it seemed like a good idea at the time ...

The 183/26 Challenge

2009-01-14T03:35:51Z

Well, I did it. I went and made a public commitment. And here I am, doing it again, because lo and behold, if I say it out loud and proud, maybe, just maybe, I'll be able to stick with it.

Those of you who know me "for reals" know that I am exercise averse. I pretty much abhor anything that might make me break a sweat or raise my heartrate. I did, for a little while, succumb to the allure of waking up early and doing 30 minutes of yoga a day, but alas, the need for sleep (or actually, the need to stay up and knit at night) has won out and I find myself not dragging myself out of bed at 6am, like I am supposed to do.

My old friend Rachael, (who Always Wanted Four, btw) blogged recently how another blogging buddy committed to 500/50 for 2009. That would mean running 500 miles and reading 50 books for the year. Well, Rachael, about 99.9% of the time the voice of reason, realized that perhaps, 365/26 was a more realistic goal for her. Kudos to Rachael for A) being a runner who has actually competed in a marathon and B) realizing that 1 book a week was more her speed.

Unlike Rachael, I am not a runner, but thanks to Rodney Yee and my new Wii Fit Balance Board thanks Santa! perhaps I can average out 30 minutes a day by hook or by crook or by snow shovel as I discovered the other snowy day. Like Rachael, I am an Olympic tuner-outer and will devour a book until it is finished as evidenced by the Great Harrypalooza of 2007.

So I am settling for 182.5 183 hours of exercise and 26 books for the year. I've got to find a little blog widget to put on the side to track my progress. So far today I have hula-hooped on the Wii for 7 minutes. Crap! Gotta get moving!

Wanna join me?

Me-vs-the-wii

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housekeeping and resolutions

2009-01-07T01:03:04Z

Every January, I start to rethink my housekeeping habits and shying away from resolutions. And I mean staying far, far away from making resolutions. Because in my mind, once a resolution is made, then dammit! It's meant to be broken! And so therefore, I (think I) trick myself by not committing to the resolution and so therefore, if I fall off the wagon, its okay because it wasn't really a real resolution. Clear as mud?

So no real commitments like exercising on a regular basis or eating healthier or spending less money. Instead, I aim to just do them as I remember them. That way, I won't mess up as often. I get a success rate on this method of behavior change of about 25%. Not great, by any stretch, but at least it's better than if I didn't try. And I try to only tackle one thing a month. So instead of making 12 "I'm gonna try (fill in desired new habit)" for January, I make only one. And for January, I'm going to TRY think of the other 11 things I'm going to do for the year.

As for housekeeping habits, I am forever resolving to keep my home cleaner, declutter more, organize better, blah, blah, blah. Actually, I'm kind of addicted to housekeeping websites, organizing books, planners, moleskine notebooks and the whole shebang. HOWEVER, you would never know that by looking at my house! Rather, instead of getting more organized, I think I'm going to just try to work on keeping the crap out. Declutter in every aspect of my life. That way the stuff I really do want, like blogging, can find a way to creep back in.

Now that I think about it, during one of my other January brainstorming sprees in during a previous year when I attempted to craft my personal mission statement (don't laugh. It works.) I hammered out something similar. Maybe I should peek through those old journals and see if I can find what I had written down then.

And now, because I hate blog posts without pictures, I give you my mother and two of my sisters and myself..and my Dad in the background!

Family Picnic Summer 08

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I'm back?

2009-01-06T05:01:31Z

Possibly? Maybe? I can't believe it's been over a year but the urge to blog has finally returned. At the very least, it'll be a place to post all the crap I don't want to forget about.

So we'll see.

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f is for free yarn! and fantasies

2007-10-17T03:14:04Z

So F is for free yarn. Vickie Howell, Craftitrix extraordinaire and host of Knitty Gritty is starting new podcast, Craft, Rock, Listen. (or CRL: with Vickie Howell) Hurray! And to promote it she's giving away some of her luscious yarn (while supplies last). So hopefully, I'm not the last on the wagon, although I probably am.

CRLblogbutt+copy

See here for info on my Encyclopedia of Me.

She's also got a great giveaway going on over at her blog for some cool craft books. Check it out!

F is also for fantasies and not of me and Fabio (shudder) lying on some white sugar sand beach somewhere. I have this ridiculous fantasy and it goes something like this:

I'm sitting on my loveseat in my office/studio, knitting/crocheting along on some project. Lovely soft classical music plays in the background. My youngest daughter is playing at my feet on my immaculately clean floor. My older daughter is absorbed in her book, homework all finished and neatly put away. I get up from my project to make my way across my completely clutter-free and spotless home to the kitchen where I have a pot of something yummy-smelling on the stove. (probably some sort of beef goulash and homemade noodles) I make myself a pot of tea. DH comes up from the basement with a load of laundry and proceeds to fold it. We eat dinner. Kids go to bed on time. (in their freakishly clean room) and DH and I run out to the bookstore for coffee and some magazine browsing while Grandma stays at home with the kids and reads.

Honestly, I don't think my fantasy is actually that far off. I think the only thing standing between me and this fantasy is about 2 tons of crap that I can't seem to part with and let go to other homes/recycle/throw away. I've done a lot in the past, but just can't seem to go that final 2 miles. Don't get me wrong, it's not so bad that there are pathways to wend your way around the crap (at least most of the time!) and all the piles of laundry in the laundry basket are actually clean, but need to be put away.

