The end is the beginning...

Today was my last day of the school year, spent entering grades, cleaning up, and figuring out what I would have to come back this summer to do (tweak a couple units and file my masters). I think of it as the end but it really is the beginning. I teach juniors, so it's really the beginning for them of being the senior class, even though technically they haven't started their senior year yet. For me, it's the beginning of the new year too: I plan for next year, meet with colleagues, and do projects I don't have time for during the school year.

Projects I definitely have. Tonight I made a to-do list. I know I won't be able to do all of it (there's 18 things on it, and two involve painting or staining). Still, if I do a couple things a week, I should make it.

What's on my list? Here's a few things, in no particular order:

1. Stain the deck.
2. Wash the living room walls and paint them.
3. Get rid of lily-of-the-valley (or try to, at least).
4. Transplant four plants a little pinched for space.
5. Clean closets.
6. Clean out my car.
7. Sweep the garage.
8. Make Christmas mini album and my me-mini. (Those have been in the works for a while. Must. Get. Done.)
9. Do photo book for my retired colleague.
10. Get started on my sons' school albums, maybe by purchasing Cathy Z templates and doing it hybrid.
11. Avoid my husband while the Mariners play. (That really wasn't on the list, but it will be if their season doesn't pick up.)
12. Put together my recipe book.

Most of my hobbies aren't on the list because I don't dread doing them--they are for fun. Still, some scrap projects become Obligation if too long delayed, so I want to get started on them as soon as I can. I'm a started: if I get started, I MUST FINISH or it drives me insane, which is not that bad a thing.

BTW, I've read you are more likely to achieve your goals if you make them public, which is why I put the most painful and dreaded tasks in this post. Truth be told, I should probably do a LO of them too--especially if I give myself permission to cross off what I've done at the end of summer and post the page then! OK, I'm on that.

Speaking of starting, here's a couple reunion LOs I made as the reunion season starts here. One was from last fall:

It's not a great photo--blurry, and we've all looked better. Still, a three-generation photo is special and must be scrapped. I used May's Studio Calico kit for it, the last I made with it before I broke apart the remains.

The next is from last weekend at the Nelson family reunion:

Again a slightly blurry photo, but that's why God made black and white. I used the color combo at The Color Room for this, as well as that glorious Bazzill stitching template, which is my best scrapping friend right now.