The school year begins with a bang

With the bus coming nearly 90 minutes earlier than last year, our routines are in havoc.  Add that to being out of town for at least half of five weekends, and you have a recipe for disaster.  Lost keys, lost phones, lost work badges, found phones with no charge, missing sports schedules, and already one sick day from school.  This weekend is about rediscovering our routine and taking the time to prepare for the week before it's too late to do anything about missing items.

Here's to a good start.  I got out of bed at 7am when the cat woke me up.  Did two loads of laundry, cleaned up the kitchen (still have to load the dishwasher), balanced the checkbook, and checked progress for the rest of the year's household budget before anyone else got up.  When or daughter rose, I reminded her she needed to finish her project before she did anything else.  She is now working on that (after a little huff about my not letting her play on her ipod) and if she's made enough progress, we will do C25K together at 10am before the rain comes.  while she does that, I'll make my football picks, and then it will be off to the races of organization and catch up.  It feels good to be home.

Doing things the same way and expecting different results is the definition of...

Insanity!  My weight had not gone down in weeks, so I decided I needed to do something different.  In May, the power yoga class I attended regularly at the Y was cancelled, so I needed to find something else to fill that calorie burn void.  I added a 4:30 Wednesday class so our daughter could attend her 5pm piano lesson while I was in the loft at the crazy class.  Then I did some research because I thought lack of aerobic exercise was the case.  (That and my sweet tooth!)  I decided to do the Couch 2 5K program.  It took two weeks to prepare--downloading the podcasts, creating the schedule, and stocking up on more exercise clothes.  So I started doing the program on September 11.  I think this will help to jump start the weight loss.  I am now exercising six times per week with Fridays off and I have to watch the sweet tooth.  Here's hoping I'm down below 170 by Halloween, then at 165 by Thanksgiving.  Today is a C25K day, so I have to get it in before it begins to rain!

Making Peace with a Goal

I realized this week that it's silly for me to dread getting my rings sized so they fit.  They don't fit me even though I'm exercising regularly and have been for 7 1/2 months now.  It's likely that they won't fit me even when I hit the weight at which they used to fit me.  My joints are larger and my fingers are pudgier than they were years ago.  So I can just have the rings sized for our anniversary, giving me the pleasure of another item off my list and seeing the rings on my hand again.  Double the pleasure with no worries about it taking another year to get to my ultimate goal weight.  After all, it's about being healthy on the inside, not just looking good on the outside.  And it's worth doing the right way, so I'll keep at it as long as it takes to get there.  If my hands look good doing it, that's just another plus for me to enjoy.

Nothing's ever easy!

For a few months, the shades on our vanity light have been removed because the light fixture settled so the shades hit the door.  I decided I would take care of it on a day off. The glazier couldn't cut them, so I went to a lighting store to order particular shorter shades.  Turns out the fixtures are an odd size which they don't stock so the employee suggested I order online.  When I asked which site I might use, he told me to google it.  After days of searching and not finding anything with the fitter size he told me I needed, I found a site which explained how to measure for shades.  You measure the fixture, not the glass shade!  I heard the angels singing because the shade I need is indeed the standard 2 1/4 inch fitter.  So off I went online to find ones in a color and shape I liked.  I called the 800 number and was given good advice.  Order all three of whatever different ones I like and then return the ones I don't like.  Now the shades are installed and the box of ones to return sits at the top of my stairs.  One task down, eliminating the stress it caused me to see bare light bulbs and one more item on the list giving me visual stress at the stairs.  At least the items currently on the to do list aren't the same as the items on the list I started with!

Two months to accomplish Goal #2

I realized I have only 8 weeks left to get to the weight where my wedding and engagement rings fit me again.  That means I have 8 weeks to lose 10 pounds.  So yesterday when my daughter asked me to run with her (Yes, this is new.  We do not have runners in our family.), I said yes and alternated run, walk, run.  Tonight she asked me to do yoga with her, so I'm going to do that when this post is finished.

In addition to embracing this, I knocked off four more items on the vacation to do list.

Tomorrow I go to work early to prevent some stress, so I better get stretching so I can read for a little while after yoga and still get to bed at a decent time.

"Vacation" week

This is my long vacation week and I have accomplished a number of items on my to do list including:

• Read one book per day
• organize food cabinet in kitchen
• organize freezer
• organize fridge
• pick up the war-torn guest room
• catch up laundry
• weed the garden
• make the cats' vet appt.
• make the energy audit appt.
• drop of some clothes at the Rescue Mission
• drop off cans and bags to re-use at the library
• go to movies to see Rock of Ages
• water ski!!

