Year in Review

I'm in a funk today and having a hard time appreciating what I've accomplished this year.  Today is November first and since November is my birthday, it often kicks off my end of year review instead of waiting till December. When I look back on 2011 the year has been more awful than wonderful.  By far the biggest impact this year  has been the death of my beloved pet Wally.   I still miss him every day. 

I now have a new pet, Zeus the mix bread puppy.   I hate to say it, and I'm sure this feeling won't last, but I often wish I didn't have him.  He is a great puppy, very sweet and lovable and is learning and behaving well.  But he, as any dog would be, is so much more needy and invasive than Wally was.   I feel like Zeus is one of those bad friends that is always 'stealing time' from you.  I hate 'time stealing' more than the average person, much more.   I am highly efficient - it's ingrained in my thinking; I automatically think through where I going and what I'm doing and what make more sense to be in which hand, etc.  And dogs are highly inefficient.   It causes me stress.   So many things are piling up in my life and house - the house feels cluttered and has piles of things to "get to" everywhere.  And with the holidays coming up and potential house guests, it's more in my focus and it feels a bit overwhelming which makes it hard for me to even get started.   And I blame Zeus for part of this because he has separation issues and doesn't let me go to get things done.  He needs to be walked, and played with, and even when he's just laying around half asleep he reacts badly if I'm not right there with him in the same room.

And back to Zeus, it stresses me that most of the time I feel like I would have been better off without him, probably better with another cat than my puppy.  I do love him.  But my heart is still so raw from losing Wally that at times it feels guilty for loving Zeus and then it feels guilty that I don't love him enough. And then I feel guilty that it's just me and I think how happy and how well Zeus would do with a family and kids.  He would have really thrived with a full family.  All of this stresses me out.

Having a dog is hard for a single person; at least having Zeus is hard for a single person.  He stresses if I get outside of his sight for any length of time.  He won't stay outside even on the days where all he wants to do is go outside, and I would love to have him hang outside my door on a chain where he can still see me, and I can still do work, etc.  But he cries, barks and almost hurts himself if I leave him out there for more than a few minutes (like 2 to 3 minutes, basically as soon as he figures out I'm not there, he goes crazy).  We had a breakthrough last week where I could put him in his crate, which helps trigger him to sleep, and still work in the kitchen and family room.  But that is not an everyday possibility, so far it has only happened on a couple of the nights where he was super tired from being at the dog day care.  And I'm having a hard time getting things done when I'm working from my bed or sitting on my bedroom floor.  There is something about it that hinders me from getting things done; and the spiral continues with more and more things not getting done and piling up.  

I'm starting to looking into different online time management and to-do applications to see if that can help me get started again.  I hope and pray that something will click for me soon. 

But I really don't pray much,  that is another thing that has fallen out of my life.  I'm still a little bitter towards God for letting Wally die.  I can't for the life of me figure out how or why that would be God's will.  It makes me think God can't get involved in everyone's life "details", and so while I give him a pass on not saving Wally that also makes me feel like there is no purpose or benefit from praying - it will just be another detail that God doesn't get involved in.

You can see why with all these thoughts and feelings going through my mind why I'm in a funk.  I need to snap out of it and soon.  Help if you can, I do believe thoughts and prayers from you will help me.

Christmas Planning 2011

Trying this again this year.... starting the Christmas planning early because I find if I don't figure things out now then I tend to miss out on some neat opportunities. 

