Well Lent is really flying by this year. I'm sure a big part of that is because of the distractions going on in my life.
1st Lenten Promise is to declutter for 15 to 30 minutes most days
I'm not taking a stop watch to this tasks, so the status is more of a thumbs-up / thumps-down.
week 1 - Feb 10- 16 - Success, but a bit sloppy/slow over the weekend
week 2 - Feb 17 - 23 - Fairly Successful, I may try to start timing myself to help keep focus
week 3 - Feb 24 - Mar 2 - this is slipping, I need to refocus
week 4 - Mar 3 - 9 - I'm making progress but its slow
week 5 - Mar 10 - 16 - this promise has been derailed -- need to get back on this horse
week 6 - Mar 17 - 23 - had some great strides this week
2nd Lenten Promise is to go out for at least 4 fish fries - Completed!!
Most of these fish fries are Fridays, and this past Friday I was out of commission with the knee surgery. There are tentative plans for the YACC alumni to go next Friday and I'm counting on going with them.
1 Completed - Friday, Feb 22 with the YACC alumni at St Agnes
2 Completed - Friday, March 1 with the YACC alumni at St Florence
3 Completed - Friday, March 8 with the family for Dad's bday
4 Completed - Friday, March 22 take out at Queen of Apostle (Fr Sean's church)
3rd Lenten Promise is to consume no more than 2 bags of snack food per week (Sat to Fri)
week 1 - Feb 10- 16 - Success!
week 2 - Feb 17 - 23 - Success (but no exclamation point); the post-Valentines sale caramel popcorn almost caused a problem, luckily I got it under control in time
week 3 - Feb 24 - Mar 2 - Success
week 4 - Mar 3 - 9 - Success, and still have a quarter of last week's pretzels left over and only started the baked potato chips at lunch today (so no new bags started on Sat or Sun - that's good)
week 5 - Mar 10 - 16 - Success, but there were a lot of rice crackers this week - if they were counted then I failed, but they are somehow different ;-)
week 6 - Mar 17 - 23 - success
week 7 - Holy Week -
4th Lenten Promise is attending and/or participating in 6 spiritual events this Lent -- Completed with extra!! Nicely Done
1) Completed - Fri, Feb 15, Jesus Christ Superstar
2) Completed - Fri, Feb 22, Stations of the Cross at St Agnes, with YACC alumni
3) Completed - Fri, March 1, Lenten Day of Retreat
4) Completed - Fri, March 1, Stations of the Cross at St Florence, with YACC alumni
5) Completed - Fri, March 15, Sacrament of the Sick, in preparation for the knee surgery
6) Completed - Fri, March 22, Stations of the Cross at St Mathais, with YACC alumni
7) Completed - Sat, March 23, Zion Passion Play (tickets purchased)
Monday, March 25, 2013
Friday, March 22, 2013
Learning to Cope
I've been working to plan something special for me on Sunday to memorize Wally's passing. One thing I've noticed is that I'm not looking to food for comfort. In the past I would have been all over the prospect of having some special food treat to eat to make me feel better. I would have given myself a pass on any concerns for calories, fat content, etc. It would have been big volumes of comfort food.Instead of food, I'm focused on doing an activity to comfort me. If I could, I would go on a nice long hike. I was able to do that last year and it brought me a lot of comfort. This year I have a knee that is fresh from surgery, the trails are still too snow covered to be enjoyable, and the day is going to have a high of around 35F. I really wish I could have made this into a spa day at somewhere like Kohler's Water Spa. This year I had St Dom's commitments on this date because it is also Palm Sunday and we have 2 changes this weekend - no way for me to break out for a day trip as Sunday we can't even start until noon (after the 11 am mass). Instead this year it looks like I will be sitting home and watching pay per view movies. The local theaters really didn't have a great selection or timing for Monday. The budget theater did have a number of the movies that are also on pay per view (Life of Pi, Lincoln, etc) but they are all start before 1pm and there is no way for me to finish at St Dom's and make it all there there in time.
At least in 2014, this date falls on a Monday and I won't be leading the St Dom's A&E group next year; so I will be able to take a vacation day and do a day trip away from all of this and be able to focus solely on my Wally boy. And I hope to still be able to do it without a focus on high volume of comfort food.
Call me Alexander
I feel like I'm living the children's book Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.
This was one of my favorite books when I was as a kid.
It's 10:30 am and it's already been a day of frustrations. In no particular order....
