Sniffles

We all have colds here. This has stalled some of our plans but it's all good. I managed to paint some picture frames and we will be hanging stuff tonight. I have another side project that I am also VERY excited about:

Once a Month Cooking!

Normally I love to cook. The husband and I are aspiring foodies. We don't eat anything out of a box. But you know what? The whole process loses its charm when your baby is screaming the whole time. So the plan for March is to cook once, fill the freezer and then just reheat for the rest of the month.

Technically it won't be the whole month because I'm cooking this weekend. We are away at the end of the month and I plan on cooking a proper meal for my husband's birthday on the 26th. So I figure we will need 18 dinners. There will be some repeats. I have picked out six simple dinners, shopping is Saturday, chopping is Saturday night, cooking is Sunday.

Today I need to put together my shopping list and tomorrow I need to make up my game plan for Sunday. I hope this works!

Week One Is Done!

Woot! So how did I do? The dog seems happier. There's been a bunch of new snow that's kind of putting a damper on things in that regard. Somehow I wasn't really up for doing the stroller push through a pile of new snow on two hours sleep. But I think we are definitely more in a dog walking habit here.

I have a meeting with a financial planner on Thursday. I think this is going to bring about the biggest change. I want to go somewhere warn and sunny next year so hopefully buddy can make that happen.

I have an optometrist appointment on March 6th! Seeing is good! Oh and by the way Costco optical centre - you should answer your phone. You lost a customer.

I have no naturopath appointment! That was deliberate. I was thinking with financial planner, vision, dentist, visit from Miss Megan, baby immunizations and a holiday this March we are pretty booked up. So I made a note in my appointment file to call in April.

Doesn't seem like much but at least I accomplished something. So what's on the menu this week? Pictures. Specifically the hanging of them. We have a picture over the couch that is positioned for couches we haven't had in almost a year. It looks ridiculous. I have pictures in frames leaning against walls all over. The kids' pictures for their rooms are stacked in closets. This should make a big difference to the appearance of the house. Also - eat more baked potatoes. Just because.

About those phone calls..

Because that was the whole point of this week. No, I haven't called anyone yet. You know I'm a procrastinator right? I set deadlines just so that I have a last possible second to do things. Without a deadline the last possible second becomes the end of time. So the calls will happen tomorrow between 4 and 5 pm.

But the good news is that this effort to hang out with the dog has forced me to get up and moving every day. I've been dressed more than not this week! Today we didn't go for a walk, but we did run around in the backyard. I think Kallie had a good time, at least until a sinister crow showed up to spoil the party. Baby Annie enjoyed herself too!

Here's a random bit of self-improvement: for years I have been baking potatoes all wrong. I feel so much shame because I am usually in the know when it comes to food things. But I was unaware that you shouldn't bake potatoes in foil. I hope somebody besides me also didn't know this. You are supposed to scrub, rub with olive oil, rub again with a bit of sea salt, poke some holes with a fork and put them right on the rack in the oven. So many years, so many wasted potatoes. So I am going to eat one every day for the next month to make up for it. Nom.

Mmm...pancakes...

Breastfeeding is my favourite form of exercise. It takes about an hour a day, you just have to sit on the couch and it burns hundreds of calories. I think I'm going to keep feeding this kid until she leaves home just for the burn.

Anyways, the really grand thing is that it allows you to indulge once in a while. As you may know, I am super religious so I observe this thing called Shrove Tuesday. You are supposed to eat pancakes that day. I don't know why. I tend not to ask questions when I'm told to eat pancakes.

So I had blueberry pancakes for lunch and they were awesome. Tomorrow is this thing called Ash Wednesday (because god wants you to give up smoking for Lent?). I am going to do my usual and give up Christianity until Easter. I am really serious about this depriving stuff though so I also give up Christianity from Easter to Christmas. I know, right?

So that's what I did today. I made pancakes. And did some laundry. And cleaned the upstairs bathroom. And fulfilled my daily appointment with the dog! Have not missed one yet! I see a potential problem with my plan though. I like to walk around 10am because it puts the baby to sleep. Unfortunately the old ladies with the unleashed dogs also like to walk at this time. These dogs are small and mean. Take a couple rabid rats, glue them together, throw on a scraggly wig and there you go. They attack anything that moves. A confrontation is coming and I don't know how my dog will react. She generally likes other dogs but so do I and I want to kick these little critters in the teeth. Sigh.

Ah well. Freja is enjoying the extra outside time so that's a bonus.

Weigh In Monday!

I was doing this on Fridays but I think that was just encouraging me to eat like a pig and sit on my ass for the weekend. So back to Mondays it is.

152.8! A couple weeks ago it was 155.4. And at the new year I weighed 165. 130s by 30, here I come! And I have a new appointment to make. I promised myself a salon visit for the first 10 pounds lost this year.

Off to a decent start! The dog enjoyed her appointment anyways. If anybody is looking for a way to shed some pounds in the winter:
- invest in a heavy duty double stroller
- fill the stroller with 50lbs worth of baby/toddler or choice of baby/toddler substitute (pile of bricks in a snowsuit?)
- push through fresh snowfall for 45 minutes

Week 1: Pick Up The Damn Phone

I suck at making appointments. I haven't had a haircut in two years because I forget to call. But you know, some things are more dire than a bad case of split ends.

Challenges this week:
1. Call a financial planner!
2. Call the optometrist!
3. Call the naturopath!

I also need to make appointments with my dog. Poor bugger has been cast aside since Annie was born. So Kallie, I'll be seeing you every day for an outing. This should benefit the weight loss too!

The beginning

I am a notoriously bad blogger. Actually I am just bad at keeping anything up at all beyond the very basics of survival. So now I am going to attempt to use this thing that I'm bad at to fix the other things that I'm bad at. Good luck?

So don't screw what up? What's it? It = everything. Life in general. Since having my second baby four months ago I've really noticed that things around here just don't get done. We are all fed and relatively clean, but I want more than that. I want good health, organization, financial strength. I want to enjoy every day.

I don't expect anyone to read this. It will probably be boring. But hopefully the mere thought that someone might see it will be enough to keep it up.

Sooo...things I need to fix:
Health: I have fibrolepsy (that's fibromyalgia and epilepsy). I see doctors for neither of these conditions. So clearly I need to find a neurologist. This will hopefully put me on the path to driving again. I need a naturopath for the fibromyalgia. Maybe said NF can also help with figuring out what do about my food intolerances.

I need to be less fat. I have 23 lbs of baby weight I'm still hauling around. Blah blah you're breast feeding and shouldn't worry about it. Unfortunately there is a part of my brain that translates that to "you can eat two dozen peanut butter cookies this weekend".

I can't see properly. Yeah.

My teeth are cavity prone so I need to crank up my dental routine.

Financial: I know you aren't "supposed" to talk about this stuff but if I don't share I won't change. My husband makes a nice six figure salary and we have next to no savings and are still in debt (car and student loans). This seems really stupid to me. So fix that.

Organization: The house is a cluttered mess. I can't even remember to hang a picture on the wall. We don't have a will. No seriously. Two kids, no will. Because I always forget about it. The mail is everywhere. I don't even know what happens with the bills.

That's the basics. So I'm going to do weekly challenges to try and make some changes. Wish me luck!