So here is the consolidated list of possible activities and events for me for December 2011

Sat, Dec 3
3:30 pm Badgers vs Marquette at Kohl's Center
7pm Big Ten Football Championship in Indy
 Free Day at Milwaukee Zoo

Sat/Sun, Dec 3/4  - Madison Hoofers Ski Resale  -http://hoofersns.org/resale
   9am to 5pm (Sat) / 3pm (Sun)

Sat, Dec 10 - Cookie Bake at Barb T's



Sun, Dec 11, 3pm  - Bel Canto - Christmas in the Basilica, Basilica of St. Josaphat
        http://www.belcanto.org/dnav/6/page.htm

Tue, Dec 13, 7pm  - Badgers vs UWM Panthers at U.S. Cellular Arena

Sat, Dec  17/ Sun, Dec 18 - Model Trains at Discovery World - http://programs.discoveryworld.org/archives/2170
   try to combine with a winter lakefront walk?, holiday lights?, tea?, etc

Dates not yet set:
Chicago Botantical Garden - Winter Wonderland
http://www.chicagobotanic.org/wonderland/


Milwaukee Holiday Lights - walk thru or take the jingle bus
http://www.milwaukeedowntown.com/categories/14-holidaylightsfestival

High Tea - a couple of options
 Pfister 23rd floor  - every Fri - Sun from 3 - 4:30 during Nov and Dec - link
 George Watts tea shop - http://www.wattsteashop.com/index.html

M&I Holiday Display - quick walkthru when you're already down town
http://www.micorp.com/mibank/solutions.cfm?ObjectID=00095BA4-9D4A-1F70-901180C8FE5A0000&


Olbrich's Holiday Express - December 3 - 31
http://www.olbrich.org/events/holidayexpress.cfm

Germantown's Enchantment in the Park, Nov 25 - Dec 29
The Live Nativity Scene (a few dates)  may be interesting - idea to take Dad and Uncle Herman
http://enchantmentpark.org/

Breakthrough!

It's really not that big of a deal but I think it may have a big impact on how I'm able to keep the house as I want it and in general to be able to better keep up on things.

This week for the first time I was able to put the dog to bed in his crate for the night and still be able to work in the family room and kitchen.  This may not sound like a lot,  but normally once I put Zeus in his crate for the night, I've always felt like I needed to vacated that side of the house and limited myself to the master bedroom.  I could watch TV or read, and sometimes I took the laptop in there with me.   But overall it limited me from getting things done and organized and it seamed like so much was piling up and not getting done. Which added a lot of stress to my life.

So far both nights have been where Zeus was at the Doggy Office during the day and extremely tired those nights.  I'm not sure how well this will work on regular nights when he is not in a deep sleep.

This change helps 'integrate' Zeus into my life, rather than being an 'imposition'; which as much as I love him I often felt that he was a imposition because he takes sooo much more time and energy than Wally ever did.  Wally was an energy boost for me; Zeus is often an energy drain for me.  I do think this will change as he leaves the puppy stage and is a well trained dog.  But for now, often it is hard and this breakthrough helps me see light at the end of the tunnel!

September 11

Today is the 10th anniversary of the terrorism attacks on America. 

I'm impressed with the memorial they have created at Ground Zero.  It's beautiful in both its simplicity and magnitude.  I personally have been profoundly affected by the events of September 11 and find myself already feeling the need to see the new memorial - although I do feel the need to wait until its attached museum is completed (planned for 2012) and the newly planted trees are bigger. 

In 2008 I took a trip to New York City to see a baseball game at the old Yankee Stadium before the new Yankee Stadium opened.  We did a bunch of NYC tourism stuff including visiting Ground Zero and St Paul's Church.  St Paul's is a small church about a block away from Ground Zero, and it became the refugee for the first responders as they took much needed rest breaks.   It was highly emotional and a must see spot for anyone visiting NYC.

On a personal level, September 11 brings back memories of my beloved cat Wally.   Earlier that summer I had to put down my beloved cat Tibers who I had since my college days in Madison.  After September 11, we  were all reminded that life is short and with that realization I knew I needed to have a pet back in my life and my home.   So 9/11 was the impetus for me adopting Wally.

I love you Wally, I miss you Wally, and I will never forget you Wally.

Glad for indecision

I'm not sure it really was indecision, but I'm awfully glad I did not do what I had thought about doing!!

