2019 Resolutions

I LOVE formulating resolutions. As always, execution remains problematic... before I get to want I want to do in 2019, here's a look back at my 2018 resolutions...

🏡 House projects: This year we converted the bar into a pantry and the butler's pantry into a mini-mudroom (tremendous improvements in functionality!); gave the front of the house a makeover (new lights, door color, hardware, and seating); and completed some landscaping of the front yard. 

🎫 Re-boot of monthly cultural event with Amanda. Boo - didn't do this!

📷 The Shoot Along course. I still have all the instructional e-mails! Bah!

💻 Blog more frequently. Blogged far less frequently, in fact.

 📚 Read 25 books. This year I read 12 books but started many more. I used to keep reading past the point of education or fun but I've become much more selective about my time.

💍 Wear the jewelry that I have. I did switch out my earrings once in a while ... in the course of a year.

🍴Lose weight. I lost ten pounds with Weight Watchers. 

⚡Feeling strong again: I joined CycleBar and went to 115 classes from March to December, usually at 5:30 in the morning. Success!

2019

💥 BODY 💥

1) In 2016 through 2018 I worked with a personal trainer on and off with the goal of lifting heavy like I did in San Antonio with the plan to get my cardio / HIIT through the many classes available at the gym. That was sort of successful until scheduling became too difficult and it was no more than once per week under the best of circumstances. This year I joined CycleBar and went a BUNCH! A win! In the fall I joined a CrossFit gym but haven't gone as much as I'd like. When a recent newsletter said a 12 week, 5 day a week Olympic lifting cycle was starting Dec 31 I thought about it for a few days - could I get there and be ready to lift at 5:30 am? I concluded this was exactly the jumpstart I needed to finally realize my goal of intense lifting with a coach and work this gym (that I'm paying for!) into my schedule. This will carry me through March. I am a little nervous because this level of intensity is beyond my comfort zone - where all worthwhile things dwell, no? It will also be the crummiest time of the year - dark, cold, very early.

2) I read this NPR article about exercise and habit formation -  thought about the shows I want to watch (The Final Table, The Crown, the new season of Top Chef, Alias Grace) We recently moved our tv upstairs - meaning I can row and watch tv, aka "temptation bundling".

3) Stretching. My very poor mobility is getting worse. I am still looking for a circuit that I like (so I'll actually do it) but in the meantime I'll use the Yoga Studio app's flows for flexibility, another stretching app, and a series from Shape magazine.

4) I'll take a little break from CycleBar (once or twice per week during the 12 week lifting program, which will replace my usual 5:30 am spin time - and then some 😳)

5) Tracking / accountability: Elise Blaha's newsletter contained the 2019 tracker (an example here) I'm going to fill in two - one for weights/spin/etc and one for stretching. I have insight into how motivated I am by getting gold stars and will harness that renewal energy (turning satisfaction into enthusiasm and willpower) - and probably post on Instagram to boost a little peer pressure / narcissism power.

6) Other: row six times a month; go to four classes per month at the gym (yoga, pilates, HIIT); stretch 5 times a week.

I will be checking in at the end of March! This is a lot - it's hard to get to bed early enough to wake up at 4:45, so hard to wake up at 4:45, so hard to put a long day of work afterward, so hard to have anything left in the tank for my family at the end of the day. I am eager to see where I can get in 12 weeks* by putting my nose to the grindstone, pushing myself, eating enough protein, being on task enough to get enough sleep.

*I already know I will miss some days due to Luke or my being out of town.

✏ MIND ✏

1) At least two years I've failed at my goal of reading 25 books - failed by a long shot. I'm still shooting for it this year! (Full disclosure: I'm going to count the book I'm reading now, Tommy Orange's There There, in the 2019 tally!) Next up: Shane Bauer's American Prison and a TBD book about personal finance.

2) That's it. My brain is too full!

♡ SPIRIT ♡

1) Amanda and I have re-commited to attending one cultural event a season together! Four! We can do this! And have you checked out Amanda's tours yet?!!

2) Dress with joy, starting with this pink jumpsuit:

image via

3) I love seeing obscure dramas at Frontenac so if you're going - call me! (As long as I can be in bed by 10!)



⛏ DWELLING ⛏

1) Finish front yard landscaping (looking forward to seeing what survived the winter!) Replant the raised beds in the spring - no cucurbits! They were decimated by squash bugs. I'm going to buy plants instead of starting seeds inside.

2) Paint Hire a painter to paint the main rooms white.

3) I am excited to buy some new workout clothes but MUST sort and cull what I have. I plan to pick out my clothes - work and workout - each Sunday. Discipline is freedom! Pick out your outfits well in advance! Fill out your food log the night before! Wear a uniform a la Steve Jobs (and the millions of people who wear actual uniforms) - and free up your brainspace and mitigate decision fatigue! I know what to do ... but can I do it?

Happy new year, friends! What are you up to?

Resolutions past:

 2011 // Word of 2012 // 2013 // 2014 // 2015 //  Summer 2015 and Summer 2015 eval // 2016 // 2017 // 2017 summer // 2018

2018 Resolutions

A look back, a look forward.

