Family pic and new plan for the year

So the Simple steps are already fading… I’ve gotten the first four habits down but I really don’t seem to have any interest anymore. Is that a reflection of the depression or is that just my personality? It’s not that I’m quitting, it’s that I’m distracted with other things. Do you ever feel like your life is so hectic and if you could just SIMPLIFY, that everything would be better? Like you’re being pulled in three different directions and trying to stomp out fires at the same time? That’s pretty much how I feel all the time. A friend of mine was complimenting me the other day about juggling 4 kids and being a brownie leader – I just laughed. Maybe I’m like a duck.. I look all calm and peaceful on the surface, but underneath I’m paddling like crazy. LOL! In this age of SuperMoms, I am definitely NOT one. Not that I don’t secretly wish to be, but not too much because just thinking about it makes me tired. :) Anyway, I read through the rest of the Simple Steps and I just got impatient with it. 40 steps and I really don’t see how doing Kegels and cooking with herbs and spices will simplify and improve my life. (I mean, I’ve carried 4 kids to full term, the smallest of which was 7 lbs 10 oz and the largest of which was over 9 lbs. so I don’t think ANY amount of Kegels is really gonna help – am I right ladies?)So I thought, instead of trashing this idea completely, how about I come up with a shorter, more pertinent list for myself. So here it is:

Jackie’s Goals for a better, simpler, happy life in 2009

1) I will drink 48 ounces of water, or more each day. It makes me pee, but I feel better when I am good about doing it.
2) I will clear out one drawer/cabinet or closet each week. I’ve written one thing each week on my calendar through April. I will also work on my flylady zones and on de-cluttering each day.
3) I will stick loose bills in a tin in my bedroom, not in the ashtray of my car. This will help me save for something fun and will keep me from hitting the Drive-thru fast food.
4) I will force myself to exercise at least 4 days a week – a fifth day if I’m expecting cake or ice cream in the near future. :p
5) I will make up a daily schedule and to do list so I don’t have to think about what I should do, or remember stuff – both of which are hard for any mom, much less one with a newborn.
6) I will gradually replace all the junk in my diet and my families diet with good stuff; whole grains instead of bleached flour, get rid of the food dyes, the nitrates, the trans-fats.
7) I will find time to do the things I love like reading, needlework and scrapbooking. Oh and play with my little monsters, cuddle them and read them stories.

So instead of 40 steps, I’m going for 7. That's a reasonable number right? I’ve got number one down. I’m doing well on numbers 2 and 3. I’m focusing on number 4 or at least trying to. I’m going to give myself a few weeks of that to make it a habit, although I’m going to start on number five right now as well – so I can feel some sense of control. We'll see how it all goes!

Simple Steps progress and Rough weekend.

Well I've been having some success at the simple steps! I am now thoroughly addicted to my water. I do still have my soda once in a while and I'm hooked on my new coffee maker, so I have two or three cups a day, but still less calories than all that Coke! My main tricks to incorporate this into my life were this: First I drink a full glass of ice water before I drink anything with flavor; coffee, soda, juice or milk. second, I try to drink a full glass before each meal. That's an old dieting trick to make you feel full faster, but it also works to make sure that you've got your water for the day (1 full glass is about 12 ounces, times 3 times a day is 36 ounces and I'm trying to make sure I drink 48 ounces a day, so that last 8 ounces is easy!) I wrote down on my calendar drawers and such to organize, one a week. So far I have cleaned out and re-organized my Pot cupboard, my coffee cupboard, the little bin on my PC desk and my silverware drawer. Not bad!The best part of that habit is that the hubby notices. Sure, I like it tidy, it makes it easier to put stuff back and all that, but I just love it when he says: Wow this looks nice! :) I've been good about collecting loose dollars and popping them in an old tin, trying to average 2 dollars per day. It's funny how that habit has made me so much more conscious of coins and small bills. I tend to keep track of them now more than I did. I'm also a bit more reluctant to spend them.