Wally loved the flowers off of the patio; and I had thought it could be a nice final resting place for his ashes, but I wanted a stone or some-sort of memorial for it and I still have not found one that I like and reminds me of Wally. 

Today I'm having landscaping work done and one of the areas they cleared out was his patio flower bed.  Its down the dirt - and if Wally's ashes has been there they would no longer be there.

Now I'm torn, I do still think this may be a good resting place for Wally, especially if the end result is beautiful but then again it will be an area new to him.  

I know they say cats would rather stay with the house than the owner, but I don't believe any of my pets would have chosen the house over me.  We had too deep a bond.  And I know this home is not long for me either.  I'm guessing I will have moved out within the next 10 years. 

I found out a a friend of mine's family buried their cats in a "undisclosed" location in Mitchell Park.  In the park at an area that was near the river stream and it's a place they can always visit no matter what happens to their family home.   Its not a bad idea to consider - I can see options of spreading Wally and Tibers ashes (yes, I still have Tibers' ashes because I could not bury them at the condo since I knew I would be leaving there within a year or two) at either Laphem Peak State Park (my most frequent hiking trails) or at Nashotah Park (my favorite trail running park).

I'm not sure what to do, but I'm very thankful I didn't yet spread his ashes in his favorite flower bed.

Midterm Milestone reach

Today is Onederful! - BL

Keep going - you're doing great!

Time to figure out some new rewards to help keep you motivated!!

Shuttle pictures

Ok - this old news, but I finally got a chance to check out the NASA employee web site that Cindy passed along to us.  The NASA employees can upload their personal pictures from the launch -- and they have some terrific pictures!!

 Top picture is the basic view we would have had if the shuttle went up as planned

Prayers for Wally

It's a bit unorthodox but it still felt right to me.  I added my beloved cat, Wally's name to the list of Memorial Day memorials at my church.  I miss Wally.  He was a good and loving cat and it feels right to have people pray that he has a happy afterlife.  I pray he does.  I pray its true we get reunited with our pets in heaven.   I love Wally and he will always have a space in my heart.

Bucket List Scrubbed

Had a great trip to Florida and a very nice visit with our friend Cindy, but alas the space shuttle did not lift off while we were there.   It had been reschedule for Monday, which we could have seen, but that was scrubbed too.   The launch is now scheduled for Sunday, and I'm already home.

The trip was a blast - we did so much .. Harry Potter's Wizarding World at Universal Studios, Cocoa Beach, Ron Jons, Blue Springs State Park, Ponce Inlet Lighthouse & Beach, Disneyworld, Kennedy Space Center and drinks at Squid Lips on the river!  Look for more details and pictures coming soon. 

It's illogical

It's hard being part Vulcan.   I often feel like I may be a descendant of Spock because I am so logical.   And I have a (controlled) hatred of illogical things and thinking.   And I'll tell you there is nothing logical about Wally's death.  Yesterday was a month.  And there are still several times each week when I'm overwhelmed with the loss.   And it really bothers me that it's not logical for Wally to have died.  He was well cared for, he was well loved, he was too young. 

It's not logical, it's not fair, and honestly it just sucks.

Bucket List - Failure to Success!!!

I don't know when my fascination with space and NASA started, but I'm sure I had it before graduated from grade school.   So it goes back a while as a fabric in my life.  My bucket list includes seeing a space shuttle launch in person.   The shuttle program is being scrapped this year in favor of developing a new type of space craft that can travel further and cheaper to allow our astronauts to make it to Mars and beyond.   That program is expected to have space flights starting in 2014.

The last shuttle launch is schedule for Friday, April 29.  I had no plans to be there ... until yesterday!  My friend Cindy (this is her photo from a different shuttle launch) is engaged to a NASA engineer and they have a "car pass" which allows everyone that can fit into their car employee access to the launch.  This is much closer than the public gets to the shuttle.   We found some cheap flights and are on our way.   It will be nice to have a break from Wisconsin and home, and it will be great to see Cindy and have a chance to hang out with her.  Plus we are planning a day at Universal Studios Orlando and seeing their The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.  I can't wait!