Does anyone else have this problem? How do you find the inspiration/motivation/perspiration for that final push through the last pile of junk?

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e is for exhausted

2007-10-12T01:32:47Z

So apparently, starting work the day after you get back from vacation with no groceries in the house and no time to get them and not unpacking fully is not the best idea. But I was so anxious to start and I'm so glad I did.

After dropping off my posse of peeps, I made my way to work in plenty of time. Not an easy feat considering the girls were still on California time this morning. But nevertheless, butts were dragged out of bed. This chilly autumn morning was a bit of a rude slap in the face after coming back from sunny, beautiful weather, and adds yet another thing on my to-do list...get out the cool weather clothes. But we got going, no one was late, and I started first day at work only slightly frazzled by my wardrobe inadequacies. (hello, no work for 8 years makes for a very slim professional wardrobe!)

Anyway, the posse was rounded up by my deputy, Andrea, our family's new driver. She deposited them at home with a minimum of fuss. I came home to an absolutely destroyed house, but that's okay, I expected it.

Speaking of drivers, I feel funny saying that she's our driver. It kind of feels like my kids are little Muffy Crosswires from the PBS cartoon, Arthur. But instead of being chauffered around in a stretch limo, they're being toted to and fro in a big white Suburban by a cheerful Mom and her three little kids.

Work went fine. I like it. It feels good to use my brain in other ways. But man, I'm just beat. Hopefully, I'll be able to catch up the house/laundry/routines again this weekend. I'm pretty sure I will. I better, or I'll be in big trouble!

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just call me smooshie and unnatural!

2007-10-12T01:17:06Z

Apparently, I'm gummi bears. I love these stupid quizzes. They always make me laugh!

Gummy Bears

You may be smooshie and taste unnatural, but you're so darn cute.

What Kind of Candy Are You?

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whew! we're home!

2007-10-11T03:57:27Z

We're back! After 8 days and 7 nights of fun in the sun in and around Los Angeles, tossing petals, butchering piano music, visiting with Mickey, country roads and eating lots of good food, among other things, we've arrive safe and sound back home.

We literally just rolled in, so I'm going to leave you with this little tidbit so you know that I'm making good on my promise to keep blogging! All right, I'm off now to finish unpacking and getting ready for my first day of work!

Here is a pic of my girls and my nieces who were in the wedding! Pretty, aren't they all?

Oct 10 07 010

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e is for evacuate!

2007-10-03T04:28:34Z

Well, not really.

I'm leaving tomorrow for the Los Angeles-area to attend a wedding and other family-related events. Yes, that means I'm going on blog hiatus yet again. Encyclopedia of Me will resume when I return and should have lots more fodder for cogitation as I begin my next new phase of life...gainful employment!

Seriously though, my life has been so out of whack lately. I've been waiting, and waiting, and waiting for my very good friend for whom I was fully expecting to go into the labor and delivery with and help coach has been stuck in her own personal holding-pattern labor hell for the past week. On again, off again contractions, pretty intense, fairly close together, but not quite close enough together to necessitate a trip to the hospital. And I've been trying, trying, trying to get ahead so that when I start work, I won't be too far behind. Preparing for this trip for Cali has me all discombobulated as I totally picked the wrongest, wrongest season to find white shoes to coordinate with flower girl dresses and hurriedly trying to prepare some wedding music. (which reminds me, I STILL need to practice the recessional...wait, I haven't even bought the music yet! crap!) Getting all my child/elder care arrangements in place I'm happy to say, has finally occurred and we're already underway.

So I'll be back next Wednesday. Hope you guys have a good time. I'll be peeking in your blogs and maybe sneaking in a post or two while I'm away if I can get to a computer. (no laptop, no fun!)

Ciao!

69264

hmmmm, this is like a metaphor for my life right now...and I hope it's not a omen for tomorrow!

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that's why I like autumn...

2007-10-02T04:34:11Z

My very favorite season is autumn. I love the cooler nights, colorful leaves, cozy clothes. I love the thought that soon, snow will softly fall and blanket the ground. My favorite holiday of all, Christmas, is just around the corner. We can rip around outside, having a blast, without sweating our eyebrows off, then come in for a nice hot drink. I love tea and hot cocoa and this is the time to bust out that electric tea kettle!

A few Christmases ago, my sister gave me some mulling spices from Williams-Sonoma. I wish I liked mulled wine (Glogg! I love that word!) but unfortunately, I don't. Maybe I don't know how to make it properly. I do, however love spiced apple cider. Mmmm, warm apple cider. Ahhhhhh, cold apple cider. I just loves me some apple cider. I love how it's cloudy (e. coli anyone?) and yummy and filling. Plain old apple juice is just ick compared to cider. So that makes this little quiz just so much better.

I do, however, want to go on record saying that I detest being cold, though so this makes the results just so apropo! Those of you who know me IRL know that I hate being chilly!

You Are Apple Cider

Smooth and comforting. But downright nasty when cold.

What Part of Fall Are You?

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need limo, fast!

2007-10-02T01:35:48Z

If anyone knows of a good limo service in Chicago, could you please let me know? Me and my bajillion member family are about to go on vacay and need a lift to Midway. Thanks!

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