Thing 8: Conquered and Honored!

Drum roll, please... fanfare, trumpets, confetti.... I want it ALL!!! And dang it, I deserve it on this one (if I do say so myself).

Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, Children of all ages.... it is my greatest, most proud, most exciting accomplishment from the 5 Things list to date....

I have officially completed Thing 8: Be a Non Smoker!

It's been a long time coming and though I stopped smoking on September 13, I hesitated to cross this one off until I was really, really sure. Today, I am really, really sure, and man, it feels great!!

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In celebration of both Thing #8 and some other writing I've been doing for an awesome new website called CoolMomsCare, Julie at The Surrendered Scribe gave me a blog award called Bloggers with Integrity -- For the Spirit of Giving. You can read what she had to say about me here, her words are so nice, I'm humbled and appreciative!

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New Things: I already had a TBD next to Thing 12, from the completion of Thing 5. I have one new Thing to add, so I'll put that as #12 and leave #13 as TBD for now. Don't worry, I have some ideas, just want to pick the one that's most fun and most about ME this time around!

Thing #12 will be to make myself a quilt, with a pattern that will challenge me. I know, I know, I've had lots of quilts on my list. However, I've never, ever kept for myself (or even for my own family!) one of the quilts I've made, and it's time I did one for me. Many months ago I bought a pattern that looks basic enough for me to handle, but with a very striking finished look. I think I'm going to dig it out and start looking for fabrics to make the perfect "Kat Quilt" as Thing #12. Pictures to follow as I get started!

Thing 1: Done! + Thing 2, too!

Oh, what a feeling!! It's a thing of beauty, really... a place for everything, and everything in it's place. You can compare these to the "before" pictures a few posts down, to see the true progress.

The best part? I got to use power tools!! I made myself this rack to store/hang all my spools of ribbon. No, I'm not sure why I own all these. You think this is too many? You should see how many I donated the the arts & craft department at my daughter's pre-school!

And yes, I found the bed again, too!

I was on such a role, that I decided to tackle Thing 2, framing the tobacco leaf and flag. Once I bought the frames, it took no time at all. Not sure why I waited so long in the first place. Of course, deciding where to hang them took half the day, but alas, here they are.... in the guest room next to my beautifully organized craft closet.

I'm going to take GREAT pleasure in cross these off my list. I'm not sure of the proper "5 Things Etiquette" for cross-offs, but I personally like to be reminded of my own progress.... so I'm going to cross off Thing 1 and Thing 2 and add Thing 6 and Thing 7. Still only 5 on the list, but I can see how far I've come.

Here are the two new things:

6. Finalize our wills

Funny, this should be an easy one. Hubby is a lawyer and on the very computer I'm using to type this is the software required to write our wills. On top of the very computer desk where I sit are drafts of our wills that we wrote over 10 months ago, but never proof-read and signed. I guess it's like the cobbler's kids going barefoot??

7. Install chair rail & paint downstairs

This will be a 3-part task, me thinks. First, I need to convince Hubby that installing chair rail throughout the entire 1st floor (and painting the wall below it) should be anywhere near our priority list. Second, we need to plan a weekend (or two, or three) to tackle this project, which includes shipping the kids off to the in-laws for a day or two (easy for the in-laws, hard for Mom and Dad!). Third, the easy part, will be the actual installation and painting.