First Backyard Fire of the Year

The backyard fire pit got a little workout this afternoon.  The fire was much nicer and burned better than I expected given the amount of rain we've had lately.  I now smell like camp fire, which makes me smile.

I made some progress today.   Another walk over lunch.  It was short but better than nothing.   The weather held out, but my work load impacted my ability to get away for any length of time.  And I worked my way through a big box of clothes that were in my home office.  This box had been there for months; and it was really bugging me.  I'm glad to see it out of there.  I've been making slow progress in decluttering that room and turning it back into a  room I'm proud of.  For much too long, that room has been a source of embarrassment that I wanted to hide from everyone.

Checking in

its been a very.tough.week.

I was optimistic about how well I was doing with the sudden loss of my best furry friend.  But last weekend was awful.  I missed him terribly.  It seemed the pain and sadness intensified.  I was hurting in all directions and every sense of the word.

But in order to keep my mind on other things I finally got a couple tasks completed that had been weighing heavy on my mind.   My taxes are done - yea!  and I finally complete and sent in the 2010 Health Care Spending receipts.  Its one of those accounts where you spend it or lose it and had already spent it and was going to lose it if I didn't get it submitted in time.   Both are now done and I even have a filing system set up to help with this account for 2011; especially important since I increased the funding to this for 2011.

Plus I've been running and walking more - I have a lot of nervous energy to burn off.   On Saturday I did a long walk - almost 8 miles.   I had wanted to walk about 6 or 7 miles to help me get back on track with the half marathon training.   But this was bigger and longer than I expected.   Overall it felt fine and was a nice walk.   Sunday started with a cold, rainy run with Marty's trail running program.

Over the last week and half, I have run or walked over 25 miles.  My new iphone nike+ GPS app is helping to track these exercise outings.  Those miles burned over 3000 calories - yea!

I'm still down a few pounds but I can tell my appetite is beginning to return, along with my desire to snack.   I do want to lose weight and I hope by still trying to dedicate to it to Wally it will help motivate me.

Friendly Reminder

Some sense of Peace

This is hard to write.  I'm hoping it will be cathartic and help me get over the sudden loss of Wally.

While his death was extremely hard on me, there are several things about it that have given me a sense of peace.

In no particular order...
I'm thankful for finding him still alive.  The morning of his death we had our normal morning routine.  He jumped on the bed just after the alarm sounded.  He was running around and playful as I got ready.   I'm thankful his death didn't happen overnight, or when I was out, or worse when I was home with him but busy with work and not paying attention to him.   Instead I was actively looking for him.  He was alone in this distressed state for no more than 20 minutes before I found him.  I think if I had found him already dead I would be in much worse shape and could not handle this as well.

I'm thankful that I had taken Wally to the vet just 2 weeks before his death.  He was a well cared for cat.  Wally was a little off - his eating was down, he had times when you could tell he wanted comfort.  Something was wrong, but he was mainly himself.   If I had not taken him to the vet, I would still wonder if there was something, anything that could have been found to prevent his death.   I know there wasn't.   He had been fully checked out by the vets taking a urine sample, doing X-rays, and an ultrasound -- but they found nothing.

Even though it was extremely difficult to see my little boy in so much pain as he struggled for his last breaths, I am grateful that I was there with him and that he was not alone.

I'm thankful that one day over Christmas break he had a minor incident that caused me to call the vet and they gave me information on the closest animal emergency center.   That day turned out to be nothing, but I had booked marked their webpage and so on the day of his death I knew who to call and how to get there - there was no wasted time searching on where or what to do.

