Big derailment - medical issues

After a month of Jewish holidays/feasts, and a month of big birthday bashes, I was looking forward to getting back to work, back to normal and getting even fitter in preparation for the Bat Mitzvah in Israel. Right. We plan and G-d laughs. On the morning of the very last Jewish holiday, hubby mentions that he has been seeing floaters in his eye. Hundreds of them. I told him it was an emergency because it could be a retina problem, and off we went to the opthamologist. She confirmed he had a couple of big retina tears, and sent us over to the hospital. Eye got lasered, and we thought that was that. Unfortunately, it wasn't. He had to have 2 more invasive surgeries, and will likely need yet another one this week. The recovery is brutal, as he cannot work and needs to spend most of his time face-down. Needless to say, there is a great deal of stress. We cope better some days than others. I appreciate the support we've gotten from friends and family.

I did it! First 5K race

I've gone from literally being on the couch to running my first 5K race. When I first started, my 5K time was just over 50 min. Last week, I hoped to finish in 43 min. When I got to the race itself, however, I found that it's true that the energy of the crowd pumps you up and seeing the finish line gets you motivated to give an extra push. I saw that my time when I crossed the finish line was 41:30, which was a thrill. Then, I realized that it had taken time for me to cross the start line, because of the huge crowd, and I figured out how to check my electronic "chip time". When I did, I got a shock - my official time was 38:18! I realize that for some, this is incredibly slow (my husband, for example, once did 10K in 42 min.), but it's by far my personal best, and I was on a high from reaching my goal.

Life Begins at 40!

I turned 40 this weekend - and it was fantastic. My husband threw me a surprise party. It was just overwhelming to see everyone there. The best part was my kids' speech. Not only are they gorgeous and funny, but they really put effort into it and made it personal. I kept thinking about how lucky I was to have my family, and how I'm right where I want to be. At 20, we were in a bad recession and I had no idea how I'd find work after I finished law school, and my future husband was doing a crazy amount of studying trying to get into med school. At 30, I was dealing with multiple miscarriages and wondering if my daughter would ever have siblings, plus my husband was STILL doing his training so we were in a cramped 1 bedroom apartment. Today, I don't really feel older (I actually have more energy and fewer back aches since the kids are older) - but I do notice that somewhere along the line, I somehow gained some confidence, got settled and built a great family. We also had some awesome, great-to-be-alive weather. I love this time of year. It's still warm, but the air is fresh and not humid, and the sky was a brilliant cloudless blue. We did some apple-picking just 20 min. away, and the drive was just gorgeous with rolling hills and fall colors. Somehow, we also survived a birthday party at home with a house full of 9-year-olds!

Cookbook submissions

My kids' school is doing a cookbook fundraiser. I've contribute recipes in the past to 2 other cookbooks, so I'm looking forward to getting some recipes submitted and selected for this one! I post recipes under my Weekly Menu Plan website, shown on the sidebar. Check them out, and let me know what you like. I'm leaning toward: Crockpot chicken soup Hot and Sour Soup Crockpot black bean soup Deconstructed Greek salad Mediterranean Sauteed Green Beans Garlic Mashed Cauliflower Roasted Rosemary baby and sweet potatoes Spicy Black Bean dip Asian Chicken Drums Roasted Rosemary Balsamic Chicken Tofu and Vegetable Curry Panfried Garlic Sole Maple Balsamic Salmon Eli's Pineapple Hoisin Salmon

Running progress

I always hated running. I was the kid huffing and puffing during runs at school, and looking for any way to get out of doing it. I was the one getting winded after running 30 sec. for the bus. Up until a couple of years ago, I also had a weird knee issue (cavernous hemangioma) that made any exercise involving my quads painful. Now, I'm officially registered for my first 5k run in mid-Oct. I've started training using the treadmill. I find it keeps me more focused and disciplined than running outdoors, and I also feel more secure when I can monitor my heart rate. I quickly figured out that running raised my heart rate FAST, and can easily put it way beyond the upper end of my target heart rate. The first time I realized this, it was hitting 170. No wonder I had the "I'm about to die" feeling. I'm now figured out that in order to keep running without too many walking breaks, my pace needs to be slow. Very slow. 4 miles/hour is my new pace. Part of me wants to go faster, but at 4 m.p.h. I can maintain a jog for a decent amount of time without getting completely out of breathe or wanting to collapse. Last night I managed to do the 3 miles in 46 min. - I know that's really slow for a runner, but it's huge for an absolute beginner like me. I also enjoyed a nice endorphin rush. Looking forward to seeing that time drop as I'm able to slowly increase the pace. 40 min. by race day would be nice.

