Goal Review — Month 1

So, on January 1, I posted some goals for myself. I’ve found I do best if I review my goals and see how I’m doing each month. Making it a public part of the process is also a good thing, so feel free to cheer me on or nudge me if you think there’s more I could be doing.

1. I have finished the first 31 days of the read the Bible in 90 days challenge. It’s going quite well and I’m really learning a lot about the Bible and myself. I’ve found that I can be more successful with something if I commit to it in a public way. I’ve also found the Monday night chats invaluable. So on to the next 59 days and I’ll be done. Tomorrow, I’m going to make one of my rare academic-style posts talking about marriage. Should be interesting, and is the result of some discussion from last week’s chat. We’re on Twitter using the #b90days hashtag if you’d like to join in the on the talk.

2. Run a 5k. For now, this one is postponed. I made it to Week 2 day 2 of the Couch to 5k plan before I developed patellar tendonitis. So, I have been sitting for two weeks and start rehabbing both knees tomorrow.

3. Organize and declutter my house. I’ve been working with this book: Organize Now!: A Week By Week Guide To Simplify Your Space And Your Life. I’ve found really thinking about my priorities has helped me more than I thought. This book really does make it as simple as possible to get organized. While some weeks are not applicable to us (or may not be to others) I’ve already figured out that I can revisit earlier chapters and work with them again. The checklists have been super helpful and really make me feel focused and in control of the process.

4. I have been reading: The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun and I’m definitely getting a lot out of it. I think what I’m getting is less, gee, I need to do what she’s doing, but more of a I need to find what works for me. Some of the amazon reviews are a bit, um, unkind, but I think they miss the larger point of the book. To find what makes you happy, you have to be willing to delve into the things that don’t make you happy or into literature about what makes others happy in order to find your own peace and your own bliss.

5. My gratitude journal is going just fine. I’m pleased with that.

6. Katie’s image journal is going great. I’m getting a picture a week of her, plus the daily writing, which is going well.

7. I have been more intentional about my eating. I’m thinking about whether I really want to eat something before I eat it. I have essentially cut Dr. Pepper out of my life. I have had 1 1/2 since the 1st. We keep cans in the house for migraine prevention. I have heavy duty migraine meds that I can take, but when I take them I can’t parent. So, until P can get home, my method has been the milder migraine medication, if that’s not working, drink a can of caffeinated soda to forestall disaster until P gets home. So, that tells you how many migraines I’ve had since we started this. Also, I’ve lost six pounds since January 1. Likely would have been more if I hadn’t had to sit on my butt for the last two weeks.

8. As I mentioned previously, I got sidelined on the couch to 5k plan because I aggravated my knees. I’m now going to do the March of Dimes March for Babies on April 24, and I’m going to join the PEP program at the Y to help build up strength and endurance before I try running again.

9. I paid attention and took my lumps over Kristen Chase’s challenge. I have scheduled an appointment with my doctor, so the outlook is promising in that area.

10. Still trying to figure out a homeschooling style/plan that works for us. We’re eclectic, for sure, but what focus and how we’re going forward is still a bit up in the air. I’m working on it.

11. Intentional parenting is proving to be a challenge. We’re struggling, a lot, with Ben’s moods right now and it’s taking a lot more creativity and patience than I usually have. We’re working on it.

Blogging While Maintaining Sanity

School starts today. I know, it’s Sunday, but online education doesn’t know weekends or holidays. I am committed to growing this blog and developing it, but I also know that I have to work toward an organized approach to developing it.

I am currently planning to post three to four days a week. Most weeks, one post will be about my progress with Regina Leeds’ one year program; the other posts will be about work, home, and so forth and how those things are integrated into a life.

Kathy Peel makes the point in her book The Family Manager’s Guide for Working Moms that it’s not two jobs, it’s a life and we have to find a way to make it enjoyable.

And that is my ultimate goal. To make life enjoyable even as it is full and active and busy.

Today, I’m starting on the journaling for the Leeds project. I’ve identified my goals for the month.

1. Walk away from my work for five minutes an hour.
2. Make my bed.
3. Wipe down the kitchen counters after use.

I’ve been a sometimes adherent of the FlyLady as well and I do have some routines that work for me and that I follow. I will keep working at those as well as Ben responds well to routines and he needs some structure in his day as well.

I guess I’ve been dabbling with organizing and structure for quite a while. It’s a matter of piecing things together from different systems to create my own. No one system is going to fit any one person, so it’s a matter of working out one for myself that gives my family the best of me and myself the best chance of a better life.