Still to go with three days left:

• put strings up for peas in garden
• trim the tomato plants
• weed and organize the crafty area
• make REM's 5th grade memory book
• make REM's 6th grade memory book
• figure out a shelf set up for the cupboard over the bread box
• figure out how to fix the problem with the globes too long over the medicine chest
• grocery shopping
• make fruit salad for July 4th family gathering

Many of the remaining items are ones on the list of things I made in January.  That list is much shorter now, so I need to focus on the satisfaction of a place for everything and everything in its place.  One or two small things or one big thing each day/week and by the end of the year, you're where you want to be.  Oh, happiness!  You do not elude me!

One more cabinet is organized!

After weeding and organizing the kitchen cabinets, there were two left which needed shelves inside cavities that didn't lend themselves to organization.  Last night, after months of requesting, hubby brought home a shelf set to put into the large cabinet which used to house our small wall oven.  I organized the jumble of drinks, food (potatoes, onions, garlic) and it looks fantastic!  $20 and about 45 minutes between the two of us.  I've asked him to being one home for the the other cabinet.  Fingers crossed!

One goal reached!

This weekend was hot and humid.  We had a lot to do, but still made it a point to be on the boat for the better part of two days.  So, of course, the husband asked me if I wanted to water ski on the first day.  I was scared.  The last time I skied I hurt myself.  That was one of the reasons I wanted to lose weight and get fit this year.  Last year, I packed on 20 pounds and my already basic water skiing skills were put to the test.  Dragging around more weight with less upper body strength proved to be my undoing last year.  When we went out again on Monday, I decided I was going to try.  I was visibly shaking when I put the skis on in the water!  And it wasn't because I was cold.  The water was relatively calm because itw as later in the day--about 5pm--and most people had gone home for the day.  I was already used to the water because I swam with our daughter for quite some time earlier in the trip.  The negative inner voices were attacking me, but I decided to try anyway.  It took me some time to tell him to go.  Would I fall, would I hurt myself, would I be humiliated and not be able to get up at all?  The hubby told me I would pop right out and would be amazed the difference between this year and last thanks to my workouts and modest weight loss.  He was right again!  And I was so excited and so grateful to get up on the first try without hurting myself or feeling like it was a real struggle.  (It's always work, but it was easier than when I weighed 12 more pounds and had no upper body strength!) 

I was grinning ear to ear because that was a goal and I've reached it.  I can get myself out of the water and ski!!!   I didn't stay up long because a boat went by and I let go on the bumps.  I feel so much better about myself now than I did last summer!

Add to that:  We got the garden done and fenced and I read two books over the weekend.  Plus I had a good snugglefest with our daughter.  I'm tired today, but I am happy!

I said no to stress!

I realized tonight that I had to pick up snacks for tomorrow morning's meeting, and I won't have time to stop on the way.  Rather than making a mad dash to the store, I checked the closet in our guest room and now have three different bars--cereal and granola--plus two boxes of flavored water pouches.  If nobody else brings snacks, at least we'll have something!  And I didn't have an adrenaline rush.

Eliminating some niggling stressors

It's no secret that clutter and I do not get along.  If my physical space is cluttered, I have trouble concentrating on tasks, so the tasks pile up and the cycle gets worse.

Thursday I tidied up my desk and took care of a few things that were hanging around in my office and needed to be moved.  In fact, a visitor to my office noticed that it was pretty clean.  Win!  In addition, a co-worker and I took on a project others were stressed about (and one that was being avoided).  We spent approximately two hours and finished one portion of both.  Now we just need another two hours and it will be complete.  It's been needing it for years (I'm not exaggerating), and it feels so good to see the results of our efforts.  As a plus, it was a great bonding experience for us.  Hooray all the way around!

And on the home front, things are actually staying mostly clutter free.  Our daughter and I tackled her room (not without tears) last weekend, including washing bed clothes, and she an I both feel much better about it.  Piles of things were dragged out of her room--clothes, toys, and books to give away plus a huge bag of garbage.

My body is not as cluttered with weight as I thought it would be since I'm retaining water and indulged in a cookie one day and had ice cream sandwiches on two days.  That sweet tooth really amps up during water retention time, so it's a double whammy.  Instead, I'm at my lowest weight this year at weigh in today.

This week we plant the garden and I have another outlet for mind clearing and exercise which will give us wonderful food starting in August.  I love this time of year!

