Mental Time Capsule - October 3, 2010

So many things on my mind. Today is Birdie's birthday. Also known as Piper Bobo Lacy, she was my best friend in college. She was kind of like a twin soul. She is in Denmark visiting her dad right now. It's her favorite place.
I just finished a new book on my Kindle. It was called "The Happiness Project." I'm not usually big on the self-help books, but I liked this one. It got me thinking on changes I want to make. The author spent 12 months working on making different changes in her life. Each month she worked on something different, things like tackling clutter, money issues, marriage, parenthood, exercise, writing, unfinished tasks/business, etc.
She was pretty methodical about how she tackled her projects, she had spreadsheets and charts of everything. Although I don't imagine I'd be quite as organized as her with all of the charts, etc., I do like the idea of making lists of projects.
The projects I'd like to tackle are:
1. Clutter. I spent all day yesterday organizing my office and creating student files. Just a few hours of work and such a huge sense of relief at knowing where every single important piece of paper is for each of my students. An extra added benefit: I inadvertently came across some of the things coming up with work that I was wondering about and had questions about, like our upcoming student portfolios which are due in December. It does pay to be organized, and just feels so much better.
2. Exercise. I was going to start an expensive diet this week but we can't afford it at the moment as we are still paying my grandmother back for some wedding debt we got into. So I am going the old-fashioned route and starting an exercise routine. My sister got me a pedometer, and I have a goal of 10,000 steps a day, which is supposedly the magic number of steps (or so) that it takes not to gain MORE weight...so I guess I should probably walking a lot more than 10,000 steps a day, but it's a start. I will continue swimming (my average is two or three times a week) and I want to add zumba and yoga into my routine too. But I will start with the 10,ooo steps a day, and see how that goes first. My friend Meghan has volunteered to be my walking buddy. So far we have walked once and plan to walk again in the morning.
3. Taking care of my health.
I have had so many health worries for so long, something which has been exacerbated by the fact that I haven't had health insurance for the last few years. It been incredibly stressful for me to be uninsured for all of this time, and I couldn't afford to get check ups out of pocket, it was too expensive. So tomorrow I am finally going to the doctor to get caught up on all of my routine check-ups. It's such a huge relief to finally be tackling all of my health concerns.
4. Stop putting personal dreams and goals last. Start bringing the things I love and enjoy back into my life. Finding balance in life and finding time for everything that's important to me has been something I've always struggled with. A lot of times the things I love to do are pushed aside for more pressing tasks. Work is important, and needs to be a priority, as it has been. So does cooking and cleaning and daily appts., errands, emails, phone calls and other tasks. However, it shouldn't be at the expense of doing the little things I love to do, so I am making these things (or some variation there of) a priority for at least one hour a day: writing in my journal, reading one of my favorite books or magazines, writing letters, blogging more often, taking photos, walking Coco, connecting with friends by phone or in person, and doing more handmade crafts like handmade cards, etc.
5. Making time to see my nieces and friends and family. We had my parents for dinner last Wednesday, and I think we are going to make a tradition of having family over for dinner on Wednesdays. I want to have Rob's dad German and his stepmom Dina over next. People are so busy on the weekends that I think weeknights are better.
6. Start writing articles again. Rob and I have been on hiatus with our writing/photography gig with Valcom news, but we want to get back into it to finally do the review on One Speed, and next, a great little breakfast place that just opened up called Orphan. We need one more article in our current portfolio to be able to apply for BATW (Bay Area Travel Writers), which is a network of freelance writers in San Francisco, and a great place to find out about new writing opportunities, especially in the travel writing genre, which is our passion and most exciting prospect.
7. Learn the ukulele. My dad and stepmom just gave me a ukulele for my birthday, and I am really excited to learn a few new Hawaiian songs.
That about wraps up my thoughts for the moment.
Onward and upward,
Jeneka