Last year I wanted to schedule things like...

personal trainer sessions   CHECK

swimming lessons   CHECK - AND DIDN'T LIKE SWIMMING

monthly massages   CHECK

15-30 minutes of yoga a day   INFREQUENT

monthly cultural event with Amanda   DIDN'T HAPPEN BUT A LOT OF OTHER STUFF DID

meal prep   MOSTLY ACCOMPLISHED

Sunday suppers and reaching out to new people   CHECK (but not as often as I'd like)

A check-in with my 2017 personal growth projects:

// Shoot Along camera course. I didn't do a single one! Bah!

// Swimming lessons. I did five lessons which isn't enough to become a proficient swimmer but is sufficient to realize you'd rather be lifting weights, playing tennis... really anything that doesn't involve wet hair + winter nights.

// Read at least one book a month. I read fourteen books this year. Met my goal though my second, more ambitious goal was 25 books -- one book every two weeks plus one when traveling, etc.

// Surprise: those 20 pounds are still there.

In 2017 we travelled a lot (San Antonio! Kentucky! Italy! Chicago! San Diego! Portland! Charleston! Phoenix! All over Texas!)  In 2018 I want to devote my time (and our money) to our new home. For the first time  (I'm always thinking about where to next?), I'm thinking about making this place our own, rather than inhabiting it like the peripatetic hermit crab I've been. Segue to my projects/goals for the next year:

🏡 House projects: In the next six months I want to 1) raise our sunken living room 2) turn the bar into a pantry 3) do the girls' rooms 4) furnish the guest room. The first two are in the very early planning stages with a design firm. The third and fourth I'm going to brainstorm over the next weeks in order to accomplish over an upcoming vacation week. Upgrade the toddler beds, (hire someone to) paint the walls, decorate. So far this unicorn bedding is the front runner; I like the colors, they like the print. Should they share a room? Free up the other for a guest room, an office, an art area for them? Any advice? 

🎟 Re-boot of monthly cultural event with Amanda.

📷 The Shoot Along course. I have all the 2017 lesson emails. Wouldn't it be great to learn some photography basics and have a year of portraits to show for it? Especially if you've already paid for it?!!

💻 Blog more frequently. This is my diary, photo dump, mindfulness practice, and gratitude journal.

📚 Read 25 books. One every two weeks plus an extra -- seems doable! 

💍 Throwing an achievable one in here: wear the jewelry that I have. I haven't changed my earrings in six months.

🍎 Lose weight. It's hard to do. Meal prep, mindfulness, bye bye carbs.

⏰  I've been getting more efficient at work yet am dismayed by the amount of time I get with the girls in the evenings -- don't get to the gym -- don't seem to have any downtime at night. My solution is to wake up at 5:30 every day and either walk to work (35 minutes from our house), go to the gym, or do a home workout if Luke isn't around to take the girls to school. I used to get up at 4:30 regularly to get to Alamo 180. I can do this! I want to feel strong again.

I'll check in with these in three months. Happy New Year!

Resolutions 2011 // Word of 2012 // 2013 // 2014 // 2015 //  Summer 2015 and Summer 2015 eval // 2016 // 2017 // 2017 summer

Summer Goals

A check-in with my 2017 resolutions and a list of of what I want to accomplish this summer:

How have I done with December's plans? The good:

// I've been great about working out with Courtney because I love working out with Courtney!

// I took swimming lessons! Five of them. Decided swimming simply wasn't enjoyable enough to pursue with my little free time. And I don't like the chlorine, the wet hair afterwards ... obstacles.

// I purchased a monthly massage membership this month, finally. Really thought this resolution would have been a breeze.

// I have been pretty good about cooking; so much depends on how much Luke and I are each around on a given week. I've happened upon a meal that the girls love: prepared meatballs with Kirkland marinara. I shake a half-bag of frozen meatballs into slow cooker and pour over a jar of marinara. Heat. Serve. I wish it were homemade but I'm thrilled they're eating protein, the sauce has no added sugar, and that the components are always in the pantry and freezer means I'm rarely caught without dinner options. I round out their meals with berries, mango, green beans, guacamole/avocado (Josie), and, recently, hard-boiled eggs (again, for Josie - she's the more adventurous eater though she doesn't like the yolk - "no yike the goat [the yolk]".)

// We have hosted brunches with friends and playdates and that's been great. I've extended invitations to makers in the community I want to get to know but no dinners have materialized.
// Amanda and I were on a roll with our Monthly Cultural Event but Life Interceded. I hope to resume these soon! Next up: floating.

// I've read six books this year, my stated goal being one per month, but my real goal is 25 books this year - 2 a month plus an extra. Sounds so manageable! Both ahead and behind here. Bogged down in the second book of the Margaret Atwood's MaddAddam trilogy and I'm giving up! Moving on to Jim Harrison's memoir A Really Big Lunch - I can already tell I'm going to love it.

In the haven't category:

// Haven't lost 20 pounds. Boo. In fact, I've gained weight! Double boo! 

