Completed:

1. Work on getting in shape - I found Fitocracy to take away from the time that I would workout, so I stopped using it. We don’t eat out so every ingredient of every meal needed to be put into the system. I would be sitting at the computer for over an hour just keeping track of what I ate – it didn’t work. But, up until before Thanksgiving I was doing crunches every morning.
2. Watch less TV - We got rid of Netflix for almost the entire year. We switched to Amazon Prime, and I did listen to more books and watch less TV.
3. Read More - I listened to at least two books a month during 2012. I am happy to know that I listened to the Hunger Games Trilogy before seeing the first movie. That is the first time I can say that.
4. Learn an activity with my daughter - This almost didn’t happen. At the end of the year we took a couple of ornament making classes together. We learned how to bead at the same time.
5. Earn my Tournament Organizer’s title for Pokémon - I did this! I even ran a tournament….and then I quit Pokemon. My daughter started Tai Kwon Do and started taking an interest in other games. Pokemon was a memorable year-and-a-half though.
6. Drink water - I haven’t been drinking water straight. The compromise has been to not drink soda (we make Italian sodas which are much cheaper and you can control the sugar). But I have been drinking between three and five 12oz mugs of tea a day.
7. GeekMom - I didn’t do 125% but I was very close. I averaged 4.75 articles a month.
8. Pre-school - I have the first two weeks of lesson plans ready for starting on Wednesday.
9. Eat more veggies - Since my daughter chose to take a lunch with her this year instead of get the school lunch, we were forced to have more healthy snack choices.
10. Ride my bike - Tai Kwon Do is a ten minute bike ride from my house. My bike was used more during the summer of 2012 than it had been used in several years.
11. Edit out the virtual garbage - Done! Though, it needs to be done again. I need to get my label list up to date. We also tried using fewer services this year. We canceled Costco, but went to Target more. We canceled Netflix, but got Amazon Prime. We also picked up Audible. We are making more changes for this year.
12. Make headway in the yard - We made headway in that the yard is weeded and the fruit trees have been taken to recycling and are not in a heap anymore. So, we are caught up, maybe this spring we can gain some ground.
13. Pet the cats - How could I not?
14. ADHD - After two medications we found a balance for our gifted daughter. Also found it may not be ADHD but “Non-Verbal Learning Disorder” which doesn’t fully present until fourth or fifth grade. One book I actually READ last year was about NVLD and other spectrum disorders.
15. Remain close to my parents - I am.
16. Have a cemented financial plan - Still working on this, but we have made progress. Unfortunately, it’s going to be 2014 before this is cemented.
17. Learn how to fix one thing - I learned how to bead, used that knowledge to fix one article of clothing. Yay!
18. Attempt to potty train - Not only did we attempt, but he was fully trained by mid-August, two-and-a-half months before he turned three! No more diapers or Pull-ups in this house!
19. Brush up on my sign language - An old hearing impaired friend came over for dinner and helped me work with my kids.
20. Make one item out of one of my craft books - I didn’t make something from a book, but did something even better. I am 1/3 of the way complete with a T-shirt quilt containing close to 50 shirts from Washington State University. All of those shirts have been stored in the garage for nine years. It’s a big accomplishment for me.
21. Vote - Voted. But I don’t know that it did any good.

Did Not Pass:

1. Keep up with my blog - My goal for this year will find a purpose for the blog. After quitting Pokemon, there was no reason to keep up with it.
2. Social Butterfly -  Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads and Google + is too many things to keep up with when there is a little one at home. I find Twitter and Pinterest to be the best tools for me, and Facebook the easiest to keep up with. Google + and Goodreads have been pretty much forgotten.
3. Keep up with Phineas and Ferb this summer - After finding that my daughter isn’t in the mind set for a set summer calendar, we are just going to use a Pinterest board this summer and pick projects off that when we feel the need.
4. Learn at least one more of my husband’s miniature games – I played Warhammer Fantasy with my husband for a year. It was great fun. But, I played the season, won the tournament (and a really cool sword) and left it at that. So now I should catch up and learn Blood Bowl, Hell Dorado, and Dystopian Wars.
5. Have one crop thrive - Lesson learned: A crop can’t thrive if you don’t plant it.
6. Go back to church - Uh…I have at least figured out where I want to go to church.
7. Run a D&D campaign - I guess I have no real desire to do this.
8. Add to my client base - I did try, in passing, to do this. Again, it wasn’t a priority.
9. Do one Arduino project - I think when the kids are a little older, this will make it back on the bucket list, but for now, it isn’t.
10. Enter one photography show - I didn’t take enough pictures of my own kids let alone any nice photographs so no shows were entered.
11. Write a book with my daughter - She likes the show Written by a Kid on YouTube. But she hates to write, so we haven’t done anything with this.
12. Start a video podcast - The hubby and I still enjoy watching Hank and Katherine Play Super Mario Brothers Wii! on YouTube. I haven’t found a way to do a game vlog without purchasing expensive editing software.
13. Date - What’s a date? Every time we try to go to one of his concerts I get sick or the kids are sick. Why bother?

I completed over half of the list for last year. Seeing the results has effected what I want to accomplish this year.

Our family amphibian and reptile binder.

Our family had talked about purchasing a reptile to observe over the summer and learn about while gaining yet another family pet. Since we are only a couple of months away from the end of the school year, we have been gathering flyers from pet stores and compiling them in a binder so we can make an informed decision.