Darn cookies!

Good news:

My oldest daughter figured out on her own how to get a chocolate chip cookie recipe online, and how to bake the cookies herself. They are simply fabulous, possibly the Best.Cookies.Ever. Baking them puts her in a great mood, and she was sweet enough to pack us each some cookies today with a little note from her. AWWWW!

Bad news:

The cookies, as I said, are yummy. So yummy that I just HAVE to eat them, esp. after they were so sweetly packed for me.

I could argue that she used pure coconut oil and whole wheat flour, but really....cookies sabotage diets. Especially if they are this yummy.

mid-week check-in

Weight: 143.8

I'm already starting to feel better.

Made some progress on the mountain of billings, but have lots more to do today.

I'm officially signed up for the Scotiabank 5k in October, so I have a fixed goal. My original hoped-for time of 30 min seems a bit ambitious, so I'm aiming for 35 min instead.

I'm also adding a new challenge: getting the kids to eat at least 5 fruit/veggies servings per day.

Weekly check-in

Weight: 145 lbs.

Down a pound, but need to work on losing around 1.5 - 2 lbs/week to meet my goals.

Still need to work on daily exercise.

My accounting books are up to date, which is a huge relief. Now, it's just a matter of plowing through the backlog of billings. Finally seem to have resolved all IT issues, and the practice is humming along.

New task for the week:

Use internet only as a reward for daily goals reached. In other words, before I log on, I must:

1. Eat my daily healthy stuff including 5 servings of veggies.
2. Exercise for at least 30 min.
3. Finish daily work assignment, and post time spent.
4. Bill out a file.
5. Prep lunches for next day.

If I do that, I'll allow myself to log on, after kids are in bed. At 11 p.m., I need to log off and go to bed.

Getting equipped for lunch

I just read this:

http://www.parentcentral.ca/parent/familyhealth/article/1036099--kids-packed-lunches-too-warm-to-be-safe-study

As part of back-to-school shopping, I'll be looking to buy some extra-large lunch bags, decent Thermoses, and ice packs to keep the cold stuff cold and hot stuff hot.

I'll also try, once again, to come up with ideas for fussy eaters and school rules that require all lunches to be peanut/nut-free, kosher, vegetarian, healthy and zero-waste, plus accommodating any other class-specific allergies like egg, fish, soy or sesame. Any ideas? I also need to think of lunches that the kids can make themselves (we already have them helping with the snacks), and that I can do the night before or very easily in the morning, because taking the time to do things like making hot grilled cheese sandwiches last year was killing my mornings.

check-in and goal setting

Weight as of Tues. 146 lbs
Waist 32.5 in., hips 38.5 in.

Goals:

Lose 15 lbs in the next 10 weeks, then 5 lbs more by Dec. 1
Increase fitness level to the point that I can run 5k comfortably
Get on top of billings and accounting by the end of the month, and pay off 75% of business debt

Methods:

Eliminate online time (except for this blog) except for 20 min per day if other goals met
Bring lunch daily, using minimal effort and maximum taste methods.
Take the time to workout daily. Use things like nice gym showers and tv as motivation
Do food, exercise and work journal
Set aside time next week to do billing blitz

Work is getting better in terms of having things finally set up and a reasonable stream of new work coming in. The accounting/administration is the last piece of the puzzle, along with paying down the new debt associated with the expansion. Once that is done and I'm more up-to-date, pressure should be reduced and I should feel less urge to avoid.

