Goals - last week & this week

Seriously, I'm still not done with the apron. What is that about? It's not because I didn't have time. I had plenty of time today. It just seems overwhelming to have to finish it all at one time. Normally, I can go step by step but since the munchkin is sleeping in my craft room (#&%$* - another story for another time) I feel too much pressure to get it all done at once. Blech. As for the other goals? Not so great...

1. finish apron - see above


2. no fast food or starbucks (FF drinks are ok) - I did well. No SB and no fast food although I did partake of a McDs hot fudge sunday. I had a serious battle of wills on Friday but I managed to win. I think I might need to give myself permission to have one FF meal per week.

3. Review sleep books - um...nope

4. Drink 24 oz of water each day (**this is priority**) - I did pretty well, only missed one day. Thursday was a tough day with an interview that didn't pan out and being terribly exhausted. I'm actually pretty happy with my progress.

****This week***
1. put clothes away - done (yeah, I cheated...what of it?)
2. Drink at least 24 oz of water each day
3. No more than one fast food meal and no SB
4. review or return sleep books
5. finish the apron...if the mood strikes (gotta take the pressure off this one)
6. clean master bedroom and bath

I realize that most of these are repeats but I'm going to keep at it until they become second nature or finally get done :)

Goals...con't

I only got one half of my goals done from last week. I put the stuff in the bags away. I did manage to get half of my apron pattern cut out but this weekend was not my friend in getting things done. Having a child who is trying to give up naps and is not particularly good at playing by herself (not to mention, pretty much only wants to spend time playing with me) kinda puts a crimp in "me" time. My goal from two weeks ago of not going out for fast food was lost only once. I did replace it with Starbucks though...not good.

I did reorganize my baking and medicine cabinets in the kitchen. That feels really good. So, this weeks goals:

1. finish apron
2. no fast food or starbucks (FF drinks are ok)
3. Review sleep books
4. Drink 24 oz of water each day (**this is priority**)

Ok, that's plenty for now.

20 things I love about my spouse...

Am I a horrible person to think that I might not be able to come up with 20 things?

1. His sense of humor
2. He's strong
3. He loves our daughter
4. He is incredibly handy, mechanically
5. He knows how to cook
6. He cleans the house
7. He is going to school and really focusing on it
8. He does the laundry
9. He's great with woodworking
10. He can build almost anything
11. He knows how to pick out great jewelry
12. He's a good gift giver
13. He is good with money
14. He is smart
15. He doesn't mind that I make more money than him
16. He backs me up with the munchkin
17. He doesn't mind that I spend a lot of time on the computer
18. He likes to read almost as much as I do
19. His beautiful blue eyes
20. He has a really cute butt

That didn't take very long at all :)

I want to remember...

Noelle fell asleep in my lap on the big chair together.

I want to remember...

Noelle in bed tonight asks me to sing "He's got the Whole World in his Hands". I started out with "Noelle Aidan Thomas" and move on to Mommy and Daddy, Basil & Jenny. Then, I stopped. She had been upset with me when I turned the TV off. So, she asked if I would sign He's Got the TV and the light in His Hands and He's Got the Pacis in His Hands.

Less than comforting

Finally had my appointment with the neurologist. About 4-6 months ago, I had a string of days with a lot of numbness and decreased sensation on the left side of my body. This led to bloodwork and a brain MRI...both negative. Got a referral to the neuro but "life" had me postpone it until today. So she took my history, did an initial exam. Her comment was basically, let's have another MRI b/c it's unusual to have a negative MRI given your symptoms. OOOOKKKK. I also will be having a nerve conduction test and electromagnification. I'm not looking those up today b/c I want to enjoy my day off. I'll deal with that at work tomorrow. Anyway, I really think the issue is musculoskeletal (pinched nerve, muscle tightness) but figured I'd save that discussion for after the negative MRI.

On another note, I did make it a week without fast food although I did purchase hot chocolate, sodas, and coffee from McDonald's. I need a new goal for this week. I think this one will be creative. Get my apron finished, oh, and started ;) I also will put the stuff from the car away.

Overwhelmed

I'm feeling totally overwhelmed with life sometimes right now. That said, I'm putting one foot in front of the other and moving forward. I spent yesterday working from home, in bed. I also cleaned out my car. Those two things were actually helped me feel better.

