Today is the day!!

This is my new Mantra!   Today is the day.  I have been sporadically working on my list – and less than sporadically working on my weight loss.  So Today is the day to start again, come clean, and make it work!

(BTW – I love Tim Gunn!  He is so sweet, I just  to pick him up and carry him in my pocket!!)

3. Complete the Couch to 5K program - In Progress

Well I have fallen off the Couch to 5K program – much in the same way I have fallen off keeping up with this blog.  I have had a hard time with exercise and eating in the past month with Fiona going to school and Warren traveling so much.  I have been participating in another exercise class – so I hope to get back into this soon.

5. Buy a bike and ride confidently – Done

About a week ago I took what is probably my last bike ride of the season.  I went in a park not far from the house and it was just a perfect ride.  Although Fiona wasn’t with me I was able to put it all together and felt confident.  I/We won’t be doing any street riding at all – strictly parks or trails.  When my father was 18 he lost his younger brother in a bicycle accident, and I know it worries him.  I give him a lot of credit for teaching us all to ride bikes and never letting his nervousness show when we were kids.

19. Form a good habit – Done

Since I had never really been able to put together a morning routine that I could follow – I looked at my other major stressor in the morning.  I had gotten into a bad habit of driving in to work every day.  Not only was this stressful because of traffic and delays and stupid drivers – it was expensive!  So after Fiona started school, I started taking the train again.  It has now been one month – and I have only driven in one time when I needed to bring some bulky items into the office.  I am excited at the extra savings and the extra exercise walking to and from the train station

20. Keep work desk clear for 1 month – Done

I tend to still keep my desk neat – but let’s face it, it will never be clean all the time.

27. Explore 10 new restaurants - 7 down 3 to go

On the last date night, Warren and I went to Steel & Rye, which was voted the best new restaurant on the South Shore. It was super yummy.  It was a very grown up date kind of place – so we are looking forward to going back when we are sans-kid.

31. Find an exercise class that fits in with Warren's travel schedule - attend at least once a week. – Done

So before I mentioned the boot camp class that I had signed up for, well I have been attending TWICE a week.  Actually I LOVE it.  It can be very hard – I mean I am in a class with some serious skinny minnies – WHILE facing an entire wall of mirrors – Yuck!  But I have stuck with it no matter what.  I have a few more weeks to go – but I count it done because I have stuck with it for a whole month.

33. Send 12 "love" packages - In Progress (6 sent)

This past week I sent out two love packages.  One has arrived – it was a necklace to a friend who is going through surgery today!   THINKING OF YOU!!!!!!!!   The second just went in the mail today but it is just a little something for a friend’s little girl.

36. Take mom to a show - Once in Providence on October 5^th – Done

We had a great time at Once!  I did not cry again, much to the chagrin of some of my “Broadway friends”.  We were upgraded to the orchestra pit – we were so close we could have touched the actors!  It was great, I prefer the Broadway cast by far – but it was still a great show and a great time. 

17 down!!!!!   22 to go!

 

Long Time ....

I know - long time no update! 

It was a crazy summer wind up and an even crazier back to school!  This was our first true back to school experience.  It was truly stressful - for me!  I can't believe all of the emotions and stress this has caused me.  I have never been one to be sentimental about milestones but the first day of Kindergarten hit me HARD!

Here are some pictures of her on her first day.

I have made some progress on my list:

12. Finish Christmas project for Kenna  - Done

I chose to make Kenna a sock monkey - like I did for Fiona's 2nd Christmas.  So I got the kit online and spent most of last Saturday stitching and stuffing.  It is done - I even bought it a little outfit to cover up my horrible hand stiching. Pics to come!

14. Take Fiona to Boston Common, Frog Pond and Carousel - Done

Since Fiona and I were on our own this past Sunday we took a little trip up to Boston and went to the carousel and the Frog Pond.  The Frog Pond was closed for the season but it was still a nice little side trip.

15. Make something wearable

Well I did it - I made a dress for Fiona.  It is a pillowcase dress so it was not very involved.  I am not extremely stoked about the way it turned out .....

But I did it and maybe next year when Fiona is a little bigger it will fit her better.


20. Keep work desk clear for 1 month - In Progress  (One more week to go!)

27. Explore 10 new restaurants - 5 down 5 to go

While I was in Cambridge the other night I tried Creme Cafe.  It was a nice little cafe, it had a great grilled cheese sandwich - the sweet potato chips though were thouroughly disgusting.  I know I have plans to visit 2 new restaurants next weekend with my friends.  So looking forward to some yummy yummies there!