None of these things have been handed to me on a silver platter;  I've grabbed them from a sweaty platter, working my butt off for both diminishing body and diminishing clutter.

Do I say "no" at home?

While updating the lists on the side of the blog this morning, I realized that I haven't tracked saying no at home. Hmmmm... Is it that I don't say no, or is it that I just didn't track it? I will have to be more mindful of refusing to allow clutter and compulsion to rule my home life. Perhaps defining "no" will help.  Saying no to physical or mental clutter, activities we don't have time for, and taking up personal time with work items when it isn't necessary.  Saying yes to organization, smoother schedules, and calm all count as saying "no."  So her goes:

• Clearing out a space. (Cleaned out a dresser on Sunday.) 
• Not volunteering for something I don't have time to do. (I didn't commit my time to a booth at Health Night at our daughter's school because the schedule was crazy.) 
• I allowed myself to say yes to an unexpected visit to friends. (And let go of the compulsion to go shopping for the sale items at three stores that night.) 
• Doing something to get it off my mental clutter list. (This happens with things I have put off like the registration for my 25th high school reunion, which I took care of this morning.) 
• Recycling orphaned socks! 

What Other Items Count?

• Weeding out a file 
• Clearing an item off my project list 
• Unsubscribing to an email list 
• Choosing not to do library work at home (which isn't always easy!) 

 Hooray! I feel like I have said no this month!

The yes to life list for April, which wasn't well kept.

The yes to life list for April, which wasn't well kept. 4/21/12 Went to Fusion class at 9am after dropping Rebecca off at All County practice. 4/20/12 Took a vacation day to watch my niece and nephew. 4/19/12 Took a vacation day to watch my niece and nephew. 4/18/12 Took a vacation day to watch my niece and nephew. 4/17/12 LEft work early to take Rebecca to softball practice. 4/16/12 Went to Fusion yoga class.

Posting the lists regularly again

I decided to try not posting my "Just say no" experiences and my habit progress. That kept me from posting on the blog period, so I'll be posting again even though it's half way through the month. After all, isn't that the point of the blog? Posting regularly?

I've done well with exercising at least three times per week. Having that on the schedule has helped me say no to many other things. And the times I have items I can't say no to are limited to our daughter's school or sports or music functions. What did I do when she had a Glee Club concert on a Wednesday night at 7? I went to Power Yoga and promptly left at 6:30 to get to the performance in time. My husband even bought my ticket and left it at the box office so I didn't have to worry about it. When she had a band concert on a Wednesday night at 6, I did a power yoga workout on Netflix in the morning before work and didn't miss a workout session. Then there was a Monday night obligation during Monday night Fusion (yoga and Pilates). I went to the Tuesday night Vinyasa flow class instead.

I have weighed the same for three straight weigh-ins now. Today I am retaining water and haven't been able to go to the bathroom for a few days, so I think next Sunday will be a little better. However, it also makes me see that I need to add some cardio on a regular basis. Twice a week to start--walking outside or on the treadmill at work on non-workout days.

As far as getting the office and home in shape? We've made much progress. We had a visitor for most of this week which forced us to do dishes after the meal and keep everything picked up. I caught up on laundry before he arrived and we planned dinner much more regularly--no going out for dinner! Then we had a passel of girls over Friday night. Again--did dishes and picked up after each meal or we'd have been under a tower of garbage and dirty dishes.

This week will be challenging. I'm watching my sister's young children (7 months and 27 months) and juggling our daughter's after school schedule and my evening workout schedule. (I will be taking vacation days on Wed, Thurs, and Friday while the little ones are here.) So today will be filled with planning to keep the sanity this week. Without the progress made so far this year, taking on two little ones wouldn't even be possible!

So I'm off to plan the week of who has to be where and when, the meals, and the workout plan as well as accomplishing one item on my to organize list. If I'm successful, I'll even throw in an hour of planning the garden planting! That's a great reward!