Then, a friend from Pokémon league said she had a bunch of salamander and frog eggs and offered some to us. How could I pass up showing the kids the miracle that is frog metamorphosis! So, here we are. The salamanders don’t look like they are doing so well, but this morning we had a surprise with the tadpoles…

I had noticed last night before I went to bed there were little things which had sunk to the bottom of the frog container. Considering the luck we’ve had with the salamanders, I guessed they were dead tadpoles. This morning instead of one or two, there were closer to a dozen sunken eggs. A cat jumped onto the table we are keeping the eggs on and all the little tadpoles wiggled! Then I noticed one had wiggled its way up to the surface. Wow! I am super excited to see how they progress.

Freezer paper doesn't smear....awesome!

That I could print directly on to freezer paper. A huge time-saver FTW! Plus, I can’t imagine how much detail I would have been able to save if I had directly printed the design directly to my stencil paper and not traced it.

AN OLD ONE TAKES ON NEW WINGS.

This is TOO good! Yes, this IS what they would do if they were still here!
Read on:

You have to be old enough to remember Abbott and Costello, and too old to REALLY understand computers, to fully appreciate this. For those of us who sometimes get flustered by our computers, please read on…

If Bud Abbott and Lou Costello were alive today, their infamous sketch, ‘Who’s on First?’ might have turned out something like this:

COSTELLO CALLS TO BUY A COMPUTER FROM ABBOTT
ABBOTT: Super Duper computer store. Can I help you?

COSTELLO: Thanks I’m setting up an office in my den and I’m thinking about buying a computer.

ABBOTT: Mac?

COSTELLO: No, the name’s Lou.

ABBOTT: Your computer?

COSTELLO: I don’t own a computer. I want to buy one.

ABBOTT: Mac?

COSTELLO: I told you, my name’s Lou.

ABBOTT: What about Windows?

COSTELLO: Why? Will it get stuffy in here?

ABBOTT: Do you want a computer with Windows?

COSTELLO: I don’t know. What will I see when I look at the windows?

ABBOTT: Wallpaper.

COSTELLO: Never mind the windows.. I need a computer and software.

ABBOTT: Software for Windows?

COSTELLO: No. On the computer! I need something I can use to write proposals, track expenses and run my business. What do you have?

ABBOTT: Office.

COSTELLO: Yeah, for my office. Can you recommend anything?

ABBOTT: I just did.

COSTELLO: You just did what?

ABBOTT: Recommend something.

COSTELLO: You recommended something?

ABBOTT: Yes.

COSTELLO: For my office?

ABBOTT: Yes.

COSTELLO: OK, what did you recommend for my office?

ABBOTT: Office.

COSTELLO: Yes, for my office!

ABBOTT: I recommend Office with Windows..

COSTELLO: I already have an office with windows! OK, let’s just say I’m sitting at my computer and I want to type a proposal. What do I need?

ABBOTT: Word.

COSTELLO: What word?

ABBOTT: Word in Office.

COSTELLO: The only word in office is office.

ABBOTT: The Word in Office for Windows.

COSTELLO: Which word in office for windows?

ABBOTT: The Word you get when you click the blue ‘W’.

COSTELLO: I’m going to click your blue ‘w’ if you don’t start with some straight answers. What about financial bookkeeping? You have anything I can track my money with?

ABBOTT: Money.

COSTELLO: That’s right. What do you have?

ABBOTT: Money.

COSTELLO: I need money to track my money?

ABBOTT: It comes bundled with your computer.

COSTELLO: What’s bundled with my computer?

ABBOTT: Money.

COSTELLO: Money comes with my computer?

ABBOTT: Yes. No extra charge.

COSTELLO: I get a bundle of money with my computer? How much?

ABBOTT: One copy.

COSTELLO: Isn’t it illegal to copy money?

ABBOTT: Microsoft gave us a license to copy Money.

COSTELLO: They can give you a license to copy money?

ABBOTT: Why not? THEY OWN IT!

(A few days later)

ABBOTT: Super Duper computer store. Can I help you?

COSTELLO: How do I turn my computer off?

ABBOTT: Click on ‘START’………….

My almost-two-year-old son started the day at 6:45 with a poopy diaper – and I mean FULL. It was so full, he decided he needed to try and take care of it himself…all over his bedroom. My husband and I have had this happen before, and can’t WAIT for him to be ready to be potty trained so this hell can be behind us. But today I am supposed to continue my to-do list for PAX (which we are leaving for tomorrow). Instead, I’m sani-wiping and scrubbing down a bedroom.

Okay. I can deal with this. It just throws off the day a little.

Enter 5-year-old daughter (VIP) who knows how to tattle on her brother. I sat the two of them down with large snacks at the kitchen table so I could continue shoveling…well…you know. They devoured their snack and found more trouble. My son pried his way behind the child-gate to my nicely sorted and organized stack of 300+ Pokémon cards that just need to be put in a binder. Being almost two, MVP thought these would be fun to throw all over the floor…in front of the kitty litter boxes…and INTO the kitty litter boxes. He must have thought it was pretty cool how far they flew because I could hear him laughing over JoCo blaring from the same room he was in. VIP was laughing too, instead of coming to get me (which you think she would have had a problem with him playing the Pokémon cards since she plays with them too).

Anyway, that was more than I could handle in one AM. MVP’s room is clean now except for the carpet.

Deep breaths have been taken, and venting to my wonderful reading audience has commenced.

So, do you know how to sanitize a Pokémon card? I would really like to know if you do…