Time management

I've never been great at managing my time but recently I have been getting worse and worse. I've also noticed that now that my boys are older they also seem to be requiring more of my time too despite gaining more independence. Perhaps it is because I used to be able to do two things at once when they were smaller but today they will require my full attention. Regardless of the reason the amount of time at my disposal feels as if it is shrinking daily.

Irish dancing

image found in my 'clip art' folder, unfortunately I have no idea where it came from

A friend has recently started an irish dance school. My youngest son is a bit of a mover so I thought that it would be good to introduce him to a different kind of dance. It hasn't grabbed him but I keep dragging him in to watch the lessons whilst I dance instead.

Health: Walk!

I've got to lose weight. And get fit again. The easiest way to do this is to set myself a goal but not of weight to lose but of something I can more easily control.

This January I am going to walk 20 miles. I know, this doesn't sound like much and in the past I would have easily completed this in one week. But the problem with January is that, thanks to meeting up with lots of different people over Christmas, colds and bugs are continually passed around. I want to make my goal achieveable and if I go over it I won't be upset!

This year I have the bonus that I can be more flexible with my own time. I don't need to be constantly supervising the boys though I dare not leave them alone for too long either!

I hope that I succeed.

It's interesting to read over old posts from this time last year. This one seems quite apt and reminds me of how far I have come: January mission

Health: stretch

Honesty - stretching for the light!

Flexibility has been raising it's head around here again. As in J and I are losing it! Me, I'm just not active enough. J lives in a world designed for shorter people and has always had back issues as a result but these are made worse thanks to long hours spent driving.

I don't have his excuse but for the last few months I have been finding it uncomfortable to get up in the mornings. I always used to be a fidget in bed but now I seem to stay in the same position and I can really feel it when I wake, my body is so stiff. I'm only in my 30's so I really ought to do something about this!

I have lots of books and fancy routines I could follow but back to this years plan of 'just do it' I'm ignoring the research and using common sense. Every time I want to watch the TV I stretch. Starting with a full body stretch I work my way down the different parts of the body. Slowly I'm becoming more mobile.

I enjoy stretching and I love how it makes me feel when I have finished. Yet again I have to ask myself, why did I ever stop?

Turning the lawn over to my boys

A few days ago I found some old tennis court posts hidden in a corner. So when I stumbled across some line spray at a local shop (whilst hunting for spray varnish) I impulsively purchased it. At just under £10 it was pricey but I'm glad that I did as it gave me the inspiration to create a tennis court. Lots of mowing later, lines marked out and a few tree limbs lopped, we were ready to play.

 

It's not full size, whilst the lawn area is large it isn't flat and the trees get in the way. But it's big enough for us to enjoy a volley. It's been fun reintroducing my boys to this sport. 

 

When planning what to do in the garden I sometimes forget that it isn't just for me. My boys need space too and, let's face it, there is plenty of room at the moment! The photo above is of what we call the middle lawn. We currently have two trampolines (one is only used for lounging as it has a hole) and a slackline too (seen in the far left). This is all visible from the house but far enough away for the children not to feel as if they are under constant supervision.

 

I'm happy to say that we're enjoying the tennis.

 

Long term goals

Since investigating Candlemas the idea of well planned goals has been ticking over in my mind. All those new years resolutions that I've made over the years really haven't helped me towards my goals. Because resolutions, without the work, don't add up to much. I've dreamed of being able to do many things over the years, even worked towards some for a while, but overall I've made very little progress.

I wish that I could:

Play the piano - I'm not worried about being an expert but I do enjoy piano music and would love to shift my skill level on from Grade 1.
Play the guitar - I'm actually wondering if this is a dream I should let go of. I can play chords, I was even pretty good at arpeggio for a while but am now sorely out of practice. I really don't know if I'm interested in doing all the practice needed to recover where I was let alone get any better!

Speak a foreign language - I've dipped into both French and Spanish in the past, I did German at school but have never revisited that particular language so far. I am currently interested in Welsh but in order to pursue this I need to set up a base where I can settle for a few minutes each day, I genuinely feel that I don't have the space for this at the moment.

Be slim - It's been many years since I've worn a size 12, I want to rediscover how good this feels.
Run a marathon - I would like to achieve this just once. I don't want to become a regular long distance runner as I'm not convinced that putting that much stress on your body on a regular basis is a good idea but I would like to complete just one marathon.
Touch my toes - I'm not even going to admit how long it's been since I could touch my toes with straight legs. I've never been very flexible, even as a child when I did gymnastics, but the older I get the more important I realise flexibility is.

