I got everything done today before the day officially started. (And by everything I just mean ballet, Bible, and budget). Of course, the song I did for ballet was only a minute long.... and there was nothing to do for the budget because I checked yesterday and mvelopes doesn't update very quickly. But I did read three and a half chapters of Romans.
I had some delightful moments watching my youngest try to imitate my husband brushing his teeth. Then I got to shower with minimal interruptions. And getting the older two motivated to get dressed took less effort than usual...
And then I came downstairs.
I don't know what it was that sapped my motivation. The house isn't that messy. The renovations are not that intrusive. The only thing I can figure is that now is the time I'm faced with cooking eggs, and I hate eggs.
I hate eggs.
What do you eat every morning on a low carb diet? Eggs. Or leftovers, but if I eat them for breakfast then what will I eat for lunch? Eggs? See, there's no way around it. Occasionally I make pancakes (which are totally a cheat). Sometimes I make custard and pretend it's a legitimate breakfast food. I've even gotten crazy and tossed veggies and cheese in the eggs in an attempt to disguise anything healthy with cheese. But every morning I reach the point when I am faced with a carton of eggs and a low supply of creativity.
That point, unfortunately, is now.
Monday, June 8, 2015
Sunday, June 7, 2015
Ballet, Bible and Budget
I had an idea this morning that I needed more accountability and that, more specifically, I could do that through this blog. I know, I've had this idea before. But I also have been thinking lately that if I'm blogging more, maybe Hayden will see writing as more enjoyable. It worked with reading...
Anyway, here's my new(est) plan:
Every day I will 1. do one song worth of ballet 2. read my Bible more than just what I need to read to the kids and 3. balance the checkbook.
Hopefully this will help with
1. my physical health
2. my spiritual health
3. my financial health
all of which have been abysmal as of late.
And I'm going to try to do it for one year. Every day. Before I do anything fun. And then I will blog afterwards, which helps with my goal of writing more.
And I will allow interruptions like taking care of my kids and going to places that I'm scheduled to go to. This is just to prevent me from free time until I'm done.
Okay, time to go to church. I managed to get all this done by 10:00 today. :)
Anyway, here's my new(est) plan:
Every day I will 1. do one song worth of ballet 2. read my Bible more than just what I need to read to the kids and 3. balance the checkbook.
Hopefully this will help with
1. my physical health
2. my spiritual health
3. my financial health
all of which have been abysmal as of late.
And I'm going to try to do it for one year. Every day. Before I do anything fun. And then I will blog afterwards, which helps with my goal of writing more.
And I will allow interruptions like taking care of my kids and going to places that I'm scheduled to go to. This is just to prevent me from free time until I'm done.
Okay, time to go to church. I managed to get all this done by 10:00 today. :)
Wednesday, July 23, 2014
So much advice my head is spinning!!!
I am an avid follower of WellnessMama.com. It seems like her advice is just good sense. But I struggle with it at times. I've listened to the auto version of Pam Young's book on dieting, The Mouth Trap. It was funny and a bit of a stretch. Recently I just read A Year of No Sugar, and I loved it. It inspired me. Then I read The Skinny Rules by Bob Harper.
Ah, I thought. Here is what I need to do all laid out easily.
Until the second half of the book was his 30 day menu. I hate 30 day menus. If you ask me to change how I cook for 30 days I'm likely to order a pizza by day three. For breakfast.
So what advice do I follow? What sounds right to me (even though the Bible says, "there's a way that seems right to a man..." and follows that that way is not right to God. However, the Bible is pretty low on diet advice unless you're an Isrealite.)?
I like...
1. how WellnessMama promotes eating "real food" and cleaning your house and body with things that have no toxic ingredients. That makes good sense to me. If God made it, it's best in its original form. Meat. Vegetables. Fruit.
2. quitting sugar. Welll, I mean, I don't LIKE it. But it seems like good sense to me. Sugar has a terrible hold on me. I find myself eating it because I'm tired, happy, bored, sad, insert emotion here. And I don't feel full afterwards. And then there's the physical reaction: racing pulse, Hayden bouncing off the walls, Abigail melting down a few hours later, me snapping at the kids' when my blood sugar crashes or having trouble getting out of bed in the morning. I want sugar to be SPECIAL, not for random Wednesdays. And even then I want to eliminate as many of the negative effects as possible.