I'm thankful that my sister Jo Ann and her son Rolly were planning to spend the weekend with me.  Since they were staying with me, I splurged and had a cleaning company come in on Tuesday and as part of that clean up most of Wally's stuff was put away.   This made it much easier after his death to not have all his toys and blankets out and about - that would have been the constant reminder.   And it would have been really sad to put those things away and knowing it was for the last time.  I'm also thankful that Jo Ann and Rolly were here - its a great distraction and it really helped keep the house from feeling empty without Wally.

While its extremely sad and the feelings of loss overcome me at different times, overall I do have some sense of peace about his passing.  I know I loved him, I know he loved me, I know he knew I loved him, I know he was well cared for (some may even say I spoiled him) and I know he did not suffer for long.

I think Wally's last loving act to me was to give me gifts of faith and improved health.  I have a feeling my faith is part of why I'm able to deal with Wally's death.  I don't think I knew how strong my faith had become until I had this terrible burden and am able to see the peace within me.   And in a funny sort of way, Wally may help me finally get back to a healthier weight.  His death has deeply affected me and with that I have lost much of my appetite.   And also given me nervous energy that makes me want to do something active to burn it off.   I'm down a few pounds already and I hope to internally dedicate my new resolution to exercise and eating better to Wally.  I'll think of my new resolution as his last gift to me.

RIP Wally

My heart breaks today.  My wonderful little boy of a cat died today. 

I adopted Wally in October of 2001 shortly after the September 11th attacks on America and a couple of months after I had to put my cat Tibbers to sleep.  

At the animal shelter I had meet with several cats and none really seams to be a good fit - I may have even seen all the available cats.  When I asked if they had any orange cats, they told me there was one about 10 months old.  He had been a stray someone found and brought in to the shelter.  The cat was still under assimilation training but they were willing to see how he acted around people and brought him into the viewing room with me.  Wally looked around for a minute then he spotted me, walked over to the folding chair I was sitting on, rubbed my legs for a minute while I petted him then he jumped up on my lap and rolled over to have me pet his belly.  He had found me, I had found my cat.  

Welcome

Hope you like the changes to my little blog.   I love globes and old maps so this background spoke to me.  I'd rather have the brown be shades of blue - but you get what you get with free hosting!

Enjoy

Disappointed

"Disappointed" is one of my favorite lines from the movie A Fish Called Wonda.  I can't get the same inflection as Kevin Kline so when I use this line no one ever gets that I'm quoting from that movie. 

Anyway, I'm disappointed because my plan for running using my newly created running plan was demolished.  I was getting tired of my personal indoor track that is all turns and no straightaways - I'm sure its slowing down my running.  My plan was to try out the Brookfield East High School where our cities' Park and Rec holds an open gym for residents on Monday nights.   For some unknown reason I was assuming the track was elevated above the basketball courts.  Turns out the track is painted around the edge of the courts and is just a gym floor - no cushioning, no nothing.   And to make matters worse - the direction they had set up the courts had the track either in or right next to the basketball games.   This would not be a pleasant way to get in 2+ miles.

I came home but knew there was very little chance I would run in my basement - it needs natural (daylight) light to be a good location for a run.  And its pitch black outside - not gonna work for me.

Disappointed because this time of year it really takes a lot of gumption on my part to get out and leave the house when its already dark out.  I'm sure I have suffer some from seasonal affective disorder (SAD).   I talked myself in and out of going at least 5 times before I left.   I made myself do it and it didn't work out well.  I'm hoping that doesn't affect me getting out next time (ie, reminding myself how it didn't work this time and is probably not worth it next time).  

I knew the timing was not working in my favor.  The park and rec open gym starts at 8pm.  I much prefer to do my evening running around 6pm  and have dinner after.  Running at 8pm meant that I had already eaten dinner, and even though it was soup and not very heavy I still prefer not to eat much before I  run.  


