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. :-)
Showing posts with label tidy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tidy. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Monday, June 16, 2008
I need Tranquility!
Surprisingly, I have been living the SWEET Life the past week. I say "surprisingly" because I don't feel like I've lived a balanced, healthy lifestyle:
Sleep - 5 nights last week I slept enough hours.
Water - 7 days last week I drank enough water, although I'm not sure how carefully I paid attention to it.
Eating - Also 7 out of 7 last week, supposedly.
Exercise - 5 out of 7 last week, but I'm not challenging myself enough.
Tranquility - 5 out of 7 last week
Yesterday, I had a SWEET Life.
I really miss my girls' naps. I used to be able to count on 3-4 hours of Tranquility every day while they napped. That has suddenly dropped to zero! Not even a decrease to 1-2 hours, like some other kids! Not even a later start time for the naps, like some other kids! I spent a week or two wasting a lot of time trying to get them to nap, to no avail. I'm finally accepting that they don't nap, which means I have no breaks from motherhood for 11 hours/day. That makes for a . . . really . . . long . . . day, with no Tranquility.
But, no, it's actually not even as simple as that. They're still tired, but they don't nap, so they're cranky and hit each other -- quite the opposite of Tranquility. Or, I'll take them to do something, and one will fall asleep on the way there. So, then what? Once, I laid a blanket in a shopping cart, and Zoe slept the whole time we were in the store! Then, Maya fell asleep on the way home! So, they each got their nap, but I didn't' get any Tranquility! I have a photo of them both asleep in a Costco shopping cart, another unexpected nap. Since they were both asleep, I considered going home for some Tranquility, instead of shopping. Unfortunately, food shopping was a must that day, and I had other things to do later in the day, so I had to shop then.
Their lack of naps and Maya being out of preschool mean it's really hard for me to get any Tranquility. I don't feel like I have time to think or plan, and I was really looking forward to having time to think and plan and accomplish more once I finished my ESL class. That was two weeks ago!
The one thing I'd say I've accomplished, related to Tranquility, in the past couple weeks is that I've kept my house tidier than it'd been, which makes me feel relaxed and content.
Fortunately, things are starting to improve because I've arranged for babysitting! That's really what was missing: scheduled time when both my kids would be taken care of. It used to be during Maya's preschool/Zoe's daycare, but preschool ended a few weeks ago. Last week a friend reminded me that we'd discussed a babysitting exchange, so we put it in place. Unfortunately, I spent my entire free time preparing for Maya's birthday party. I also ran into our babysitter, who reminded me that we'd discussed her babysitting the girls half-day starting in June! So that allows me to write this blog right now. I feel more relaxed just knowing I have time to think.
Sleep - 5 nights last week I slept enough hours.
Water - 7 days last week I drank enough water, although I'm not sure how carefully I paid attention to it.
Eating - Also 7 out of 7 last week, supposedly.
Exercise - 5 out of 7 last week, but I'm not challenging myself enough.
Tranquility - 5 out of 7 last week
Yesterday, I had a SWEET Life.
I really miss my girls' naps. I used to be able to count on 3-4 hours of Tranquility every day while they napped. That has suddenly dropped to zero! Not even a decrease to 1-2 hours, like some other kids! Not even a later start time for the naps, like some other kids! I spent a week or two wasting a lot of time trying to get them to nap, to no avail. I'm finally accepting that they don't nap, which means I have no breaks from motherhood for 11 hours/day. That makes for a . . . really . . . long . . . day, with no Tranquility.
But, no, it's actually not even as simple as that. They're still tired, but they don't nap, so they're cranky and hit each other -- quite the opposite of Tranquility. Or, I'll take them to do something, and one will fall asleep on the way there. So, then what? Once, I laid a blanket in a shopping cart, and Zoe slept the whole time we were in the store! Then, Maya fell asleep on the way home! So, they each got their nap, but I didn't' get any Tranquility! I have a photo of them both asleep in a Costco shopping cart, another unexpected nap. Since they were both asleep, I considered going home for some Tranquility, instead of shopping. Unfortunately, food shopping was a must that day, and I had other things to do later in the day, so I had to shop then.
Their lack of naps and Maya being out of preschool mean it's really hard for me to get any Tranquility. I don't feel like I have time to think or plan, and I was really looking forward to having time to think and plan and accomplish more once I finished my ESL class. That was two weeks ago!
The one thing I'd say I've accomplished, related to Tranquility, in the past couple weeks is that I've kept my house tidier than it'd been, which makes me feel relaxed and content.
Fortunately, things are starting to improve because I've arranged for babysitting! That's really what was missing: scheduled time when both my kids would be taken care of. It used to be during Maya's preschool/Zoe's daycare, but preschool ended a few weeks ago. Last week a friend reminded me that we'd discussed a babysitting exchange, so we put it in place. Unfortunately, I spent my entire free time preparing for Maya's birthday party. I also ran into our babysitter, who reminded me that we'd discussed her babysitting the girls half-day starting in June! So that allows me to write this blog right now. I feel more relaxed just knowing I have time to think.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
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!
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!
Saturday, December 8, 2007
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.
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.
Friday, November 30, 2007
Tidying up Makes a Difference
Sleep
I think I slept 7 hr. last night. Zoe woke up at 2:45, but I got her quickly and we both drifted back to sleep easily.
Water
The weather has been really dry the past couple days, so I've been trying really hard to drink lots of water.
Eating
Nick cooked us a great breakfast: scrambled eggs with ham, cheese and bell peppers; 1/2 whole wheat bagel, coffee/milk (for the girls). Hmm, I guess we forgot to have fruit, but we usually do have fruit with breakfast. Trying to get all those food groups in! Had a tuna melt on whole wheat with an apple for lunch. . .
Exercise
Took a long walk with a friend this morning. We are running a 5k race tomorrow, so we took it easy today.
Tranquility
The girls napped well after a busy morning, so I had time to tidy up a bit, check email, blog, etc. I'm relaxed.
How do I feel?
I feel better when my house is tidy, which I've done the past couple days. I really should spend 15 min. every day tidying up, but it doesn't always happen. I'm looking forward to this weekend, which will be busy with fun plans, starting tonight.
I think I slept 7 hr. last night. Zoe woke up at 2:45, but I got her quickly and we both drifted back to sleep easily.
Water
The weather has been really dry the past couple days, so I've been trying really hard to drink lots of water.
Eating
Nick cooked us a great breakfast: scrambled eggs with ham, cheese and bell peppers; 1/2 whole wheat bagel, coffee/milk (for the girls). Hmm, I guess we forgot to have fruit, but we usually do have fruit with breakfast. Trying to get all those food groups in! Had a tuna melt on whole wheat with an apple for lunch. . .
Exercise
Took a long walk with a friend this morning. We are running a 5k race tomorrow, so we took it easy today.
Tranquility
The girls napped well after a busy morning, so I had time to tidy up a bit, check email, blog, etc. I'm relaxed.
How do I feel?
I feel better when my house is tidy, which I've done the past couple days. I really should spend 15 min. every day tidying up, but it doesn't always happen. I'm looking forward to this weekend, which will be busy with fun plans, starting tonight.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
