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!!!

Blues Buster

This morning I woke up and thought...ughhh work...then immediately as if a switch went off I thought...today is gonna be a good day! That thought set the tone for the entire day. With that said, today truly wasn't that great. Okay, yes it's paradoxical but keep reading... I got dressed and pulled my hair back into a puff. The first time it was too small, the second time it was too big, and the third time it looked as if I had kind of a shag thing going on... Not Cute :/. The fourth and final attempt was not great, but I fluffed and said 2 tears in a bucket! Then holy crap I was 5 minutes late leaving the house which meant my kids would be less than or equal to 5 minutes late for school (I have it down to a science). I got the kids to school exactly 2 minutes late and luckily the door was still open so they were able to run in without getting tardy slips. When I got to work and opened my email, the first thing I saw in my inbox was an email from someone that I never wish to hear from...ever again in life. I'll save that story for my book ;o). When I read it, I immediately went into a dark place and again the switch went off. I'm not gonna let this ruin my day! Instead I began going through my things-to-do list that I wrote just before bed and I began checking things off. I continued to maneuver through my workday thinking positive thoughts. Near the end of the day, I received yet another email from the same person. This time I responded...very professionally I might add... and I still decided not to let it take me off course so I continued with my agenda. So you see my day wasn't that great... What made the difference though is how I dealt with things. For the past couple of weeks I've been really down. Granted I'm dealing with a lot, but generally I don't stay in a funk for this long. I started doing some research and found this excellent blog entry by Zen Habits:

http://zenhabits.net/feeling-down-7-ways-to-pick-yourself/

And while this blog has some great points, I was already doing most of the things listed... I'm a compulsive to-do lister! What I was struggling with was making myself DO the things I had written down. So the question remains, how do you conquer a lack of motivation...get out of that funk...shake off the blues??? Drum rollllllll...the answer is positive thought. I know it sounds waaay too simplistic, but really that's it. Yes, sh!t is going to happen inevitably but it's all in how you deal with it. So my tips to picking yourself up are:

(1) When negative thoughts enter your mind, counteract them with positive thoughts
(2) Don't dwell on the inevitable BS (when you realize you are, refer to tip #1)
(3) Stay busy (we all know the old adage about the idle mind...)

I'm going to post these somewhere until they're indelibly etched in my mind! Hope you do the same!!!

We Fall Down But...

It's been far too long since I've posted a new entry. It's been so long that I actually had to try a couple different passwords before I was able to successfully log in :-(. I love spring! It is a time of renewal. I love everything about spring with the exception of allergies (which I have learned to manage with my drug cocktail). Oh...and...I'm also not loving this daylight savings time. Don't get me wrong...I love the concept of longer days and more sunshine, but here I am 3 days after setting my clock forward and I'm still struggling to adjust. I'm not tired til 2 AM thanks to my 1 AM bedtime prior to the time change which only leaves me with 4 hours of shut-eye before embarking on the next busy day. Yesterday I unconsciously hit snooze and didn't wake up til 8 o'clock!!! That resulted in me taking the kids to school in my PJs, coming back home to get ready, and starting my workday nearly 2 hours behind schedule. I did a little better today...I still hit snooze, but I managed to get up in time to get 90% dressed before my designated leaving time. This translates to jeans, a tank, and the rocks (fake Crocs)I wear when taking the dogs in and out. I dropped the kiddos and headed to work. When I arrived, the security guard asked if I was tired. Don't know exactly what tipped her off... Was it the dried up toothpaste on my cheek? Or Maybe it was that my hair looked like Coolio since I had taken out the ties that I use to secure it at night, but hadn't shaped my fro. After parking, I sat in my car and lotioned my face and combed out my hair & added a clip. I put on my sweater, earrings, belt, and sneakers. Then I was ready to face the world or at least my co-workers~. Can you guess what time is is!?! Time for more of that good ole life maintenance. Time to regain control of my life (and my dignity). PJs Monday...Coolio Tuesday...Wednesday's gotta be better!!! My goal for tonight is to be asleep by 11. In the meantime, I'm gonna get out of the office for lunch and relish in the breezy sunshine. Yes, we fall down but the important thing is that we get up :-).