It was worth a try.  It didn't work out well.  There is no need to repeat trying to run at this location.  But it is worthwhile for me to find another indoor location where I can run while its too cold to run outside.  The Pettit National Ice Center is a possibility - but from training for my first half marathon I found that while the Pettit lists hours for the indoor track they don't have it open unless the ice rinks are in use.  I've been there mornings when they were supposed to have been open already for 2 hours and were still closed.  For an early morning runners like me this can be frustrating.  I'll add it to my options, but I'll also keep checking around for another indoor running location that works well for me.   I'm disappointed but I'm not giving up.

Barb got her grove back

I was going to title this How Barb Got Her Grove Back to play off the movie title but I really not sure about the "how" I just know its back and I'm happy about that and not going to question it or dig to deep into it in case I jinx it.  My best guess is it was the return of sunshine and some warmer weather this week.


I'm back to running/jogging in a run/walk mode using Marty's program; which is very similar to the Jeff Galloway program of intervals of running and walking.   So far it has felt good.  My foot still hurts on some of those days - but not enough to stop me from going the next time.   I've come up with a plan where I run one morning, and then instead of taking the next day off - I run that evening and take the next day (day 3) off.  That gives me the opportunity to run 10 times over a 2 week period.  If I ran every other day, then I would only have 7 opportunities over that same period.  Since its only about 2 miles each outing, I think the extra days can only help me in getting ready for Marty's trail running program starting April 1 and Crazy Legs on April 30. 

I've also made some headway in getting things done lately.  This is a big improvement, but there is a lot of catch up to do to get things where I want them to be.

Weekly challenges will be back - you'll probably see this week's challenges by the end of this day.

2011 Weekly Challenges - #3

Here are the weekly challenges....

Health challenges
1) Sweat for 30 minutes at least 3 times this week
2) Yoga - Sun Solace repeat 3x each on at least 3 days
3) Finish off those remaining 6 pieces of fruit and the 3 hearts of Romain


Declutter challenges - I'm going to try to approach this slightly differently to see if we can finally take back the family room and get those piles of papers out...
1) get updated on Quicken
2) prepare the Health Care Savings reimbursement for 2010
3) get updates on IBM reimbursable expenses (phone) and get it set up as recurring scheduled tasks into the IBM notes calendar
4) develop a winter fun plan/schedule - this is getting some fun stuff snowshoing, skiing, etc and saving some dates for it

Running Plans

I was perusing the blogs I regularly check and Mac at GetFitSlowly had publish his race calendar for the year.  And the funny thing was, I had been scribbling on scrap paper of runs I wanted to do this year.   I decided it was time to put together a post with those goals with links to them.

Sat, Feb 12, 10 am - Steve Cullen 8K -- this is a stretch goal.  I'm not near confident I could comfortably run 8k (about 5 miles) in cold February weather.  This run will be a day of decision - with a lot based on the weather that day.  Bonus, if I'm not comfortable with 5 miles, there is a 2 mile run run/walk associated with it that I could do.

Sat, Mar 5, noon  - 5 mile Point Bock Run -  this run just sounds fun!  I'd like to add it into the mix, but again I think it may be a bit of a stretch both in how I feel and the Wisconsin March weather.  This could be very nice or still very cold and snowy.

April - May - Marty's Trail Running program - I talked to Marty about this last night and I am definitely in.  This year's his program is set to prepare us for the Ice Age Trail Half Marathon - which I'm already signed up for and this is my premier race/goal for the spring.   I'm hoping the Fall brings another premier race/goal for me - but I have to wait and see how the year goes before selecting it.

Sat, April 30 - Crazylegs in Madison - the last time I ran this it was a new run.  I think I ran it in year 2 or 3.  It has grown incredible big since then.   Last time my finish time was just under 1 hour.  I would love to have that be my time again this year.  

Sat, May 14 - Ice Age Trail Half Marathon - this is my premier race of the year.  The one I'm most looking forward to doing.   Last year's trail program really instilled a love of trail running in me.   Honestly, I wish it was a 10K or 15K run.  A half marathon will be a big step for me.  But I think I will be well prepared and I want this so much that I think it will work out well for me.

