I've never experienced an election where so much seems at stake. Please, let's not blow it!
Tuesday, November 6, 2018
Election Day
I've never experienced an election where so much seems at stake. Please, let's not blow it!
Monday, November 5, 2018
Gratitude
November always seems like the perfect month to focus on gratitude. The weather is getting colder, the days are getting shorter, and we tend to spend more time indoors- time that seems custom made for reflection. We are rolling into the winter holidays; Thanksgiving is all about giving thanks and being grateful! And it's always a good idea to keep gratitude close to your heart when holiday shopping- it's far too easy to let materialism take over.
I've done gratitude challenges in the past, though they all seem to emphasize self reflection (name one thing you are thankful for today)with little focus on community and connection. As somebody with introvert tendencies, I've been making an effort to reach out more and focus on connection this year. I haven't always been successful, but I have at least been more aware and been able to curb my proclivity towards turning inward and hiding out. This November, I decided to search for a gratitude challenge that not only emphasizes being thankful, but also includes reaching out beyond myself.
I decided upon this little ditty: https://pageflutter.com/30-day-gratitude-challenge/. Super simple, but effective (I hope). By the end of the month, maybe I'll establish a habit of spreading tiny little bits of joy as well as noticing the little things that make me smile.
I've done gratitude challenges in the past, though they all seem to emphasize self reflection (name one thing you are thankful for today)with little focus on community and connection. As somebody with introvert tendencies, I've been making an effort to reach out more and focus on connection this year. I haven't always been successful, but I have at least been more aware and been able to curb my proclivity towards turning inward and hiding out. This November, I decided to search for a gratitude challenge that not only emphasizes being thankful, but also includes reaching out beyond myself.
I decided upon this little ditty: https://pageflutter.com/30-day-gratitude-challenge/. Super simple, but effective (I hope). By the end of the month, maybe I'll establish a habit of spreading tiny little bits of joy as well as noticing the little things that make me smile.
Sunday, November 4, 2018
Decluttering Challenge
This is, by far, the biggest thing going on for me, right now. The most difficult thing about this endeavor is that it's not even MY stuff that I'm decluttering! Which makes it easier in some ways, but much, much harder in so many other ways.
But I need to back up a bit.
My parents have a hoarding problem. Both of them. For exact opposite reasons. My mother has developed a compulsive shopping problem to the point where most of the rooms in the house are unusable. Piles and piles of clothes, shoes, blankets, jackets, overrun every area of the house. Most of the stuff still has tags on it. The living room is drowning in magazines- 12 subscriptions come every month- and newspapers- 4 daily newspapers delivered. My dad doesn't want to throw ANYTHING away. The garage, shed, and storage area above the garage are packed full of things that haven't been used in years- old furniture, dried up pain cans, tarps, rusted gardening tools, old shoes, more golf balls than anyone could ever use in about 20 years. And piles and piles of plastic grocery bags stuck here and there "just in case." Just like the house, the garage has been unusable. A big two car garage that no cars are able to fit into.
At the beginning of this year, they started having accidents in the house. My mother was tripping over things. My dad slipped going up the ladder to the storage area with an armload of stuff and split his arm open. A towering pile in the garage came crashing down and he injured his shoulder. And neither of them could ever find anything in the mess. It had become unsafe.
So at the end of April, I moved back and took up residence in the house. Which is not where I want to be. But it's kind of where I need to be for the time being. As a family, my brothers and sisters-in-law have talked a lot about "what to do" about the house situation, but no real action has been taken. And when somebody did do something (go over and clean up a room, clean out the refrigerator, clear the floors of clutter) it was un-done in a matter of hours. The cleaned out fridge was stuffed with newly purchased food from a grocery trip that eventually rotted in the fridge. Shoes and clothing ended up right back on the floor. And the one cleaned out room was soon cluttered up from things being brought it from other rooms, whether it made sense for those items to be in there, or not. Somebody needed to be there to tidy up daily.
Since April, I've been doing that daily tidying as well as some bigger decluttering efforts. The good news is that most of the rooms can now be used for their intended purpose. It is possible to prepare food and cook in the kitchen. It is now possible to eat at the dining room table. It is possible to sit on the sofa and watch television (even to put your feet or your drink on the coffee table). It's possible to park in the garage. The tripping hazards are gone from the floor.
And it's easier to see the items that are actually in the house and the garage and the storage area that need to be tossed. It's November. The cold weather is rolling in. And it's perfect time to attack the storage area above the garage. The exponential 30 day decluttering plan ends up being 465 items to be donated, tossed, or given away in 30 days. I think it's possible. I'm going for it!!
