So this is about accountability. Journalling our achievements so that we can see how far we have come throughout 2013 by taking the time to list all those things we have done to live even more scrumptiously than before… We are all too quick to list the things we want to do without ever being mindful of the things we have already done so that we can feel justifiably proud. This then is a way to right that wrong.  Each month here on BrocanteHome I am going to list my own tiny little achievements and I invite you to do the same on your blog or in your journal…
At Home…
Bought two beautiful little bedside tables. (new) Found two perfect desk chairs. (vintage) Found bookcase for landing. Yay! (vintage) Created a meditation tin with candles, incense, matches, oils and crystals. Threw away/recycled for dusters, a pile of past their best bathroom towels. Lined drawers of bedside chest with Kirstie Allsop scented drawer liners. Created a Finley file for hospital and school letters, with a section for each month of the year. Fitted lights underneath the plate rack in the kitchen (and lo and behold we can see what we are chopping!) Made home-made bread all month long. Didn’t buy a single shop-bought loaf. Lined a basket full of hay and filled it full of the gorgeous vegetables that come in our organic veg box. Stacked cup-cake wrappers in a spaghetti jar.
At Work…
Wrote twenty-four blog posts. Submitted rough (very rough!) draft of book proposal. Created Things I Love page on BrocanteHome. Eliminated some of the clutter in the sidebar. Re-opened Etsy account ready to stock with vintage joy. Soon… Wrote and sent out February Puttery Companion. Mapped out new Housekeepers Coaching service. Ordered and received Moo Business Cards.
For Our Health…
Drank a green smoothie everyday… Took Finn for oral bioposy and various hospital appointments. Awaiting results. Put my vitamins on Amazon Subscribe and Save so never again can I sabotage myself by forgetting to buy them! Endured one horrible long bout of flu. Dramatically reduced the amount of meat we eat in favour of a huge variety of vegetarian dishes. Bought butter instead of margarine and used coconut oil instead of olive oil.
For Our Finances…
Finally paid off one horrible bill! Reduced grocery shopping bill by a third by only shopping on-line. Read Financial Peace Revisited by Dave Ramsey. Signed up for Ffrees account to save as we shop.
For Myself…
Agreed to go to Paris in June (Oh my!) Began to work through May Cause Miracles. Learnt how to make edible shortbread after many years of crumbly nonsense. Ticked off ten things on my 2013 Workbook 100 Things List…
Create your own Brocante Life Book, plan Christmas, set up routines and rituals or live life the BrocanteHome way with my guided workbooks and planners.
I haven’t spoke for two days. I open my mouth and nothing comes out, apart from the occasional squeak and what I am trying to pass off as a husky whisper… Yes, for the second time this year I have lost my…
Yesterday for the first time in five years, I bought a different brand of deodorant and all of a sudden I was seventeen again. Back then the slightly exotic scent of Soft and Gentle Nighttime deodorant held the promise of much more…
A while ago a counsellor told me that what had happened to me was the equivalent of having my house blown away by a tornado and suddenly finding myself sitting atop a pile of rubble, trying to make sense of the pieces….
In celebration of the gloriously sunny weather we are enjoying here in middle England, I offer you a little collection of pretty watercolour images scanned from On The Sands, a Green Beacon 1957 early reader (they always have the best images don’t…
Oooooh look its Happy Loves Rosie shopified! Don’t you just love it when you see scrumptious little blogs blossoming into stripy, happy butterflies? After all who couldn’t do with a dose of happiness dropping through their letterbox? Me, me, me! Go grab…
And so the first anniversary of My Mum’s death came and went and it was nothing and everything all at once. Perhaps too raw to explain yet. I meant to carry on regardless, but it turned out to be harder than I…
9 Comments
Love this idea, great to look back over each month and acknowledge your achievements whether big or small. It is often the small things that make the biggest difference. I started this year with “themeing” each month (broadly speaking) but might now combine it with thei method too as a kind of buffer at each end of the month. Thanks Alison! PS. just got back from brunch with the ladies in Ormskirk and went to that Source deli, eggs benedict, yum!
Oh my and here I thought i’d been busy! I’m going to have to really think about what I accomplished last month. Great post Alison, very inspiring. Ali x
Love this idea, great to look back over each month and acknowledge your achievements whether big or small. It is often the small things that make the biggest difference. I started this year with “themeing” each month (broadly speaking) but might now combine it with thei method too as a kind of buffer at each end of the month. Thanks Alison! PS. just got back from brunch with the ladies in Ormskirk and went to that Source deli, eggs benedict, yum!
Oh, boy. My month *feels* epically unproductive; let’s see: Home: It didn’t burn down. :-p Put down new carpet in the girls’ room. Lined my flatware organizer with felt so things wouldn’t clatter and slide around anymore. Had in-laws to visit for three days.
Work: I’ve got 5 children 7 yrs and younger: I’m calling that work. Potty-trained 2 year old. Still something of a work on progress. Got 8 month old through cutting two top teeth. Broke the children of calling each other ‘poopy’. Taught division, Greek history, basic music theory and piano to 7 year old. Taught 3 successive Sunday School classes on baptism to 1st graders, 5th, and 4th. Taught regular SS to 2 yr old class. Taught a 3-5 year old class at church every Wednesday night.
Health: Got the kids through a bacterial infection in the first week of January, took three weeks to kick the same infection in myself. Got back into giving the kids cod liver oil 6 days a week after falling off the wagon in December. I already cook healthful, yummy food exclusively from raw ingredients, no change there. In the last third of January, began working out with the kettlebell regularly, gained noticeable muscle tone already (don’t need to lose weight, just tone up)
Finances: Geez. Um, started sorting through past year’s info to get set up to do the taxes. Husband started his own business last year, so things have been rather haywire financially. That is all.
