From Chaos to Order...every 6 weeks or so...

What a week it's been...school started Wednesday for Emily and Anna Marie - of course Anna is at Troy so it was just Em going through the "back to school" traditions.  Charlie doesn't start for another week and a half.  Our traditions have always been to set the table the night before and make waffles for the kids the first day of school.  Then the night before (as hard as I try I never seem to get it done earlier!) I make each child a personal card about their school year and also find some keepsake item to surprise them with.  For many years they got a keepsake along with a beanie babies when they were all the rage.  This year for Em it was cute notepads and musical dvds including "A Chorus Line."  The other tradition is the pictures on the steps and then at the bus stop.  In this case though, Em got in the car and drove off today.  Times have certainly changed.  Both first days for Em and Anna went well...both seem to like their classes and so far so good...

Through all this I've been trying to find the time to go through several bags of paperwork, stacks here and there...it's overwhelming and I kick myself every time it gets to this point.  Then, as I was going through my calendar to figure out when my last haircut appointment was...it hit me...I go through this every 6 weeks around the same time I get my hair cut!  WEIRD...  It's also about the time I schedule Lucy's grooming appointment.  I wonder if she feels disorganized too?!!

Adding to this is the fact that the weather has been close to 100 every single day for several weeks.  It's really getting old.  I'm just SO over this heat...upstairs in the house it's hot - the second floor never seems to get cool enough and yet the new roof was supposed to help with this.  I'm not sure what the situation is with that but husby has a call in to the roofing company about that and a couple other things.  But we aren't holding our breath for a quick resolution.  I hate to stereotype but like most of these contractors they get your money and move on and the "little" things that they promised to do - like fix the screen they poked holes in - gets put WAY down on their "to do" list. 

Oh..and add one more change in scheduling too...I've decided to start walking at night with Lucy.  This is my second week and it's been going pretty good!  Despite the heat and humidity, Lucy and I really need this and we walked for 30-45 minutes most nights last week.  This week we even had an hour walk!  Tonight we walked earlier because I HAVE to switch to mornings and tomorrow morning is the first day to try this.  Getting this out of the way first thing in the morning will also free my evenings up for other things.  Of course, it means going to bed earlier and that's going to take some getting used to!

As an added incentive I've found an online website to track my food and exercise and help keep me accountable so I can lose some weight.  It's been liberating the past two nights sitting down at the laptop and typing everything in to this space.  I felt a complete shift in how I'm thinking about my weight and instead of looking at how much weight I want to lose, I'm looking at what my goal is and how much I'm chopping away at it!  Of course, from one day to the next it was just 1 pound but maybe tomorrow it will be one more and then one more the next day...  I can pull up a chart with this site and see my progress.  It's amazing what you can find online these days...

Part of what I wanted to do this year was get my health in order and I think this is a good and serious start - after the surgery I had.  Now I need to get that hair appointment tomorrow and all will be right with the world!  Lucy already had her grooming appointment on Wednesday.  She's a little ahead of me in this process!

"T" Time...

I've started taking some "T-Time" for myself. In case you are wondering, my first name begins with a "T"...so instead of saying "me" time which always sounds so selfish to me I dubbed it "T-Time"

It started on Saturday when I was suddenly faced with a day with nothing really planned. How did THAT happen? So, I put on my stretchy pants, an XL t-shirt, my running shoes and my ipod and headed to the rec center. Spent about an hour and a half on the eliptical trainer and then lifting weights. AAAHHHHH.............. Yeah, I remember that feeling....tired but invigorated...

Then Sunday I spent the day cleaning the house - mainly my bedroom, bathroom and doing the laundry - and unpacking from not one...but TWO trips that I had recently taken. I always do this...I leave the suitcase on the floor next to my bed for about two weeks and then finally bring myself to unpack. I still haven't quite figured that out yet. Anyway, there was also a bag from a trip to the lake that was packed with...well...stuff you need at the lake! All unpacked...put away... and now trying to make sure I do a little every night so I have time for..."T-TIME!"

So Monday after multiple meetings at work, I left work at a decent hour and headed back to the rec center. AAAHHHHHH....and OOOOOOWWWWWWW.....yes, it left me tired and invigorated and SORE! That abdominal machine really got to me. Heck! All of it got to me.

Tuesday...another full day of meetings and then transporting my youngest child to and from a rehearsal late in the afternoon. Between the transporting...you guessed it...headed back to the rec center for some more "T Time".... Crazy busy though at the rec center so didn't get the eliptical machine I wanted. Instead got one that kicked my butt which probably wasn't such a bad thing, walked a mile, lifted some more weights and hit the abdominal machine. Then took the dog for a walk when I got home and thought I was going to have to call for reinforcements when I started back up the steep hill to my house! Either that or have my sweet puppy pull me up the hill.

So here I sit very proud of myself for releasing not the hounds but the endorphins to keep me going this week. The goal? Do some type of physical activity every day through Labor Day weekend. That's a LOT of "T-Time!"

But I deserve it...and maybe I won't buy that punching bag I had my eye on after all...