mid year status check…

Happy July!  WOW – July.  When I look at my list I think – – WOW – I’ve done some stuff and still have lots of stuff to do.  I’m plugging along nicely on most things; others – well…..  Here is a snapshot of how it looks on July 6th!

1.  Lose 40 pound – – I’m working on this everyday – – three down – 37 to go.
2. Read (finish) 40 books  – – Untitled, Sense and Sensibility, The Grapes of Wrath, The Hunger Games, 50 Shades of Grey, You Belong to Me, The Einstein Syndrome,  – – looks to be about seven so far.  
3.  Watch 40 movies that I’ve never seen – Being Elmo, 500 Days of Summer, Moneyball, Contagion, The Lorax, I Am, We Bought a Zoo, Country Strong, The Way, This Means War, Brave – right at eleven. 
4. 40 Random acts of kindness – Looks to be about five
5.  Reduce debt, increase savings or increase income by 40% – –working on this everyday, will be determined closer to the end of the year. 
6. Make 40 pillowcases for the women’s shelter.  – this is in the works – I have at least 34 pillowcases ready to sew.  I’m planning on a work party to get this done one weekend soon.
7. Do 40 Push-ups – thanks to my Insanity workouts a few times a week – this is looking like a real possibility.  
8. Send 40 Birthday cards to family and friends – I’m at about an eighth of the way there – – going strong. 
9. Go to Church 40 Sundays  –twelve Sundays of prayer – – 28 to go (I hope there are that many left in the year…I might have to find a mid-week service or two.)
10. Brush dogs 40 times – after the last few weeks – we’re at about half way here – – they’ve been shedding something fierce! 
11. Finish 40 uncompleted projects – four down – –lots in progress!  
12.  Donate 40 bags of food to the food banks. – I’ve been to the food bank at least ten times this year!  
13. Plant 40 trees –  – I’m changing this to #13 – Mediate for ten minutes for 40 days. 
14. 40 books to library and/or school – Changing this one too – no soda for 40 days. I started yesterday.  
15. Plant 40 sunflowers – I’ve planted over 150 seeds – – now I’m sitting and waiting.  
16.  Try 40 new recipes – Only six?  Feels like more.  Need to try more new stuff! 
17. Try 40 new foods – Only Seven?  Feels like more too….off to the store I go!  
18. Do 40 things with just my husband – just a couple…that is why this is on this list
19.  Take 40 balloons to old people – Making a change to this one – plant 40 daffodil or tulip bulbs along the side of the road – this will happen in the fall. 
20.  Hand out 40 daffodils on the first day of spring – Done!  
21.  Plant 40 pumpkins – planted and waiting….
22.  Grow a 40 pound pumpkin – panted and hoping
23. Donate $40 a month to a charity – Done!
24.  Drink 40 ounces of water a day – I’m actually doing really well on this one.  It’s a daily thing. 
25. Catch and cook 40 crab – –crab season just opened.  Working on this one currently. 
26.  Be outside for 40 minutes a day – This has been a hit a miss – – hence it is on the list and will stay on the list!  
27. Spend 40 minutes of uninterrupted time with my sons each day – Most days yes – some days – no.  
28.  Write 40 haiku  – not as easy as I thought….working on it.  
29. Run 40k…eight 5K’s. – I’ve run FIVE!  Just did one on the 4th of July.  
30. Do 40 things that are unexpected or silly. – I’d say at about ten. Here’s one of them. 
31. Give 40 flags away on 4th of July. – DONE! 
32.  Make 40 loaves of bread. – One more change – – #32  = send my family newsletter to 40 servicemen and women for Christmas.
33. Say the Rosary 40 times – I’m at about one/fifth of the way through on this one.  
34. Watch 40 sunrises and 40 sunsets – –I’m right at half.  It’s really hard right now with our super early mornings and late nights though.  
35. No eating out for 40 consecutive days – I’m changing this to no fast food for 40 days.  We’ve done it for forty dinners, next is none at all for forty days.  We start July 8th!   
36. Call my sister 40 times – About a quarter of the way on this one.  
37. Organize a garden plant swap with 40 friends – planning this for the fall. 
38. Wear a dress/skirt 40 times – this one has been fun – another tenner – – planning on wearing one tonight.  
39. Memorize all 40 (OK 44) US Presidents in order – working on this one daily, might recruit Little T too.  
40. Save 40 rolls of quarters. Then celebrate with the money! – I’ve got eight rolls saved so far!  

I’m not as far along on something as I’d like, but I’m further along on some than I expected.  I’ve got half the year to go and one thing this challenge is teaching me – – it is a marathon.  I try to think about it everyday and try to stay focused on my goals.

As I’m writing this update, I’ve also been noting all the blogs I owe everyone.  I’ll get working on that right away.  In these, I’ll explain why I’m changing some of the original ideas.  I’ll also catch up on my book and movie reviews!

Stay tuned…hope your mid-year is where you want to be!

~Amy

boys and water – today’s success

Day Two – – Jan 2nd.  

As I look over The List, I realize there are many things in here that are either daily or ongoing.  There are a few that I can’t start working on yet (growing the pumpkins and the sunflowers) and there are a few that will have to happen on a specific day (handing out daffodils and flags).  Some of the things like try 40 new recipes or writing 40 letters will take some strategic planning – unless I want to be staying up until the wee hours of the morning on Dec 30th to cram everything in at the last minute.  Many of those I should probably try to attempt on a monthly basis – 3 – 4 new recipes a month, 3-4 letters, 3-4 calls to my sister.

I see these items on The List more as projects; projects that I will learn from nonetheless.

The daily ones like spend time outdoors or uninterrupted time with my boys or drink 40 oz of water – those are really the habit breakers.  Here’s a confession – – I probably drink 3-4 cans of Coke a day.  YIKES!!!!!  And my first one is usually around 9:30am.  I justify it by saying “well people drink sweetened coffee this early, and coke is just caffeine and sugar – not much different.”  I used to be a Dr. Pepper drinker but gave it up a few months ago – and replaced it with Coke.  I can’t tolerate the diet stuff, so all those calories are now sitting in my gut and my butt.  (Hence #1 – lose 40 pounds).

Likewise, I’m ashamed to admit, I don’t spend a lot of time with the boys.  Now, that doesn’t mean we aren’t together a lot.  I work from home so I am lucky to see Little T (the seven-year old) get on the bus, I take J (the three-year old) to preschool and pick him up.  I am here when they get home, unless I have a meeting, we eat dinner as a family every night at the dining room table.  I take them to their extra stuff like swimming, basketball and playdates.  I’ve got the taking care part down to an art and science.  The fun – just hanging out part – not so much.

That’s why I put those sorts of things on The List.  Realistically, I know it would be almost impossible to drink 40 ounces of water of day and between school, homework, dinner, baths, practices, etc…it is hard to get 40 minutes of uninterrupted time each and every day.  But my goal is to make an honest to goodness effort to change these things about me.

So – today – I didn’t have one soda.  And surprisingly, I didn’t have a headache nor did I walk around like a zombie all day from no caffeine.  I didn’t drink all 40 ounces of water, but I did have about four glasses worth.

And I’m also happy to report, as a family, we played a game of Hi Ho Cherrio, then J and I played a round of chess against Little T.  Really Little T and I played, and I quizzed J on the names of the pieces.  What he really wanted to do was drive his Lighting McQueen car across the board and knock everything down.

That would have been OK too.

More tomorrow – – -~amy