Getting Organized

Sleep
These days it seems I don't get enough sleep Sunday - Thursday nights, but I do on the weekends. By Thursday or so, I'm ready for a nap! Over the course of a week, that doesn't add up to enough sleep. :-(

Water
With this hot weather, I'm really trying to stay hydrated, and the heat makes me thirsty, so it's pretty easy.

Eating
I was taking an exercise class yesterday and realized I'm kinda bulky. It's muscle, but I'm bigger than I want to look, and the #1 key to bulking up is to eat more than you burn off. For that reason, I need to eat less, so I'm taking advantage of the lack of appetite brought on by the heatwave and trying to really cut down. I eat balanced, healthy meals, but I just need to trim the serving sizes.

Exercise
I was going to exercise first thing, at 6:30 a.m., but I didn't sleep well, so I was going to take an exercise class at 9:00, but I had a hard time getting up after not sleeping well, so I was running late and didn't make it. Then, I was going to exercise by riding my bike to pick up Zoe, but I needed to get her quickly, so I drove. Then, I was thinking of going to the gym after dinner, but I had to help get the girls to bed and it was too late. How many times have we told ourselves the same story? I suppose most people don't have as many opportunities to exercise in one day as I have. It's pitiful when the end of the day comes and I haven't exercised and I have no good reason why not.

Tranquility
Today was a backyard pool day. I filled both of our inflatable pools, a 6'x10' rectangle and a 5' circle. I started them just 1/3 full of water, which heated quite nicely during the hot mid-day. In the afternoon, I filled them up to 2/3 full, mixing the heated water with cool, refreshing water. That's a lot of water! I also stuck our little play structure slide into a pool. Then, we had at it! First it was just me and Maya; later, a couple of her friends came over with their moms. We ate popsicles, drank mint lemonade with coconut rum and ate strawberries and little cookies. It was wonderful! I look forward to playing in the pools all this hot week.

How did I do, and how do I feel?
Today, I had a _WE_T Life.
I feel good (except for the lack of sleep and exercise) ever since I finally sorted out my desk mountain of papers. I did that last weekend and have felt better ever since. I feel less overwhelmed, mostly because, in merely sorting the papers, I realized there wasn't much that required immediate attention. The biggest sorted piles I ended up with were trash, magazines, filing, and mail to open. Most of the mail was stuff to file. There was very little To Do in that huge mountain. I recycled the trash, stacked the magazines in a magazine rack, and told myself I was going to spend 15 min/day filing papers. Now, 2 days later, my filing stack is very small; I should finish tomorrow. In addition to filing, I'm spending 15 min/day tidying up my house, and I'm making sure to wash one load of laundry and spend some time completing things in my To Do file. I just feel more clear-headed and in control. :-)

Girls Gone Wild at Night

My life hasn’t been very SWEET lately, so I haven’t had much to blog about.

Sleep: A new trend of night terrors and waking has become a bad habit. Zoe wakes up screaming bloody murder, nightly around 12:30 a.m. It’s extremely loud, and if I let her “cry it out,” she ends up waking up Maya and Nick. Then Maya is screaming because she’s been woken up by her little sister’s screams. I thought we’d hit a turning point because Zoe started crawling out of her crib (which she’s known how to do for months but just didn’t do). I thought she’d just walk into our room during the night, which is its own problem, but is much quieter and less disruptive to me. But that only lasted about a week; she’s back to screaming again. Zoe also kicks like crazy in our bed. She’ll push herself down under the covers to the foot of the bed and then crawl back up to the head of the bed, constantly, down & up, down & up, for 2 hours! Seriously! It’s impossible to sleep with her kicking in my bed, but she’ll scream her head off and wake the family if I put her in her crib. It’s crazy.

