Round Up

And no. . .not the tumbling/gymnastic type of round up, I could never get my limbs to cooperate on that.  I mean, seriously, a jumping-jack was a scary sight.

However, last week, in my review of how my 2011 goals went I mentioned The Round Up, an Ali Edwards idea that comes from another blogger, Katie Nelson (whose blog I intend following, just need to click that button. . . )  I'm looking for ways to incorporate more of the everyday stuff, a 2012 goal.  I'm not sure I necessarily want to scrapbook it per se, but incorporating notes from a given month or day on a page wouldn't be out of the question.  This type of journaling is also something I've often wished I had when I have pictures that don't necessarily have a theme, or they're another birthday, holiday, school deal, or just a photos that don't have a particular story. I think writing down these kinds of thoughts, lists or ideas would be a fun way to put the words and photos together.

With that, here is my November Round Up: 

1. What books and/or magazines did I read this month?  No books.  :(  Magazines, I continued my two fold reading.  1) to clear out my excessive stash of unread photos, and 2) slowing down for a moment over breakfast and taking a little me time.  With that I read back issues of Memory Makers (yes, I told you it was old!), Creating Keepsakes, Real Simple and a Woman's Day (I think, it was from my mom.)
2. What movies, television shows, plays, etc. did I watch this month?  No movies really.  We DVR almost everything we watch. . .so Walking Dead!  Hello, this is a must see for us.  My sister and I usual hash it out after the episodes, but have been known to call during one.  Dancing With the Stars, Chopped, and the new show, Hell on Wheels.  Why are those dark, smoldering, fault-laden characters so darn gorgeous!!
3. What fun things did I do with my family and/or friends?  Met a friend at our usual haunt, Chick-Fil-A, for lunch.  Celebrated my son's birthday.  Cooked and enjoyed Thanksgiving.  As for fun. . .hmmmm, sadly I'm hard-pressed to think of something fun that I was involved in.  That can't be good. 
4. What gifts did I give and/or receive?  We're still on the hunt, no pun intended, for Tom's hunting boots.  Having a tough time finding a style and size.  Oh we'll find the style, but they don't have his size.  Or they have his size, but the boot won't work for conditions in hunting.  Sigh. . . .
5. What special or unusual purchases did I make?  This would mean I went shopping. . . LOL. . .this is too funny.  I have not been shopping for non-essentials in so long, I can't tell you.
6. What illnesses or health concerns did I have?  Thank God, none
7. What were my accomplishments this month?  These are well documented in previous posts.  No need to rehash it.
8. What were my disappointments this month?  For now, I'll keep these private, save-to-say, I can't think of something fun I did with my family.  That's just disturbing.
9. How did I do on my goals for the month? (Or any current short or long term goals)  Again, well documented in a previous post.
10. Anything else noteworthy to include?  Not this time around.

Ali (and Katie) also include the following monthly tasks.  Some are more of a big deal, for me, than others, but I'll list them all in case you're looking tools to help you get organized in 2012.  I started on the photo thing, and then got side tracked by a panic attack when I thought of other things more pressing. 

1. Upload all digital pictures to my hard drive and clear off memory cards in camera. Place all photos for the month in a computer folder labeled with the month and year. Make a backup copy of the photos from the month on my external hard drive and a dvd. I also upload all photos to my flickr account (you can use any offsite photo storage site, but here is why I love flickr). Ideally, these activities should be done every time you process any pictures through your computer so you don’t lose any precious files, but if you have lapsed during the month, now’s the time to get it done!
2. Choose photos or digital layouts to be printed out and get it done while I’m thinking about it.
3. Backup any other documents or files as needed. I use an external hard drive, I also upload many documents to Google docs. I don’t like to lose stuff.
4. Backup my blog. It’s easy to do if you have one, just use Typepad backup or blogger backup.
5. Clean off my work area, empty my inbox, and clean up my computer files. Here’s a link to my digi organization post.

Go, round up your November and start in on those monthly tasks.  It's time we got organized instead of just playing.  ;)

Happy Wednesday.