Did I shop!?!

If a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it, does it make a sound? We've all heard this question before... As trite as it may be, I couldn't think of any better way to ask the dreaded question have I broken my no shopping rule just 27 days into the new year??? I did indeed purchase this recycled organic dress (pictured) from H&M. It was a steal...only $19.95!!! In spite of the price, it still SEEMS like shopping, right? WRONG! I sold a couple of items on eBay and used a portion of what I earned to purchase this little beauty. So, in a way, I recycled --just like the dress ;o). I plan on wearing it Super Bowl Sunday while rooting for the Steelers...only because I'll be wearing their colors You Know What it is Black & Yellow, Black & Yellow!!!

They're Trying to Create Healthier Snacks!!!

In my first blog of the new year http://tialou.blogspot.com/2011/01/new-year-new-you.html, I talked about petitioning Lay's to make 100 calorie bags of my fave snack & lo and behold I come across this http://www.latimes.com/health/hc-yale-pepsi-1227-20101227,0,6907393.story. Am I clairvoyant or WHAT!?! Let's hope the changes are good!!!

Rue La La You REALLY Tested My Gangsta With This One!

My Horoscope Is On My Side! Or Is It...

Aries horoscope for Jan. 07, 2011

It may be a good day for window-shopping, Aries, but just wait until tomorrow to buy anything. Your head may be in the clouds, and you may have the desire to buy something that you believe will change some aspect of your life. This could be anything from a new hat to a new car, or perhaps something even bigger. And while you may be ready for a change of some sort, you need to think it over. If you really want to transform your life, or even just some small part of it, do your research before you pull out your wallet.

--Courtesy of Daily Horoscope App for Android

New Year! New You!!!

This is my first blog of the new year and I'm super excited!!! It's actually crazy that I can this say because I, like most of you, created a laundry list of things that I would like to change this year... Let's not call them the "R" word because that means they'll only last 'til February. My list includes things like losing 10 lbs (and maintaining it), tightening my budget, etc... We're only 3 days in (started this post yesterday :/) and I'm already struggling! Driving past fast-food spots in favor of that microwave meal and forgoing my beloved Starbucks for my not yet perfected "skinny caramel macchiato". I'm also craving salt & vinegar chips right now... so much so that I thought about contacting Lay's about creating a 100 calorie pack! Since it may take them a while to honor my request, I decided that I will buy a big bag and aliquot (hey, I'm a scientist) it into little baggies and bring one with me to work as an afternoon snack. Little things like this make keeping my res... (Oops! Almost said it!!!) more feasible. Some things, however, require a little more creativity! My most challenging life change is giving up shopping. For those of you that know me personally, I'll insert a pause here (PAUSE) so that you can regain your composure from laughing hysterically. As with most "life changes", I've attempted this one several times in the past and failed miserably each time. During the times that I was able to briefly refrain, when I started shopping again...ummm...let's just say I made up for lost time! This time I asked myself what I could do differently to make this change stick until I reach my financial goal. My answer...drum roll puh-leez...a blog! Initially I thought about starting a new one and then I decided why not incorporate it into Life Maintenance since making life changes that stick certainly fits into that category. Blogging about my "life change" may not make it easier to delete that email New Year, New You Take 40% Off (Yep, still in my inbox...), but it will assist me in my effort by:

I. Serving as an announcement which establishes accountability

II. Acting as a patch (think smoking cessation patch) that I can read & update to remain motivated

III. Helping others who may have implemented a similar change for the New Year

So that I won't go crazy during this effort, I've spiced things up a bit... In addition to not shopping, I have vowed not to repeat an outfit within a month. Okay...again for those of you that know me personally you're probably thinking that this isn't a major feat based on the shear volume of stuff that I have, BUT I beg to differ. With being a mom, working, and going to school I get caught up in the rut of wearing whatever is convenient (which is generally the outfit that came out of the wash that I wore last week). Not repeating will help break out of this cycle, keep my wardrobe fresh without adding new pieces, and hopefully make this challenge fun! Stayed tuned!! Happy New Year!!!

Listen

Today marks the start of my children's 4th week of school and I think I've finally got this whole schedule thing figured out... Don't get me wrong...I had a schedule from Day One! Ya'll know me!!!