Then there’s Maya. She regularly wakes up around 3:30 a.m. and comes to our room. At least she’s quiet; I don’t have to get out of bed, and she falls quickly back to sleep after climbing into our bed. However, that puts our queen-size bed total up to four people, including one wiggler, who, alone, is one too many people to sleep with. I often move to Maya’s, now, conveniently empty bed, where I sleep wonderfully, alone, however many hours there are left to sleep.

Yet, I have not even mentioned the difficulties we have in getting our girls to GO to bed. This problem started, as I expected, shortly after I started working 4 nights a week. I knew I would lose all control over bedtime and bedtime routines. I was, in a sense, happy to relinquish all responsibility for bedtime to my husband. However, I did not expect to come home at 10 p.m., exhausted and ready to go to sleep, and, on the contrary, find dinner dishes on the kitchen table, girls wide awake, laughing and running around, fully clothed, and without their teeth brushed! At 10 p.m.! After a couple months of becoming grumpy the instant I walked through the door to the excited greetings from my wide-awake girls, I finally had to tell Nick that it would make me . . . “less unhappy” . . . if I came home and at least the dinner table were cleared and the girls were ready for bed. Of course, what would make me HAPPY would be that the kitchen were clean and the girls were asleep, but I decided I might get better results if I asked for the minimum that would keep my mood neutral. So now, after a few months of girls gone wild at night, they are used to (1) staying up until 10-11 p.m. (they are 2 & 3 yr old!) and (2) passing out from exhaustion, with mom/dad, on our bed, which they affectionately call “snuggling.”

Well, I’m at a point where I can definitely count down the days until my Tu, Th evening ESL class ends: May 27, within this month, 3 weeks away, 7 class days left. That’s encouraging but still feels far off. Once it’s over, I’ll be home more evenings to get the girls in a “bedtime mode.” When I AM home for bedtime, it starts right ager dinner, which I make sure ends by 8:00. At 8:00 we brush teeth, put on p.j.’s, use the potty/change diapers, put away toys, and read stories, with lights out at 9:00. But then they want to “snuggle” or the aren’t tired enough to sleep because they’re used to staying up 1-2 hours longer!

The problem is that it’s really taking its toll on me. Why not on anyone else? I’m grumpy, less productive, hooked on caffeine, more emotional (for example, less patient), generally run down, and unhappy. The SWEET Life starts with Sleep, but I haven’t been getting enough for a few months now. That means I’m too tired to Exercise in the morning; too tired to pay attention to drinking enough Water or to Eating a balanced, healthy diet, and I spend what could be Tranquility time “survival napping,” which isn’t the same thing as Tranquility.

How do I get my girls to (1) go to sleep in their own beds (2) at an earlier time? And (3) sleep through the night? In their own beds?

Time Dilemmas

Sleep
Does it count if I don't sleep 7-8 hours but I wake up feeling refreshed? Compare that to the opposite: trying to sleep 8 hours but being constantly interrupted and waking up feeling like I needed four more hours of sleep! And there you have my last two nights of sleep, in opposite order. Strangely, after not sleeping well at all Friday night, I'm surprised that I was able to stay up so late (watching a DVD) last night and that I woke up so early feeling refreshed! So, I'm going to count last night as a good night's sleep, even though it wasn't 7-8 hours. That gives me a pitiful total of 3 full nights of sleep this week!

Water
The last two days I haven't been drinking enough water. Yesterday, I hardly drank anything until noon! Today, I filled my pitcher first thing and am going to make sure to drink my two quarts so that I reach my weekly goal of 5 days of good hydration.

Eating
Yesterday, I also didn't eat anything until noon, when, of course, I was starving. All afternoon I felt like I could never get enough to eat, so I constantly wanted to eat more. Bad, bad, bad! All I really needed to do was to have eaten some breakfast so that I had some fuel to burn in the morning. That would have kept my energy, hunger, insulin and blood sugar levels all in check for the morning, and lunch would have replenished me for the afternoon. Today I need to eat healthily in order to reach my goal of 5 days of healthy eating this week.