I hope it gets better soon!
This was one of my favorite books when I was as a kid.
It's 10:30 am and it's already been a day of frustrations. In no particular order....- my egg sandwich exploded egg yolk all over my hand with the first bite
- it took almost an hour for the VPN software to update and recognize itself
- when finishing up an old notebook this morning, I discovered my weekly plan for what turned out to the week Wally died - which will be 2 years in 2 days. It was ironic timing. It made me feel really sad
- my sore throat keeps getting worse. I don't feel good.
- yesterday we decided to put the LW group on hold - and today I'm concern that it will affect / slow / stop my weight loss which was just being to have some positive momentum
- it's officially Spring but its cold and snow is everywhere still
- I can't make any plans for hiking, biking, etc for this spring or summer until I find out the rehabilitation plan for my knee. Being a 'planner' it bothers me that I can't plan.
I hope it gets better soon!
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Quick Weight Loss Update
The scale showed a 4 pound loss from last week. Yea!!!
The weight had been creeping up since Summer but ramped up when the knee trouble escalated. It was a combination of lack of being able to move around (reduced exercise) and increased food (both holiday excess and also frustration and stress eating related to the knee injury).
In reality the weight loss has plateaued over Summer with the conclusion of the second LW session. Summer is a challenging time for me. There are a lot of festivals, fun outings, and family gatherings that all have either too much food or alcohol consumption, or both.
The family vacation to New Mexico stalled my weight loss efforts. My family tends to eat more than I do; most of them have better metabolisms than I do so the excess does not impact them. But I need to realize that I can't 'keep up' with them and just because they have some snack doesn't mean I can join in or maybe I can just have a taste but not a serving. Also, and this is something I still need to figure out, I have a tendency to give myself a pass for 'travel eating'. I actually shop for snacks and candy that I can have for the flights or in the car driving.
The New Mexico trip was quickly followed by the annual HB trip which is a text book definition of excess. Very fun but not the healthiest of weekends.
But lately I've really felt the need to get back on the LW program. And our group is still meeting; although it is a much smaller subset - we down to 4 or 5 of us most weeks. We've changed from watching the LW videos to another DVD series and I think that has made a good impact. The LW DVDs are old - probably from the late 80s or early 90s. The old hairstyle and clothing are distractions; plus the LW founder is not a very good speaker so its not the best series to watch and be motivated by.
Part of my motivation is that I know losing some additional weight will really help my knee recovery. Another part of the recent success is both the Lenten Challenge with the chips and also the reduction of stress related to the knee. Plus I've recently really come to terms with the fact that I can't count on my own family so I need to take care of myself now so that I don't have to try to rely on them when I'm old. And of course, the summer motivation for shorts and swimsuits.
Overall this is a step in the right direction. I'm pleased. And I foresee this to continue. I have more motivation than normal and that is making me determined.
The weight had been creeping up since Summer but ramped up when the knee trouble escalated. It was a combination of lack of being able to move around (reduced exercise) and increased food (both holiday excess and also frustration and stress eating related to the knee injury).
In reality the weight loss has plateaued over Summer with the conclusion of the second LW session. Summer is a challenging time for me. There are a lot of festivals, fun outings, and family gatherings that all have either too much food or alcohol consumption, or both.
The family vacation to New Mexico stalled my weight loss efforts. My family tends to eat more than I do; most of them have better metabolisms than I do so the excess does not impact them. But I need to realize that I can't 'keep up' with them and just because they have some snack doesn't mean I can join in or maybe I can just have a taste but not a serving. Also, and this is something I still need to figure out, I have a tendency to give myself a pass for 'travel eating'. I actually shop for snacks and candy that I can have for the flights or in the car driving.
The New Mexico trip was quickly followed by the annual HB trip which is a text book definition of excess. Very fun but not the healthiest of weekends.
But lately I've really felt the need to get back on the LW program. And our group is still meeting; although it is a much smaller subset - we down to 4 or 5 of us most weeks. We've changed from watching the LW videos to another DVD series and I think that has made a good impact. The LW DVDs are old - probably from the late 80s or early 90s. The old hairstyle and clothing are distractions; plus the LW founder is not a very good speaker so its not the best series to watch and be motivated by.