29. Plan 10 interactive date nights - 1 done 9 to go

Warren and I had one of the lowest cost interactive date nights ever.  We went to dinner and spent the rest of the night over coffee.  Sure we missed the movie we wantd to see but it was still fun and we just talked and talked.

31. Find an exercise class that fits in with Warren's travel schedule - attend at least once a week.

This task was proving harder and harder - recently our YMCA branch had a water main break that flooded their basement.  They closed until the new building opens in October!  I recently found out that the gym in my building is doing a bootcamp program for 8 weeks.  Since that coincided with this I decided to give it a try.  It starts tomorrow so I am very excited.  and nervous ... and nervous.

33. Send 12 "love" packages - In Progress (6 sent)

I sent two more love packages last week.  Little cards and mementos - one for a friend who recently lost her mom to cancer.  Her mom was such a special lady - and even though I am not close with this person any more I can't imagine what she is going through.  The second was for one of my grandmother's sisters.  I saw her recently after way too long and it was just great to see her and spend time with her - I don't normally get to!  I wanted to let her know I was thinking of her even after she left.

12 down - 27 to go!

Home Again

Back to reality, it was a long week - but it was great to be home with Fiona and Gimli.  I am officially 39 now - so it is time to focus on the list!  I was able to focus on a few items while I was in Miami.

Purposefully exercise while on vacation - since I was in Miami and I needed to do my C25K workout - first thing Saturday morning I hit the hotel gym!  If you are going to exercise - you might as well do so look while looking at this:

We then walked all over South Beach.  On Sunday we hit the beach and the pool and after some laps I walked along the beach path they have in Bal Harbor.  Hopefully I was able to get enough exercise to mitigate some of the damage from the other list item I took seriously this past week.  

Try 10 new restaurants - we certainly ate a lot in Miami!  I had never been there so everything was new! Friday night we stayed at the hotel and ate and the wonderful J & G Grill.  It was a wonderful birthday dinner with some of the best wine and a chocolate lava birthday cake!  Saturday we had lunch at a great Cuban restaurant in South Beach and then we went to a steakhouse called RED,  It was so yummy!!  Sunday we went to an argentinian restaurant for dinner that was okay - but we had so many great meals in a short time that it just paled in comparison!

Send 12 "love" packages - I did change this goal a little bit, after putting together my second care package I started realizing how expensive the care packages were going to be.  So I downgraded them to love packages.  I sent a few of my relatives who are not tech savvy enough to see all pictures we have of Fiona online their own packet of pictures.  The price is much lower than I spent on the other packages I spent but everyone seemed to like them.   

   

Buenvenidos a Miami

Well Warren and I are in Miami for a long weekend.  We left Fiona with my parents for the weekend, she was really excited about her big "sleepover".   I am excited too for two mornings of sleeping in and a few days of bumming around Miami. I did a lot this past week on my mini-bucket list.

I'm going to go through the whole list this week so I can attempt to stay organized:

Completed: 

1. Go vegetarian for one week - done!  I have to say I am not cut out to be a vegetarian. By the end of the week I was dreaming about bacon cheeseburgers. I had a few veggie burgers that were okay - one was just god awful. It was made primarily of beets so it looked like it was bleeding to death and the consistency was just god awful. 
2. Take Fiona on a pony ride - done!  This past weekend we went to the marshfield fair, I have lived in New England most of my life and less that an hour away from this annual fair for more than 10 years and never went. Imagine Fiona's glee when she saw that they had pony rides. 
   
3. Take Fiona to children's museum - done!
4. Keep bureau clear for one month - done!  It has now been clear for 5 weeks.  
5. Ride a Ferris wheel - done!  This is one of those things I definitely built up in my mind. It was not near as terrifying as I remembered. Maybe because it wasn't one of those chairlift type swing chairs.  Here is the view from the top:
   
6. Go to one of Massachusetts' annual fairs that I have never been to (Topsfield/Marshfield/Big E) - done!  The marshfield fair was not quite what I was expecting - not quite sure how to articulate what I was expecting.  Probably closer to a movie county fair, homier I guess. I did not expect windows and siding contractors trying to entice you to their booths. All in all I was glad we did it and fun was had by all.  
7. Get back to my natural nails - done!  No more acrylics feel weird.  I am still not used to it. I nearly had a set back this past week when on of my nails ripped down past the quick, I was so tempted to put a tip on it.  I didn't and just painted the little stumpy nail - even though I think it looks kind of silly.  
8. Get to know someone I don't like - done!  I was most hesitant of putting this goal on here and then even more hesitant of talking about the completed result.  I will say that this "task" took a turn I never expected it to, I expected this to be about someone at work.  It turned into reconnecting with someone I used to be close with and going over our issues and what happened between us.  I don't know if we will ever be close again but bringing up these old issues and discussing them let me let go of any old anger and resentment. 

