Slow year..

Slow year for blogging...busy year f or family. We have spent the past year with a little sick one & swimming fish for the other. Hospitals & doctors with one & the swimsuits & pools for the other. I am hoping to get back on track!! Making my goals for the new year. I figure if I start now maybe they will be close to being finished by then!!

Working towards a few goals....

One of my goals this year was a reading goal. I've been spending too much time on the laptop or watching tv & not reading. I used to be a voracious reader but like a lot of things in the past few months, it's on the back burner. So today I came up with a tentative list of books I want to read this year & hooked up with my Goodreads app to join the challenge. My goal is 12 which is easily do-able. Unfortunately - I need to complete the list. But I am off to a healthy start.

My list is as below but I will not be reading them in this order necessarily.

• The Gift - J. Patterson
• The Alchemist - P. Coelho
• A Good Man is Hard to Find - F. O'Connor
• The Violent Bear it Away - F. O'Connor
• Pillars of the Earth - K. Follett
• The Happiness Project - G. Rubin
• Decision Points - G. Bush
• Last Lecture - R. Pausch 
• Mansfield Park - J. Austen
• Pride & Prejudice & Zombies - J. Austen & S. Smith

I need to fill the rest of the list in due time. I bought a bunch of books from our local Books 4 Less - more Patterson & such, but I am looking for variety. More than that, I am looking to expand myself. I read the same thing, same style over & over. Let's see how this goes.

A month in & still no goals

I've started out 2011 already in a slump. Usually every year I get myself going & come up with the ole' resolutions & then I am off & running. For it least a month or so. This year is different. I have no goals. And worse yet, I really don't want to make any. I feel a general malaise in my life for the past 6 months or so. I know what needs to be done, I know what direction I need to go in but I just don't care about getting there. To me this is bothersome.

For instance, the health issue. I have gained a bit in the last 6 months since I stopped running after my last half marathon in May. I have a general plan to get things into motion but I just cannot find any motivation to do it. No - I'm not depressed, quite the opposite I've been very happy, happier than I have been in awhile. I just lost my focus along the way.

So I guess for my 1st goal: make a list of goals for the year. I think I shall start out quite simple. I can't afford to overload my fragile self at this point in the game.

Christmas 2010

Pine Cone Toile Christmas Card

Make a statement with Shutterfly Christmas photo cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

Changing my eating plan

So last night I attended a workshop that is running out of my chiropractor. It is called Turning Points. Led by an actual nutritionist who, so far, I like. Today was the first day for the eating plan - no fruit & no carbs. This will be a tough 2 weeks. She considers it a detox. Oh... did  I mention no caffeine?!?! Yikes!!
I am going to do my best to stick with this. I honestly think my metabolism has been on hiatus for eons. I need to get it back on track. With all the exercising I have been doing I should be looking svelte!! But that has not been the case. So we shall see where this goes!!

Menu Plan Monday

It's been quite awhile since I have Menu Planned but here it is!!

Monday - Beer Butt Chicken
Tuesday - Corn Beef Crockpot-style
Wednesday - Macaroni & Cheese (ala Top Secret recipe Style)
Thursday - 40 cloves & a  Chicken
Friday - Grandma's Favorite Chicken
Saturday & Sunday - Freebie days!!

Weekends are on the fly in our home. If I work hubby orders out & if I don't we grill. So no need to plan!!

Now I bought some apples & peaches......need to make a pie & some muffins. Will post recipes.

Ode to a slow metabolism

I really dislike exercising. Really I do. Which may owe to the fact that hips, butt and thighs are yea wide. I love to plan for it and I'm really great at it. I enter the days in my Outlook calendar which syncs to my Google calendar which can text me reminders & emails. The Google then syncs to my iphone which I have push notifications that are 2 & 1 hour prior to event reminders. I'm awesome at planning for exercise. But executing the plan never goes off too smoothly. I see the reminders & close them. Finding another lame excuse not to do it. For instance, a few weeks back I bought the Chalean Extreme DVDs. Made it through the 1st week & loved it. But stopped. Why? Who knows? I mean - it is 35 freaking minutes!! I can do this!! Self sabotage it is.  So - I started back up again this week & vow to make it through the 90 days. Once again - it is 35 minutes or so for each session unlike the hour + of P90x. I have Day 1 completed and will begin to plan for the rest of the week.

I'm also working on my eating habits. Like my exercising - I PLAN to eat well. Then i see the "Light" ice cream. Yes it is only 140 cal per serving - that I agree with. but when you sit & eat 1/2 the container watching "Leverage" with all kinds of caramel topping all over - it no longer becomes "Light" it becomes a meal. So I told my husband we can no longer have ice cream in the house. I am weak and if he loves me he will deal with it.
With the summer garden it has been pretty eating to incorporate more veggies. We have tomatoes, green beans, tomatoes, eggplant, tomatoes, zucchini and did I mention tomatoes?? So I bought a bag of salad and a few mushrooms and wha-la! Dinner!! I'm going to go crazy tonight and add some shrimp to the mix. I know... I'm wild.