3. how Pam Young acknowledged that your inner kid wants some free reign days and it's okay to give in to three throughout the week. (But I'm annoyed that she updated her book to a "low carb" version and then continued to charge full price!)
4. how Bob Harper knows that we're all confused and tried to write down some simple rules to follow so you don't need to think about it.
So what's the problem?
Carbs.
Not pasta. Not tortillas. Not rice which I never liked in the first place.
Actually it's only a few carbs that are truly a problem for me. (Aside from things like cake and cookies which I'd like to be a special treat anyway.):
Pizza, which I have not found a truly good substitute for.
Sandwiches, which are so convenient for packing and everyone likes them.
Pancakes, which save me from the boringness of eggs (which I personally hate but I've eaten so many in the name of health)
And bagels at church (or any other instance of carbs being presented as a main meal component when I don't really have another option and I'm hungry.)
So here's my take on Bob Harper's Skinny Rules, changed to fit my needs:
1. drink a large glass of water when I wake up and before each meal (preferably while making the meal).
2. Drink water, selzer, tea or milk at the meal. (and light on the milk)
3. eat protein at every meal, and aim for fish at least once a week
4. Slash your intake of grains, all grains
5. Always buy apples and berries among your assortment of produce
6. No carbs after lunch at least five days of the week
7. read food labels! The fewer ingredients the better! No ingredients is the best!
8. No more added sugars whenever possible
9. No white potatoes
10. Make one day a week meatless to save my budget
11. No fast food
12. eat a real breakfast
13. make as many meals at home as possible
16. eat your vegetables! Make one veggie per person (approximately).
18. No eating after dinner
19. Get 8 hours of sleep
20. Plan three splurge meals (weekend breakfast, dinner where someone else cooks, pizza night, date night, or an outing with the kids that would be easier with sandwiches). PLAN THEM! And then work the plan! (which means I need to have enough ok snack food on hand for the second week after shopping.
Ah, I thought. Here is what I need to do all laid out easily.
Until the second half of the book was his 30 day menu. I hate 30 day menus. If you ask me to change how I cook for 30 days I'm likely to order a pizza by day three. For breakfast.
So what advice do I follow? What sounds right to me (even though the Bible says, "there's a way that seems right to a man..." and follows that that way is not right to God. However, the Bible is pretty low on diet advice unless you're an Isrealite.)?
I like...
1. how WellnessMama promotes eating "real food" and cleaning your house and body with things that have no toxic ingredients. That makes good sense to me. If God made it, it's best in its original form. Meat. Vegetables. Fruit.
2. quitting sugar. Welll, I mean, I don't LIKE it. But it seems like good sense to me. Sugar has a terrible hold on me. I find myself eating it because I'm tired, happy, bored, sad, insert emotion here. And I don't feel full afterwards. And then there's the physical reaction: racing pulse, Hayden bouncing off the walls, Abigail melting down a few hours later, me snapping at the kids' when my blood sugar crashes or having trouble getting out of bed in the morning. I want sugar to be SPECIAL, not for random Wednesdays. And even then I want to eliminate as many of the negative effects as possible.
3. how Pam Young acknowledged that your inner kid wants some free reign days and it's okay to give in to three throughout the week. (But I'm annoyed that she updated her book to a "low carb" version and then continued to charge full price!)
4. how Bob Harper knows that we're all confused and tried to write down some simple rules to follow so you don't need to think about it.
So what's the problem?
Carbs.
Not pasta. Not tortillas. Not rice which I never liked in the first place.
Actually it's only a few carbs that are truly a problem for me. (Aside from things like cake and cookies which I'd like to be a special treat anyway.):
Pizza, which I have not found a truly good substitute for.
Sandwiches, which are so convenient for packing and everyone likes them.