Part of my motivation is that I know losing some additional weight will really help my knee recovery. Another part of the recent success is both the Lenten Challenge with the chips and also the reduction of stress related to the knee. Plus I've recently really come to terms with the fact that I can't count on my own family so I need to take care of myself now so that I don't have to try to rely on them when I'm old. And of course, the summer motivation for shorts and swimsuits.
Overall this is a step in the right direction. I'm pleased. And I foresee this to continue. I have more motivation than normal and that is making me determined.
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Time for Myself - update
It's ironic that I had a calendar task set to update the Time for Myself goal since yesterday was a realization that I'm going to have much time to myself! But its a different kind of goal :-)
Yes, as yesterday's post pointed out, I don't have a lot of family support and I don't expect to be spending time with any of them anytime soon so I do have a lot of time to myself. Yes, I'll do Easter brunch with my Dad, and yes there are multiple graduations that I'll be included in this spring. But overall they are not going to call me to invite me to hang out with them. I've got to let that go and move on.
Anyway, this is a different type of time to myself. Its the rejuvenating time to 'sharpen the saw' as Stephen Covey wrote about in 8 Habits of Highly Effective People.
Last Friday I had minor knee surgery to repair the torn meniscus in my right knee. That has altered some of my plans. I'm still waiting for the first follow up visit, but the pre-surgery assessment was that it would be about 8 weeks before I could be hiking, biking, and jogging at my prior levels. This cuts out a lot of Spring hiking for me (which does make me sad). I decided against the planned trip to Arizona and Utah national parks. I even had to cancel my plans for a weekend trip to St Louis. So I'm starting over on planning these days, and right now only focused on March and April. I'll wait to see how I am in May with the rehab before planning any additional days.
To recap:
January - day trip to Appleton to see the Leonardo Da Vinci exhibit at their History Museum.
February - day trip to Lake Geneva's Winterfest to see the national snow carving competition and hiked a trail at Big Foot Beach State Park that they light by luminaries
And moving forward:
March -I've selected Sunday, March 24 as a day to celebrate Wally. Unfortunately his day falls on Palm Sunday which means I have other commitments. Last year I did a movie (Warhorse) and hike - it was good and I needed it. This year will not have any hiking - its both too cold compared to last year, and my knee is in no shape to tackle the black trail at Laphem Peak. I'm thinking of a double feature movie day - the weather will be around 30F and I can't do a lot of walking, so that takes out both outdoor activities and museums, etc. The Budget theater has better movies (Life of Pi, The Hobbit, Lincoln, etc) than the local Marcus, but the Marcus has better food options for being able to make a day of it. And neither have their Sunday schedule online yet. I'll wait and see. It is not what I wanted for my memorial day, but I'm confident I can make it work.
April -Still considering the mega hike at Starved Rock State Park. I need to get the doctor's blessing on this before I commit the money. If he doesn't think I'll be well enough for 13 miles of hiking, then I'll switch over to the long put off trip to Spring Green - House on the Rock, Cave of the Mounds, etc.
Yes, as yesterday's post pointed out, I don't have a lot of family support and I don't expect to be spending time with any of them anytime soon so I do have a lot of time to myself. Yes, I'll do Easter brunch with my Dad, and yes there are multiple graduations that I'll be included in this spring. But overall they are not going to call me to invite me to hang out with them. I've got to let that go and move on.
Anyway, this is a different type of time to myself. Its the rejuvenating time to 'sharpen the saw' as Stephen Covey wrote about in 8 Habits of Highly Effective People.
Last Friday I had minor knee surgery to repair the torn meniscus in my right knee. That has altered some of my plans. I'm still waiting for the first follow up visit, but the pre-surgery assessment was that it would be about 8 weeks before I could be hiking, biking, and jogging at my prior levels. This cuts out a lot of Spring hiking for me (which does make me sad). I decided against the planned trip to Arizona and Utah national parks. I even had to cancel my plans for a weekend trip to St Louis. So I'm starting over on planning these days, and right now only focused on March and April. I'll wait to see how I am in May with the rehab before planning any additional days.
To recap:
January - day trip to Appleton to see the Leonardo Da Vinci exhibit at their History Museum.