Exercise
I am refocused and re-energized to exercise routinely again. I did skip Thursday, knowing I would exercise on Saturday. I did cardio at the gym on M, W, F and did toning exercises at home Tuesday. Saturday, I walked to the gym and a little beyond, did toning exercises there, and ran home. I'm 5 for 5 this week, so today is a day off.

Tranquility
Yesterday, after my horrible night's rest, I got tranquility in the form of a big fat nap, alone in my bed (i.e., no kids taking up space!). I also got a little time to myself (<30 min) before Zoe woke up from her nap. So far, I'm 6 for 6 this week on Tranquility. I also had a date with a group of friends and no kids. It was great to be able to talk to these friends without being interrupted by children's needs/demands!

How did I do, and how do I feel?
Yesterday, I had only a _ _ _ ET Life.
I feel busy, like I'm not getting enough work done. I'm living a pretty SWEET Life, but I need to be spending time on both the SWEET Life website and preparing my ESL class to teach at Chabot College.,I haven't been spending enough time on either of those things because they require chunks of time (1 hr+), which is harder to find than small bursts of time (5-30 min). There are just too many things that I want to do and not enough time to do all of them. I think most people would forgo the SWEET Life because of work, but living the SWEET Life is the foundation of my life to which I add other things.

The Organizational Time of the Year

Sleep
Last night I slept horribly! It was musical beds: Maya refused to sleep in her bed so she slept in ours. I couldn't sleep well because I couldn't move freely due to her presence. Then, Zoe woke up screaming for me at 3:40, so I got up to get her. She and I slept in Maya's empty bed, but Zoe rolled around for a bit before falling back asleep, keeping me awake. I'm 0 for 3 in good nights' sleep this week. :-(

Water
I've been drinking enough water lately. Since I have easy control over that, compared to sleep, I just fill up my pitcher with 2 quarts and make sure to drink it all by dinnertime. I'm 9 for 9 this month so far.

Eating
I've been focusing on eating better since the post-New Years lull. It helps to plan meals and go to the store. I got a crock pot for Christmas, so I've been throwing food in there to cook all afternoon, which makes for an easy, healthy dinner. Since it's winter, root vegetables abound, which cook well in the crock pot, and stews and other comfort foods smell and taste wonderful, which are also crock pot-friendly. I'm 6 for 6 since Jan. 3.

Exercise
This week I've gotten back into my old exercise routine of early mornings: Monday, Wednesday, Friday 30-minutes of cardio, and Tuesday, Thursday 30-minutes of toning exercises. That worked quite successfully for me last September - November, but I burned out in December and experimented with other, less successful routines. I'm 3 for 3 this week.

Tranquility
Tranquility has been the easiest part of the SWEET Life for me. However, that didn't use to be the case. It's really good that I think about getting some stress-relief every day because I didn't use to think much about it, and I used to be much more stressed out, especially as each week wore on. Now that I spend time each day, when my girls nap, asking myself what I'm going to do that will make me feel good about myself today, I realize my stress is in much better control. I don't stress "out" because my stress isn't allowed to build up. I'm 9 for 9 this month.

How did I do, and how do I feel?
Yesterday, I had a _WEET Life.
I'm in organizational mode. Why do we all organize in January? All the stores have organizational products on special this time of year. Part of it is that we have to pack up the Christmas decorations; hopefully, in an organized fashion. Part of it for me is that my husband got a "valet" for Christmas; it's a small divided box for his wallet, coins, keys, etc. At first I thought it was a recharging station for small electronics like cell phones, MP3 players, cameras, etc. But that made me think that perhaps we could use a recharging station. I also saw a tidbit on a show about reorganizing a small office without a lot of extra space. The organizer took advantage of the wall space and put a lot of the desktop stuff on the wall, which would be a good idea for me, too. Then there was our New Year's Eve party when Nick cleared a bunch of stuff out of our office s0 that people could put their coats and purses in there. The office looks so much better without all that stuff in there, but, of course, it's all in boxes up in our bedroom now. We, unfortunately, have a lot of "homeless" stuff which sits in boxes in various places around the house (because we don't have a garage). I told Nick I want us to work on one, small, organizational project each weekend. Last weekend was putting Christmas away. This weekend will be finding homes for all the stuff that used to live on the floor of the office and is now in our bedroom.