February's say yes to life and no to over-working list

How I said yes to life and no to overworking in February:
2/11/12 Read before lights out.
2/11/12 Went to yoga book discussion group even though I haven't finished the book yet.
2/11/12 went to the Y for Interval Max class
2/10/12 Read in bed while hubby and our daughter were at a father/daughter Valentine's Day Dance
2/9/12 Read during lunch
2/9/12 Walked on the treadmill at lunch
2/8/12 Fell asleep practicing spelling words with our daughter
2/8/12 Went to power yoga at the Y
2/7/12 Helped our daughter with her totem pole after school
2/6/12 Went to Fusion class
2/5/12 Went to our daughter's basketball game.
2/4/12 Before lights out, read 50 pages in the next Just Breathe and Read book selection.
2/4/12 Went to see Rhapsody and Penn State Singing Lions at RFA with the family and one of our daughter's friends.
2/4/12 Made dinner for the family. Even though it wasn't the best beef and broccoli I've ever made, I learned that I'm going to cook the broccoli in the microwave from now on and not rely on quick microwave rice. Lesson learned, but we still got some veggies in.
2/4/12 Went to our daughter's basketball game.
2/4/12 Went to Interval Max class at the Y despite a stuffy nose and oversleeping. Awesome day!
2/3/12 Went mini golfing with the family and one of our daughter's friends to use up that Seize the Deal coupon on its last day!
2/2/12 Went to bed right after returning home from a pm work meeting. Cold coming on!
2/1/12 Had quiet reading time with our daughter. She read her book and I read mine as we settled down for bed time.
2/1/12 Went to Power Yoga at the Y.

How it's going

I noticed a shift in my mindset when I found used found time to catch up on some recreational reading instead of work tasks. It's also been coming easier to do something for me or for my family on a daily basis. In fact, I stopped tracking the ways I said no to overworking on the right hand column because tracking it was getting tedious. So many things to type each day! I will keep an eye on that, though, in case it starts to fall again. Many, many organization projects are complete. (Yes, there are more on the to do list than on the done list, but I'm focusing on the feeling of done rather than on the feeling of not done. This is also a big shift in mindset.)

This week will be a difficult week for me with jam packed work and school activity schedules. A couple special pressure items are on the list this week--state budget hearing and a regular board meeting--while the Assistant has been out for a week. However, I am going to take a deep breath and do what needs to be done to get out alive, as they say. This does mean I am going to work a bit at home today, but it's to keep me out of the office when I need to be at one of three exercise classes or picking our daughter up from one of her many activities, or when the family is going out to dinner and the theatre to see South Pacific one city away. These kinds of weeks will come. Planning will keep them from overtaking my life and going back to the old routine of work, work, work.

A couple more items done at work despite the rough week:
4. Organize/fill in/archive (one year) the financial reports
6. Weed/file/delegate/prioritize every item on the inbox on the filing cabinet outside my door.

To catch up on the projects for the month in the organized life/work life in a year:
1. clean out my closet leaving only clothes
2. Clean out the drawers in my desk at work (already on the list, so not adding any pressure)

I'm using the laundry organizer and just love it. Although it holds only 3 loads of laundry, once I get one in the washer and one in the dryer, that means all the laundry is downstairs instead of sorted on my bedroom floor! Victory is ours! I don't think my mother and father know how happy this particular Christmas gift makes me feel. Yes, I am easily amused byt he little things.

I've stuck to my guns on exercising three times per week. It hasn't been easy, but I've seen progress in two months on the program. I've lost 10 pounds, greatly increased my stamina in the crazy aerobics class I take on Saturdays, and my clothes are looser or I am fitting into ones I had outgrown last year with the 20 pounds added on. With a total of 30 to lose, I'm 1/3 of the way there and by June 30 I can be at my goal in that area. Why do I want to focus on this area? I want to be able to water ski this summer without hurting myself and without struggling to get up. I also want to be able to wear my engagement ring and wedding band again. And it's almost gardening time! That will keep me active outside the classes.

Time to buckle down and get some things done today so I can enjoy the week despite the challenges.

1. Laundry all washed and dried, folded, and then PUT IT AWAY! (Yes, I am yelling. Putting it away after it's folded is my downfall.)
2. Dishes (I timed it last week and found out that it takes one hour to go from a disaster are to a clean and picked up kitchen, so why put it off? Do it and reap the emotional rewards of a clean kitchen!)
3. Start dinner
BREAK--cup of decaf and read a chapter or two in Galileo's Daughter
4. Director's Report outline
5. State budget hearing testimony outline
BREAK--Just Dance with our daughter

And away I go!

A few hours focused on the office makes a big difference!

Last night I took advantage of my husband and our daughter being at basketball practice and accomplished a few of the visible organizing tasks.

1. Filed pile on top of filing cabinet
2. Put every paper on my desk in a file folder
3. Cleaned out the currently working on standing folder
4. Rewrote the current to do list
5. Cleaned off the second desk in my office
6. Cleaned off the bookshelf in my office
7. Arranged the remaining "to do" items in a prioritized pile
8. Typed up two of the brainstormed planning lists from our January planning meeting
9. Took many personal items home
10. Made neat areas for the Book Baskets in process for the September fundraiser

I will post a new picture to Picassa today so it's in the rotation below to show me how far I've come.

