Mix…

Today was the perfect mix of relaxing and getting things done.  Sully was working from home and Boo and I had an easy school day.  After the chaos of Monday, the productivity of Tuesday and the lackluster of yesterday I was ready for a more balanced day.

Sometimes I watch TV, either shows or commercials and I find myself wondering about other people’s lives.  Do other people really have a clean house everyday?  I mean clean, people stopping by kind of clean, my house is straightened, well, most days if I am in the middle of a project probably not.  So, straightened but not really in condition for guests.  It makes me crazy, I will get everything cleaned up and then the next day it’s a mess again.  The monotony of housework is probably the main problem, I mean, talk about never ending.  Every week I wash the same clothes, sweep the same floors, wipe down the same counters and about a gazillion other things.  I do all of that knowing that I will have to do it again tomorrow or next week.  It’s a bit daunting and a little depressing some days.  

I was in Home Depot the other day and this guy looks over at me and says, “You must have taken the day off so you could paint.”  He kind of said it like I was some clueless woman that had no business being in Home Depot.  I don’t know if he meant it like that but it’s sure how it sounded, the woman behind me even groaned.  I replied, “Nope, I am a stay at home mom, I don’t get any days off.”  The paint guy at Home Depot smiled and said, “It’s pretty tough, huh?”  I shrugged, “It’s like any other job, it’s got it’s up and downs.  For the most part it’s good, just no days off.”  He laughed, which I appreciated.  The other guy shut up immediately and stayed out of my way after that.

My hope is that one of these days I will get on a schedule where the house will stay clean with minimum effort.  I am sure I am reaching but I can still hope, right?

 

Phase 1:  Day 12

 

I had another good walk, I walked 0.7 miles in just under 13 minutes.  I am looking forward to adding to my distance.  

 

I am starting to really feel my upper body workout, moving all of those boxes this week are probably adding to my workout.

 

Water = 32 ounces

 

 

 

Another Monday…

It’s Monday and I am trying to get a good start for the week.  I usually write these at night but I had some free time this morning.  I’ve already done my Shimmy episode and started on my first tumbler of water.  Yay me!

Day 11

1.  Water –  3 – 24 oz. tumblers

2.  Shimmy –  Episode 11 (hip circle, Egyptian figure eight, and the Turkish bump)

3.  Writing  –  

4.  Exercises –  Abs and legs/Stretching

5.  Project –  Master bedroom/bathroom (2×20 minutes)

It’s all good…

 Our day started out early, Lilo was with us again today.  She was very low key this morning though.  She curled up on the couch with a pillow and watched her some movies.   I got a bit done while she was resting.

It was Boo’s last swim class for this session and for the summer since she decided to not take the next session.  It was the second time she had taken Level 2 and they recommended she take it again, so she was a little bummed and didn’t want to do another session.  Of course, by the end of class she decided that she really did want to swim next session.  Thankfully, there were still openings for the next session and I was able to get her registered.

Tia came about an hour later and we all went to lunch.  Lilo and Boo played in the little play area, well, Lilo played and Boo hung out.  Tia and I got to gab which was really nice.  I am very thankful for days like today.

Day 8

 1.  Water –  3 – 24 oz. tumblers

2.  Shimmy –  Episode 8 (shoulder shimmy, cut turn, sai’idi turn and hip rotation)

3.  Writing  –  Chapter/timeline

4.  Exercises – Ab/Leg workout and stretching

5.  Project –  Master bedroom (20 minutes)  

Better, not bitter…

I saw this quote posted on Facebook and it made me think.  I have had some good things happen and I have also had my share of hard times.  It would be easy to sit and wallow in the misery of those hard times.  I have never been one to wallow for very long, ok, yeah, I definitely have my moments of self pity.  Those moments are short and I usually snap out of it to take care of everyone else.  At my father’s funeral people kept asking me how I was doing.  I just kept saying, “Hanging in there.”  I mean, honestly, how is anyone supposed to answer that question?  I was more worried about making the other person happy than answering with the truth.  It was a good thing though because it distracted me for a few hours.

All of those moments good and bad can change us either for better or for worse depending on how we deal with them.  I could focus on missing my father but instead I think about all of the memories and the lessons he taught me.  I could look back at bad decisions I made in my life and regret them, instead I how I made the right decisions to get back on track.  I focus on the positive, it’s the only way to keep moving forward.

Seeing is believing…

Earlier today, I came across an interesting article on the ‘So You Want to be an Entrepreneur’ blogsite.  How to create a motivational Dream Wall, is a blog post about ideas to help with daily motivation.   A dream wall is a good way to help people that are visually oriented keep working on goals and moving towards the future.

You can include anything you want in your dream wall but it is often made up of images that are part of your short term or long term goals.  Images can include locations like houses and places, things like books and decorations or experiences.  You can also add favorite quotes, sayings, poetry as well as, pictures of family, people that inspire you or someone you would like to know.  “The images are designed to really make the viewer excited and remind them of the “why” in their day. Why do you get out of bed every day? well this “wall” should remind you why!” (from the article)

Here is a quick version of my Dream wall.  I enjoyed putting it together, I can see myself spending a lot of time asking myself what I want to display, searching for images and arranging them the way that I want.  The process of putting it together is helpful because it helps you focus on what you really want.  It employs different learning styles in it’s approach in that you might write down your goals before starting, then you add visual cues and then in the arrangement of those images and words the idea is reinforced and becomes more concrete. 

The article reminds us that seeing is believing, I can use the Dream Wall to focus on where I want to go.  I am hoping it will make it easier to make changes today rather than put them off until tomorrow.