// Haven't been doing the Shoot Along photography course. Have been saving the emails.

// Was doing great scheduling my hair appointments in advance but here I am again, in need of color/cut/straightening, going to have to wait weeks because Luke is out of town and then I'm on call. 

From here:

// Body: find ways to get to the gym more regularly. I started a 14 week strength training program in February that I had to suspend because of work, travel, child care, the usual. The first half is 4 days a week of lifting and the second five days week. I'm two weeks in again but it will definitely take more than 14 weeks to complete. I have a relatively travel-free summer and completion of the Bigness Project is my fitness goal. I've set a goal of at least 10 minutes of yoga every day in the month of June - so far, so good. The Yoga Studio app changed its billing structure on June 4th but I think it's worth $20 a year.

// Mind: catch up to my two books a month goal. Keep up with the journals that arrive weekly - skim and download the pdfs I want as references.

// Spirit: dedicate time with each girl solo and with Luke. They are such wonderful ages and I want to make the most of this summer - impromptu picnics, splash pad visits, saying yes instead of saying no [I have to leave/ask Daddy/let's talk about it...] With Luke I want to attend at least one concert in the park (Shakespeare? Jazz? Any of them), watch House of Cards together, perhaps see ANY of our photos from Italy last month.

// Home: I am such a cluttery person and it drives me nuts - my own clutter. I want to get a handle on at least our bedroom in order to justify the purchase of 1-2 pieces of furniture. I have had this dresser and armoire picked out for at least three years. The only furniture purchase we've made during our six year marriage is our bed - everything else is a hand-me-down, made by my dad (cool, huh?), or less than $100 from a resale shop. First step: pare down. Second step: Figure out which pieces will fit. Third step: Go for it!

// For the girls: Get them to the pool at least twice a week to swim. Planning to couple this with my workouts - 30 minutes of lifting, then swim.

// Creativity: Begin the project - a blog about workwear - I've been talking about for so long!

What are your plans?

2017 Resolutions

Resolutions 2011 // Word of 2012 // 2013 // 2014 // 2015 //  Summer 2015 and Summer 2015 eval // 2016

WORD FOR 2017:

DISCIPLINED

My goal for the year is to schedule more activities in advance and to be intentional and disciplined about how I spend my time. I was thinking about this recently when I realized I needed a haircut and color and when I called the salon, my stylist was booked for weeks (of course). Initial Veruca Salt reaction: I WANT IT NOWWWW! Second reaction: Why don't I make these appointments in advance? (For one thing, my work schedule is different week to week and is created about 6 weeks out -- great for flexibility, difficult for planning). Maybe a more accurate word of the year is proactive rather than reactive. Nothing new here -- the previous six resolution posts revolve around the same goals - more cooking, more exercise, more planning -- but life is getting more chaotic and if I don't plan and organize more effectively, running behind on the activities of daily living will shut out any time for personal growth projects.

Examples:

// Scheduling my personal training sessions a month at a time with Courtney (Hi Courtney!!!)

// Schedule swimming lessons (in the works) to achieve my goal of lap swimming. (I want to start tennis lessons but haven't found time to go by the club for a tour - doesn't bode well).

// Buy a monthly massage membership. (I like this resolution)

// Schedule my 15-30 minutes of yoga a day (the app allows to add classes to your calendar).

// Amanda and I are going have dinner and attend one cultural event per month. (January's outing is already planned: dinner & dancing with someone else dancing --> Pastaria and Big Muddy Dance Company's Menagerie.)

// Set aside time for meal prep on Saturday or Sunday - actually write it down in my Get To Work Book. I'm very excited to start cooking regularly again. (Here's something I don't need but really want: the All-Clad slow cooker with browning function! To decrease number of pans to clean? I'm sure I'll find a reason).

// Schedule Sunday suppers with friends - very low key, no stress get togethers that require only a quick tidy-up and takeout.

// Reach out to people I don't know (or don't know well) but want to get to know because their work is interesting, they're doing cool things, etc. Come to the suburbs and tell me about your project! I will feed you!

image via

Personal growth projects:

📷 Shoot Along camera course starting next week.

🏊 Swimming lessons. I've been wanting to explore lap swimming for a long time and squandering the opportunity of living next to a heated indoor lap pool is ridiculous.

📚 Read at least one book a month (sounds very easy - but weeks like the last one happen, in which I fall asleep next to a sick kid every night).

😬 Personal un-growth project: I want to lose 20 pounds before our big vacation this year. UGH. This requires that I plan menus, make almost all of my own food, log everything in myfitnesspal, and - horrors! - give up carbonated beverages. Low Carb Land, here we come.

image via

🏋  In addition to working out with Courtney, yoga to mitigate the damage of a desk job, and swimming (and tennis?), I'm resolving to watch my shows on my tablet on the stationary bike or elliptical (better than sitting still) - I bought the second season of Outlander (going to have to find a bike situated out of the line of sight of other gym goers -- some of those scenes are NSFW(out) 🔥🔥🔥) Luke has opted out of The Man in the High Castle and The Crown - those will be gym shows.