Next I will(not necessarily in this order):

1. Weed out the "at hand" file drawer (I haven't needed the items in that drawer for what seems to be months! Then I can move the standing file items into that drawer.
2. Weed out the tall filing cabinet
3. Clean out the desk drawers
4. Organize/fill in/archive (one year) the financial reports
5. Organize/fill in/archive the board meeting packets
6. Weed/file/delegate/prioritize every item on the inbox on the filing cabinet outside my door. It's a real eye sore and a constant rub to my Administrative Assistant.

Next week is school vacation week, and I'll be concentrating on the household to do list from One Year to an Organized Work Life. Time to buy that book and return the one that's overdue from the library.

The habits are going well. Putting clothes where they belong, making the bed, getting up from my desk, drinking enough water so I'm having to get up in the night to go to the bathroom! And I'm making it to the exercise classes. It's not easy, but it is giving me much needed improvements, both physical and mental. Without the exercise and the progress there, I wouldn't be able to keep at the organization quest. I am very grateful to be motivated beyond January 14!

Clearing the clutter

I'm not worrying that I'm lagging on the recommended timeline from One Year to an Organized Life. I'm progressing, even though not as quickly as the book's pace. Progress is progress.

As part of the Organized Life plan, I am supposed to purge the kitchen. So far I have purged and organized the two pantry cupboards, the glasses cupboard, the freezer, and the baking cupboard. I've recycled, given away, and thrown away about two paper grocery bags full of clutter. I will finish the cupboard purge while on February break. Won't our daughter be thrilled! But we'll do it on Monday or Tuesday so as to get it out of the way early.

The office purge project (from One Year to an Organized Work Life)is also progressing. Friday night I organized my physical desk top into a top to bottom prioritized to do pile, a to go somewhere else pile, and a to file pile and then put away things on the desk out of place. I then did the same with the second desk in my office which my daughter uses when she's there doing her homework after I pick her up from a school activity.

On the clutter catching book shelves in my office, I identified four containers to archive and moved two to my Admin Asst's desk with a note to label and then archive, please. The next two are labeled and just need to go to the archives. I put away the menagerie of glass animals and the paper environs our daughter created for them months ago. (They're intact in the big blue toy tub kept for little library family members to amuse themselves while visiting--a tradition begun by the former library director and one I really like.)

On Saturday, I spent time at work after the Y workout and before dinner out with my husband and yoga book group. I took care of the pressing priority of press for the upcoming fundraiser which the Mayor will attend. (Exciting, and can't be put off.) Then I started at the top of the prioritized pile and got to work writing notes to staff members, taking things to other staff members (the donated Jenga game for Unplug and Play, for example), and completing tasks. The pile was half its size when I left for the day. I also tucked a few things in my work bag to take care of on Sunday night after our daughter's basketball game. I'll work on those small and quick items on my laptop while in the living room with the family.

Next step at home: Hubby will make two shelves--one in the pots and pans cupboard and one in the cabinet formerly holding the microwave. I'm also going to call the cabinet maker to put doors on that cupboard. It will be a few hundred dollars well spent to keep the contents out of my sight.

Next step at work: The to file piles. One is easy as they're already labeled and in folders. The larger pile is not labeled and not in folders, so I'll grab the tools I need before I go to my office on Monday and spend an hour getting the filing done. Planning makes it easier to focus on what needs to be done, and it is difficult to plan when you're under deadline after deadline. But making it a regular habit pays you back in its weight in platinum.

I slayed two excuses with one trip to the gym!

I've been plagued by a stuffy nose for a few days now and on Friday found myself needing decongestants to breathe properly. Saturday, I awoke at 8:45am, the time at which I am supposed to leave the house to go to they gym. I took about 60 seconds to tell myself to snap out of it because if I missed the gym today it would lead to the slide into excuse after excuse. I took a decongestant and got out of bed. Luckily I slept in my clothes, so went to the bathroom, quickly ate a protein breakfast and a small glass of 1/2 the sugar oj, brushed my teeth, and got on my way. I arrived to the class 10 minutes late and stayed until the end. I can't tell you how good it felt to have punched the devil int he gut on Saturday morning. In addition to the danger of sliding into the downward spiral of excuse allowance, knowing Sunday was weigh in day was a great motivator.