Post-Holiday Mess

The past few days, I've had a lot of Tranquility, and I've Exercised. Some nights I've Slept well, but others I haven't. But I haven't been Eating healthy or drinking Water enough. But that's a usual unSWEETened life: most people accomplish a couple of the components easily, one of them sometimes, and a couple of them with difficulty. Living the SWEET Life involves paying attention and incorporating all five elements into your life consistently.

Sleep
Here it is 5:21 a.m. I've been up since 3:48 when Zoe woke me up. She fell back asleep quickly, but I did not. This has been happening a lot in the past couple months, and it's very discouraging for me. Why can't I get back to sleep? I had always prided myself in being able to sleep so well and so easily but not lately. :-(

Water
It's interesting how I can know in advance what and how much I'll be drinking, depending on where I will be. At my sister-in-law's house, there's always lots of free flowing wine. At my mother-in-law's house there's always wine, but no one drinks very much, despite it being the same group of people! There's also always tea and coffee. At my husband's aunt's house (my aunt-in-law?) there's always tea and juice and coffee in cute little cups. It seems the older generation uses small cups and the younger generation uses big tumblers. In an effort to drink 8-10 cups per day, I tend to use big tumblers and can't seem to get my fill of cute little cups. So, being at various people's houses for holiday meals and at Ano Nuevo yesterday hiking with a kid on and off my back, I haven't been drinking enough lately. It's hard when I'm out of the house so much.

Eating
I'm glad to know that I've gotten past stuffing myself silly at holiday meals. I used to, to the point where I'd notice I was the last one still eating. To the point where my dad, who was a large man, asked, "Why is Suzanne the only one who inherited my appetite?" I stopped stuffing myself silly because of . . . a combination of factors . . . for another day.

I didn't eat enough yesterday because we came out of the Christmas fog and realized we were short on food. Then, we were running late ("having a relaxing morning") and missed our friends having brunch before going to Ano Nuevo. We hardly had time to share a sandwich before getting to the "no food" zone there. We finished the rest of our lunch on the drive home from Ano Nuevo ~4:00, and I had to go straight to work, where I had my usual energy bar. Knowing Nick was going to the grocery store, I thought he and the girls would have a good, healthy dinner, but he just picked up a few things and dinner came from the freezer: potstickers and taquitos! Many would say those are just appetizers, but, sadly, that was our dinner.

Exercise
I have taken my own advice and exercised every day that Nick has been home, except Christmas day. Actually, his family usually takes a walk or hike on Christmas, and it was a beautiful day for it, but we hung out and enjoyed oursevles at the family home. Let's see, Sunday I think I went running, Monday I did a quick toning workout at home, and yesterday we hiked at Ano Nuevo where we saw the elephant seals. That was short but exhausting because I was with Zoe, and she was up and down and in and out of the baby backpack the whole time. I'd say not to take toddlers (1-4 yr.) there because they're heavy to carry so much, they want to get down and run around, and they're too young to understand what they are looking at.

Tranquility
I've had a lot of tranquility lately. Nick even gave me a Tranquility bath set for Christmas! It's been great having Nick home; that always relieves some stress of parenting. Spending time with friends and family for the holidays is always relaxing and wonderful. However, I feel like I never get enough time to catch up with people because I'm also watching the cute things my girls are doing and taking care of their needs.

How do I feel?
I want to get back to a regular schedule, which is strange because we've been in, I guess, vacation-mode and I don't like it?! We've just been so busy with various events that I haven't had time for the basics, like drinking water, eating healthy, grocery shopping, doing laundry, watering plants, keeping the house tidy, working on the SWEET Life business, etc. It's been great to have Nick around so much, and he does help out with those basics. I feel like I'm floating in a netherworld, but having to plow through my messy house to get in and out of it! It's hard to believe it was all clean and beautiful just 2 days ago on Xmas eve!

