The List for 2015

This is my list of routines to start performing and projects to complete during 2015. For now I’m just writing the item and then later I’ll explain what the item is and why it is on the list. Some of them have definite times when they will need to be done and others can be done at any time throughout the year.  Here they are in no particular order…

1. Yellow dot information
2. Vials of life information
3. Bedroom curtains
4. Garden Stones
5. The girl’s quilt
6. Oven
7. Paperback swap/book mooch
8. The girl’s scrapbooks
9. The boy’s scrapbooks
10. Ott light bulbs
11. Credit report routine
12. Names of Jesus garland-Christmas
13. Names of Jesus garland – Easter
14. Get new glasses
15. Duvet cover
16. Get new bras
17. Mammogram
18. Recipe tryouts/purge
19. Read 52 books from my shelves
20. Monthly budget meeting routine
21. Taxes paperwork routine
22. List of financial data
23. Train table wraparound
24. Clean/disinfect plant pots
25. Put up mason bee home
26. Israel trip
27. Bulletin board calendars
28. Massage – quarterly/monthly??
29. Design/plan garden for shop building entrance
30. Advent wreath candles
31. Rudolph wreath
32. Mom’s pinecone wreath
33. Easter wreath
34. Blueberries
35. Dig up tree stumps
36. Box to presby
37. Lutheran Seniorlife/Lutheran Service Society
38. Dad’s credit card report
39. Dad’s funeral prep
40. Clean up/purge laptop downloads
41. Clean up/purge laptop ebooks
42. Clean up/purge computer downloads
43. Clean up/purge computer recipes
44. Clean up/purge computer favorites

 

 

 

One Word – Looking Back/Looking Forward

In 2014 I had two words for the year – my originally chosen word was space and then I added love after reading other people’s choices. For space,  I started out strong by cleaning out the loft but as the year went on, other people’s stuff starting creeping back in and it is back to a bit of a mess again. I did continue to clean out my closet and tried to keep my commitments to a minimum but there is still work that could be done.

As for love, I definitely have work to do in that area. I read something in Notes From a Blue Bike by Tsh Oxenreider that helped me to understand the problems I had in this area. She wrote   “…spiraling down a lifestyle habit of chronically not taking care of yourself, to the point where you’re apathetic or overwhelmed at the thought of making little choices that would help your family live more intentionally.”(page 202) That’s where I’ve been and I need to be more intentional about taking care of myself – not feeling guilty for taking time to do the things that I like, the things that refresh me. To stop feeling like I’m not worthy of the time to take care of myself.

Looking back over the years, I can see my pattern – starting strong and then not completing/following through. This will be my goal for 2015. I’ve compiled a list of projects that I’d like to follow through to completion – well some will not ever be completed because they are routines for things that need to be done on a continual basis. However, there are a lot of projects that can be completed and I’m hoping to finally get them done. In my next post I’ll write down the list – later I’ll add notes as to how/why they came to be on the list. My word for 2015 is Completion and I hope to be able to cross quite a few of the items on the list before 2016 rolls around.

Did you have a word for 2014? How did it turn out for you?  Have you chosen a word for 2015? Don’t have a word? What about a goal or resolution? What will you be working on in 2015 – please leave a comment and let me know.

 

Fitness Friday

Today I am at 4,954,683 steps, so barring any strange unforeseen events I should definitely make my goal of 5 million steps this year! I am very pleased with myself. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to make it at different points in the year but I kept plugging away and now I’m almost there.

Since I haven’t found an exercise that I like and want to commit to doing regularly, I think I’m going to go with a time goal for next year. First I need to develop the habit of doing something every day. I am walking every day but I’d like to add some yoga or stretching in the morning and/or evening.  I’d also like to add in some kind of cardio and weight training on alternating days.

I’m going to start very small because I am  still really reluctant to add this to my day. I will just try to do two and a half minutes every day of yoga/stretching and two and a half minutes  six times a week of cardio/ weight training. I know that many people will think I should push myself more but that has backfired in the past so I’m going to try it differently this time around. By the end of the year, I’d like to be doing 30 minutes of some kind of exercise six days a week.

Next week I will be trying out snowboarding – we are headed out to the local ski resort for a few days. Hubby will be skiing, the girl will be snowboarding and the boy and I will do some tubing and take a snowboarding lesson. There is also an indoor pool, bowling and roller skating for us to try when we get tired of the slopes.

Anybody want to share their fitness goals? Please leave a comment,I’d love to know how you did this year and what you are doing for next year.

Fitness Friday

I’m still on pace to hit 5 million steps so I’m thinking that for next year I’ll try to add a few more – maybe shoot for 5 and a half million steps.

This is my list of possible goals for next year – I will not be attempting all of them – just one or two

– riding the stationary bike for 5 miles – see what my baseline time is and then try to halve it by the end of the year

– setting a distance goal for riding the stationary bike

– doing 10 “real” pushups

– swim once a week, starting distance of 250m and moving up

– jumping rope once a week, starting with one minute and working up to 10 minutes

– daily yoga or stretching for at least 5 minutes

I’m still mulling over things and trying to see how everything can work together. What are you planning to do fitness-wise in 2015. Please let me know, it might spark my thinking process.

Tidbit Tuesday

Just another installment of the random thoughts rolling around in my head…

I am so not ready for Christmas – still need to order a few gifts, sort out what is from us/my dad/my in-laws/Santa, and get everything wrapped.