I should note that my bouts of low blood sugar during an am workout was also something I struggled with the first few times. Eating long-time solution of protein laden foods was good for the end of the workout, but I was having low blood sugar spells in the first half of the workout. My hypothesis was that I needed to have a little sugar spike as well as the protein, so on Saturday number 3 I added a half glass of half the sugar oj. Worked like a charm! Slaying excuses one at a time.

January's habit successes

How I said yes to life and no to overworking in January:
1/31/12 Made dinner for my family.
1/31/12 Walked on the treadmill and read during lunch break.
1/30/12 Went to yoga at the studio.
1/29/12 Enjoyed planning the grocery shopping list. (Really. I enjoy this!)
1/29/12 Slept in!
1/28/12 Finished one of the half read books on my list--29 Gifts. Yippee for me!
1/28/12 Read on the way to my sister's house while my husband drove.
1/28/12 Went to the Interval Max Workout class at the Y.
1/27/12 Finished another chapter in one of the half read books--Warped Passages.
1/27/12 Took a two hour lunch break to catch up on personal errands and still fit in walking on the treadmill.
1/26/12 Relaxed at home at night to take advantage of a cancelled basketball practice.
1/25/12 Did a Netflix workout because I missed the treadmill appt. on lunch break.
1/24/12 Helped our daughter study for her math test.
1/24/12 Did a workout on Netflix because I missed my treadmill appt. on lunch break.
1/24/12 Made dinner for the family--yummy beef and broccoli.
1/24/12 Didn't go back to work after picking up our daughter from school!
1/23/12 Had a long meaningful hug with our daughter before bed time.
1/23/12 Went to Fusion class at night.
1/22/12 Didn't do library work on the road to Averill Park!
1/22/12 Held niece Kayla while she took a cat nap.
1/21/12 Went to yoga book group at night.
1/21/12 Went to the Y for step class in the am despite the need to leave early to catch our daughter's basketball game.
1/20/12 Went out for dinner with the family.
1/19/12 Took lunch break.
1/18/12 Read on lunch break.
1/18/12 Walked on the treadmill on lunch break.
1/17/12 Read on lunch break.
1/17/12 Walked on the treadmill on lunch break.
1/16/12 Made dinner for our family.
1/16/12 Took our daughter and her friend to indoor mini golf.
1/15/12 Read before before bed time.
1/15/12 Attended our daughter's basketball game.
1/15/12 Watched football.
1/14/12 Wento the YMCA for Interval Max class.
1/13/12 Read before bedtime.
1/13/12 Went out for dinner with the family.
1/12/12 Went to our daughter's basketball practice.
1/12/12 Went to Pilates class at the Y.
1/12/12 Took my lunch break!
1/11/12 Finished Pride and Prejudice on the way home!!!
1/11/12 Read one of the half read books on my resolutions list on my lunch break.
1/11/12 Walked on the treadmill on my lunch break.
1/10/12 Read on my lunch break.
1/10/12 Walked on the treadmill during my lunch break at work.
1/9/12 Went to Fusion at the yoga studio.
1/8/12 Read in bed with the family's new nook color--no light needed because it's back lit, so happy me and happy hubby!
1/8/12 Read to our daughter at bedtime.
1/8/12 Watched football!
1/8/12 Arrived at Rebecca's basketball game early and enjoyed a game in which she showed tremendous improvement.
1/7/12 Went to the Humane Society for volunteer orientation and then played with the cats with our daughter.
1/7/12 Went to the YMCA for a step aerobics class.
1/6/12 Dropped the car off for its inspection so we don't have to rush to make an appt. tomorrow.
1/6/12 Took our daughter out for breakfast and then dropped her off at school. :-)
1/5/12 Left work on time!
1/5/12 Went to the YMCA's Pilates class
1/4/12 Read a book for pleasure before bed time
1/4/12 Read to our daughter at bed time
1/4/12 Did a Pilates workout on Netflix
1/3/12 Read for 20 minutes on my lunch break!
1/3/12 Took my full lunch break!!
1/3/12 Walked on the treadmill for 20 minutes during lunch break!
1/2/12 Read to my daughter at bedtime.
1/2/12 Exercised even though the weather kept me in the house.
1/1/12 With my daughter, learned how to make friendship bracelets on a wheel. I will help her finish one which she is making as a birthday gift for, well, a friend.
1/1/12 Played Just Dance 3 with my daughter for 45 minutes.

Work Habit of the Month
Month 1: Leave Your Desk.