February - day trip to Lake Geneva's Winterfest to see the national snow carving competition and hiked a trail at Big Foot Beach State Park that they light by luminaries
And moving forward:
March -I've selected Sunday, March 24 as a day to celebrate Wally. Unfortunately his day falls on Palm Sunday which means I have other commitments. Last year I did a movie (Warhorse) and hike - it was good and I needed it. This year will not have any hiking - its both too cold compared to last year, and my knee is in no shape to tackle the black trail at Laphem Peak. I'm thinking of a double feature movie day - the weather will be around 30F and I can't do a lot of walking, so that takes out both outdoor activities and museums, etc. The Budget theater has better movies (Life of Pi, The Hobbit, Lincoln, etc) than the local Marcus, but the Marcus has better food options for being able to make a day of it. And neither have their Sunday schedule online yet. I'll wait and see. It is not what I wanted for my memorial day, but I'm confident I can make it work.
April -Still considering the mega hike at Starved Rock State Park. I need to get the doctor's blessing on this before I commit the money. If he doesn't think I'll be well enough for 13 miles of hiking, then I'll switch over to the long put off trip to Spring Green - House on the Rock, Cave of the Mounds, etc.
Monday, March 18, 2013
I Don't Know What To Do
This is hard to write but I need to get it off my chest and out there.
I am not a priority to my family. And that really, really hurts. Because family means so much to me. And they often make me feel like I mean nothing to them.
The latest occasion where this fact has been shoved in my face occurred this weekend when I had knee surgery to repair a torn meniscus . I had been out to dinner last Friday with the family to celebrate my father's 84th birthday. All the adults at that dinner were aware I was having the procedure done the following Friday. Not one person remembered. Or maybe they remembered but they didn't care to find out the results. The day before the procedure my sister-in-law text me to see if I could pick up her kids coming home on the bus from college. She did not remember I had the procedure scheduled. But to her credit when I let her know of my conflict she did respond and wish me luck. I did text her after my surgery to let her know it all when well. She called me on Saturday, I felt like she was really negative. It felt like she trying to have my experience compete against the identical procedure my brother (her husband) had had 2 years ago. She made me feel like I was doing everything wrong and Don had done it so much better. But the thing is, it went really well. I was off crutches on Friday, and I wasn't feeling any pain. But you would never know that talking to her. But I have to give her credit, she was the only one to follow up and see how it went. No one else called, emailed, or text; no one else did anything. My own father couldn't be bothered to pick up the phone and check to see if I was doing well.
It was almost 10 years ago that I tried to adopt a child. The adoption agency rejected me with the reason that I did not have enough "family support". At the time I thought they were wrong and while I knew that neither my brother Don, nor my sister Jane and her husband, ever got around to writing their letters for my files, I thought the agency was being unreasonable. Now I can clearly see that I don't have family support; the agency was right. To contrast this, my friend had a baby in October, and her extended family is taking the baby one day per week so that she doesn't need to make use of daycare. My sister in law had repeatedly told me she wanted to have my baby during the day when I worked - and I believed her. Now I know so much better - what she says and what she means are totally different. I need to refocus her words to what they actually mean -- and again, I can't say this enough: she is one of the best in my family for caring and looking out for me. I don't want it to sound like I'm picking on her.
They did the same thing when I was getting a new pet. They totally encouraged me to get a puppy with repeated talk of how much they would want to walk the dog, play with the dog, etc. Well that is just about as opposite a message as possible from the reality of how they treat my dog.
And today its snowed - not a lot; we got about 2 to 3 inches of heavy wet snow. The weather is getting colder this week, so you need to clear the snow now before it freezes. My brother's family lives 10 houses away from me. They know exactly how much snow I have on my driveway. If the situation was reversed, I would have called over there to see if they needed any help in clearing their driveway. They have an 8th grader and a senior in high school that are at home - don't you think it would have been nice if they had offered to have one of the kids help me? I'm sure I could have called over and if someone had nothing else to do then they may have come over to help me. But I'm starting to work on that hardening of my heart - I'm not calling them because right now I can't take the pain of having them reject my request for help. Instead I went out and started it on my own and my very nice neighbor came over and offered to help finish it for me. I'm truly thankful for that help.
Honestly it really hurts. It makes me want to close and harden my heart to my family so that I won't keep getting hurt by their lack of interest and lack of compassion.
I do realize it hurts me more than it affects them if I would chose to block them out or drop them from my life. While one type of pain would be reduced for me, I'd still feel the pain of not participating with them.
I don't know how I can toughen my heart enough not to get hurt by them but still stay open and welcoming to them. I just don't know how to do that. I fully realize I need to protect myself but I don't know what to do.
I don't know what to do.
I am not a priority to my family. And that really, really hurts. Because family means so much to me. And they often make me feel like I mean nothing to them.
