What Was I Thinking...?

I, apparently, thought that the lack of blogging would add hours to my day, and from the wish list of accomplishments I made in Breaking for Balance, assumed I could do things I've never managed before.  First, I realized that blogging is not the only task associated with maintaining a blog.  I didn't want to ignore the others I support, and some issues came to light that had me investigating a switch to WordPress.  

Next time we need to take Grandma's
camera and get her in some pics!

I had to let that go for now, or my whole week would've gone to that endeavor... It's still something I think I might do.  Mostly, I accepted that my list was a bit ambitious, so am not feeling like a failure for not checking off every item.  Besides, as life would have it, I did many things not listed and a few in particular that I'm pretty happy about... 


We were able to visit my parents after months of having viruses around here we didn't want to take to them.  (It was a small window of opportunity, as a couple of the kids have colds/cough again!) We completed our refinance.  I played with a new toy.  I have a new fitness routine, thanks to one of my princes. --And I took on a spiritually-related home decor project... of sorts.   I will discuss the latter three in future posts.


So that you don't have to scroll down to the previous post to see what my intended tasks were, I'll recap here, and report the results:

The War of Art: Break Through
 the Blocks and Win
Your Inner Creative Battles

• Read 1 book   I have been wanting to read The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles for months.  I ordered it from the library and waited a few weeks to get it.  In 3 weeks, I had to return it, unread.  So I re-ordered it and waited weeks again.  Last week I carried it around a couple of times... Never finding the chance to even open it... Until it had to be returned again.  The biggest accomplishment I made in reading was to start a board on Pinterest of the books I'd like to read, so at least I don't forget any of those on my growing list.

Henry meeting Mom's & Dad's tiny "Misty."  

• Complete 1 sewing project  I mended Henry's collar after he chewed through it... Does that count?

• Complete our income tax return  DONE!  Well, I still have to e-file, but the hard part is finished.

• Take the kids on a 'field trip' to the art store to buy paint for starting projects outlined in The Creative Edge: Exercises to Celebrate Your Creative Self  Maybe today...  We have some errands to run and we just might include this one.

Draw Write Now, Book 1: On the Farm

• Start Prince CuddleBunny on a new drawing and writing book  I was so encouraged.  The first day I got this out for him, he was so excited.  He said he was going to hurry and do his math and phonics first, to save the fun stuff for last.  Somehow, it was a little less exciting after that initial outing, but I'm calling this goal met.

• Try a new program (game) for math drills I've been promising the kids  Another one I can check off.  We do multiplication drills with Eager and Go-for-It, and addition for CuddleBunny.  There is a grab bag of healthy treat rewards for improvements.  So far, it's a very popular new curriculum addition.

• Decide on and make at least one new recipe from 1,001 Best Slow-Cooker Recipes: The Only Slow-Cooker Cookbook You'll Ever Need    I decided on "Chicken Chili with Orange Cilantro Rice."  But didn't make it yet.

I send a similar salad with Hubby every day. 

• Eat Clean, and drink lots of water   I did pretty well at this.  I found that it's easier to remember to drink water in the quieter mornings, and on weekdays.  Afternoons and weekends get busy and I forget.  But I'm still working on it and improving.  I've made a much better effort at getting breakfast right away in the morning, and making myself a good lunch... usually a salad with some type of protein (chicken, canned salmon, or hard-boiled egg).

• Join my early-risers for breakfast each morning    I count this as my biggest accomplishment of the week.  It's not as horrible to get up early as I'd thought.  I don't think the little bit of interrupted sleep I got during the next hour or two was that helpful, anyway.  The couple of mornings I was tempted to let Hubby and the rest of the early crowd fend for themselves, I just couldn't do it.  Not only do I enjoy being with them and making sure they have breakfast and good lunches, and helping with any little tasks to get them out the door on time, I enjoy the time after.  I spiff up the kitchen and tend to email and blog-checking before the next 3 awaken.  Sometimes I get 20 minutes, and sometimes it's well over an hour.                                                                                                                            

• Be in bed by 10 PM each night   This is my biggest failure--  It does not work well to get up earlier without getting to bed earlier!  But it is tough to make this change.  With dinner at the same time as before, it hasn't been easy to restructure the rest of the evening so that I can call it a day before 11 or 11:30.  Definitely still a work in, at this point, slow progress.                                                                                                                       

• Breathe, have some quiet time, and hopefully, not only talk to God, but listen   OK, maybe this is a bigger failure.  I didn't even come close on this one, which was pretty important.  Quiet time, like the 'me time' recommended by Jane of Attic Mag, is something so foreign to me, that I'm not sure how to do it... yet.

Overall, I wasn't very successful with staying off the computer in the kids' presence.  There is so much I do on it... Pay bills, do taxes, check the library, research Scripture.... The list goes on an on.  But I do think I did a little better at sitting with my kids during school time and doing other things with them, especially without constantly thinking, "I need to write a blog post for tomorrow."