Accomplished on: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31

This is one I definitely need to do more often, especially if I'm going to exercise every day, which could be done on my lunch break if I took it. I have the tools and opportunities to succeed. I just need to embrace them and define success differently. So here we go!

Month 1: Make the Bed

Accomplished on: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31

I will add change the bed in the morning, too, since I let it go too long and then put the sheets in the wash later in the day only to get to bed at night to find I haven't yet made it. That jolts me awake with frustration, which isn't good for my sleeping habits.

Kitchen progress toward an organized life

The last two weeks of January are for quick and then more thorough purging of the kitchen in One Year to an Organized Life. I have made significant progress and will finish up with the big purge this weekend. Yes, this weekend is the end of the first week of February, but because I'm going through both books, sometimes I have to give myself some wiggle room.

The freezer is organized with each shelf having specific contents. I even shared the scheme with my husband so if he adds anything or moves anything around he can adhere to the scheme.

The baking cabinet is organized and all items past their use by dates or no longer used are history. Multiple open containers are consolidated. We had THREE! open containers of cinnamon!

The cabinets for food are organized and purged. (The storehouse of extra food in the guest bedroom is another story for another day.)

Glasses cabinet purged and organized. Lots of plastic recycled in that one!

Drawer of plastic container tops winnowed.

The remaining to dos and the frustrations we will eliminate:
Now I need to purge and clean the fridge and attack under the sink and the cabinets on the mini-island, which serves as a wall between the dining room and kitchen. Then it's the cabinet above the microwave and the one above the fridge. My husband's junk drawer will be a lot of fun, too!


I've asked my husband to install a few shelves for me, which he said he can do. I'll just need to go to the store with him so we get what he needs to do the job. Once he has those installed, we'll call the cabinet maker to put doors on the open cupboard which housed a microwave for the prior owners of the house. I would also like to devise a plan for the drawer of bags to reuse. If we could keep those somewhere else, we'd gain a large drawer for other things.

Progress and a plan for more progress make a big difference in my outlook.

A bargain turns into more of a workout

Due to a lunch out of the building,I couldn't keep my appointment with the treadmill on lunch break today, so I promised myself I would exercise at home while our daughter and my husband were at basketball practice. I chose a Crunch Cardio with weights workout on Netflix since I missed a cardio session. It was much more exertion than I'd have participated in if I had walked on the treadmill and read for 25 minutes!

I realized while planning the night's activities that I've had a shift in perspective. I used to see unbooked time at home with an empty house as a chance to catch up on work from the office. Tonight, I used it as time to catch up on self care. I also excavated the dining room table, which gave me great personal satisfaction. Now it's off to help our daughter study for a test she has tomorrow and I might even read a little before I go to sleep. The work will still be there when I get to the office tomorrow and none of it has to be done right this minute.

How did I get here and where do I want to go?

It's the assignment I've been putting off, so in the spirit of my resolution to tackle unfinished business, here it goes.

Librarianship was my chosen profession, but aside from choosing the profession that my career was planned is an illusion. I worked in fast food management for 6 years while going to school part-time and then worked at a book store, where I had applied for a management position, but they were filled, so instead I became a children's bookseller. How fortuitous! Had I been hired as a manager, I wouldn't have made the leap to go to school full time. And had I stayed at the bookstore and not pursued my education I'd now be out of a job as Borders Books & Music went out of business.

I took a chance on a job posting while I was in grad school, a posting I could have easily missed on the job board and almost did, but took the effort to double back when one word caught my eye. The job turned out to be in my mother's hometown, 150 miles away from where we lived at the time, which was the same place my husband spent his while life to that point. I applied, was offered the job, and my husband said, as is his way, "Sure," when I suggested we pull up his roots.

As an experienced children's bookseller and a student of Bibliographic Instruction, I was a good candidate fro a backup children's librarian to read stories and hold programs when the much revered Children's Librarian was out. The BI experience made me a good candidate for creating a series of computer classes for the public. Then came the unexpected assignment which would lead me to adventurousness and great job satisfaction--Teens' Services Librarian as about 25% of my job description. I loved it all, but admittedly fell into it rather than having mapped out the specifics.

Oddly timed retirements after my having been at the library for eight years and the next thing you know I'm a Library Director after a 3 month stint as Assistant Director. To say the job is challenging, even after 6 years, is an understatement. I am beset with small tasks with great metamorphosizing power to turn into creation of policies and procedures we don't have or compliance requirements we need to meet. After 6 years, I turn over stones and there are still serpents greeting me. We've come a long way and will continue to do so, but I'm tired and have fallen into disorganization at work and at home, which follows logically. I don't take care of myself the way I should and I give far too much of myself to my job, which leaves me feeling burned out and tired before the day in the office starts.