Wake up 5:00 AM
Drop kids at bus 6:15 AM
Arrive work 7:00 AM
Leave work 3:30 PM
Pick up kids 4:15 PM
Arrive home 4:30 PM
Dinner 5:00 PM
Leave home 6:00 PM
Arrive at my school 6:30 PM
Pray to finish up so the kids can be home & in bed by 10:00 PM

In spite of having things so eloquently timed, this schedule left me with the blues and try as I might I just couldn't seem to shake it :(. I kept thinking maybe if I were just a little more organized? As my BFF Devediah (check out her blog devediah-theserialdieter.blogspot.com) pointed out, "you can't get much more organized than mapping your day out in 30 minute intervals!" I opted not to insert the spreadsheet in my schedule above. Suffice it to say being more organized was not the solution. The solution is what I've been preaching since the inception of my blog...BALANCE. I spent the entire day yesterday (Sunday) cleaning & preparing for the week. I even went a little beyond my normal neurotic cleaning and shampooed the carpet and area rugs throughout the house. By 7 PM I was on the verge of tears so I decided to chill for a minute. I laid back in my bed and thought what can I do to feel better? The above schedule is not gonna change anytime soon so decreasing my load really isn't an option. I dozed off for about 5 minutes and when I woke up, it was crystal clear! Even with a schedule broken down into 30 minute intervals, I was wasting time. How, you may ask? I needed to re-prioritize some things. Some things that I considered critical are really not that critical and other things that I had at the end of the list that I only got around to when I had "time" have moved up the list. The things that I let kinda fall by the wayside are "me time", exercising, and eating right. I realized all of these things are necessary to keep me going and therefore I may have to forgo having my house look like HGTV some days in order to make this happen. Even with this "epiphany" fresh in my mind, I still didn't get to bed last night until 1 AM after finishing laundry, etc. I'm definitely going to do better tonight! But...even going off only 4 hours of sleep, today has been better than any day I had last week (keeping my fingers crossed that this holds true since I haven't been to school yet). The lesson here is that although we often know what we need, sometimes the answer evades us 'til we sit still and listen. This could also be a plug for a daily 5 minute power nap! Keep striving :-)

Figuring Out the Game of Life

This has been my quest for the past month or so... We spend the bulk of our days working to pay for things we are barely able to enjoy. We have homes that we don't spend much time in and cars that are mostly used to transport us to & from work. Think about it...there are 24 hours in a day. 8 of which we spend working, we sleep another 8 (if we're lucky), and the last 8 we spend doing the necessary things. These include eating and excreting which we have to do to live. The remainder of this 8 hour block is generally used for logistics and preparation...getting back & forth to work, dropping off & picking up kids, grocery shopping, cooking, and doing laundry. In many instances 8 hours is not enough to perform these duties so the extra time required is taken away from the 8 hours of sleep. Seems kinda unfair, doesn't it? Well as my mom told me often when I was growing up LIFE IS NOT FAIR. I agree with that statement in some ways and totally disagree in others, but that's another blog for another day. So the question remains, "How do we get out of the Matrix?" When I was searching google to find my blog (Yes, its been that long), I came across David Goines interpretation of Life Maintenance:

http://www.goines.net/Writing/Life_Maintenance.html

His version suggests that we spend most of our lives performing maintenance, much like mine. He concluded that this doesn't leave much time for forward movement. My reason for writing is learning to LIVE through it all. I'm learning as I go and hope that my experiences help others in their journey. Having somewhat mathematically broken down what a day consists of (above), I've created a somewhat mathematical expression to figuring out this game.

Option #1

Make due with less so that we can work less and have more leisure. (Have you ever noticed how happy poor people are? Not "U.S. poor" but people in less developed countries. I'm just saying?)

Option #2 (In theory, this is my preferred option. I go on a shopping hiatus every few months then the bug bites again!!! I need to unsubscribe from these marketing emails...who can resist "The Biggest Urban Outfitter's Sale Ever"?)

Make due with less but work the same amount or greater so that we have more leisure time in the future.

Option #3

Make due with the same and work more which leaves us with less leisure time.

The common thread in each of these is SACRIFICE. We have to live off less which can be difficult in many ways. There's also a psychological component...we spend most of our days working but can't take that vacay or buy those cute shoes c'mon we deserve it! The other sacrifice is time...time away from our families and the things we love. In all scenarios, it helps to love (or at least like) what you do so that work seems a little less like work. It is also very important in all cases NOT to spend whatever leisure time you have only on logistics & planning but to make time for those things you enjoy and the people you love because quality can out weigh quantity. The great thing about life is that how you live it is up to you!!!