Goal Checks...

First, I need to say that while Sister #1 only gave herself a C- for eating more vegetables, I’d give myself at least a B+. I suspect I’m eating her share of veggies along with my own…asparagus, carrots and spaghetti squash in the same meal…mmmmmmm. The older I get, the more I love vegetables.

But onto my own goals…

Expressing my emotions/living life on my terms: D. I was doing so good for a while, but I hit a few road blocks. Turns out that not everyone is thrilled with me fully communicating my needs and wants and honestly expressing myself. I've been doing it nicely and appropriately, not being bitchy or anything, but because it's unusual for me to really share what I'm feeling, some people are struggling. That rejection shut me down in a hurry. I need to get back to doing better, because when I was, my stomach stopped hurting so much.



Making a new friend: I’d give myself an A+! I’ve made a really great friend and I’m re-discovering the simple pleasures of honest conversations and laughing at the same things. I might even give myself an A++ on this one because I’m also making a fantastic connection with another new friend. We have similar personalities (scary, I know) and a lot of the same spiritual beliefs. We have long talks about life, love and God. Never mind that she’s 27 years older than me! She’s young at heart and I’m an old soul, so it’s a good friendship match.

Weight loss: so-so. I’d give myself a C. I got pretty lazy for a while, but I’m back into a good routine. I’m working hard to do cardio, sit ups and push ups in the mornings and Pilates in the evenings. The pounds aren’t melting away, but my clothes are fitting better and I have more energy.

De-cluttering/less is more: B-. After painting the living room, I got a bad case of the “I wants”, but I didn’t get too carried away. I bought a few little things to spruce it up, not things I needed by any means, but still nice. I’ve also let my closet and the linen closet get cluttered—but I think the linen closet trolls had a hand in that. I bought a new sewing machine last weekend, and even though it’s an “extra”, it motivated me to organize my sewing stuff, so that was a good thing.

Self-esteem: eh, it depends. As I’m cleaning up my life (environmentally, spiritually and mentally), I’m finding that I like myself more. Turns out I’m pretty good company and a decent person! I’m working on keeping my OCD in check (like not organizing the pantry by can, box, size and color) and after the initial shock of it, it brought some peace to my busy mind. It’s forcing me to remember that my value as a person isn’t tied to being “perfect.”



Of course, the Four Crazy Sisters are all perfect, no matter what.

A Low Point

Marked in my planner today is a goal check for 2009. I'm certain this is not going to be what I had hoped, but the past six weeks have been crazy--as we all know.

• eat more veggies: C-

• lose 5 lbs.: very challenging to keep the lost weight off

• use green bags 90% of the time: still good!

• reduce food and paper waste: the food waste seems to have crept back up. No one wants leftover leftovers.

• write more letters: only sent two out in the last six weeks

• next novel, start to finish: I have too many ideas to be productive. How can I corral them effectively? Help!
  

• paint something: since two walls were taken down, insulation installed, and walls replaced in the back room, I will have a painting chore soon. Maybe even this weekend.
  

• keep laundry room tidy: Disaster. Everywhere, though, not just there. It's because of the home repairs.

• check-in on goals: check

The Monkees - Monstrous Monkee Mash

A little afternoon pick-me-up :-)
(Sorry, there's no Davy in these clips, the rest of the gang is trying to save him from Dracula.)

So My Daughter...

Kid's funny quote for today: "Mommy, I need to take off my clothes and eat ice cream. No clothes and ice cream makes everything better." That's my girl.

The Devil and Dane Cook

I typically don't get much sleep--a few broken hours here and there, but that's about it. Well, all that has changed in the past few nights.

Thursday night, I didn't sleep long, but I slept hard and had weird dreams about tornadoes, floods and rental cars. I'm pretty sure it had something to do with feeling like my life is spinning out of control, I feel like I'm drowning and I just want drive away from it all.

Friday night was so-so.

Saturday night, I slept for eight and a half hours. I don't think I got eight and a half hours of sleep total/combined the entire week before that. Growing up, I always had very vivid, live, in-your-face, technicolor dreams. In the past few years, that's really tapered off, especially since I don't get much in the way of REM sleep. But back to my story.

So, I slept amazingly well Saturday night and had one of those dreams that seemed to last from the time I went to sleep until the time I woke up. In my dream, I was in an episode of Ghost Whisperer. Except it turns out, it wasn't an episode, it was all actually happening. I was with Jennifer Love Hewitt and a bunch of other people in this big warehouse-type building that had been converted to lofts and small apartments. And the whole building was possessed by the devil.

Crazy, right?

So, we're in this devil-possessed building and all the doors open to brick walls, the windows are covered with some stuff that makes the glass unbreakable, and there are these weird, zombie-like people wandering in the hallways. JLH and I knew the building was possessed and we both really wanted to get out, so we were trying to kick the glass out of the windows.

Out of nowhere, this giant demon head started rising up out of the floor--it was sort of a weird cross between that freaky scene in Beetlejuice (when Beetlejuice turns into a snake or whatever in the hallway) and the part in Aladdin when the lion, cat or whatever it is comes up out of the sand to lead people into the Cave of Wonders. So, there's this big, giant demon head and JLH and I are screaming. The head had a big, scary mouth with needle-like teeth, and it opened up and started talking. The voice was deep and gravelly, with Exorcist-type undertones. And the voice said..."I need yum-yums. You are my snacks." (If you don't understand this reference, please go to youtube.com and type in Dane Cook Christ Chex.)

I woke up after that. I don't think there's a dream dictionary in the world that could explain this.

Wholesome Family Meal

What would dinner be without delicious chicken, mashed potatoes, peas... and a whoopee cushion? Thank you, Martha, for giving the children a means to make meal-time exciting. Even the baby SHRIEKED with laughter. I guess some things are ageless.