i’ve figured myself out. i’m lazy. that’s it.
and i’ve been spoiled.
andrey has been taking over the boy-duty when he wakes in the morning. and that’s when i’ve been getting my sleep. sleeping way in. and i could lay in that bed all day long if he didn’t come looking for me a few hours later. he’s been doing my dishes and changing the poopy ones. and i’ve gotten oh-soooooo used to it.
but the weather is changing and the business of building houses is picking back up and life will go back to how it should be. with more order. a schedule. a routine. and to-do lists. i am no good at those things.
i need those things.
and so do my children.
and my marriage.
with the new fresh year - comes new fresh perspective. a simple text from my friend with the word POTENTIAL in it has me anxious to get on with this. because i have some! potential, that is. and i’ve got goals. and this year i’ve got a birthday coming that starts with three and oh. and i’m feeling like that’s pretty good motivation to finally get on with the things that have been holding me back.
so… to start:
i’m buying a big giant blank canvas. and i’m going to paint on it. finally.
i woke up to an alarm clock this morning. and i got out of bed.
i took this rolly-polly-post-baby-body to walk the mall. and i did four fast laps!
(i swear that when i saw my reflection in the GAP window display that i already looked skinnier, too!)
i said good-bye to my beloved peppermint kisses.
and bye-bye cold crisp cokes in a can.
tonight we’ll talk budget. and chore charts (for me and lucas.)
but here’s where i need some help.
how do i do it?
how do you tap into the artistic part of your brain and let the painting begin? does your four year old have chores and allowance? how do you stay in shape? and really – what does a person on a diet eat for lunch?? got any tips for sticking to a budget that don’t involve the dave and envelopes? and tossing anthro catalogs?
oh and cleaning house – how do you keep up?
i’m excited to try new things.
to stay motivated.
to make good changes.
to fit into my jeans.
love, lin
p.s. happy four birthday to this little bloggy space of mine!
The big THREE-OH is coming for me this year, too. In August. It's enough to kick me in the rear and be a real adult.
ReplyDeleteMy little guy (three) has simple chores. I put the dog food in the cup and he pours it into her bowl. I fold the clothes and he takes them to their respective rooms. It's not "productive", but it's teaching him about responsibilities.
Happy bloggy birthday, LL!
happy birthday to your cozy corner!
ReplyDeleteso...3 of my boys have chores, but unfortunately they don't receive an allowance yet. (something i hope to change soon.) my 3 yr old empties the silverware from the dishwasher & helps wipe down mirrors & glass doors. the 2 older boys do it all! (almost) swiffer, toilets, load & unload the dishes, sinks. it took awhile, but with practice they know what they need to do each day. because of my guy with autism, we have a STRICT schedule & it has really helped the other boys as well. once you have the schedule in place, it's just like clockwork.
motivation to exercise is mostly for health reasons, but sometimes out of a severe fear i have of the dreaded "letting myself go". won't happen. no way. i will not be "that" woman.
chicken fajita wraps. mmmmmm yum for lunch. pretty much what i feed my children without the dessert after & no second helpings. (booo on no 2nds.)
budget? what? i'm not really familiar with that word. i just try really hard to remember that the boys get 1st dibs on clothes, activities, etc. first for me is staying away from the mall where anthro is located. it used to be hard, but now i just dream about it for my future self.
potential is a perfect word. & 30 is such a fun change. & yesterday, when you said something about painting on twitter, i honestly said to myself "that is something that i am definitely looking forward to seeing this year!" i cannot wait to see what you come up with in that crafty, lovely brain of yours.
my apologies for the length lindsay, but i have a lot of admiration for you & i know that that girl in the reflection in the GAP windows will just keep turning into the girl you want her to be!
I would love more artistic time. I know I could carve some out, but I am usually so haggard that when those few minutes roll around I don't feel up to being artistic.
ReplyDeleteI exercise in the very early morning. If I try to do it with kids, or even taking the kids to the gym nursery, it just cuts too much into my day. I sacrifice sleep for exercise but I think its worth the pay off.
As for lunch, I eat some mac and cheese or something with the kids, but some greek yogurt and fruit can make a pretty solid lunch too.
For me, I can't do it all, but I can try to do some.
Oh! Your blog looks so pretty with that coke picture on there. Is it killing you?
ReplyDeleteArtistic time: happens late into the night or not at all. So basically that means I'm up late. A lot.
Chores: My children have chores but they don't get paid. Unless Ryan bribes them with a puppy or a DS. You know how it goes. . .
Shape: Trying to figure this out myself. I really love my pilates video but usually opt to take a nap while the babies are sleeping rather than workout. Dang.
Lunch: My least favorite meal of the day.
Budget: I have a specific dollar amount to work with every week. When it's gone, it's gone.
Cleaning house: I'm working myself out a little house cleaning schedule. Today was laundry day. It's all done and it feels so good!
Lin, I love you to the moon and back. I really do. There is something about you that makes my heart swell. I'm dead serious.
ReplyDeleteSo about your questions:
1. I feel inspired by so much around me. I can't really go looking for it though, it just has to find ME.
2. our kids have chores, but as our kids get older and life gets busier, I find it harder to carve out time for chores, and as a result, housework suffers. I find that more and more of the responsibility has fallen onto me. That irritates me because I always thought I would get MORE help as the kids got older, you know? I have to step it up!
3. staying in shape? this is my #1 struggle in life. I like to eat too much, and I like to exercise too little. It is a daily struggle to get myself out the door to move this body. I wish it wasn't so hard for me. I have the desire, but lack the drive. I'm working on it, and have set some pretty big goals for myself this year that will require more dedication. I'm shooting for daily 1/2 hour runs for now, but will need to step it up in a month. pray for me.