Same goes for magazines. I was using the Texture app on my tablet but it crashed and froze so much I cancelled it and just today treated myself to the print issues of magazines that I look forward to reading - Real Simple, InStyle, Rachael Ray, Oprah, Bon Appetit and BUST (which I've never read before, but definitely want to support "a magazine and website that provides news, entertainment, celebrity, lifestyle, and fashion from a feminist perspective.") To guard against clutter (the reason I used Texture to begin with) - I will deposit these in a gym-bound bag upon receipt. Cycle, ellipticize, peruse. 

We're rearranging the house a bit and I'll be able to use my TRX (and RIP) trainers at home too. Obstacles are crumbling, excuses are evaporating...

I've learned from experience that a little mindfulness - or follow through, or organization, whatever you want to call it - in one area of my life reinforces positive behavior in others. Went to the gym in the morning -- eats a nourishing breakfast. Got to bed before 10:30 - easier to wake up early. Spent an afternoon in the kitchen cooking and catching up on podcasts -- intellectual satisfaction tied to gustatory satisfaction and the contentment of opening the fridge to containers of delicious meals for my family for the week.


For a post on a theme of discipline this has been a scenic ramble through motives and aims and hopefully some measurable outcomes. 2016 has been a great year for me personally but in 2017 I want to be productive.

Here's to a great year, friends!

March Goals

First week of March - time for a rundown of my February goals.

// 15 gym visits.YES! Excellent iron class attendance this month.

// Yoga 15 times and TRXing. Not even close.

// Two dates. We went to a play and one brunch date.

// Weekly meal prep. Doing great here which is having profound impacts on my stress level and mood.

 // Read one child development/parenting book a week. Sorry kids, Mommy would rather focus on her own brain development and read the New Yorker.

via GIPHY
 

// Make a photo book and order prints. I ordered prints for myself and my grandma with Social Print Studio.

// Wear the makeup I purchased in Seattle. A bit. Really liking Robin's favorite of 10 years, Prunella eyeliner.

I'm really, really annoyed at the yoga/TRX not happening. But here's how most nights go: C is in bed by 9:00. I try to pack their lunches while I'm making dinner because there's just something a little soul-crushing about this particular task at night. Ideally I'd be in bed by 9:30 so I can get up at 4:30 but no - dishwashing or Instagramming or laundry folding happens. Blah blah blah I've already talked about this. Nobody has any time so I don't know what I'm complaining about.

March goals are pretty modest due to two upcoming trips and vein ablation which requires that I take two weeks off from vigorous exercise.

// Keep up with meal prep and gym attendance. One lesson I gleaned from Gretchen Rubin's Better Than Before was the careful maintenance of good habits because of their fragility. (Also: the seeming unshakeability of bad habits). Though I can't lift weights or run after my leg procedure, I plan to get up at 4:30, go to Alamo 180, don a reflective vest, and walk (this is what I did in December after my right leg was zapped) to stay in the habit because it is REALLY EASY to not wake up so early.

// My procedure is in the third week of March which means I should get in plenty of yoga and TRX sessions beforehand! Wouldn't it be great if I could stop talking about this?!

//  Read those parenting books dammit.

// Make a photo book. As in, the easiest photo book ever. So often I let perfect be the enemy of good and have such analysis paralysis that nothing happens at all, much less something short of good or perfect. I'm embracing Alison's 2016 motto:

via The Alison Show

Just pick some photos and print it out. I'm going to love it regardless of effort expended! (ps Alison's IG feed is hysterical).

// Read The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up to prepare for Elise's visit. (The book I have downloaded is The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F*ck: How to Stop Spending Time You Don't Have with People You Don't Like Doing Things You Don't Want to Do -- sounds like a better read, no?)

2016 Goals

Goals goals goals. I always feel pressure to get my act together by the magical date of January 1. Looking over my 2015 goals I'm left with ... yes, either continue or start the things you said you were going to do. Meal prep, regular exercise, a study plan, read one novel per month, buy quality food and products (did you see The True Cost on Netflix?) These are doable and enjoyable. But lately I've been finding myself raising my voice more than I'd like, feeling frazzled and disorganized, and pulled along rather than in control of my schedule. I'm not accomplishing what I'd like to, small-scale and big picture-wise and it's driving me nuts.

via GIPHY

The theme of 2016 will be the pursuit of EQUANIMITY.

Outer order ⇄ inner calm

Somewhere I read this quote, maybe apocryphal, attributed to Jane Fonda: Discipline is freedom. That's what meal prep and regular exercise provide: a schedule and structure and a way to shore up your self-control each day (ie, I've already decided what I'm going to eat.) Scheduling yoga - even if it's 15 minutes in my bedroom at the end of the day. Planning our meals for the week so I don't end up getting takeout. Laying out the girls' outfits the night before. The kids themselves drive me crazy because while they can fight and pester each other, they can't quite play together yet. So that baseline crazy is not going to budge. While my children often seem beyond my control (??), other aspects of my home and work life can be brought to heel.