But I need to back up a bit.
My parents have a hoarding problem. Both of them. For exact opposite reasons. My mother has developed a compulsive shopping problem to the point where most of the rooms in the house are unusable. Piles and piles of clothes, shoes, blankets, jackets, overrun every area of the house. Most of the stuff still has tags on it. The living room is drowning in magazines- 12 subscriptions come every month- and newspapers- 4 daily newspapers delivered. My dad doesn't want to throw ANYTHING away. The garage, shed, and storage area above the garage are packed full of things that haven't been used in years- old furniture, dried up pain cans, tarps, rusted gardening tools, old shoes, more golf balls than anyone could ever use in about 20 years. And piles and piles of plastic grocery bags stuck here and there "just in case." Just like the house, the garage has been unusable. A big two car garage that no cars are able to fit into.
At the beginning of this year, they started having accidents in the house. My mother was tripping over things. My dad slipped going up the ladder to the storage area with an armload of stuff and split his arm open. A towering pile in the garage came crashing down and he injured his shoulder. And neither of them could ever find anything in the mess. It had become unsafe.
So at the end of April, I moved back and took up residence in the house. Which is not where I want to be. But it's kind of where I need to be for the time being. As a family, my brothers and sisters-in-law have talked a lot about "what to do" about the house situation, but no real action has been taken. And when somebody did do something (go over and clean up a room, clean out the refrigerator, clear the floors of clutter) it was un-done in a matter of hours. The cleaned out fridge was stuffed with newly purchased food from a grocery trip that eventually rotted in the fridge. Shoes and clothing ended up right back on the floor. And the one cleaned out room was soon cluttered up from things being brought it from other rooms, whether it made sense for those items to be in there, or not. Somebody needed to be there to tidy up daily.
Since April, I've been doing that daily tidying as well as some bigger decluttering efforts. The good news is that most of the rooms can now be used for their intended purpose. It is possible to prepare food and cook in the kitchen. It is now possible to eat at the dining room table. It is possible to sit on the sofa and watch television (even to put your feet or your drink on the coffee table). It's possible to park in the garage. The tripping hazards are gone from the floor.
And it's easier to see the items that are actually in the house and the garage and the storage area that need to be tossed. It's November. The cold weather is rolling in. And it's perfect time to attack the storage area above the garage. The exponential 30 day decluttering plan ends up being 465 items to be donated, tossed, or given away in 30 days. I think it's possible. I'm going for it!!
Saturday, November 3, 2018
November Goals
I love the beginning of the month- when the calendar sits before me like a blank canvas. Every month is another chance to strive for something better. Some months, I fail miserably. Some months I shine. Most months I fall somewhere in the middle, but at the beginning of the month, I feel like everything is possible.
Goals always make me smile, even when I don't reach them. Because oftentimes, they serve as a clue to how NOT to go about reaching them. And then I can change tactics and try another way. This month, I'm changing tactics on a number of things.
NOVEMBER GOALS:
1) Maintain Healthy Eating Plan: Last month did not work out so well, for a number of reasons. Shared spaces, little time, stress eating, Halloween. But this month, I have a few little hacks I'm gonna try out. And I'm striving to be a bit closer to reaching this goal.
2) Daily Writing Practice: Another roll over from last month. This one I think is more about priorities and making a "to NOT do" list for all the little distractions that keep me from the keyboard.
3) BIG Declutter Goal: In the past, I've done 30 day declutter challenges where I try to get rid of one thing a day for 30 days. This time, the stakes are higher. I'm attempting and exponential decluttering- day one, get rid of one thing. Day two, get rid of two things, etc. Which ends up being significantly more than 30 things in 30 days. But I think its not only possible, but necessary.
4) Side Hustle In Place: Past couple months, I've been hitting walls when trying to establish some classes in the traditional sense. But I've been hearing murmurs of interest from people in a couple meet-up groups I'm involved in. So I'm attempting the back way in by creating my own opportunity. (Which is a strangely scary thing for me) Baby steps.
5) Outdoor Fun Priorities! Two hikes, two group runs, and one big family outdoor activity. Ambitious, especially when it involves other people following through
6) Read and Pass Along 2 Books. Always always always a good idea
7) Marathon Training and Daily Stretching: Its amazing how lazy I get when I don't have an end goal in mind, like a marathon or a long distance hike. And its amazing how tight my muscles get when I actually commit to training for such an event.
8) Continuing Ed completed and documented for State License renewals: They're all due in January. I'm trying not to be a last minute scrambler.
