I've Made The Decision

My husband and I have been running, or at least attempting to run for the last 4 months.  We have gone every other day alternating so that we each get to go and we each get a break.  We started back in February and we were getting up at 5:30 am.  Now, I am definitely not a morning person, so I switched from 5:30 am to between 8-9 pm.  I don't mind going that late, except, I tend to miss my running time due to a multitude of reasons.  I actually prefer running at night, but I may have to start going back to the mornings again.  I am missing to many times and it too easy to make an excuse.  Recently, I asked my husband how he was able to get up at 5 am (he actually stretches out, which is something I need to start doing).  He said he just made the decision to do it and he does it.  Sounds simple doesn't it?

Well, for me it hasn't been that easy, but I have decided that I need to follow his lead and just make the decision to commit.  Now, when I say I need to make the decision to commit, I am not just talking about running!  I am making the decision to commit to running (getting up early or sucking it up and going no matter what, unless I am really, really sick), eating a meat free/dairy free/gluten free diet, making time to create, making time to donate, and making time to live the life I want to lead.

I am going to take the time to get organized, clean, and purge what I don't need.  I have slowly been purging things, but I don't think that I have been doing enough.  This is a huge piece of what is going to make my life easier.  The better organized I am, the easier it will be to have the time to do all the other things that I want to do.  I think that making this decision now is good.  I was never a tv watcher, but over the last number of years, I have started to get sucked into shows.  Now that summer is here and season finales are over, I am hoping that getting in a good routine will help me remain in a routine once the new season starts again in the fall.  I'm hopeful that I will be in such a routine, that I won't want to watch as much tv.

I am going to start researching recipes that are meat free, gluten free, and dairy free.  Myself and my oldest  son are gluten and dairy sensitive.  My oldest was also recently diagnosed with PDD NOS (he has high functioning autism) and seems to do much better when he doesn't ingest gluten and dairy.  My husband's doctor wants him to eat an animal protein free diet and from what I've researched, I've found that this is the best diet for me to eat given my BRCA2 situation, especially since I am leaning against having surgery!

I have a ton of craft supplies, and when I think about how much money I have spent on them, I get a little sick to my stomach.  I was a little crazy with buying.  Since I love to create and I have a lot of supplies to create with, my goal is to create with them and then donate them to different agencies.  I am hopeful that I can donate and get rid of some of my supplies, as well as feel good about taking time to create.

I am making the decision to follow through with my goals in life, instead of just having goals that I don't follow through with!

Amy

Cleaning House

Friday night I went home, and no I didn't clean the kitchen or the living room, because I needed to find something in the bedroom. That meant that I needed to clean the bedroom. I actually got a lot cleaned out. I still need to do more, but I am really impressed with how it looks in comparison! I now need to make sure that I keep it this way and I don't let it get bck to the way it was! The biggest difficulty with this is, I am sick again! This time not only do I have a cold, but now I have laryngitis. Even tough I'm sick again, I still need to maintain what I have already completed!

I have had a pretty horrible last few days with regards to my eating! I stopped eating my raw green smoothies for breakfast. I really need to get my ass in gear and start eating healthy again! The only good thing is that we had ice cream tonight, and it made me sick! I couldn't even come close to finishing it. The only reason it was good, is now I have no desire to have it again, anytime soon! Tomorrow's breakfast will go back to a raw green smoothie, vegan style meals, and healthy snacks. I really need to focus on being healthy so that I can hopefully prevent a lot of family illnesses getting passed on to me.

I'm off to go grocery shopping tomorrow so that I can follow through with my meal plan!

Amy

Operation Get Organized To Start Tonight

I've written about my need to get organized and I have made a few small changes, but I now need to go full force and "just do it".  When I go home tonight, I will put the kids to bed and start cleaning and organizing one room, maybe my husband will even do one room, and then we can have 2 rooms done (we only live in a five room house not counting the basement and the garage.  If he and I can tackle the kitchen and the living room tonight, that means just the bedrooms will be left and one of those bedrooms is the kids room which is actually not going to be bad to clean since there is not much in that room.  My room and the spare room are going to be tough.  I even thing that the kitchen and the living room are not going to be bad.  The thing is, once we have it clean and organized, we need to keep it that way.  I need to remind myself that even tough I am tired, ok exhausted at night, if i do a little each night to maintain it, it will only take a short time.  One of my friends recommended http://flylady.net and since I've already looked at her web site, I know that she is a major advocate of making sure that you have a shiny sink before you go to bed, for example.  This means, don't leave a sink load of dishes to wake up to the next morning because it will totally get out of hand before you know it.  Another example she recommends wiping down the sink in the bathroom after you finish your morning routineI just need to do these things not just talk about doing them.  I am tired of feeling overwhelmed with my house.  I am tired of feeling to tired to do what needs to be done.  I need to keep on top of things so that I can not be as stressed as I am right now.  I need to stop watching tv, which is something that I never used to do.  I am on my way  to Fly lady's website now to remind myself what I need to do tonight and ongoing.

Instead of just writing about what I need to do, I am going to actually do it.  Maybe one of my next posts will be my house is clean and organized and I am maintaining it the way I want to!

Any other suggestions on maintaining a clean and organized house are greatly appreciated!

Amy