Pancakes, which save me from the boringness of eggs (which I personally hate but I've eaten so many in the name of health)
And bagels at church (or any other instance of carbs being presented as a main meal component when I don't really have another option and I'm hungry.)
So here's my take on Bob Harper's Skinny Rules, changed to fit my needs:
1. drink a large glass of water when I wake up and before each meal (preferably while making the meal).
2. Drink water, selzer, tea or milk at the meal. (and light on the milk)
3. eat protein at every meal, and aim for fish at least once a week
4. Slash your intake of grains, all grains
5. Always buy apples and berries among your assortment of produce
6. No carbs after lunch at least five days of the week
7. read food labels! The fewer ingredients the better! No ingredients is the best!
8. No more added sugars whenever possible
9. No white potatoes
10. Make one day a week meatless to save my budget
11. No fast food
12. eat a real breakfast
13. make as many meals at home as possible
16. eat your vegetables! Make one veggie per person (approximately).
18. No eating after dinner
19. Get 8 hours of sleep
20. Plan three splurge meals (weekend breakfast, dinner where someone else cooks, pizza night, date night, or an outing with the kids that would be easier with sandwiches). PLAN THEM! And then work the plan! (which means I need to have enough ok snack food on hand for the second week after shopping.
Monday, June 30, 2014
Philippians 1:27-30
Pastor Jim started his sermon by saying that the Philippian church was a lot like us: selfish, having to deal with the world's expectations (which are different than God's expectations), and
Expecting the day to go without problems.
That really struck me hard. I expect each day to go without problems. And of course, when it doesn't, I get so flustered, aggravated and mad. That's when I lose my cool and start to yell. Or eat poorly. Or give up and don't exercise.
We are supposed to conduct ourselves as Citizens of Heaven. What does that mean? Well, citizenship in Heaven is by gift only. There is no way to become a citizen of Heaven on your own. You must accept that God is the only way to be welcomed there. And He paid a pretty stinkin high price for me to gain entry.
I'm not always properly grateful. But when I think about it, I should be HUMBLED by what was done for me. By what should have been done TO me. So a Citizen of Heaven is humble.
A Citizen of Heaven is also someone who knows they can't conduct themselves properly on their own, and that's ok because God has promised us
LOVE
JOY
PEACE
PATIENCE
KINDNESS
GOODNESS
FAITHFULNESS
GENTLENESS
and
SELF CONTROL.
It's like a wishlist of characteristics and they're all gifts to us! Even though my days will not be perfect (and in fact, Paul talks about how it is a gift for us to suffer like Christ... which, I always thought, meant dying, but it could be as mild as being aggravated by the circumstances you're in, or being frustrated by your child's selfish heart again and again...) even though they're not going to be perfect, I can ask for God to help me conduct myself with Grace.
And he will provide that Grace. In abundance.
Expecting the day to go without problems.
That really struck me hard. I expect each day to go without problems. And of course, when it doesn't, I get so flustered, aggravated and mad. That's when I lose my cool and start to yell. Or eat poorly. Or give up and don't exercise.
We are supposed to conduct ourselves as Citizens of Heaven. What does that mean? Well, citizenship in Heaven is by gift only. There is no way to become a citizen of Heaven on your own. You must accept that God is the only way to be welcomed there. And He paid a pretty stinkin high price for me to gain entry.
I'm not always properly grateful. But when I think about it, I should be HUMBLED by what was done for me. By what should have been done TO me. So a Citizen of Heaven is humble.
A Citizen of Heaven is also someone who knows they can't conduct themselves properly on their own, and that's ok because God has promised us
LOVE
JOY
PEACE
PATIENCE
KINDNESS
GOODNESS
FAITHFULNESS
GENTLENESS
and
SELF CONTROL.
It's like a wishlist of characteristics and they're all gifts to us! Even though my days will not be perfect (and in fact, Paul talks about how it is a gift for us to suffer like Christ... which, I always thought, meant dying, but it could be as mild as being aggravated by the circumstances you're in, or being frustrated by your child's selfish heart again and again...) even though they're not going to be perfect, I can ask for God to help me conduct myself with Grace.
And he will provide that Grace. In abundance.