It was pouring this morning when I went to take the boy to the bus, then it was sunny and 50some degrees when I went to pick up the car and now it is back to dark and gloomy. December should bring snow not buckets of rain.

The family went ice skating last night. The boy’s school sponsors a free skate night at the local ice rink. This has been happening for the past 6 years but this was the first one we attended. The temps were in the forties so I decided to brave it. I love snow /winter but I’m not really into winter sports(because as I’ve stated before, I’m extremely non-athletic). Dear Hubby and the girl are quite proficient at skating while the boy just runs around like a mad man. I attempted skating and it was an experience. First I held onto the railing and the hubby’s hand for a few laps around the rink. Then I participated in a lesson given by one of the rink employees. I sort of mastered getting up after falling and the “pushing” move but then she wanted us to let go of the side and I just was not ready for that. I did commandeer a “walker” and did some gliding around with it but it didn’t take long for my legs to decide it was time for a break. Will I do it again?? Maybe, if I get to use a walker!

Finally got some(actually most) of the books I’ve read listed. I made my goal of 150 for the year. I’ll have to check to see the breakdown but I’m sure most of them were not from my shelf or list. Would like to do better at that next year.

I’m getting so close to five million steps – I should definitely make it. Just have to make sure that I get a minimum amount on Christmas Eve, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve.

I’m mulling ideas about next year and I’m almost ready to post – just need to find some time. Hopefully I’ll get it done before the end of the year.

That’s it for now – hope you are finding some time to enjoy the season. Don’t let the demands of this time keep you from the important things – time with friends and family.

Fitness Friday

UGH! Yet another year where I do not reach my fitness goals(well, actually I do think I will reach my step goal but the swimming goals are definitely not happening). There has to be some underlying reason that is keeping me from getting there but what is it? Or should I say what are they? I know part of my resistance is anger – anger that the body that used to never gain weight has changed, anger that I feel deprived of my favorite foods, anger at other people’s expectations.

Of course another part of it is lifestyle. I am a rather sedentary person, my favorite hobbies involve sitting – whether that is at a computer, reading books, doing handwork or paying bills for my husband’s business. I do love my daily walks but they aren’t exactly vigorous.

Another factor is that I’ve never felt particularly athletic and still struggle with feeling uncoordinated and awkward. I’ve tried several different things but none of them have kept me interested enough to want to do it on a regular basis.

I still harbor the secret hope that just walking more would be enough. The truth is  that if I don’t change my eating habits, I’m never going to make a move towards better health. They always say you can’t out train a bad diet and I’m finally beginning to believe it. I need to come up with a plan to shake things up, one that makes small sustainable moves towards a better lifestyle.

What is one thing you do that helps to keep you fit? I’d love to hear it – please share!

Tidbit Tuesday

Just another installment of the random thoughts rolling around in my head today…

I have written so many posts in my head as I have been walking the past few weeks – too bad I never really remember them once I get in front of the computer.

We did get a few more decorations up and the hubby bought even more lights for the yard. Just about done with the decorations – wish I could say the same about shopping for gifts.

Starting to think about next year and what plans I might make but first I need to review the goals I had for this year and how I progressed with them. Didn’t do as well as I had hoped but I made a start in all of them. Definitely need to finish up the books read list to see where I am with that.

This has been a bit of a rough time. It was the anniversary of my mother’s death and her birthday plus the parties over the holiday made me realize that my dad, my in-laws and my aunts and uncles are starting to struggle with health issues. It makes me wonder how long they will be around to spend time with and wish that we all lived closer to each other.

I’m struggling with the middle school decision. None of the schools are clear cut winners – I dislike something about all of them. Oh how much easier it was for my mom. She had no choice, nothing to debate about, she just sent us to the local school. There is such a thing as too many choices and I think it may be harder to deal with than too few choices.

Send me wishes/prayers for good health as the virus has gone through my son, hubby and now my daughter. I hope I can stay healthy and I hope you do the same.

Tidbit Tuesday

Just another installment of the random thoughts rolling around in my head…

I had a busy holiday weekend with visiting family, eating way too much, doing some Christmas shopping and taking care of a sick kid.

It is always so nice to spend time with family but it leaves me wanting more. I wish we lived closer or that we weren’t living such busy lives – something/anything that would make it easier to get together more often.

I didn’t do any Black Friday/Small Business Saturday/Cyber Monday shopping but I did pick up a few things and still have more to do. It was so much easier and more fun when I wasn’t the one shopping for all the gifts and wondering if I was spending too much or not enough.

We( I should say hubby and the boy) decorated the yard and the windows plus put up the tree. Next is putting out the various decorations, nativity sets and Advent items. I’m not really feeling the holiday spirit but I’m trying to get things done. Wondering if  this is the last year for Santa Claus – he is ten and I’m not sure if he’ll believe much longer.

I’ve decided to give up on the swimming challenge – it just didn’t work out this year but I’m getting close to my 5 million steps which is exciting for me. Starting to think about next year. Not sure what I want to focus on but I do want to continue to work on my health/fitness journey. I don’t want it to be about pounds and inches – maybe it will be on number of steps/miles/pushups? As Fagin would say  “I’m reviewing the situation” before I decide.

With that in mind I’m off to listen to the Oliver soundtrack. Do let me know if you’ve begun setting some goals for next year, I’d love to know what you are up to.