The latest occasion where this fact has been shoved in my face occurred this weekend when I had knee surgery to repair a torn meniscus . I had been out to dinner last Friday with the family to celebrate my father's 84th birthday. All the adults at that dinner were aware I was having the procedure done the following Friday. Not one person remembered. Or maybe they remembered but they didn't care to find out the results. The day before the procedure my sister-in-law text me to see if I could pick up her kids coming home on the bus from college. She did not remember I had the procedure scheduled. But to her credit when I let her know of my conflict she did respond and wish me luck. I did text her after my surgery to let her know it all when well. She called me on Saturday, I felt like she was really negative. It felt like she trying to have my experience compete against the identical procedure my brother (her husband) had had 2 years ago. She made me feel like I was doing everything wrong and Don had done it so much better. But the thing is, it went really well. I was off crutches on Friday, and I wasn't feeling any pain. But you would never know that talking to her. But I have to give her credit, she was the only one to follow up and see how it went. No one else called, emailed, or text; no one else did anything. My own father couldn't be bothered to pick up the phone and check to see if I was doing well. It was almost 10 years ago that I tried to adopt a child. The adoption agency rejected me with the reason that I did not have enough "family support". At the time I thought they were wrong and while I knew that neither my brother Don, nor my sister Jane and her husband, ever got around to writing their letters for my files, I thought the agency was being unreasonable. Now I can clearly see that I don't have family support; the agency was right. To contrast this, my friend had a baby in October, and her extended family is taking the baby one day per week so that she doesn't need to make use of daycare. My sister in law had repeatedly told me she wanted to have my baby during the day when I worked - and I believed her. Now I know so much better - what she says and what she means are totally different. I need to refocus her words to what they actually mean -- and again, I can't say this enough: she is one of the best in my family for caring and looking out for me. I don't want it to sound like I'm picking on her.
They did the same thing when I was getting a new pet. They totally encouraged me to get a puppy with repeated talk of how much they would want to walk the dog, play with the dog, etc. Well that is just about as opposite a message as possible from the reality of how they treat my dog.
And today its snowed - not a lot; we got about 2 to 3 inches of heavy wet snow. The weather is getting colder this week, so you need to clear the snow now before it freezes. My brother's family lives 10 houses away from me. They know exactly how much snow I have on my driveway. If the situation was reversed, I would have called over there to see if they needed any help in clearing their driveway. They have an 8th grader and a senior in high school that are at home - don't you think it would have been nice if they had offered to have one of the kids help me? I'm sure I could have called over and if someone had nothing else to do then they may have come over to help me. But I'm starting to work on that hardening of my heart - I'm not calling them because right now I can't take the pain of having them reject my request for help. Instead I went out and started it on my own and my very nice neighbor came over and offered to help finish it for me. I'm truly thankful for that help.
Honestly it really hurts. It makes me want to close and harden my heart to my family so that I won't keep getting hurt by their lack of interest and lack of compassion.
I do realize it hurts me more than it affects them if I would chose to block them out or drop them from my life. While one type of pain would be reduced for me, I'd still feel the pain of not participating with them.
I don't know how I can toughen my heart enough not to get hurt by them but still stay open and welcoming to them. I just don't know how to do that. I fully realize I need to protect myself but I don't know what to do.
I don't know what to do.
Lenten Promises 2013 Status Update #5
Well Lent is really flying by this year. I'm sure a big part of that is because of the distractions going on in my life.
1st Lenten Promise is to declutter for 15 to 30 minutes most days
I'm not taking a stop watch to this tasks, so the status is more of a thumbs-up / thumps-down.
week 1 - Feb 10- 16 - Success, but a bit sloppy/slow over the weekend
week 2 - Feb 17 - 23 - Fairly Successful, I may try to start timing myself to help keep focus
week 3 - Feb 24 - Mar 2 - this is slipping, I need to refocus
week 4 - Mar 3 - 9 - I'm making progress but its slow
week 5 - Mar 10 - 16 - this promise has been derailed -- need to get back on this horse
week 6 - Mar 24 - 30
2nd Lenten Promise is to go out for at least 4 fish fries
Most of these fish fries are Fridays, and this past Friday I was out of commission with the knee surgery. There are tentative plans for the YACC alumni to go next Friday and I'm counting on going with them.