Monday, May 12, 2014
Birthday Wishes from the Sargasso Sea...
One of my resolutions I made on my birthday was to start writing again. I figured the only way I'll have time to write is if I do my writing while Hayden is doing his writing. Right now he's procrastinating over his journal writing so I might have quite a long time to write.
I don't have a clue what to write about. Hayden has been assigned the task of writing about this weekend. I like asking him to do that on Mondays, because I hope it's improving his long term memory. Right now, Hayden has a stellar memory... if it's something he's interested in. But somehow, no matter how interesting the weekend was, he can never remember anything.
And it was an interesting weekend. Friday was my birthday. Adam took the day off because I had a dentist appointment. The kids woke me up and asked for ice cream cake (originally taken with us to small group Thursday night) for breakfast. I happily told them yes, and the kids and I paraded downstairs for bowls of lemon and strawberry goodness. Abigail asked for a small piece, but of course, changed her mind after finishing that and asked for more. I licked frosting off my fingers as I scooped it off the plastic container it came in.
The dentist appointment was not as fun. Not terrible. But no one could say having a filling replaced is the height of excitement. I did, however, plan out some resolutions for my 34th year while I was stuck in that chair, staring up at the light and the ornaments hanging from the ceiling. There isn't a breeze in the dentists office, so the ornaments hang completely still. One, a fabric and wire butterfly, was made with surprisingly realistic features such as red buggy eyes and wiry legs. But only four legs. I wondered if some fell off or if the crafter just didn't know how many legs an insect should have.
As I was pulling out my phone to make appointments for another dental check-up, I noticed a text from Adam asking if I was done yet. I texted back that I was on my way. I was worried that the baby, only two months old, was crying. This was the first time that I left him with someone else and without me being close enough to nurse him if needed. When I got home a few minutes later, he was relatively quiet, but Adam told me he had been fussing for ten minutes or so.
"He is either hungry or needs a diaper change, but I didn't change him. I wasn't sure what diapers were his and which were Abigail's," he said.
When I woke up on the morning of my birthday, I was feeling grateful that I was able to serve my family, even though it was my birthday. I was happy to be here, alive, and with another year before me to care for the people I love.
As the day wore on, and I made pancakes and picked up the house and changed the baby, I found myself occasionally starting to get annoyed that no one rushed in to stop me from serving the family. I mean, it was my birthday! Shouldn't everyone be grabbing the spatula from my hand and insisting I sit down? Should they be picking up the trail of toys and clothes that follow after them all the time and, for one day, miraculously putting these things away? Why, on the day celebrating my birth, did my house have to look like the Sargasso Sea??
But before this line of thinking could ruin a good day, I reminded myself that I ALWAYS do this stuff for my family. I even enjoy some of it, like making pancakes. So why would they think that I wouldn't want to do it on THIS day? They were even staying out of my way, just the way I usually prefer when I'm busy trying to "get things done". And Adam had come in to where I was to hug me and tell me how much he loved me while I flipped the pancakes, standing behind me so as not to get in the way of what I was doing. Of course this was their way of showing me love!
So it was a good birthday. After fillings and pancakes, we did a science center and the movies. Dinner was my choice and I chose my favorite type of sandwich, which was served with chips and my favorite soda. There was more ice cream cake until it was gone. And the best part was I didn't cry once, which I'm known to do on my birthday. It was a perfect day.
I don't have a clue what to write about. Hayden has been assigned the task of writing about this weekend. I like asking him to do that on Mondays, because I hope it's improving his long term memory. Right now, Hayden has a stellar memory... if it's something he's interested in. But somehow, no matter how interesting the weekend was, he can never remember anything.
And it was an interesting weekend. Friday was my birthday. Adam took the day off because I had a dentist appointment. The kids woke me up and asked for ice cream cake (originally taken with us to small group Thursday night) for breakfast. I happily told them yes, and the kids and I paraded downstairs for bowls of lemon and strawberry goodness. Abigail asked for a small piece, but of course, changed her mind after finishing that and asked for more. I licked frosting off my fingers as I scooped it off the plastic container it came in.
