Making New Goals

I’ve acquired three really great new daily habits: reading to my kids at night no matter how tired I am, working on my quilt and going to bed with the dishes done. It doesn’t sound monumental but these are things that are important to me so they are very monumental!

Now that I can do these things so easily I’m going pick some new things to work on next month. Here are a couple ideas I have and I want to think of at least one more: making sure my kids get to bed an hour earlier so they have their own personal reading time, and taking a nap every day. I know this last one sounds easy but it’s not with two kids and a husband that want to run off and play every afternoon. With this being the end of my pregnancy and the little amount of sleep I’m getting, I think my taking a nap will benefit the whole family! Making it a habit before the baby gets here will be good too since I’m sure I’ll still need one then.

Yes, the baby will be here soon! I’m due in a little over two weeks, on Valentines Day. I’m finally starting to get things ready for it. I pulled the baby clothes out of storage and bought a couple new things. We haven’t found out if it’s a boy or a girl so I’m buying for both and it’s driving my husband crazy! I don’t get to decorate a nursery this time. Since we’ll be moving this fall I don’t want to paint or add any new nail holes to the walls.

Speaking of moving, we got the approval today to dig our well. The best news is, we finally broke down and hired a general contractor. I just wasn’t able to do all that work and still get school work done with the kids. I think it’s been a big weight lifted for both my husband and myself. We’re hoping to get our building permit in time to start digging in March and be finished sometime between August and October. We want to have our annual Halloween party in our new home. It’s not too soon to start planning menus, is it!

Organize Your Plants

I just spent a few minutes de-cluttering my plants. I've really been trying to take better care of them. Instead of watering them once a month when I thought of it (yes, my plants were half dead) I am watering them every week. They are already doing better.

Today is my day for watering so I also went around with clippers and cut off dead leaves. Then I remembered an idea I read in a magazine to plant smaller plants around the base of your bigger plants. It said that violets and shamrocks will do well planted around a ficus tree. I've been meaning to do that for a while but I thought, "What if I plant them there and they don't like it?" Commitment is a scary thing! I decided I would just set the little plants there in their pots and then if they did well, I would move them permanently. Guess what? They look so cute there in their pots I'm going to leave them like that! I really can never figure out why I don't think of these things sooner. It takes me longer than most people but eventually I come around. Now I'm going to grow new starts from my violets so I can use them with some of my other plants.

Get The Picture

Have you made any New Year’s resolutions? A couple weeks ago I spoke about getting organized and making goals for the New Year. My idea was not to make any new resolutions. You’ve probably got plenty on your list already that you’re still trying to accomplish. Same old boring stuff; lose weight, get organized, save money, blah, blah, blah.

Take a look at why you are still trying to improve in the same areas over and over. Probably because you’re not getting it! What are you going to do differently this year so that you do “get” it and you make a permanent change? I’ll tell you what. You’re going to start small and you’re going to do a little bit every day so you don’t get overwhelmed. Start with one little goal not twenty big goals.

Do you know why most people fail when they start a new exercise program? Because they decide they are going to start dieting AND exercising at the same time. They join a gym and kill themselves working out five days the first week. Along with that they go from eating 4000 calories a day down to 1200 calories a day. Starvation! Their body goes into shock and they can’t figure out why they feel so horrible. They’re hungry, tired, sore and cranky. Why would anyone stick with a plan like this? They don’t.

You’re going to start your new exercise program the smart way. You’re going to join a gym or get outside, weather permitting. Start off going for a ten minute walk. That felt great so tomorrow you’re going to walk for fifteen minutes, then twenty then thirty. You feel so energetic that you try running a block, walking a block, running a block. Now you know it’s time to include some weight lifting into your routine. You start lifting weights twice a week, then three times a week. Wow, you feel so good that you don’t need to eat a box of caramel corn before you go to bed. Now you want veggie sandwiches for lunch and water, as much water as you can drink without floating away. The pounds are melting away, you feel healthy and happy. Is this an exercise plan you can stick with? Of course!

What about getting organized. Well, what’s bugging you today? Is your home office a mess? Are you going to take a week off of work to stay home and get it organized? You know better than that because you’ve probably already tried it! No, you are going to start today by picking up five pieces of paper and filing them, taking action with them or throwing them away. Then tomorrow you’ll deal with five more pieces of paper. It’s not a lot but it’s more than you were doing before!

You get the picture. This is life and you can’t live it all at once. You have to settle for a little bit of it every day. Don’t wait till you can live it perfectly or it will pass you by. Save a little bit of money every day, exercise a little bit, and get a little bit more organized. Start now!