1 Completed - Friday, Feb 22 with the YACC alumni at St Agnes
2 Completed - Friday, March 1 with the YACC alumni at St Florence
3 Completed - Friday, March 8 with the family for Dad's bday
4
3rd Lenten Promise is to consume no more than 2 bags of snack food per week (Sat to Fri)
week 1 - Feb 10- 16 - Success!
week 2 - Feb 17 - 23 - Success (but no exclamation point); the post-Valentines sale caramel popcorn almost caused a problem, luckily I got it under control in time
week 3 - Feb 24 - Mar 2 - Success
week 4 - Mar 3 - 9 - Success, and still have a quarter of last week's pretzels left over and only started the baked potato chips at lunch today (so no new bags started on Sat or Sun - that's good)
week 5 - Mar 10 - 16 - Success, but there were a lot of rice crackers this week - if they were counted then I failed, but they are somehow different ;-)
week 6 - Mar 24 - 30
4th Lenten Promise is attending and/or participating in 6 spiritual events this Lent The impromptu Stations with the YACC alumni went so well we are planning to do it again this Friday and even started throwing around the idea of going every week during Lent.
1) Completed - Fri, Feb 15, Jesus Christ Superstar
2) Completed - Fri, Feb 22, Stations of the Cross at St Agnes, with YACC alumni
3) Completed - Fri, March 1, Lenten Day of Retreat
4) Completed - Fri, March 1, Stations of the Cross at St Florence, with YACC alumni
5) Completed - Fri, March 15, Sacrament of the Sick, in preparation for the knee surgery
6) Planned - Sat, March 23, Zion Passion Play (tickets purchased)
1st Lenten Promise is to declutter for 15 to 30 minutes most days
I'm not taking a stop watch to this tasks, so the status is more of a thumbs-up / thumps-down.
week 1 - Feb 10- 16 - Success, but a bit sloppy/slow over the weekend
week 2 - Feb 17 - 23 - Fairly Successful, I may try to start timing myself to help keep focus
week 3 - Feb 24 - Mar 2 - this is slipping, I need to refocus
week 4 - Mar 3 - 9 - I'm making progress but its slow
week 5 - Mar 10 - 16 - this promise has been derailed -- need to get back on this horse
week 6 - Mar 24 - 30
2nd Lenten Promise is to go out for at least 4 fish fries
Most of these fish fries are Fridays, and this past Friday I was out of commission with the knee surgery. There are tentative plans for the YACC alumni to go next Friday and I'm counting on going with them.
1 Completed - Friday, Feb 22 with the YACC alumni at St Agnes
2 Completed - Friday, March 1 with the YACC alumni at St Florence
3 Completed - Friday, March 8 with the family for Dad's bday
4
3rd Lenten Promise is to consume no more than 2 bags of snack food per week (Sat to Fri)
week 1 - Feb 10- 16 - Success!
week 2 - Feb 17 - 23 - Success (but no exclamation point); the post-Valentines sale caramel popcorn almost caused a problem, luckily I got it under control in time
week 3 - Feb 24 - Mar 2 - Success
week 4 - Mar 3 - 9 - Success, and still have a quarter of last week's pretzels left over and only started the baked potato chips at lunch today (so no new bags started on Sat or Sun - that's good)
week 5 - Mar 10 - 16 - Success, but there were a lot of rice crackers this week - if they were counted then I failed, but they are somehow different ;-)
week 6 - Mar 24 - 30
4th Lenten Promise is attending and/or participating in 6 spiritual events this Lent The impromptu Stations with the YACC alumni went so well we are planning to do it again this Friday and even started throwing around the idea of going every week during Lent.
1) Completed - Fri, Feb 15, Jesus Christ Superstar
2) Completed - Fri, Feb 22, Stations of the Cross at St Agnes, with YACC alumni
3) Completed - Fri, March 1, Lenten Day of Retreat
4) Completed - Fri, March 1, Stations of the Cross at St Florence, with YACC alumni
5) Completed - Fri, March 15, Sacrament of the Sick, in preparation for the knee surgery
6) Planned - Sat, March 23, Zion Passion Play (tickets purchased)
Monday, March 11, 2013
Lenten Promises 2013 Status Update #4
1st Lenten Promise is to declutter for 15 to 30 minutes most days
I'm not taking a stop watch to this tasks, so the status is more of a thumbs-up / thumps-down.
week 1 - Feb 10- 16 - Success, but a bit sloppy/slow over the weekend
week 2 - Feb 17 - 23 - Fairly Successful, I may try to start timing myself to help keep focus
week 3 - Feb 24 - Mar 2 - this is slipping, I need to refocus
week 4 - Mar 3 - 9 - I'm making progress but its slow
week 5 - Mar 10 - 16
week 6 - Mar 24 - 30
2nd Lenten Promise is to go out for at least 4 fish fries
In hindsight this is going to be harder than I thought as I look through my personal schedule. It may end up being a bunch of lunch time take out. Update, the impromptu Stations and Fish Fry with the YACC group is really making this one easier than I first thought.