Sun, July 10 - Summerfest Run 10K - this is a brand new  (1st year) run in Milwaukee.  The course includes running over the Horn Bridge which will provide outstanding views of Milwaukee and its lakefront.  It gets pricey, so I need to make my decision early - 10K: $40 thru 3/31, $50 thru 6/30, $70 thereafter

It's working

The weekly challenges impact my decisions.  Today for lunch I was heating up some leftovers and without too much thought I instinctively grabbed the zucchini and cut it up to be steamed with the leftovers.  It added great flavor and added some veggies which are often missing from my lunch choices.

The weekly challenges are not doing near as well for the decluttering efforts.  I still need to place some more focus on that.

2011 Weekly Challenges - #2

The first challenges are starting to get me on the right foot (haha a little joke since the its my left foot that has the plantar fasciitis problem so I'm much better on the right foot than left)

On to this week's challenges.....

Health Challenge Somewhat Successful - I counted and I have 20 pieces of fruit in my house.  For this challenge all should be eaten by next Saturday.   Bonus challenges  1) have a salad every day for the week and 2) at least 2 exercise sessions of at least 30 minutes each - can be wii fit, DVD programs, Bally's, etc.  My foot issues have greatly reduced my ability to walk, jog/run, hike and even snowshoe -- all of which are my primary fitness activities.  It's time to find something new - maybe try the elliptical trainer, yoga, running on the mini trampoline, etc -- something has to be out there that I can do to build up a sweat and drop some pounds. I'm calling this 'somewhat successful' because it helps to celebrate the small successes and there were successes with this.   There were more than a few times that if this challenge did not exist I would have grabbed a cookie,etc but instead I had a pear or apple.   I did not get through all the fruit - in part because I had a lot of fresh veggies to also get through - and did!  I still have 3 oranges and 3 pears to finish up this week.

Decluttering challenge Unsuccessful - Take back the Family room.  My papers have been scattered all around it.  Its time to go through them and file, pay, shred, etc - whatever they need done.   The challenge is to go through the paper and identify the next action, but not necessarily do the next action (that may take time and be its own challenge down the road. At best I made a small dent in the papers, but I added as much as I as I was able to get done, so at best net result is no difference which makes this unsuccessful.  Overall these decluttering challenges have not gone well - I need to put on my thinking cap and figure out a way to make a difference in this area.

2011 Weekly Challenges - #1

My brilliant idea for helping me reach my 2011 resolutions is to have one week goals.   I've found that I do very well with short term challenges.  The longer they go, the more likely I am to drop off.  So I'll try a series of one week challenges - and I can repeat that challenge for multiple weeks if it feels right.  I'm going to try to one challenge each for the 2 resolution areas.   The challenges themselves will not necessarily be hard - the hard part for me is keeping them going all week long for those that are daily challenges, or getting them done within the week for those larger challenges.

• 1) Health area challenge - follow the new medication and exercises every day.  This seams simple enough and I have hopes that this will help get the foot exercises into my daily morning habit.  Status: Successful - it took a little work to get the right timing down for the foot exercises, shower, and applying medicated cream.  Net result is the foot pain starts later in the day so things must be working/improving

• 2) De-clutter challenge -  I went back and forth on this one and I think my solution is to come up with one and a second bonus challenge...and I've just determined that reaching a bonus challenge deserves a reward.

1. main: "Take back the house" - this means getting the rest of the Christmas and Christmas guest stuff taken care of by cleaning and properly storing it away.  Status: Giving myself a "Successful minus".  Things are cleaned and out of the way but I'd like to work on a better storage system for them so there is still more work to do.  I could have put the towels, blankets, etc back where and how they were shoved into the linen closet but instead I've left them on a table in the kitchen until I can get the storage bags for them.  Overall this is still a success.   
2. bonus: Consuming or Scheduling the Groupons so they get used timely and don't go to waste - Status: Good effort but not yet successful. the bonus was too much, and most of it did not get done.  It was good to have the stretch goal because it did motivate me to try to get these tasks that have been sitting out there on my to-do list finally completed.  
• Massage - get this schedule, and see if it can be upgraded to a hot stone massage completed, reservation made for Jan 20 for a Hot Stone Massage
• Oil Change -used/ completed
• Oilerie - make the reservations (Thurs, Feb 3 date) - completed, reservation made for Feb 3 with Barb T and Nancy
• California Closets - need to clear closets -- this week's challenge is to tackle the Right side.
• REWARD - ??