Where do I want to be? In a place of balance.

1. I want to think about work when I'm at work and home when I'm at home. (I realize this is not a 100% proposition, so won't consider it a failure if they encroach on one another every so often.)
2. I want to have a house in which I can find things and the mantra of, "Found it!" slides away into oblivion. I want to model organization and efficiency for our daughter, who is a slob and wouldn't remember to take her head to school if it wasn't attached.
3. I want to not dread people dropping in.
4. I want to make progress on the growing, but stagnating to do list of pie in the sky ideas at work and home which are possible.

This is going to take effort, but I am worth it as is my family as is my job. So let's go!

Potential stress mitigated

The week of the annual report to the community, regular meeting, and annual dinner at work is always a challenge. This year we add the happiness project which includes eating better, exercising regularly, reading... What? I am happy to report that I still exercised 5 times, ate moderately, and avoided drama by planning and doing. I am certain that had I not exercised and not done right by myself, the stress would have overwhelmed me as usual. So I am tired, but not beaten down to the point of giving up on the year to an organized work life of happiness. So far, so good, but there is nearly a year left.

The facebook post

Quite a few people responded to my facebook post and I realized that I needed to look at my resolution again. What do I want? Do I want o lose 20 pounds or do I want to be fit or do I want to be healthy or do I want all of those or two of those or one of those? And do I really want to measure pounds lost or just see them come off as a natural result of being active more so as not to set myself up for failure?


Here's what I would like to do:
1. I want to make better food choices.
2. I want to increase my fitness level.
3. I want to have lower cholesterol.
4. I want to move more.
5. I want to have more energy.
6. I want to fit into the jeans in my dresser.
7. I want to be able to wear my wedding and engagement rings again.

Some of those things I want will naturally occur as rewards for good behaviors on the list.

I'll work on the details and post them to hold myself to them. It's good to have a support system.

My resolutions

My resolutions this year are to:

1. Finish the half-read books on my nightstand.
2. Finish half-started projects on home my to-do list.
3. Exercise regularly and improve eating habits.
4. Pay off our truck.
5. Finish half started and put off projects at work.

I will put in some details--count of how many and which books and which projects. I'm reluctant to say how many pounds I want to lose--not because I don't want people to know how much I need to lose, but because if I exercise three times per week I have succeeded even if I don't lose all 20 pounds. I have to think about that one. Perhaps I'll post it to facebook and see what my friends think--one of whom is a Weight Watchers success story.

I'm feeling groovy, as Simon and Garfunkel would say!

Ever have one of those days?

On Saturday, I kept my appointment with myself to go to the YMCA for the aerobics class! I am the kind of person who can talk herself out of anything, but I didn't do it this time. I slept in my workout clothes, got up, ate a protein filled breakfast and went! It feels very good to keep my promise to myself and it set the tone for a terrific day. I remembered to do a few little things that had been nagging in the back of my mind and a few bigger things.

1. Remembered to send a fax for personal business
2. Remembered to take the food collected at work to the Humane Society
3. Badgered my daughter into putting up the display she committed to at the library AND took her to put it up
4. Had the car inspected the first week of the month it was due
5. Remembered to ask my husband to put the totes in the trunk of my car. I can't carry them, so I just kept staring at them at the bottom of the stairs in the house.

There were some other little things. It was just a great day! Here's planning on making more of those as I slowly go down the list of half finished tasks, which is part of my Happiness Project / Organized Work Life project. :-)

I could have said no...

When the weather slicked up the roads, I decided not to go to the yoga studio. I could have ditched the exercise, but instead I did a 35 minute Pilates workout followed by 20 minutes of yoga. Then my daughter and I played Just Dance 2 for about 20 minutes. It wasn't the same without the social aspect, but I didn't say no to exercise and it felt very good! Topped off the night reading to my daughter in her bed and snuggling her. Now I'm off to bed myself. So many resolutions, so little time.

New year, new slant on the pursuit

After reading The Happiness Project and experiencing a particularly challenging year as far as seeking balance, it occurred to me that I want more than an organized work life. I want to be happier, and an organized work life is just one piece of the path to happiness. So now I resolve to be more than organized; I resolve to spend time doing things which will make me happier. One of those is to get closer to balancing work and life. To do that, I will organize my work life, allowing me to work more efficiently, spending less time in the office.