4. for lunch, I have salads. different salads every day. one day I'll have a chicken salad with dried cranberries, sliced almonds and a raspberry lime vinaigrette, another day, I'll have a taco salad with ground turkey, tomatoes, cilantro, olives and crushed tortilla chips topped with fat free sour cream and salsa.
5. budget? what's a budget? seriously. I suck at this.
6. cleaning house. like I mentioned in #1, I struggle with this as well. I have made some big strides lately and Danyelle would be proud of my most-of-the-time-empty-sink :) I'm working on it. I would like to make a weekly schedule for myself that I stick to, but am not sure that's realistic. Lately, I've been trying to do the dishes first thing in the morning and again, just before bed. I also try to do a little laundry everyday.
Happy blog birthday!
P.S. I'm pretty sure that was the longest comment I've EVER left. Hope you don't mind.
after I pressed publish your comment, it told me my comment was too long to process and I thought it erased it all, but WHEW... it's there :)))
ReplyDeleteWow, Andrey sounds like a super star for letting you sleep in. I'd sleep in too if I had that option!
ReplyDeleteI wish I had any really good advice for you, but I am working on pretty much the exact same things as you are.
ReplyDeleteMy new year's resolution began last night at 10:00. I promised myself I would be in bed by 10 with lights out at 10:30. And I did it!
I am also working on getting my almost 1 year old to sleep through the night. I am a sucker for a teething babe though so this is a tough one for me. I just know I have to get enough sleep to wake up at 6:30 to exercise. (I have an elliptical machine in my garage which I used for 1/2 in the morn). Ryan got up with me this morning and danced his cares away with a dancing game on his Kinect. I am going to give it a try tomorrow morning.
Lunch for me when I am dieting usually consists of a diet soda (I know, naughty), and a turkey wrap with hummus and lots of veggies, or a protein smoothie, or for an extra light day I will eat air popped popcorn with some Mrs. Dash.
Chores? I am terrible at assigning those. For now, all housework falls on me. But if you find a magic formula for this let me know :)
Artistic time for me lately has been about dreaming rather than doing. One of my goals for this year is to get my house decorated from top to bottom. the trick is getting my $$ and free time to coincide. really though, I wait until the kids are in bed before I attempt to do anything crafty.
Whew! Good luck to you and your goals. And happy blog birthday!
progress...not perfection. thinking this might help me as I put pen to paper and make a few goals of my own.
ReplyDeletelittle kiddos at my house disinfect door knobs and light switches on chore day.
can't help you on the diet and exercise thing, as I have eaten sugar for lunch the last two weeks and fallen asleep on the couch while my husband P90Xs.
i would craft every minute of my day if I could.
The big picture helps me the most. Why eat good, exercise, clean my house or raise my kids right if i don't really know why? It's about true love for yourself and your family. keeping yourself healthy because your body is a gift and you want it to be functional for as long as possible. Long term goals like hiking with grandkids:) Run and not be weary, walk and not faint...
ReplyDeleteloosing weight, energy, feeling good about yourself are just benefits. It's a lifestyle that's why dieting doesn't work.
Keeping my house clean (as much as possible) a house of order is a house of God, I want my kids to have learned it by my example hopefully. Routine is key.
budget=www.mint.com it's easy, get it all on there and then make a once a week budget date.
oh man.... wish i could help you somehow but Im in the same boat as you are... My husband deeply believes that dave and his envelopes are going to save me from a spending catastrophy so Im giving it a try.... we'll see how THAT goes=) and does the WII count as exercising???
ReplyDeleteAs for the house cleaning Im currently waitting for the cleaning fairy to stop by so when I see her Ill pass her on to you=)
lets hanging out soon???
Diet and lunch times are hard for me. I buy Smart Ones when they are on sale. They are low in calories and easy to pop in the microwave. Not necessarily the healthiest choice, but better than starving or binging. Good luck. Your goals sound great!
ReplyDeleteSo I can't look at your blog until you get a new post, that coke looks too refreshing and i'm really trying to kick that habit, well at least for the next 18days!
ReplyDeletegeesh, I read this and I could have written this blog today. I went back to sleep after one of my kids got on the bus today. I just wanna sleep.
ReplyDeleteI'm gonna be three-oh this year too. We have a few chores but I'm thinking they need more. I lift weights with a trainer - totally worth it. I eat a lot of grilled cheese for lunch;) and cleaning? the flylady helps me.
it's nice knowing there are other people out there working on the same things i'm trying to work on...
ReplyDeletei love your blog.
and p.s., i have the same dilemma with what to eat for lunch. usually i eat an apple with cheese, but that won't cut it forever... and it's too hard to really make something fancy in the middle of the day. grr..
ReplyDeleteugh, lunch is the worst. I go for cereal a lot.
ReplyDeleteas for chores Ivy's job is to unload the silverware out of the dishwasher and then at 5 we start cleaning up for when Dad comes home. It gives us something to do in the dreaded witching hour, and she's so excited to see her dad that she wants it to be nice for him. That has been the biggest help around here. Good Luck!
Four years! Wow, that's amazing! I'm not even quite at one with my blog yet and I'm still wondering how people do it. How do you balance it all? How do you balance you're inner need to be creative, and still keep up with the house and the little ones without going insane or feeling guilty for spending time doing the things you want to do?
ReplyDeleteI love your questions too. I've just barely gotten the hang of asking my little ones to help take turns with me in doing the chores. As for the budget thing, I stink at envelopes. I'm a debit card girl, but I've gotten pretty good at keeping track of most of what I spend in my head because we've had the same budget for the last two years. Anyway, good luck with all your goals this year!
~Robin
The Eat-Clean Diet is AMAZING. The best book ever for deciding what good foods to eat. :) good luck! You motivate me!
ReplyDelete