I'll be calling on the following source materials:

♦ I found so much of myself in Ben Dolnick's Letter of Recommendation: Kitchen Timer in the NYT magazine which concludes:

Without my timer, I am apparently inclined to fritter [my life] away with all the prudence of an overcaffeinated squirrel. With it, I am thoroughly constrained — and I am free.

How many times a day am I carried away by the "many gusts of trivial desire"? The time check on the phone that leads to checking Instagram that reminds me to back up my photos... and on and on. This cycle causes me anxiety -- anxiety about wasting time, anxiety about how unphotogenic my house is, anxiety about the things I'm not doing, anxiety about being a dull person who chooses mind candy over stuff of substance.

I so needed a timer after I read this article it (plus some socks to make the purchase over $20) was my first Amazon Prime Now purchase and it was delivered to my house five hours later. I'll report back if this strategy to keep myself from tumbling down the rabbit hole of Internet, phone, Netflix is efficacious.


♦ Alana Chernila's The Homemade Kitchen, the introduction to which might be one of most wonderful things I've ever read. One of the opening pages contains a photo of her kitchen - it has two features I'm planning to steal as soon as possible: a rainbow assortment of Le Creuset pieces (why choose one color?) and a sofa in the kitchen.


♦ I didn't completely love this recent On Point episode about finding and appreciating grace because I also value rawness, raunchiness, imperfection, unprettiness, and unbridled effort but the cultivation of inner calm - equanimity - spoke to me.


♦ My Get To Work Book (check it out here). I found this on Instagram and ordered one (I think I'm not alone in digging office supply porn, a genre I'm naming S&3M (have you spent 10 minutes picking out a new pen? You know who you are.) Then I found the stamps pictured below. As I was pouring over these stamps I was thinking - is this silly? But no -- there's something cool about turning a dreary old to-do list into an artistic outlet, a dynamic neon mandala of your year.

(Some examples of 'how I use my get to work book' here and here).

via @gettoworkbook

♦ Currently listening to Better Than Before: Mastering the Habits of Our Everyday Lives by Gretchen Rubin* (other scheduled womanifestos: Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert; Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes). Good commute listening.

* She is the daughter-in-law of former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin (net worth over $100 million) so I do take her advice with a grain of salt -- um, methinks you have some household help...

Action items for January:
// go to the gym 15 times
// at least 15 minutes of yoga on 15 days
// cook for the week each weekend
// read one book (I would say novel but I have two memoirs lined up, Carrie Brownstein's Hunger Makes Me A Modern Girl and William Finnegan's Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life)
// two dates with Luke
// use the next two weeks to map out my study plan and complete December and January's topics
// take two days of vacation and de-clutter while the girls are at school

See you Jan 31!

What are your 2016 plans? I'd love to hear. And you can come over and use my stamps.

Resolutions 2011 // Word of 2012 // 2013 // 2014 // 2015 //  Summer 2015 and Summer 2015 eval

Resolution of Those June Resolutions

Here's how I did with my June goals.

Attend ten fitness classes

This one, I did great. 17 classes in 25 days - 2 barre, 7 iron classes at Alamo 180, 3 spin, and 5 yoga. This was fun, this was easy, this was gratifying. Once I get rolling with class attendance, I find it very easy to maintain. Once a week slips by though...

Ride my bike five times

I rode my bike once to barre class.

Prepare five meals from One Pot, two dishes from Genius Recipes, and three meals from Healthy Slow Cooker

I didn't cook much this month because Luke was frequently gone, limiting how easily I could shop. The cordoned-off house floorplan means I cannot be in the kitchen while the girls are in the living room - if we're alone, I can't cook anything more involved than quesadillas (which C can say perfectly now; for a while it was just 'dilla'). Genius Recipes went back to the library.

Have ten days this month without any processed food 

Three. Vide supra + this takes a lot of planning and stashed snacks and meal prep.

Buy two houseplants

Three little houseplants, two succulents and something very leafy and green, all on the kitchen windowsill. What I really had in mind were plants for the enclosed porch, sideboard, and bedrooms.

Tidy up and organize my office

No movement here. I did inherit three plants from a departing colleague, so cross your fingers for them.

Plant two fabric bag beds

I bought plants and potting soil the weekend before and planted one of them on the last day of the month. Ran out of soil for the second and I'm waiting for a trellis anyway. Here's an artist's rendering of the first bed:

Against the fence, a zucchini plant. Clockwise, a marigold (Pinterest says they keep away bugs? Attract butterflies? I have no idea), stevia, mint (orange mint - smells heavenly. I like the smell of mint but in a drink? No thanks. Mojitos taste like a mouthful of lawn clippings to me but this variety - orange mint - may change my mind), thyme, garlic and onion chives, more marigolds, arugula, pineapple sage. I ate some of this *very* peppery arugula at the nursery. Eager to put it on pizza.