Having written this list I'm slightly surprised at how short it is. There are other skills I've wanted over the years but they are generally related to fitness one way or the other. It is really uplifting reading through this, it is all very achievable. Not over night though!

January mission

I have my usual new year wish list, and right at the top is wanting to lose weight. However, wanting doesn't mean that it happens. This year instead of diving into the new year starvation diet I've decided to wait until spring before cutting back. I have several reasons for this:

• When I'm cold I feel hungry (it's winter at the moment)
• I find it hard to stay motivated when the days are short
• I'm still surrounded by left over Christmas temptations - I cannot afford to bin food
• I don't want to spread myself too thin (weight loss requires perseverance)
• I don't feel ready

I have successfully lost weight twice before. By successful I mean that the weight stayed off for several years and this was because I made lifestyle changes that I could maintain. The first time I was in my early twenties and had put on weight due to working in an office. The biggest change I made here was that I started to walk home from work, about 4 miles. This also helped me mentally as I was able to de-stress on my way and got home feeling refreshed and ready to do stuff rather than collapse on the sofa. My weight would fluctuate (I'm never going to be slim) but I felt healthy.

I put on a large amount of weight after having my first baby. This was eventually lost through walking, again. I walked everywhere, my pushchair went through 5 sets of wheels during this period! Things ground to a halt with my second baby which coincided with my first having to walk alongside us. Suddenly my 4-5 mile treks weren't very practical with a 3yr old walking too.

I have tried running in the past, and enjoyed it, but personally I feel that walking is what succeeds for me, but this takes up a lot of time. Building this into my life at the moment is hard especially as I don't want to be dragging my boys along with me. I like walking on my own, I don't like dealing with whining especially on a cold wet morning when I'd rather be staying in the house too.

My January mission is to get up early in the mornings 3 days a week to go for a short walk before my partner heads off to work. The walk is short because I don't enjoy being out in the dark. As the days get longer I anticipate being out for longer, I'm quite looking forward to it. But dieting is on the back burner until I feel stronger in myself.

A wet walk

Wet, grey and windy 

Wow, you can tell that this is a new blog, second post just a day after the first.

We've had a lovely gentle Christmas but I have felt somewhat trapped in the house. Every time I've looked out of the window I've been greeted with the sight of grey dreariness and the reminder that walking across the garden is like tip toeing across a wet sponge. But today I was drawn outside so on went the coat, hat and wellies. I walked up to our local river and just stood on the bridge, staring for a while at the twisting of the water whilst battered by the rain. On the way back, walking on a foot path around a field (image above) I recorded how I was feeling - I love the gadgets on my phone. Below is an edited transcript:

What a miserable day. What a vibrant day. It is cold, wet and windy and I'm going for a walk. I feel alive, I feel real. I'm looking forward to sitting by a fire with a cup of hot chocolate snuggled up with my boys, making soup for lunch and knitting socks. It's cold, the wind is blowing the rain across this flat landscape in flat sheets. I can feel my trousers sticking to my skin like icicles. The open skies are wonderful, it's bleak but... there's promise. There's promise of life, promise of light, that we have come out of dark winter and away from the SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder). Coming into the new year and refreshment, time to reassess, a fantastic time of year. Not a time to turn myself into a new person with false promises but a time to assess things and to think through what I really want and to appreciate what I already have.

Okay, I'm sludging through the puddles, each step is a slurp. It's a pity I'm wearing a hat really as I want to feel really open to the elements. Let me take my hat off, it's not raining too bad right now. Ahh, incredible. Even though it is still slightly raining I couldn't feel anymore alive, I feel refreshed, I feel washed, not quite renewed but on my way there. Energy refilled. With my hat on [it has a brim] it was like being in a cave and looking out. Now I feel open to the world, to the sky. I feel as if my hair has taken on it's own life and is reaching for the air to become one with it. My feet don't feel the same thing with the earth but that's probably because it's too muddy and cold for that.

Here my monologue ended and I took the above photograph. Not a great image with the rain on my camera but it does show the moodiness of the sky. I really enjoyed doing this, not an exercise I planned but the words help me to recall the moment.

I didn't have hot chocolate when home but I have had a snuggle with my boys and enjoyed a big pot of homemade mushroom soup with crusty bread. A good day, I may yet start on knitting the second sock.