Myself…. The above-mentioned exercising is pretty much it. Took my vitamins fairly regularly. Oh, read through all of George MacDonald’s novels on the Kindle Paperwhite I got for Christmas. Free on Amazon, all 40+ of them. That was nice. (I read at 800 words a minute, or so. I wasn’t lolling around reading all the time.)
Okay… I took a little time and came up with some things. Started writing curriculum for one class (English4), which is required. Decided officially to retire. Set up Weebly account. Set up Amazon seller account Sold one item on Amazon Joined Leonie with The Goddess Circle Moved furniture and cleaned walls, floors, baseboards in Mom’s room Stored all Christmas stuff Sent four real letters Reinvented several of my son’s favorite meals to be created with almond milk ……………and almond flour. Decorated for Valentine’s Day. Took a special treat weekly to a friend who is having cancer radiation ……… …………treatments Cleaned and rearranged two walls, floors, cabinets, etc. of the dining room Loved almond polish, bergamot, and lavendar….. Bought and learned to use a new Smartphone. Made Dr. Appointment for Mom Created a plan to forge through the rest of the school year despite some Issues with superpowers. Created a new address system for cards, notes. Purchased a web address for my new online store.
In and out of hospital. Painted kitchen wall potters wheel fab shade of grey, cleaned up back garden and back lane. Made fresh bread every day. Downloaded biogs on my kindle. Ordered Sherlock red leather chair from Next. Cushion from Next. Looked after Mum in law. Not got rid of cough – docs tomorrow.
Love this post! What an inspiring idea, it is so easy to constantly belittle ourselves for what we didn’t get done, not so easy to focus on what we do! Thanks Alison for this great reminder.xoxo
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Love this idea, great to look back over each month and acknowledge your achievements whether big or small. It is often the small things that make the biggest difference. I started this year with “themeing” each month (broadly speaking) but might now combine it with thei method too as a kind of buffer at each end of the month. Thanks Alison!
PS. just got back from brunch with the ladies in Ormskirk and went to that Source deli, eggs benedict, yum!
Oh my and here I thought i’d been busy! I’m going to have to really think about what I accomplished last month. Great post Alison, very inspiring.
Ali x
Love this idea, great to look back over each month and acknowledge your achievements whether big or small. It is often the small things that make the biggest difference. I started this year with “themeing” each month (broadly speaking) but might now combine it with thei method too as a kind of buffer at each end of the month. Thanks Alison!
PS. just got back from brunch with the ladies in Ormskirk and went to that Source deli, eggs benedict, yum!
Oh, boy. My month *feels* epically unproductive; let’s see:
Home:
It didn’t burn down. :-p
Put down new carpet in the girls’ room.
Lined my flatware organizer with felt so things wouldn’t clatter and slide around anymore.
Had in-laws to visit for three days.
Work:
I’ve got 5 children 7 yrs and younger: I’m calling that work.
Potty-trained 2 year old. Still something of a work on progress.
Got 8 month old through cutting two top teeth.
Broke the children of calling each other ‘poopy’.
Taught division, Greek history, basic music theory and piano to 7 year old.
Taught 3 successive Sunday School classes on baptism to 1st graders, 5th, and 4th.
Taught regular SS to 2 yr old class.
Taught a 3-5 year old class at church every Wednesday night.
Health: Got the kids through a bacterial infection in the first week of January, took three weeks to kick the same infection in myself.
Got back into giving the kids cod liver oil 6 days a week after falling off the wagon in December.
I already cook healthful, yummy food exclusively from raw ingredients, no change there.
In the last third of January, began working out with the kettlebell regularly, gained noticeable muscle tone already (don’t need to lose weight, just tone up)
Finances:
Geez.
Um, started sorting through past year’s info to get set up to do the taxes. Husband started his own business last year, so things have been rather haywire financially. That is all.
Myself….
The above-mentioned exercising is pretty much it. Took my vitamins fairly regularly. Oh, read through all of George MacDonald’s novels on the Kindle Paperwhite I got for Christmas. Free on Amazon, all 40+ of them. That was nice. (I read at 800 words a minute, or so. I wasn’t lolling around reading all the time.)
Wow. I feel better about last month, now! Thanks!
Well….. I’m not sure. I’ve come up for air and it is February… What? Halloween is over?
Okay… I took a little time and came up with some things.
Started writing curriculum for one class (English4), which is required.
Decided officially to retire.
Set up Weebly account.
Set up Amazon seller account
Sold one item on Amazon
Joined Leonie with The Goddess Circle
Moved furniture and cleaned walls, floors, baseboards in Mom’s room
Stored all Christmas stuff
Sent four real letters
Reinvented several of my son’s favorite meals to be created with almond milk ……………and almond flour.
Decorated for Valentine’s Day.
Took a special treat weekly to a friend who is having cancer radiation ………
…………treatments
Cleaned and rearranged two walls, floors, cabinets, etc. of the dining room
Loved almond polish, bergamot, and lavendar…..
Bought and learned to use a new Smartphone.
Made Dr. Appointment for Mom
Created a plan to forge through the rest of the school year despite some
Issues with superpowers.
Created a new address system for cards, notes.
Purchased a web address for my new online store.
What an inspiring post. I tend to get to the end of the month and think back on what I did not do. I will work on my list of “done deals”. Great idea!
In and out of hospital. Painted kitchen wall potters wheel fab shade of grey, cleaned up back garden and back lane. Made fresh bread every day. Downloaded biogs on my kindle. Ordered Sherlock red leather chair from Next. Cushion from Next. Looked after Mum in law. Not got rid of cough – docs tomorrow.
Love this post! What an inspiring idea, it is so easy to constantly belittle ourselves for what we didn’t get done, not so easy to focus on what we do! Thanks Alison for this great reminder.xoxo