The dentist appointment was not as fun. Not terrible. But no one could say having a filling replaced is the height of excitement. I did, however, plan out some resolutions for my 34th year while I was stuck in that chair, staring up at the light and the ornaments hanging from the ceiling. There isn't a breeze in the dentists office, so the ornaments hang completely still. One, a fabric and wire butterfly, was made with surprisingly realistic features such as red buggy eyes and wiry legs. But only four legs. I wondered if some fell off or if the crafter just didn't know how many legs an insect should have.
As I was pulling out my phone to make appointments for another dental check-up, I noticed a text from Adam asking if I was done yet. I texted back that I was on my way. I was worried that the baby, only two months old, was crying. This was the first time that I left him with someone else and without me being close enough to nurse him if needed. When I got home a few minutes later, he was relatively quiet, but Adam told me he had been fussing for ten minutes or so.
"He is either hungry or needs a diaper change, but I didn't change him. I wasn't sure what diapers were his and which were Abigail's," he said.
When I woke up on the morning of my birthday, I was feeling grateful that I was able to serve my family, even though it was my birthday. I was happy to be here, alive, and with another year before me to care for the people I love.
As the day wore on, and I made pancakes and picked up the house and changed the baby, I found myself occasionally starting to get annoyed that no one rushed in to stop me from serving the family. I mean, it was my birthday! Shouldn't everyone be grabbing the spatula from my hand and insisting I sit down? Should they be picking up the trail of toys and clothes that follow after them all the time and, for one day, miraculously putting these things away? Why, on the day celebrating my birth, did my house have to look like the Sargasso Sea??
But before this line of thinking could ruin a good day, I reminded myself that I ALWAYS do this stuff for my family. I even enjoy some of it, like making pancakes. So why would they think that I wouldn't want to do it on THIS day? They were even staying out of my way, just the way I usually prefer when I'm busy trying to "get things done". And Adam had come in to where I was to hug me and tell me how much he loved me while I flipped the pancakes, standing behind me so as not to get in the way of what I was doing. Of course this was their way of showing me love!
So it was a good birthday. After fillings and pancakes, we did a science center and the movies. Dinner was my choice and I chose my favorite type of sandwich, which was served with chips and my favorite soda. There was more ice cream cake until it was gone. And the best part was I didn't cry once, which I'm known to do on my birthday. It was a perfect day.
Monday, March 24, 2014
Two views
Last night, Ian was awake a lot! He had a lot of trouble pushing out some poo so he stayed up late, then woke up his usual three times to eat.
1. I am tired
2. I am thankful we cosleep! Can you imagine how much more tired I'd be!?
Yesterday my mom wanted to call and talk to the kids. This morning I found a Facebook post she tagged me on about a tiny homeschool toy that grows in water.
1. She interrupted family time. And I don't want more crap, especially chokable crap, in my house.
2. My mom wants to be involved in my kids' lives and they will grow up knowing Grandma loves them. And what a great time to model "people before things" last night.
I went to church yesterday but missed the sermon because Ian wanted to constantly nurse and Adam wouldn't let me be one of the many women who break the rules and nurse in the family room.
1. I really needed a regular church day. I'm annoyed and disappointed and I feel like there's no point in going if I can't listen and nurse.... Which means I'd miss Easter services before Ian is old enough for the nursery.
2. I got to sing four songs to God. And see people. And Ian will not be this little and need me for long.
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
Change in attitude
I was thinking during rest time today that I should start thinking about things I'm looking forward to (aside from rest time and bedtime!). Some days I wonder if I have or am heading towards adrenal fatigue like Lori has because I don't find as much joy in time with the kids as I used to. Now "good days" are days that run on schedule... And that's sad.
So, rest time is ending (or else Abigail will not sleep tonight). I need to get out a veggie snack (bleh), heat up some dinner, and do some desk work.
What am I looking forward to?
Obviously not the veggies. I want to have something I'm doing with the kids that I'm looking forward to. Maybe we can start making some decorations for Adam's birthday tonight since he's going out with an out of town friend who is visiting.
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