1 Completed - Friday, Feb 22 with the YACC alumni at St Agnes
2 Completed - Friday, March 1 with the YACC alumni at St Florence
3 Completed - Friday, March 8 with the family for Dad's bday
4
3rd Lenten Promise is to consume no more than 2 bags of snack food per week (Sat to Fri)
week 1 - Feb 10- 16 - Success!
week 2 - Feb 17 - 23 - Success (but no exclamation point); the post-Valentines sale caramel popcorn almost caused a problem, luckily I got it under control in time
week 3 - Feb 24 - Mar 2 - Success
week 4 - Mar 3 - 9 - Success, and still have a quarter of last week's pretzels left over and only started the baked potato chips at lunch today (so no new bags started on Sat or Sun - that's good)
week 5 - Mar 10 - 16
week 6 - Mar 24 - 30
4th Lenten Promise is attending and/or participating in 6 spiritual events this Lent The impromptu Stations with the YACC alumni went so well we are planning to do it again this Friday and even started throwing around the idea of going every week during Lent.
1) Completed - Fri, Feb 15, Jesus Christ Superstar
2) Completed - Fri, Feb 22, Stations of the Cross at St Agnes, with YACC alumni
3) Completed - Fri, March 1, Lenten Day of Retreat
4) Completed - Fri, March 1, Stations of the Cross at St Florence, with YACC alumni
5) Planned - Sat, March 23, Zion Passion Play (tickets purchased)
6
Monday, March 4, 2013
Lenten Promises 2013 Status Update #3
Third update...I'm hoping by posting these it will help keep me both accountable and focused. Update - it is keeping me accountable; I think about this post especially when I'm grabbing for snacks.
1st Lenten Promise is to declutter for 15 to 30 minutes most days
I'm not taking a stop watch to this tasks, so the status is more of a thumbs-up / thumps-down.
week 1 - Feb 10- 16 - Success, but a bit sloppy/slow over the weekend
week 2 - Feb 17 - 23 - Fairly Successful, I may try to start timing myself to help keep focus
week 3 - Feb 24 - Mar 2 - this is slipping, I need to refocus
week 4 - Mar 3 - 9
week 5 - Mar 10 - 16
week 6 - Mar 24 - 30
2nd Lenten Promise is to go out for at least 4 fish fries
In hindsight this is going to be harder than I thought as I look through my personal schedule. It may end up being a bunch of lunch time take out. Update, the impromptu Stations and Fish Fry with the YACC group is really making this one easier than I first thought.
1 Completed - Friday, Feb 22 with the YACC alumni at St Agnes
2 Completed - Friday, March 1 with the YACC alumni at St Florence
3 Planned - Friday, March 8 with the family for Dad's bday
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3rd Lenten Promise is to consume no more than 2 bags of snack food per week (Sat to Fri)
week 1 - Feb 10- 16 - Success!
week 2 - Feb 17 - 23 - Success (but no exclamation point); the post-Valentines sale caramel popcorn almost caused a problem, luckily I got it under control in time
week 3 - Feb 24 - Mar 2 - Success
week 4 - Mar 3 - 9
week 5 - Mar 10 - 16
week 6 - Mar 24 - 30
4th Lenten Promise is attending and/or participating in 6 spiritual events this Lent The impromptu Stations with the YACC alumni went so well we are planning to do it again this Friday and even started throwing around the idea of going every week during Lent.
1) Completed - Fri, Feb 15, Jesus Christ Superstar
2) Completed - Fri, Feb 22, Stations of the Cross at St Agnes, with YACC alumni
3) Completed - Fri, March 1, Lenten Day of Retreat
4) Completed - Fri, March 1, Stations of the Cross at St Florence, with YACC alumni
5) Planned - Sat, March 23, Zion Passion Play (tickets purchased)
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