9) Xmas Gifts Purchased! No last minute scrambling in other areas, as well. I'm trying something a little different with the Xmas gifts this year, too.
10) Another Girl's Nite: I've only been moderately successful in establishing my gal posse. But I'm gonna keep plugging away at it. I think a nice once a month meet up is a good thing. And maybe if I keep at it consistently, it won't be like pulling teeth to get my buds out of the house for a few hours.
* extra credit* 30 day gratitude challenge!!
Goals always make me smile, even when I don't reach them. Because oftentimes, they serve as a clue to how NOT to go about reaching them. And then I can change tactics and try another way. This month, I'm changing tactics on a number of things.
NOVEMBER GOALS:
1) Maintain Healthy Eating Plan: Last month did not work out so well, for a number of reasons. Shared spaces, little time, stress eating, Halloween. But this month, I have a few little hacks I'm gonna try out. And I'm striving to be a bit closer to reaching this goal.
2) Daily Writing Practice: Another roll over from last month. This one I think is more about priorities and making a "to NOT do" list for all the little distractions that keep me from the keyboard.
3) BIG Declutter Goal: In the past, I've done 30 day declutter challenges where I try to get rid of one thing a day for 30 days. This time, the stakes are higher. I'm attempting and exponential decluttering- day one, get rid of one thing. Day two, get rid of two things, etc. Which ends up being significantly more than 30 things in 30 days. But I think its not only possible, but necessary.
4) Side Hustle In Place: Past couple months, I've been hitting walls when trying to establish some classes in the traditional sense. But I've been hearing murmurs of interest from people in a couple meet-up groups I'm involved in. So I'm attempting the back way in by creating my own opportunity. (Which is a strangely scary thing for me) Baby steps.
5) Outdoor Fun Priorities! Two hikes, two group runs, and one big family outdoor activity. Ambitious, especially when it involves other people following through
6) Read and Pass Along 2 Books. Always always always a good idea
7) Marathon Training and Daily Stretching: Its amazing how lazy I get when I don't have an end goal in mind, like a marathon or a long distance hike. And its amazing how tight my muscles get when I actually commit to training for such an event.
8) Continuing Ed completed and documented for State License renewals: They're all due in January. I'm trying not to be a last minute scrambler.
9) Xmas Gifts Purchased! No last minute scrambling in other areas, as well. I'm trying something a little different with the Xmas gifts this year, too.
10) Another Girl's Nite: I've only been moderately successful in establishing my gal posse. But I'm gonna keep plugging away at it. I think a nice once a month meet up is a good thing. And maybe if I keep at it consistently, it won't be like pulling teeth to get my buds out of the house for a few hours.
* extra credit* 30 day gratitude challenge!!
Thursday, November 1, 2018
OCTOBER GOAL REVIEW
The best laid plans of mice and men often are side tracked by vacuuming and laundry. Ok, so maybe that's not exactly how it goes, but there's quite a bit of truth in this version. Depressing. More so when I see that it wasn't even MY laundry and vacuuming that ate up my intentions. More on that later. But for now, it gives me something to think about- mainly priorities. How is it that I allow somebody else's household chores to come before my goals? How is it that this is essentially the story of my life? Again, more on that later.
But today...today is November 1. The first day of the month. And that means- it's time for goals! (actually past due for goals I quite frankly should have done the October goal review yesterday. But I had to give out candy to small children in cute costumes. And THAT is a legitimate reason for shirking on goals!)
Anyway...
OCTOBER GOALS:
1) Maintain healthy eating plan for an entire month: FAIL! MISERABLE FAIL. Mostly because meal planning got sidetracked into kitchen and fridge cleaning. But that's also a cop out. I can make it work if I really put my mind to it Which I will commit to in November.
2) Daily Writing Practice: Also FAIL. I did have a pretty good journaling run, but the point was daily blogging. Which was pretty non existent. Again, a lack of commitment is to blame.
3) Help Dad with Cleaning Out Garage and Shed: SUCCESS! A nice change to the above fails. Though quite a bit of a challenge, especially when the vast majority of my time and energy was spent convincing Dad to get rid of things like dried up cans of paint or corner TV units that haven't been used in 20 years. Not as clean as I'd like it to be, but getting there.
4) Start Teaching POUND: Half credit. I actually had a nice little gig that was cancelled before it even started because of cutbacks to the town recreation department (BOO!) But I got a few demo classes in at a couple gyms. And I couple ideas to start a group on my own, if the gyms don't pan out.