Rock a different look 

I did wear my contacts, smear on some eyeliner, and most daringly of all, wore shorts. I've finally outgrown my I can't wear shorts because wahhhhhh mentality because after seeing all these amputees here - a leg at the knee, both legs above the knees, a triple amputee, a man whose entire pelvis is a scarred stump - those people would give anything to walk normally, or even haltingly, or even with excruciating pain. What kind of ninny doesn't wear shorts on her perfectly good legs?!

Alright, July. I can do better! Luke is not traveling much this month, which is great for intrapersonal, interpersonal, and home projects. This at-home time before he departs for a lengthy midwest tour (details to follow!) is another reason for my digital sabbatical, which I'll talk about soon. Most of my failures (in this list and in life) stem from lack of focus, follow-through, and inability or reluctance to put forth undivided attention.

JULY GOALS

// Attend ten fitness classes. My co-worker added me to her gym membership so it's goodbye Y, hello Gold's! Now I have more childcare hours and more classes (3 gyms within 5 miles of Casa H) for a third of the cost!

// Ride bike five times. This requires formation of a new habit and therefore is somewhat difficult.

// Empty out the freezer and pantry to use up those ingredients - what my mom referred to as 'an eat-down' before a household move. As fun as it is to peruse cookbooks and make lists, there's a lot of good stuff languishing in our cupboards. This weekend I made honey mustard drumsticks, using up all of the Dijon mustard, a bottle of honey, and organic chicken from Costco retrieved from the chest freezer. More of that before I sprint off to buy pricey, novel ingredients to use a splash or quarter of, then banish to the back of the shelf.

// Ten days of minimally processed food is do-able if I cook.

// Buy plants for the beautiful, heavy, ridiculously expensive ceramic pots I bought several years ago. I put plants in them and forgot to water them. I'd also like to put a few plants on the sideboard and in the bedrooms but first I have to clear off excavate those areas.

// Office still needs a couple hours of organization. This might be an excuse to buy the label maker I've always wanted. (If someone has a label maker recommendation, I'd love to hear it.)

// Read or listen to a novel. I've read some fantastic nonfiction recently but had a 2015 goal of a novel per month. I download all of my audiobooks free through the library but I very much want to listen to Kate Atkinson's A God in Ruins - I enjoyed preceding Life After Life so much.

// Finish planting fabric beds -- keep them alive! I am hopeful I'll have a lot of zucchini to spiralize.

// Date nights - at least two.

// Complete the Wanderlust 28 Day Run Yoga Meditate Challenge. Today is Day 1, a 15 minute walk.

download image here

Hope you are having a great summer! Any projects planned or underway?

June Goals

Time to settle down and get back to day to day life in SA. I'm usually daydreaming about traveling but lately - it might have been when C's poorly positioned, saturated diaper led to my lap being utterly urine-soaked for the last hour of our flight from Las Vegas to SA that I thought, I'm really looking forward to being HOME and doing HOME THINGS.

Here's my list of things to accomplish in June.

// Attend ten fitness classes. I bought the Memorial Day military appreciation half-off unlimited monthly pass at the barre studio 0.7 miles from our house. Streeeeeetch. I was doing so well with regular gym attendance until allergy season descended in March and left me with nonstop congestion and headache - truly, a low grade headache most days and most of every day - for eight weeks. DIE TREES AND GRASSES DIE! It was truly truly truly a miserable spring.

// Ride my bike five times (ie to barre class). Charm passersby with my hamburger bell.

// Prepare five meals from One Pot.

// Prepare two dishes from Genius Recipes before its library due date. I gave this book to my May birthday sistas and am waiting for reviews from them.

// Prepare three meals from Healthy Slow Cooker from America's Test Kitchen.  I bought a digital copy of this book a while ago but haven't cooked from it yet. (Maybe I shouldn't buy digital cookbooks?) Very frequent cooking schedule for me but I want to...

// Have ten days this month without any processed food (talking about you, cheese; going to eat you, whole foods.) I love the concept of Whole30 and long term clean eating but I lack the organization, ability to grocery shop frequently, willpower, and [more excuses]. One day at a time will be much more achievable.

// Buy two houseplants to instill some cheer. Green is good.

// Tidy up and organize my office. Add a plant or two there. I have a Pinterest page devoted to plants, specifically hard-to-kill varieties.

via

// Plant two fabric bag beds. My containers are doing well - watching the watermelon plant grow has become a daily highlight - and I looked around at raised beds but decided against that purchase due to expense, reluctance to buy yet another clunky object, and poor track record of sustained gardening interest level. At $25 a piece, the Big Bag Bed Jr seem like a great starter project. 

// Rock a different look. On the weekends I normally roll out of bed when the girls wake me up (read: no shower, no makeup besides an application of sunscreen). I'm pretty sick of catching sight of my bedraggled, eyelashless, droopy-eyed self when we're out and about. Because the bedhead look is not going to change, I'm going to fully embrace it with matching heavy-eyeliner-and-mascara -- it's not dishabille, it's rock n roll! I ordered this kit along with the sun safety kit that I wait for with bated breath every year (thank you, Brady, for letting me know when it's released!) Planning a favorite sunscreen and makeup post (much like plants, I enjoy the latter in theory yet very little in practice).