So, I've been pretty good about sticking to my goal of no fast-food. I've had McDonald's hot chocolate but I'm going to say that it's not cheating. Yes, I could have saved money but making my own but it's nowhere NEAR as tasty. Otherwise, I've only eaten a small piece of hashbrown that the munchkin left for me.

The hard part will be this weekend. I will report back on Monday :)

My weekly goal

So, I think I've decided that a yearly goal is just too much. We have a monthly goal of getting rid of the pacifier and I'm trying to add more veggies and fruits to my diet. I'm getting really tired of the way I look but I'm not ready to really change just yet. Anyway, I've decided that a weekly goal may be the way to go. This week (Monday-Sunday) my goal is to not eat fast food (this does not include pizza). This is a two-fold goal. (1) no greasy fast food adding to my waistline and (2) saves money. I just need to plan ahead when it comes to lunches and I should be ok. I need to remember a frozen meal tomorrow and then remember leftovers for the rest of the week.

I don't know how

There is a story in my life that no one fully knows...not even myself. I self-destructed in my late teens / early 20's. It was like I was addicted to drugs and alcohol but I wasn't. Never even touched drugs. I don't know how to tell the story, I don't know where to begin or why things happened. I dont' know if I want to figure it all out. I've come SO VERY FAR. But, I see people struggling with similar behavior in their children and want to give them advice. But, I can't because I don't really know how I got there or just what brought me out. I know my mom saved my life but beyond that, it was a team / family effort. I let myself be helped. My mom often asks me "what was that all about". I always tell her that I don't really know and, that if I did, I would certainly share it with her. Finally, this year, I asked her to please stop asking me about it (my wonderful step-dad backed me up) b/c I don't want to go back to that place, to sort it out. I've healed, I've moved on, I've gotten better. Now, as a parent, I think I know why she wants answers. She wants to know what she could have done differently. I've told her that if I ever figure it all out, she'll be the first to know and that there isn't anything she could have done differently. I had to spiral, unwravel, fall apart to pull it all together.

What can you do to nurture your important relationships?

This is the prompt for today and I really like it. First things first - determining which relationships are important.


My marriage
My daughter
My mother & step-father
My father & step-mother
My in-laws (love them btw)
My friends & neighbors
My aunts, uncles, and cousins
My step-grandmother
My coworkers


Wow, that's a lot of relationships. I struggle with adding my church b/c that's a bit of a shaky area right now. I'm contemplating changing churces so we'll just see how that develops.



I think it really all comes down to "focus" on the relationships. I feel like I spent much of the last year in a fog - a fog of stress, depression, exhaustion - just going through the motions. I know I enjoyed the moments but I know I wasn't as present as I should have been. Now, let's get specific.

My marriage: kiss more; smile more; flirt more
My daughter: be present; play more inside the house (I always get distracted by all the other stuff I "should" be doing)
My mother & step-father: call at least once a week; send cards; send pictures
My father & step-mother: call at least once a week; send art from DD
My in-laws: Send pictures; more emails or phone calls
My friends & neighbors: Call more often, at least once per month; wave & say hi...chat a while.
My aunts, uncles, and cousins: cards, emails, facebook
My step-grandmother: send pictures, cards, and artwork
My coworkers: exhibit patience; provide a listening ear; pay attention to them...not my email.

We don't live near any of our family or most of our friends. I'm so grateful for email, facebook, youtube, skype, and the USPS to keep our relationships strong.

The future of my country looks...

I using journaling prompts provided by a group at TwoPeas. I'm not sure if it's working but I'm going to try to keep up :)

The future of my country looks uncertain to me. I'm not in love with the current administration and I'm not overly supportive of their goals. However, I have hope in the generations coming up and I think that, really, not a lot changes drastically overnight. It will be many years before we look back and see how things changed.

Within the next 3 months, I plan to...

A journaling prompt that got me thinking.

I plan to...

1. finish my thank you notes (this week)
2. finish swapping the craft room and the munchkin's room
3. continue writing on a weekly, if not daily, basis.

That's really all I want to commit to :) at least for today. The thing about goals is there's really nothing stopping you from adding as you go. I find that if I give myself too many goals, I don't get anything done. It's like it's overwhelming and I don't know where to start.

Creativity...

it's a necessity for me. Here's a little something I want to remember when I'm in a scrapbooking rut. It helps that I have some of the exact paper that I've been wanting to use :)

http://www.scrapbook.com/articles/doc/29535/248.html