5) Sign Up for Spring Marathon and Start Training: SUCCESS! Ok, I haven't actually signed up yet, but my deadline is this weekend. I have a couple friends in the NC area and pending their March plans, I'll either be doing Ashville or Wrightsville Beach in early March. As usual, my running can become much more consistent when I have a goal in mind. Yay running!
6) Get Involved in Local Club: Half Credit Ok, so I joined a meet-up group, since my go-to hiking meet up has kind of gone kaput. And I signed up for my first actual event. Which takes place tomorrow. So I got some momentum going.
7) Get Winter Trips Planned: SUCCESS! Going to the Azores in January and San Diego in February. (and a marathon in March). So its looking good. I may have to do a couple weekend ski trips thrown in there for good measure, too.
8) Spend Halloween with the Nieces and Nephews: Half Credit Though not entirely my fault. I did go up last weekend to see the kiddos, but they were so busy bouncing from hockey game to skating practice to fall baseball (really? Fall baseball? In New England? WTF) that they didn't partake in the usual town Halloween on Main Street. And the Halloween movie I brought up for the kids was shelved because the Red Sox were kicking butt in the world series!! So it's a good thing. But they may already have crossed over into the too-cool-for-Halloween phase of life. Bummer.
9) Read and Pass Along 2 Books: half credit: I have about 50 pages left in one book and one chapter left in the other. But I know exactly who the books are going to after this weekend!
10) Plan Girl's Nite Out for November: I'm gonna call it a SUCCESS even though everyone except one other person backed out of the plans. (thank goodness I didn't buy tickets until the last minute) Its okay. Everyone has their own version of vacuuming and laundry.
And in November, I'm striving to put vacuuming and laundry in their proper place.
But today...today is November 1. The first day of the month. And that means- it's time for goals! (actually past due for goals I quite frankly should have done the October goal review yesterday. But I had to give out candy to small children in cute costumes. And THAT is a legitimate reason for shirking on goals!)
Anyway...
OCTOBER GOALS:
1) Maintain healthy eating plan for an entire month: FAIL! MISERABLE FAIL. Mostly because meal planning got sidetracked into kitchen and fridge cleaning. But that's also a cop out. I can make it work if I really put my mind to it Which I will commit to in November.
2) Daily Writing Practice: Also FAIL. I did have a pretty good journaling run, but the point was daily blogging. Which was pretty non existent. Again, a lack of commitment is to blame.
3) Help Dad with Cleaning Out Garage and Shed: SUCCESS! A nice change to the above fails. Though quite a bit of a challenge, especially when the vast majority of my time and energy was spent convincing Dad to get rid of things like dried up cans of paint or corner TV units that haven't been used in 20 years. Not as clean as I'd like it to be, but getting there.
4) Start Teaching POUND: Half credit. I actually had a nice little gig that was cancelled before it even started because of cutbacks to the town recreation department (BOO!) But I got a few demo classes in at a couple gyms. And I couple ideas to start a group on my own, if the gyms don't pan out.
5) Sign Up for Spring Marathon and Start Training: SUCCESS! Ok, I haven't actually signed up yet, but my deadline is this weekend. I have a couple friends in the NC area and pending their March plans, I'll either be doing Ashville or Wrightsville Beach in early March. As usual, my running can become much more consistent when I have a goal in mind. Yay running!
6) Get Involved in Local Club: Half Credit Ok, so I joined a meet-up group, since my go-to hiking meet up has kind of gone kaput. And I signed up for my first actual event. Which takes place tomorrow. So I got some momentum going.
7) Get Winter Trips Planned: SUCCESS! Going to the Azores in January and San Diego in February. (and a marathon in March). So its looking good. I may have to do a couple weekend ski trips thrown in there for good measure, too.
8) Spend Halloween with the Nieces and Nephews: Half Credit Though not entirely my fault. I did go up last weekend to see the kiddos, but they were so busy bouncing from hockey game to skating practice to fall baseball (really? Fall baseball? In New England? WTF) that they didn't partake in the usual town Halloween on Main Street. And the Halloween movie I brought up for the kids was shelved because the Red Sox were kicking butt in the world series!! So it's a good thing. But they may already have crossed over into the too-cool-for-Halloween phase of life. Bummer.
9) Read and Pass Along 2 Books: half credit: I have about 50 pages left in one book and one chapter left in the other. But I know exactly who the books are going to after this weekend!
10) Plan Girl's Nite Out for November: I'm gonna call it a SUCCESS even though everyone except one other person backed out of the plans. (thank goodness I didn't buy tickets until the last minute) Its okay. Everyone has their own version of vacuuming and laundry.
And in November, I'm striving to put vacuuming and laundry in their proper place.
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