Keep me accountable! See you July 1.

 I'm trying out Amazon affiliate links for books, etc. Waiting greedily for the pennies to roll in :)

Art & Almond Butter

[Scroll down and play the video so you have a soundtrack for reading]*

Hello lovers! Going to put all the notes I've been making into this post -- little bit news, little bit thoughts, little bit IT'S PRETTY AND I WANT IT.

My sister Robin has accused me for at least 15 years, nay, reaching back into the nineteen nineties, remember those? of liking shoes best described as

Space leprechaun. The shoes a leprechaun would wear in outer space.

  

                                                              --- Robin, shaking her head

Begs the question if the leprechaun is an astronaut (ie visitor) or permanent outer space inhabitant. Would the shoes be the same? Anyway you get the picture. (or do you - read this piece I just read during my allergy shot).

These Camper heels are so perfectly space leprechaun I can't even stand it. Love them.

See these two necklaces I snapped a pic of on my way to my speakeasy salon in the back of this boutique -- [a boutique that is 0.25 miles from our house and my very dear hairstylist Erin (hi Erin!) just moved there. Now all of my errands are within 2 miles. And everything else is Prime'd. #momlifehack]

Anyhoo, these necklaces are $315 a piece. Wha???? Some little bitty stones, braided leather, a glittery disc.

I started thinking about how Clem colors and exclaims - My aht! (my art!) - and how it's so cute, ha ha, babies can't make art. BUT WAIT oh yes they can and so can I! Instead of pottery classes, which turned out to be pricey (class fee + (2.5 hours babysitting x4)), my art project for this month will be the creation of a similar necklace (neck-iss, as C would say) with the help of Ann. Let's craft! May aim for a monthly creative endeavor. We can all make aht.

Other March project since no ceramics: Operation Not Hate My House. For each week of March I'm going to focus on one room, purging, rearranging. Mostly purging.

Good listening: composer Jeff Beal's process for House of Cards

Speaking of House of Cards, hating how Luke and I have no time together to watch it. We've only seen the first episode! AHHHHH!

Others to be streamed: Whiplash, Birdman, Theory of Everything, The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Considering Parks and Rec but I really can't stand Aziz Ansari - his voice is fingernails on the chalkboard of my soul.

Focusing on clean eats again, trying to bring the grams of sugar consumed/day down. Starting with buying only Chobani Simply 100s (7 g instead of 15 plus) and these single serving Barney butters (I bought plain almond and cocoa coconut. A very satisfying snack. Prime'd it of course.) 

Loving the new NYT Sunday magazine. Caught up with the first issue during my work trip this week. So good --> Sam Anderson's Letter of Recommendation for Fleetwood Mac's 1979 'Tusk' is a great read, including lines like:

It contains many of Fleetwood Mac’s greatest nonsingles, as well as some of the most powerful transmissions ever received from the astral plane occupied by Stevie Nicks.

On that work trip I finally finished Cheryl Strayed's Torch, which I really enjoyed but had to check out three times in order to complete. It's not a long book or a tough read, those three weeks just flew by each time. Torch is the fictionalized account of Strayed's mother's death, recounted in Wild and occasionally in Tiny Beautiful Things. Now that I've completed this trilogy, I recommend* reading them - and definitely read them - in this order:

                    1) Wild
                    2) Tiny Beautiful Things
                    3) Torch but not the introduction
                    4) The introduction to Torch

So glad it's March! February was a slog capped off by this work trip (a lab inspection) which presented a months-long nagging psychic burden and now it's over! Yippee! Rearranging and crafting and studying for an upcoming course and streaming House of Cards and making this margarita cake for dinner with friends next week - here I come!

*C's daycare providers say that she tries to be a little teacher, echoing commands that they give to the other kids. She comes by this bossiness honestly.

2015

I love this time of year! I love the looking back (New Year resolution posts 2011 2012 2013 2014) but mostly I love the looking forward -- January is a typically a blustery, cold, gray month but the opening weeks have so much ebullient optimism about them: A Fresh Start.

For last year's words belong to last year's language 

          And next year's words await another voice.
                             
                            from T.S. Eliot's "Little Gidding"

My 2015 has a theme -- QUALITY ---

Put good stuff in my brain

Read one novel a month

Scholastic Bootcamp: a Study Plan for Work Stuff

Meditate

Stop using my phone as a distraction

Put good stuff on the table

Continue meal planning and Sunday meal prep

Eat whole foods ('clean') except when at delicious local restaurants or treats I make myself. I don't want to live without dessert - I don't have an ascetic bone in my body - but the junk has to go. That's why I 'm making ice cream with $15 vanilla beans tonight and white chocolate raspberry scones on Sunday (so I can take them to work on Monday).

Keep the good stuff going

Nurture our marriage by doing the personal and interpersonal work to keep our relationship growing and deepening.