We had a pretty rough weekend. My mother-in-law's wake was Saturday and it was a very good turn out, but draining. My hubby is still having a rough time with it all and it's frustrating that I don't know how to help him. I know that loosing a parent is one of the most traumatic things to happen in a person's life, but I haven't experienced it myself yet. He lost both of his parents in the span of a year. It has to be hard. I just wish I could find a way to help him, to carry some of the burden. What is it about big strong men? Any strong emotion gets turned into anger? He's not angry at me, but he gets angry at the drop if a hat, at anyone. I know its pain, but it just gets lost in the translation!

Simple Steps 2

Well the simple steps are going well! Tomorrow is the end of the first week and I've got the water habit down! Yesterday I actually drank more water than I needed without meaning to...5 16 ounce bottles - a total of 10 cups. Now I've got to figure out what my focus will be for this week. I think I'll take on two: saving 2 dollars a day and cleaning out one drawer/cupboard a week. The $2 a day should be easy - I'm just going to set up an auto transfer to a special savings account. Will they charge me if I do a tiny transfer everyday? I'll have to check that out. No sense in saving two dollars a day if it's going to cost me 1.50 in fees! The second habit should be fairly easy to establish as well, I'm going to set up my 2009 calendar and write on there what space I'm going to tackle each week this month. First is the pot cupboard, it's been driving me crazy, but every time I do the dishes I just cram things in there instead of doing it right. I need to get it together and that will be satisfying.

Other than that, I am really happy that school is back tomorrow. I love my kids but having all four of them running around has been hell on my house and I'm so sick of cleaning and re-cleaning all day long. Today is going to be a lazy day - I'm going to stitch a bit, read a bit and relax. Tomorrow I will whip this house back into shape and enjoy the two little ones; my little rascal 2 year old Ian and my sweet angel Gracie who is nearly 12 weeks now.

Simple Steps for the new year

New Year's Resolutions. I love new beginnings but I have to admit, I don't know that I've ever made a new years resolution that I kept. Maybe it's because I have too much ambition or I'm unrealistic, but they always seem to go by the side fairly quickly. This year I've resolved to do something a bit different! I'm following the plan in this book: Simple Steps: 10 Weeks to Getting Control of Your Life: Health, Weight, Home, Spirit. The idea behind the book is that each week you have a new habit to incorporate into your life for each of the 4 sections. So each week you learn a new habit to improve your health, a new one to help you loose weight, something new to improve you home (mostly organization) and a habit to heal your spirit. Having a newborn, I'm not sure if that is too big of a bite for me, 4 new habits each week, so I'm going to spread it out more and do 1 or 2 habits a week. That way it will spread out for 20 to 40 weeks, at least half the year. I do plan on really focusing on each thing until it is truly incorporated into my life and I will be discussing each step in my blog in detail. The why, the how, and the success or failure of each step. I would love to share this with others so if you'd like to join in, please feel free to email me or post a comment here and we'll encourage each other.

So where to start? Well the book lists these four for the first week: Drinking eight cups of water a day, walking twenty minutes a day, clearing out one drawer, cabinet or closet space every week and saving two dollars a day. I'm going to keep it simple and start at the beginning. Eight cups of water a day. We all know that we should do this, but it can be a hard habit to establish. i know that I have tried this one before and I have a tendency to get busy and just forget to drink anything, much less my water. So how can I make sure I do it? Well, I'm going to drink out of something special. I like my water ice cold, so I've got one of those metal water bottles that I will use. It's 16 ounces, so I only have to fill it up 4 times a day. I'm going to try and look for times that I can make it a habit to drink from it. Take it in the car with me; drink while I'm at the computer LOL!(reading blogs)Make sure it's next to me when I sit down to nurse or when I get a moment to stitch. I'm trying to quit drinking soda, so the water will be my substitute for that. Did you know that if you drink one cola a day, that at the end of one year you'll have gained 10 lbs? That's the reality of why I am overweight. I love soda, particularly Coke and I can drink 3 or 4 a day without even trying. :) That's a habit to break instead of start! So here we are

Week one, Simple Step number one: Drink eight cups of water a day!