An unSWEETened Life

I have not been very good at living the SWEET Life this week. I've been a little sick, which has been gradually building throughout the week. Usually, I try to focus more on the SWEET Life when I start to feel under the weather, and that will prevent me from getting very sick, but this week it just hasn't happened.

Sleep
I have had such a hard time waking up all week. I just haven't been able to drag myself out of bed to exercise. Have I been staying up too late? I think I need to pay more attention to when I go to bed. I've been so tired in the mornings, but not necessarily the rest of the day/evening. The morning fatigue is making me rethink my morning exercise routine. I think I need to change the time of day that I exercise, rather than fight myself trying to get out of bed in the mornings. It's easier to get up if I'm meeting someone to exercise, but I generally don't.

Water
I haven't been paying much attention to my water intake, although I'm trying to drink enough. Since I'm feeling a bit sick, staying hydrated is especially important. I think I need to try harder or remember to fill my pitcher of water to drink throughout the day.

Eating
I haven't been paying much attention to what I've been eating lately either. However, it helps that I stocked up on groceries this week because having healthy food around is the first step toward eating healthy foods.

Exercise
Every night this week I set out my workout clothes so I could just crawl out of bed and they would be waiting for me, but this week I just haven't been able to go out and exercise at 6:30 a.m. I actually got dressed to workout on Tuesday, but then realized I had a sore throat. I got undressed and went back to bed. The one day I did exercise was Wednesday, when I was meeting a friend. I took an athletic walk this morning to make up for missing so many workouts during the week, and I'll try to do some toning exercises when the girls nap today. After a week with minimal exercise, I'm starting to feel like a blob, like the lack of exercise is starting to have a negative effect on my body. I've worked hard for this body; I don't want to give it up to laziness!

Tranquility
I certainly haven't gotten my fill of tranquility this week. For example, yesterday, the girls did tag-team napping, which means that one kid is always awake, and I never get a break from being Mommy. Tuesday was such a busy day that poor Maya only had the opportunity to nap for 1/2 hr., which means that's all the free time I had, too. Wednesday the girls both napped and I had free time to relax, do my own thing and be tranquil, but I need that every day, not only once a week.

How do I feel?
Well, I haven't had a very SWEET Life this week. I've been personally unproductive, with a growing pile on my desk. At the same time, I've been trying really hard to keep my house tidy, dishes washed, and laundry folded and put away. By last night, after a terrible day, I was too tired to tidy up the house before bed, so this morning, I woke up to a few dishes in the sink, a few toys around the house, a few shoes and jackets here and there, etc. It made me realize that it's worth the 15 minutes it takes to tidy up the night before to wake up to a tidy house the next morning.

Sleepless Night

Sleep
I felt surprisingly awake yesterday evening, so I stayed up a bit later than I should have. However, the killer was Zoe waking up at 4:30 and crying so much that she woke up Maya. Suddenly there were 4 of us in our bed, which is too crowded. So I took Zoe with me into Maya's bed, but I couldn't fall back asleep. I almost got up at 5:30, figuring I might as well make good use of being awake, but then I drifted off to sleep. But that doesn't make for 7-8 hr sleep!

Water
I drank a tall glass of water with each meal, plus a few cups in between, so I'm good on water today.

Eating
I am more conscientious about making balanced meals, including as many food groups as possible. That's good, and it makes the meals more colorful!

Exercise
I got up and ran with a friend this morning. It really helps get me up and moving if there is someone I have to meet at a specific time. I wish I had a regular running partner.

Tranquility
The girls fell right to sleep at naptime, so I got some free time to get a few things done.

How do I feel?
I feel good. I don't feel tired, despite my lack of sleep last night.