In progress:

1. Get rid of all personal credit card debt - I have made a fairly aggressive plan to eliminate all of my credit card debt. If I stick to that I should be done by January. If not I should be done by the spring. 
2. Complete the Couch to 5K program - I hope to finish week three this weekend.  I had a tetanus booster this bast week and my whole body just hurt after. So hopefully today or tomorrow I will be able to get the final "run" in.
3. Buy a bike and ride confidently - so I have taken several rides on my bike. It is getting easier and easier.  I'm still not all that confident on hills or when there are a lot of people around. I want to get to a point where I am confident enough to ride with Fiona on her bike. 
4. Form a good habit - okay I suck at this one, I will admit it right now.  I have tried so many different approaches to setting up a morning routine and I am coming to terms with the fact that it Amy not be entirely possible with a five year old and a puppy. When we get back from Miami I am going to try a checklist mor that a routine. To see if that helps.
5. Keep work desk clear for one month - I cleared & cleaned my desk on 8/20/13. I saw what a difference keeping my bureau made - so I am hoping that it translates to keeping the desk clear.
6. Visit 10 new restaurants - 2 down, 8 to go.  
7. Send 12 care packages - I sent one care package to a friend and I have all of the stuff for a second one that will have to be shipped out next week.  Trying to think of other friends and family that may need a care package.  
8. Take mom to a show - mom and I are going to see Once when it comes to Providence in October.  This will just prove to my friends that I am dead inside when I don't cry for the second time!

For the future:

1. Run an official 5K - I may not make it in time for 10/20. But I am looking at other dates this fall.  
2. Get a tattoo - I have spoken to several friends and we are planning to do this after Christmas. 
3. Go to the dentist
4. Lose 50 pounds - this crawled to a standstill. Towards the end of my vegetarian week I was so meat starved I was eating everything in sit that wasn't meat. I have yet to fully recover from this.  I hope everyone keeps me accountable when I return from vacation.
5. Finish Christmas stockings
6. Finish needlepoint for Mom
7. Finish Christmas project for Kenna
8. Take Fiona to Boston Common, Frog Pond & carousel
9. Make something wearable
10. Go through clothes and purses in the attic to sell/donated what is not longer needed
11. Take Fiona to the circus
12. Climb Blue Hills
13. Ride an inverse roller coaster
14. Participate in NANOWRIMO
15. Purposefully exercise while on vacation
16. See Waterfire
17. Have a mamogram
18. Plan 10 interactive date nights
19. Find an exercise class that fits in with Warren's travel schedule - attend at least once a week.
20. Get a professional makeup application
21. Buy 1 complete outfit at a non-plus size store.
22. Submit one writing piece to publisher or agent
23. Do a photoshoot with the family

8 completed, 8 in progress, and 23 left to go. 

Backstory ....

 

I will have a big update this week – lots of items to check off the list.  I figured I would give the Doofensmirtz-ian backstory about my loathing for ferris wheels.  When I was young I read a book … and in that book the ferris wheel was a huge point of foreboding, then the final scene was on the ferris wheel and it was falling apart and people were falling (maybe – not sure).  This final scene scared the pants off me!  I never wanted to get on another carnival ride.  I think the book I read was meant for older readers – I tended to read a lot and read stuff that was my older brothers’. 

It took forever for me to find the book that led to a life without ferris wheels but I finally did – Into the Dream.  Here is an excerpt from an Amazon review that FINALLY gave me the name of the book!

The men grab Francine and Paul and Noah go take a ride on a ferris wheel to avoid getting caught by the men. The strangest thing happens on the ferris wheel - the seat starts to fall apart.

So thank you to the thorough Amazon reviewer who put a 30 odd year mystery to bed.  I have been on rides since then – but ferris wheels are always met with trepidation and I don’t think I had been on one since high school. 

I got nothin'

Warren traveled this week so it was nowhere near as productive as I would have liked.  I still have a few minor updates - and I don't want to get out of the habit of posting updates.  If I can keep this blog up for a whole year I will be super excited!  I really need to work on sticking to my projects, so this is a good place to start.

