need for the slide show.
3. Measure son for his costume.
4. Find the form and create a file folder to start putting the statements in as I uncover them.
5. Nothing on this today -- I must empty out the large entertainment center that we have been using in our bedroom for dresser space since we are giving it away and I think they are coming to pick it up tomorrow night.

These things will be fit in around the other activities that must be done today:
1. Paint sets for the school play 9:00 - 10:30 am
2. Call insurance company and open claims and make appointment for the adjuster to be at the body shop tomorrow when I drop the car off to be fixed.
3. Take the kids to the mall to enjoy some free ice cream at Ben and Jerry's.

Breaking down the elephant

This next month is chock full of deadlines for me ... elephant-sized tasks that have me a bit paralized when I think about how to get them done without falling back on my normal "stay up all night the night before it is due" pattern. So I am going to try to put my blog title into practice and break up those tasks into bite sized mini-tasks. I will try to set 3 or 4 small goals for each day that should be easily accomplished with some concentrated effort each morning.
Today's goal was to find the body shop for our car and check out getting the car fixed where my husband put a hole in the side of the wheel well when he ran over something last Saturday at 1 am coming home from a youth activity. The mechanic thinks there is more than just body work wrong and urged us not to drive the car too much. So tomorrow I need to contact the insurance company, do a few errands that will be hard to do once we enter the next few weeks of "carlessness" and buy some bus passes to use to get the kids to and from school for the time that the car is in the shop. The mall is on the errand list because I promised the kids I would take them for Ben and Jerry's free ice-cream day. The other little goal today was to get a menu plan made for the week so I can not be distracted by the nagging What's for Dinner question every day. If I find that I can get online without being tempted to waste time I may try to post my bitesized goals each day so I can check them off and be "accountable" to you readers. However, please understand if I find that the temptation to flee from my responsibilities and escape into blogging land causes me to have to go cold turkey for a while.


Menu Plan for the week
Monday:
Breakfast-- oil bread (toast with olive oil and fresh chopped tomato spread --very Spanish)
Lunch: Quiche, cucumber salad, applesauce
Dinner: leftovers (lentils from last week)

Tuesday:
Breakfast--Oatmeal
Lunch-- Hamburgers at McDonald's followed by free ice cream at Ben & Jerry's
Dinner-- cream of zucchini soup

Wednesday:
Breakfast--Cereal and toast
Lunch-- Foil pack taco chicken, broccoli
Dinner-- sandwhiches and chips

Thursday: No School --National Holiday
Breakfast-- Waffles
Lunch-- cheesy chicken crescent dinner
Dinner-- ?

Friday: No School -- Regional Holiday
Breakfast-- French Toast
Lunch-- Fried Rice, fruit salad
Dinner-- Homemade Pizza

Saturday:
Breakfast-- ?
Lunch-- Macaroni salad, Ham slices
Dinner-- Dad's choice (I have a VBS planning meeting)

Sunday: Spanish Mother's Day but we won't be going out, especially if we are without a car
Breakfast-- ? No plan but I imagine there will be breakfast in bed for me
Lunch-- Crock pot roast (if I can find one at a good sale tomorrow), mashed potatoes, carrots, apple crisp with icecream (This is all something that I will start but then my hubby will step in and finish up when we get home from church. He can work his magic on the mashed potatoes and all I will need to do is make the gravy and mix up the topping for the apple crisp.)
Dinner-- leftovers or general grazing Ü

A blast from the past

I was surfing a bit and came across a blog post on crazy April Fool's pranks. The writer was soliciting stories of our favorite pranks in her comment section and I felt the need to contribute even though it is a good 2 weeks old and I conveniently managed to ignore the little holiday this year. After spending the time to remember and write out my crazy high school prank I thought I might as well share it here since I have not been very good at posting lately. This is for all (5) of you who actually come here all on your own and not through a WFMW, Meal plan Monday, or tackle it Tuesday link.

One of my best pranks was when I was a senior in high school. I was part of a special "seminar" class that met in the teachers' lounge of the school library. A few days before the 1st I found out that the library was purging some old reference books and they were thrown away in the school dumpster. Before class I snuck into the lounge and placed them on the bookshelf behind my seat. When the teacher was a few minutes late coming to class I had my chance to fool my classmates. This was so out of character for me that they were dumbstruck. I started ranting about how sick I was of school and of always being the goody two shoes and that I would explode if I didn't do something crazy. I grabbed the big fat book off the shelf behind me and started ripping it to shreds. Meanwhile the other "honor students" were horrified and grabbing at me to stop me before our teacher came in. What fun it was to laugh and say April Fools right as the teacher walked in!

A New Look

Sometimes you just need a change of scenery. The sun hasn't shone much here this week which is unusual. We really need the rain but it does put me in a bit of a funk. Then my blog had that dreary snowy picture on the header and I decided it was time for spring and a new look. I found several templates that I liked on pyzam.com and made the change in just 15 minutes. Slapped on a picture from our spring break vacation in Cartagena and voila! a fresh new look. What do you think?

Wordless Wednesday: Why I hate Silly Putty