Progress?!

I have often been writing about my desire to be healthier.  I have started making some small changes in my life that I hope will become more of a lifestyle than a short term investment.  I have started exercising at least 3 times per week.  My husband and I started walking a DCR area in our town that was about 3 miles and very hilly.  Unfortunately, my older son got sick and we slacked a little and then i got sick and we slacked again after just getting back on track.  Finally my summer cold/almost sinus infection has mostly passed and we have gotten back on track again.  Since my husband is having isuues with shin splints, we have changed our walking routine to the bike path out of Peabody.  Wednesday, we walked 3 miles, maybe even a little over, and today we did 4 miles.  I am actually really sore, but in a good way.  I never thought that I would enjoy getting back to walking as much as I have recently.

I am trying much harder to be better at cooking from scratch.  I got a couple of recommendations to get the Joy of Cooking cookbook, which is on my list of books to buy as well as cookbooks on how to get veggies in sneakily.  I have made some things with veggies from our garden, which is so much fun.  We are still waiting for the tomatoes to ripen and we have a bunch of eggplant that are growing.  I would have to say that tomatoes and eggplant have been our best crop this year.  We haven't done horrible with zuchinni, but could do better.  We also have had issues with animals eating our veggies.  We put up a fence, but it seems like there are still issues where what ever it is is getting at the squashes.  Also, our watermelon seems to be doing ok, but they are not quite ready.

I have started a new part time job, which I think is going well so far.  I am enjoying getting back into the workforce and I seem to have great co-workers.  I am not loving the stress of getting a new routine down, but I'm sure that with time, the routine will get establishes and things will go much smoother.

I have a ton of projects to work on, but given the sickness in the house and the new job, they are being put on the back burner.  I am working on a handmade mei tai baby carrier.  I love the material, but I can't seem to find the time to actually sit down and work on it.  I want to make some pocket diapers, but again, I can't seem to find the time. I think I even have the material, for the most part and since we bought 6, I really like them.  I am planning on making them with fleece instead of PUL so that they are more breathable.  Hopefully that will help with the rashes that we are constantly fighting.

My flower gardens are starting to look a little sad.  It has been so dry here in MA, that things just seem to be withering away!  I have some work to do on moving some flowers and bunching them more together.  I think that way it will look better and then next year, I can look at planting more flowers.  I hate to admit taht I need to deal with some insects that seem to be eating my plants.  I hate to use insecticides, btu I don't know what else to use.  I will have to do some research to find natural ways of dealing with bug eaten plants.

So, that is my progress at this time.  I still have a ton of work to get to where I want to be.  I still need to figure out if I want to try an etsy.com website.  Do I even have time to do something like that?  I need to make sure I find time to exercise and eat right.  I need to ensure that I get me and my family on a good routine/schedule so that the house runs smoothly. 

Amy