1. Go vegetarian for one week:  Lat Thursday as I was eating dinner I realized that I had amazingly eated vegetarian all day long.  So I figured since I had one day under my belt without really trying - I would use it to start off my week.  So far so good.  Eating out has been more of a challenge than I thought.  I have sampled really good veggie burgers and really BAD veggie burgers.  (I had one that had beets in it - and I thought - YEAH I like beets.  the tecture was jsut god awful and it looks like the burger was bleeding to death.)  I have the rest of today - so I am confident I can complete this one.  BACON HERE I COME!

2. Get rid of all personal credit card debt: Well, I finally sat down with all my bills at the same time and it wasn't as bad as I thought.  (What I thought was pretty bad)  I have a fairly agressive plan to eliminate it all - and I should have all of the "store" credit cards done by the end of August (Thank Goodness for an "extra" paycheck this month)

3. Complete the Couch to 5K Program: Week 2 ends tonight.  I think this was the suckiest goal I have ever considered doing.   If you want to follow me on twitter (@Sheila_Posch) you can see how much I hate this goal.

5. Buy a Bike & Ride confidently: I bought a bike this weekend!  Of course we were so busy this weekend I did not ride it.  Also Warren mentioned that I had not been on a bike in 20 years so now I am petrified to get on the bike - at least in anyone else's presence.  I am going to try to take it to the park early one day this weekend.

18. Keep Bureau Clear for One Month: 3 Weeks!   I have kept it clear for three weeks!  I am so excited.  I continually battle Warren trying to encroach on my side of the bureau but I am managing to keep it at bay.

19. Form a Good Habit: No real luck getting this habit to stick yet.  I made up a checklist yesterday, so that should help me stay on track. 

NERD ALERT

I laminated it so I can use a dry erase marker to keep checking things off as I do them.

So I am still at 2 down 37 to go - but hopefully I will be knocking at least to more items off my list next week.

2 Down - 37 to go!

Sigh …

Well today has been on great big ball of suck!  When I got into work the entire floor was wet, again!   This has happened at least 3 other times – but this time it was the worst.  It normally does not affect the cubes in any way and just gets the hallway all damp and we have to deal with the fan noise all day.  This time it made it to the cubes – everyone who had anything on the ground under their desk – completely saturated.  So today has been a day of mucking out offices and storerooms – getting rid of miles of wet cardboard.  Everything smells like wet dog wrapped in even wetter cardboard – I think that is because so many women keep shoes under their desk, me included. 

I thought I would give a few updates on some list items:

9.   Lose 50 pounds:  I have lost 4 pounds towards my goal of losing 50 pounds this year. 46 more to go!
 
15.  Make something wearable:  I have decided on two projects to make – both of them wearable.  I am going to make Fiona a pillowcase dress.  I bought all the elements this weekend and I hope to get it finished this week.  I also bought some stuff to make some bandanas for Gimli.  We used to have a few that attached to the collar for Wallace – but I want to make Gimli some of his own.

18.  Keep Bureau clear for 1 month:  1 week down – 3 more to go.  I love, love, love having my bureau clear – it gives me such a feeling of order!

19.  Form a good habit:  This effort did not go that well this week, I was able to make notes on what my morning routine should be and I was pleased with the results the first two days – then I forgot I was going to take Gimli to the dog day care and had to run out of the house like a crazy person and never picked it up again.  I will start again tomorrow.  (I would have started today but I couldn’t find my notebook where I wrote everything down.)

27. Explore 10 new restaurants:  This week I went to dinner with two of my friends – instead of the same old stand by we branched out and went to Rang’s Indian in Stoneham, MA.  I like Indian food – but I LOVE their Indian food.  It was so yummy – very tasty pakoras, the bread basket was amazing.  It was a small place so we were lucky to get there when we did because by the time we left there was a line!

33. Send 12 care packages:  I sent one care package out last Friday – but I don’t think my friend has received it yet, so more on that later.

34. Get back to my natural nails:  The acrylics are off.  I had no intention of doing this so early in the “year” – I was going to hold off until after our get away to Miami, or maybe until after Christmas – but then I thought about all the money spent on getting my nails done.  So I took the “nail money” for August and I bought a gel nail care set.  So I have gel on my nails right now, I do count that as natural since I don’t have to grind away at my nails to do this type of manicure.

 

2 Down – 37 to go!