This Time...

This is mostly the same as a post I wrote today at Spark People, but the same principles apply to housekeeping as weight loss in many ways.

I think everyone, at some point, falls off of whatever wagon they're clinging to.  This is followed, almost inevitably, by a point in the future at which one says, "This time I'll do it right."  I'm all for positive affirmations and goals, but "This time..." is more like a promise, and one that is often destined to be broken.  

I've been slacking for quite some time now, and I wanted to start today fresh and trying harder.  But something about "This time..." rubs me the wrong way.  Maybe it's because it implies other times, more opportunities to fall.  Maybe it's because it implies picking up right where I left off instead of backing up a few steps and building back up to where I was.  Maybe because it's just too general.  Maybe it's because it's been said hundreds of times before and it carries the weight of all those failures with it.  Maybe it's because it encompasses too much time.  "This time..." could be months or years.

I think I'll go with "Today..." instead.  "Today..." I will pay attention to my priorities.  "Today..." I will get some - any - cleaning in.  "Today..." I will track what I need to.  Today I can handle.  It's one day, a finite time.  And if something goes wrong Today, there is always another Today - tomorrow.  If I said "This time..." and fell today then I wrecked the whole thing.  

So far Today is going fine.

I'm Soooo Behind

It's well into October now, and all the screw-ups, mis-steps, and failures of the last 9 months are rearing up to bite me in the you-know-where.

Any progress I made earlier in the year - and some of it was considerable - has backslid so far that I'm nearly back at square one.  I haven't planned diddly and the upcoming holidays are looking a little bleak.  A major, crucial project that should have begun in August is still in limbo today.  Financial decisions are almost always regrets around here.  My house is a wreck - no better now than it has been at any point in the last 4 years.  I'm not looking forward to fundraisers, cold-weather clothes, pictures, cards, presents, baking, etc. in the next 3 months.

I'm frustrated with so many things, not the least of which myself.  I have issues.

Goals, New and Old

So let's see...a month ago I said this:

Specific tasks to complete:
Get my sort-of-secret project up and running
Get up to speed on the holiday planner
Finish any one section of PCCX cleaning
Write a minimum of 4 HK101 essays

Yeah...not so much.

That project - progress has been made, but it's not finished.  It NEEDS to be, NOW.

Holiday planner - not looked at.  Winged it for A's birthday.

PCCX cleaning - I barely did any daily cleaning.

HK101 essays - not a one.

So that was a waste of perfectly good goals.  Most of those I forgot I even made.  Let's strive to do better in October, shall we?

1. Have a functioning business site and marketing materials dispersed.
2. Prepare for Halloween before 10/27.
3. Daily rumbles regularly - at least 1 week's streak by end of month.
4. Dial down expectations - 1 HK101 essay.
5. 4 lbs. lost.

That will do for now.  I'm also setting a reminder to look at these daily so I don't forget and blow them off.

Who's got a goal for October?

September By the Numbers

Once again it's time to look back on a month and see what happened. 

1 - day I didn't track points

10 - days I passed goal (4,000)

104,655 - points earned all month

3,489 - average number of points per day

3 - pounds I lost

5 - friends and family birthdays

8 - medical appointments

2,140 - Spark points earned

5 - days over 100*

7 - days of rain

8,555 - emails and RSS posts deleted

20 - blog posts

27 - days of Wii Fit body tests

13 - books read

61,499 - steps recorded

$87.35 - earned from online book sales

1 - teenager in the house

1 - new dog

And there we have it: September 2011 boiled down to a few statistics.

September Goals

I have 2 basic goals for the month: consistency and improvement.  Vague enough for ya?

Consistency:
I want to start with consistent record-keeping.  I want to have complete POAs and food/exercise diaries for every day of the month.  Even if I didn't do anything, or I ate way too much, I want a record.  Am I going to do everything on my POA every day?  Uh, no.  Even if I tried I'm not sure I could. Well, I *could*, but I'd never get that far on my current energy and health level.  That's a goal for another time.  It is enough right now for me to know how much I *am* doing on a fairly regular basis, and to work on improving upon that amount.

Speaking of improvement:
I want to have a higher points per day average than last month.  I want the house to be cleaner at the end of the month than it is now - by which I specifically mean having it picked up enough to really *clean* on a regular basis.  I want to see progress on the scale and other measurements of health and fitness.  I want to spend less time on pain-killers and more time up doing things (not a whole lot I can control about that, except that if that last goal is met it should help).

Specific tasks to complete:
Get my sort-of-secret project up and running
Get up to speed on the holiday planner
Finish any one section of PCCX cleaning
Write a minimum of 4 HK101 essays

That'll do for now.  My POA is full of other things to do daily, weekly, monthly, and once.  I will have plenty to do in September.

5 & 1/2 Months Later

Yep, it's been over 5 months since I've posted which I just happened to notice because of Amanda's new post, so I'm posting an update and a few goals for the month of September.

I ended up slacking on the decluttering process back in April because I'd started college classes. Last week I'd finally decided that I was going to just have the garage sale with what I'd already decluttered and attempt to go through the garage as well (which I did). I'm pretty sure I sold well over 500 items, leaving me with 2 totes, a box and a rack of coats.

During the month of September, I plan to:

• Sort through the garage sale items and sort to donate or sell online.
• Drop off donation items
• Post items online for sale
• Scrub the shower & tub (I hate hard water...my tub is a "goldenrod" color (5 points if you know that color) and I'd like to see it white again
• Attempt to remove the paint from carpet in bedroom with goof off (pointless but going to try anyways)
• Begin job
• Start new college classes
• Clean out filing cabinet

I *intend* to post before/after pics now that I have a memory card reader again.

August In Review, September Preview

Technically the 50point bonus reminder came out Tuesday, but I figure as long as it's done by today - the day after the end of the month - it's worthy of the points.  That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

So, here's August by the numbers, cuz ya know, I'm a numbers gal:

5 - number of days I didn't track diddly

4 - number of days I only have points because I forced myself to add up the abysmal "accomplishments"

12 - number of days I exceeded the daily goal

93,215 - number of points earned all month

3,007 - average number of points earned per day

0.5 - number of pounds I lost

2 - number of pounds I gained back

3 - number of times I was called by a school in the first 8 days of the school year

4 - number of family and friends' birthdays

19 - number of trips to Sonic - that I can document

31 - number of days the temperature reached 100+

6 - number of medical appointments - none of them mine!

8,767 - number of emails and RSS posts I received and deleted

609 - number of Spark Points earned ((re)joined 8/18)

There was all the usual back-to-school fervor to contend with of course.  Clothes and supplies to buy, and mountains of paperwork to fill out, much of it repetitive.  I don't think there was anything else truly interfering with my progress last month other than inherent laziness and the semi-excusable time spent in bed with pain meds.

In September we have 3 birthdays to celebrate - heh, all on consecutive Mondays, how 'bout that.  A will be a teenager in less than 2 weeks; heaven help us all.  I have 7 medical appointments already on the docket and at least 1 more will be added after tomorrow's visit to the orthodontist, I'm sure.  This season of True Blood will come to a close and the next season of Boardwalk Empire will begin.  I'm anxious to see what the HBO winter headline show will be now that Big Love is finished.  Neither of my A-list network shows begin this month (House and Bones, premiering in Oct and Nov, respectively).  

In other words, there's not a whole lot going on that should impede any progress I'd like to make.  Next up, goal setting - but that's another show.