My Word for 2016 - Ahead

Messy Messy Fail - I know that I definitely have food in the refrigerator leftover from Christmas - I spotted some sautéed green beans, mashed potatoes and the remains of a leftover roast in the back of the fridge.  Good thing garbage night is tomorrow evening.

Tidy Victory - We had some friends over to celebrate our Christmas together quite late on Friday and I made a terrific somewhat authentic Mexican dinner - hard and soft shell tacos with my own taco seasoning (I just cannot use the packets anymore, so salty!), Paula Deen's mexican rice and this delicious recipe for restraunt style refried beans.  Let me just say there were no leftovers.  

Be ahead of the game. 

Think ahead.

Be ready.

Be early.

Do you see the common theme?

Punctuality is not necessarily one of my strong suits.  I am a procrastinator tried and true.  ESPECIALLY if it is something that I don't really want to do.  

But you know what?  That's a terrible excuse - I can be very lazy and that's the truth of the matter.  

Therefore, my word for this year is AHEAD.

Anticipate what is coming and be ready.

Think about the future and plan accordingly.

Do not set it aside for later, do it now.

Some of my specific goals include:

• better meal planning - I typically plan ahead for a week in advance, trying to go to the grocery store only once a week.  However too often we resort to running our for a quick pizza or sub. 
• keep our wipe off calendar in the kitchen updated - it's pointless to have if we don't use it properly!
• try to stay tidier - I'm always in a mad rush the night before our house cleaner comes to get clutter out of the way
• finish the task at hand - I am notorious for starting something then getting distracted by something else
• try to keep a "big picture" view - what will the consequences of my choices be and how will they affect others and not just myself

How ironic that my word for the year is being posted at the end of January ;)

What is your word for year?

Did you set specific goals for yourself?  I'd love to hear about them!

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How to Make Cheap Shower Spray

Messy Messy Fail - Did I ever mention how I wanted to be an astrophysicist if I hadn't gone into music education?  Yeah, I'm not joking.  
I cannot tell you how excited I was when I heard about asteroid 2004 BL86 making a sweet fly by.  I looked up the path and best times for viewing which I THOUGHT was on Monday and Tuesday night.  I couldn't go out Monday so I ran out into the sub-zero temperatures on Tuesday night to a nearby park to see if I could catch a glimpse.  Did I bring my smart phone to check the path?  No, of course not.  Spent about 45 minutes, half of which was spent defogging my binoculars, searching the sky aimlessly for what I can only described as a foggy looking star.  It was also slightly too bright at the park, so I hopped in the truck and moved to a road side stand parking lot down the hill where the man-made light would be much less, put my glasses on the seat of the truck and hopped out to find BL86.  Too cold, still too bright, got back in the truck, and CRUNCH.    I needed new glasses anyways.  And come to find out BL86 was only visible on Monday night.  Go figure.

Tidy Victory - I immediately made an appointment with Dr. Kara Gibbs at Southern Tier Optometry to get my eyes checked (I was squinting even with my glasses on) and purchase new frames.  Normally I would wait a few months in my laziness, but walking around squinting like a gremlin stinks.  Done!  Now I just need to actually purchase the frames......

So here I go......

Because I have so much free time (chuckle chuckle) I thought it would be interesting to share some life experiences on the Internet in hopes of finding that other people feel/think/are the same as my family and I.  We have our ups and downs, but the best part is the crazy and fun times we have.

So you may ask, "What's up with the blog title?"  Well, I will admit (my husband will be proud), I try and strive to be organized, lead a simple life, etc.  But somehow I'm just not quite like that, can't seem to reach that level, and I think people find it humerous.  I still try, but the first step to recovery is admitting your faults, right?

My oldest son, Ryan, somehow came up with the phrase "messy messy mess".  Not sure why he says the word messy twice, or where he heard it for that matter, but Love My Messy Messy Mess really just sums up my life right now.  I really do try to be more organized for my family, and there are small victories, but the REALITY of the matter is this is how I am.  I will post pictures from time to time of my highlights and failures, but in the end, it's how I roll and I love it. :)

Victory or failure?  Tomorrow on my to do list:  empty out one of the three drawers I have in my kitchen of cooking utensil nonsense to make room for kitchen towels which are currently shoved in an upper cabinet.  I love how I try to pull one dish towel out and usually three or four accompany it.  Stay tuned........

Enjoy your weekend folks and we'll see what happens next!

Katie