The reward concept is hard for me - and probably not for the reasons you think.  Most rewards cost money, and weather I make the challenge or not, its still my money that's being spent and the concept of giving myself permission to spend my own money (when I already feel I have that permission) is just a weird concept to me and does not really feel rewarding.   Another common reward area is food related, and with my desire to reduce my weight, food or more likely decadent food is also less of a motivating factor for me.   I need to give the reward some more thought. 

2011 - the year of reductions

It took a while but I've determined 2011 will be the Year of Reductions!!

My life currently has an unwanted level of abundance.   Too much clutter, too much stock piling, too much weight, etc.   I'm feeling the need to correct these areas.  But I need to be careful of my tendency of perfectionism and the all or nothing approach -- too often I get overwhelmed and don't know where to start or feel like I'm making so little progress there is no point to continuing.  I need to work on overcoming both of those key stoppers for me.  My mantra will be "moving in the right direction"  and "a little is better than nothing".


 So on to the specific subgoals for 2011

Reduction of Stock Piling
I have too many supplies, both food and non-food (office supplies, cleaning supplies, etc).   My philosophy will be to "use it or lose it".    This will be hard - I have a tendency to creatively find bargains and stock up.  Sometimes the bargains are only available when stockpiling and purchasing larger volumes than a single household needs.   This is also a long ingrained idea that comes from the attitude of my parents as I was growing up; finding bargains is a virtue.  These goals will probably cost me more dollars but overall I expect it to create more happiness and I currently have the cash to spend and could use a bit more happiness in my life.

1. Eat from the Pantry Challenges at least 5 times this year for periods of at least 2 weeks.  This means very limited grocery shopping during this period except for pet food and milk (and truly great deals).   I think I could get by without for anything else using substitutions (ie, out of coffee then drink tea in the morning, etc).
2. Remove all periodicals that over 1 month old.  This covers all those old magazines that I have stacked up just waiting to be read.   The initial goal is will be to get all the pre-2009 periodicals out by end of March (first quarter), all remaining 2009 by May, and from then on keep nothing over 1 month old (ie, all January will be out by end of February).
3. Clean out Closets - this is helped by the already purchased groupon for California Closets.  I have too much.   That's it - no additional need to clarify that sentence.   I would like to change that and have less but higher quality clothes with more cross usability.   Its time for some upgrades to what I have.  And time to let somethings go.

Reduction of weight / bmi
This is the standard one across most of Americans - time to get into shape.   And really I'm not going to have the scale define too much of this goal.   Instead, I'm going to focus on some exercise goals and challenges.

1. Time Goal: Complete 5K in under 12 min pace.  Ultimate goal is to get back to being a 10 min mile runner but that goal can wait.  This Fall I was running close to 14 min miles and I believe I can get down to 12 min miles if I keep at it - I need to resolve my plantar fasciitis problem to make this goal
2. Distance Goal: 1/2 Marathon.  Ultimate goal is a full marathon - its on my bucket list.   This year it is a stretch to do a 1/2 marathon and I'm reserving the right to change this if my planter faciatis keeps me from getting the miles I would need to get in for 1/2 marathon training.  Update:  I'm registered for the Ice Age Trail Half Marathon on May 14 and expect to take Marty's trail running program starting April 1 as preparation for it.

These are the goals and I'll meet them by having weekly challenges.  More on that to come.