Do good stuff for myself and others

By eating well and keeping up with my new gym routine and adopting an active lifestyle for my daughters

Make a concerted effort to buy American made products 

at the gym Jan 1. lettering by Studio app

Tasks

Tomorrow is one of those rare days the daycare is open and I'm off. Tomorrow, the great wardrobe and bathroom closet purge is going to happen. You're sick of hearing about it, I'm sick of buying toothpaste when there's already toothpaste buried behind some towels I don't like - tomorrow I turn a merciless and minimalist eye to it all and cull cull cull.

Photo projects for 2015. Using my right thumb only I ordered 16 photo magnets using the Social Print Studio app and a poster is on its way (check that completed). My sister-in-law creates a family yearbook, an idea I'd like to adopt. I'm going to dig in to learning how to use The Real Camera we bought last year.

Looking forward to

Being caffeine free. So long, Diet Coke.

Wearing those jeans again

Four trips this winter and spring - one to each time zone!

Clem's second birthday party

This year, I seek quality - of time, both in quantity by streamlining household organization, and quality by minimizing distractions and increasing mindfulness; of food - wholesome nourishment and deserved rewards; of material goods - durability over disposability; of relationships - resist complacency!; in good books and long jogs.

Keep me accountable, friends! What is your 2015 manifesto?

Alamo 180

Many months ago I saw an Instagram photo of a yoga class at Alamo 180 in Olmos Park, 'across from the HEB'. Because I was curious about this secret grocery store, I drove by one day and saw the studio and it was indeed across the street from an HEB and only about a 7 minute drive from home. Checking out their website, an eight week fitness challenge was advertised - $250 for 5 iron (Crossfit-esque, I supposed*) and 1 yoga class per week x 8 weeks. I decided that once newborn baby stuff wrapped up I would do this challenge!

*never done Crossfit but I do like those tall socks.

My challenge ran from Nov 1 to Dec 24. Each of these marked off weekdays I rose at 4:30 am to be at the gym at 5. A couple of times when my clinical duties permitted I went at 6, but that put me in even worse rush hour traffic after dropping off C at school. Because my evenings are always at home, I wasn't able to do the yoga class part of the challenge. Saturday's class begins at a luxurious 7:30 am.

Nov 14-18 I was in Dallas at a conference and sleeping from 7 pm-6am.

green = YMCA

Every workout has a the same layout: dynamic stretching and cardio warm up (skipping, grapevines); barbell lifting; the cardio portion; run. The barbell workout consists of things I've never done before - front squats! back squats! chest press! front squat to an overhead press! etc. The cardio portion is always different - kettlebell, dumbbell moves, jumping rope, push ups, [fifty+ different exercises] for 8 to 50 minutes depending on the week. The workouts follow a four week crescendo decrescendo cycle - more and more intensity through week 3 (peak load) and a de-load week 4 to reset. The workout ends with a run, from 100 meter sprints to 2000 meter jog.

Here I want to talk about Jeff, gym owner and coach and fellow NPR listener and Central Market enthusiast, who made the impossible happen: I like the gym now! Jeff, you're a miracle worker. And a poet.

In eight weeks I lost four percent body fat (unchanged BMI grrr), upped my push ups/minute from 3 to 12, inverted rows from 20 to 34, added 23 seconds to my plank time. My run improved by only 5 seconds which would be awesome if it were 100 meters, but it was the 600 meter run. (Built for comfort, not for speed).

What I really gained: the deep satisfaction of making a resolution and sticking with it. 4:30 is early. That rise time made me restructure my evenings - setting out my workout and work clothes, packing my lunch - to make the morning run more smoothly. And that made the entire day run more smoothly. I noticed marked mood improvement (endorphins?) - whether that's due to exercise itself, starting the day with laughter and camaraderie, or the feeling of making a plan and sticking to it, who cares, I'll take it. The best part of all are the new acquaintances and friends I've made. Sometimes I feel marooned on an island consisting only of 1) a desk with a microscope and a computer and 2) a house with three cute people in it. I saw my friend Michele at the library and it was HELLO FRIEND! HELLO SOMEONE I KNOW FROM OUTSIDE OF WORK AND MY KIDS! HELLOOOOOOOO!

NOW FOR A VERY SPECIAL THIS AMERICAN WIFE SHOUT OUT TO THE BEST HUSBAND OF ANY NATIONALITY

Thank you, Luke, for staying up with this Christmas ham 

and getting up early with the girls when I was at gym, making this endeavor possible. I love you. You don't sleep and that's just one of your superpowers.

Going forward: I want to incorporate more cardio, especially Spinning, into my routine. I'm going to plan out, week by week, when I can spin at the Y (already a member) or Army post gym (free) and/or go to Alamo 180. A bit challenging as my workday is different day to day, week to week, month to month, with different meetings and conferences, AND taking into account Luke's travel and performance schedule but I'm about halfway through my fourth decade, folks. Everything* takes planning.

*seriously, everything

I have other resolutions for 2015 (forthcoming, writing them down keeps me accountable!) but fitness is the key one. I never thought organizing one part of my life would have such benefit in others.

Happy holidays, friends! What do you have planned for 2015?