1. Read the Old Testament
I'm up to II Chronicles (which is a nice chunk!) and I'm not allowing myself to read another book until I hit Malachi. I'm using a study bible that explains all the confusing stuff in the
margins, otherwise I probably would have bailed somewhere around
Leviticus and grabbed my ratty copy of Gone With the Wind. Again.
It dawned on me that I sludged my way through Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged--a horrible, boring, difficult book that I despised--but never put the same effort towards a book I'm staking my life on.
Pathetic.
2. Fly Lady
I can almost hear you scream, "NOT ANOTHER FLYLADY BLOGGER!"
(I know, right? What is the deal with this woman and why are internets so in love with her?!?)
FlyLady is a free web site that shares cleaning plans for overwhelmed, unmotivated, craptastic housekeepers. It's a little Stuart Smiley ("you're good enough, you're smart enough") mixed in with lots of e-mails reminding you to get off your ass and clean something.
First: I'm not wearing shoes in my house, and I don't shine my sink with Windex. It's porcelain. I also heard signing up for her e-mails means you'll get spammed 20 times a day, so I skipped it. But I like her idea about dividing the house into four Zones and deep cleaning each zone for one week.
I tried her plan (loosely) for 3 weeks, and I'm amazed at how smoothly my house is running. Instead of cleaning something because I noticed it's totally disgusting, I'm cleaning because it's on this week's list. Therefore, nothing has a chance to get totally disgusting--and I am always always ALWAYS cleaning.
Okay, that part sucks--but it's worth it when my house is pristine. Nothing beats that feeling. (Other than thin, probably. Which leads us to...)
3. Exercise and Stickers!!!
Of course this is on the list.
(Since we're on the topic, I have been uncontrollably jamming food in my face! I don't know WHAT my problem is, but I'm gnawing my way to being uncomfortable & self-conscious & nothing fits again. Even worse, I'm starting to shrug my shoulders and think, "Meh. I'm 30-something and a Mom. Time to hang it up for the next generation anyway." NUM-NUM-BAGELS-NUM-NUM)
But, a weird FlyLady You Tube segment inspired me to pledge to climb on the elliptical in my spider-infested laundry room for just 15 minutes everyday. "You can do anything for just 15 minutes!" She wanted people to "Shine their Sinks!" for a month, and reward themselves with stickers on a calendar every day they do it. I don't share her sink obsession, but the idea appealed to me.
Yeah. It's lame, but I don't care. On my huge MOM CALENDAR (have you seen those things? a line for each family member? it takes up half my wall!) I'm sticking little stars and flowers and hearts on my line for working out for 15 minutes each day.
I also want to share one New Year's tradition we started 3 years ago: Kevin and I write the bad events of the past year on bits of paper, read them out loud to each other, and then throw them in our fireplace while sharing a bottle of wine. They usually range from funny to serious to make-me-cry-painful, but it's just a good way to unload all that...crap...and look forward to a fresh start.
So, I hope you all had a great Christmas, and here's to a fabulous 2012!
Bring it.
8 comments:
I gotta say, I love your new year's tradition. What a great way to start the new year :)
I love your new year's tradition too. Great resolutions. So true about reading the Bible. I read novels like there's no tomorrow but struggle to read the Bible. And 15 minutes IS good! You'll eventually be fine with 30! :)
I tried FlyLady. My sink was really shiny, although there were dishes piled all around it.
Also, I read a book called the Epic of Eden by a lady whose name I can't remember that is really helpful in understanding the old testment in a useful way. She uses the metaphor of organizing your closet... what's not to like?
15 minutes of exercise is 15 minutes NOT spent on the couch. Screw the professionals - you gotta start somewhere. Go kick butt, Jaci!
I actually read today that 15 minutes is enough. something about adding years on and yada yada.. i could pull out the stats but just taka it from me that i read it's okay. ;)
Ugh Leviticus...is that the one about what it takes to be a priest and all the cubits and whatnot? I think I did a cliffnote version of that one...in case I ever need to build and Ark of the Covenant.
Hey 15 min is 15 min. Start off slow and work up. We all start somewhere!!!
I love your resolutions, all of them make a lot of sense and are great. I am starting to feel a bit of inspiration to try and do some exercise every day... I am even considering trying to get up a half hour before my kids and do something like a video or wii fit... and I'm not a morning person. We'll see.
As another person trying to slog through "Atlas Shrugged", can you tell me how it ends?
I thought no one actually made it through to the end. Is it that they're all vampires? (Giveaway: no children to speak of anywhere in that world! Only a few dreamy recollections of being children themselves.)
Good luck with your resoultions :)
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