The kids continue to be awesome.
Marriage is great - my husband has been supportive of the weight loss, fitness goals and office expansion. Our anniversary is this week!

As it gets closer, I'm getting more excited for the 40th birthday and Bat Mitzvah celebration.

Setting some goals

Short term:

It's only 2.5 weeks until my 15th anniversary! I'd like to be down to 141 by then. I'd also like to get in at least one bike ride, one swim and one jog by that time, plus some regular workouts. Finally, I'd like to be up to date on my accounting and have made a dent in my pile of billings.

Longer term:

40th birthday is rapidly approaching, and my goal is to be under 130 lbs, and to get a somewhat respectable time for a 5k run. Work-wise, I'd like to be caught up on the billings and at a point that all systems are finally running smoothly, so that I'll be in good shape to take off 2.5 weeks in December.

Completed full 5k

5.42 km in 56 min. The time obviously needs to improve but I did manage a 1k run/.5k walk pattern, so about 3.5k of that was a (slow) run.

On Friday, I'll try keeping the 1k run intervals, shortening the walk to .25k so it will be 4k run/1k walk.

Maybe I'm TOO efficient....

There always needs to be a source of stress, right?

Since my line of credit increase was approved, and the computers are finally arriving, and the staff is settled in....what on earth would I have to worry about?

Well, they are working well. My Leaning Tower of Paperwork is no more, my To Do list is being done, my office is organized - and I'm running out of stuff to do. this was the one thing I hadn't really anticipated, since I was so overwhelmed before. I'm gradually talking myself down, reminding myself that I've been through this before, taking steps like re-activating Adwords and revamping the website and contacting the SEO company that did wonders the last time I used them. I hadn't really needed to focus on attracting new business before, so it was a bit of a shock when I realized that my site visits dramatically decreased a few months ago and I needed a serious revamp.

I know the remedial steps will help - people didn't suddenly stop getting divorced here, and the Lawyer Referral Service is likely to kick in any day now, which in the past managed to feed a practice. Meanwhile, though, I've been STRESSED!

Starting some jogging

I did an 8 km walk on Saturday, a 1/2 hour run/walk on Sunday and another 1/2 hour run/walk yesterday. My husband signed me up for a 5K run in October, so I'm determined to run the whole thing and not end up last.

Need. Sleep. Now.

I think the title says it all.

The new work arrangements are going well, except for the fact that the computers are late, but the stress coming out of the holidays and into such a busy time at work have meant that I wasn't getting much sleep. I'm tired and cranky.

The changes will be good and should soon stabilize - but for now, good diet and exercise and sleep habits have fallen by the wayside. I need to spend Saturday having a long nap and a long walk.

The good news is that work is more productive, between the new staff, my increased sense of responsibility (I'm no longer alone and now need to lead an office), and the fact that my computer time, by necessity, is now limited.

Staff hiring completed

My law clerk just accepted the position, and I've told the landlord that I'm definitely taking an additional office. I'm just waiting to see if I get the smaller unit (cheap but cramped) or the larger one.

It's definitely been a juggling act, trying to get all of the pieces together at once, but hopefully we'll be ready, or close to it, for the May 2 start date.

Meanwhile, I better spend all of Easter Sunday doing billings to pay for it all.

Moving forward with practice expansion

(Deep breaths)

My associate accepted the job offer, and now I just need to confirm that the law clerk will accept as well.

I met with the IT consultants as well. On one hand, it's really exciting to see that so much more will be possible, and the system should take care of many of the issues that I was having with lost productivity, time management and file management.

On the other hand, I'm seeing the costs of this expansion, and realizing just how big a step this is. I've been just on my own until now, or working for others. Being an employer, having increased rent, paying for a server and increased licences, figuring out how to track workflow - it's all a change. I know that it's a necessary change, since my way of doing things was not productive enough and it's possible for my laptop to die at any moment, but it's still big.

I had also hoped that I'd be further ahead in the process by now, since I'm basically out of commission until May due to the Passover break.

I think the only way to manage the next little while is to work like mad from now until the Seders, make up the sleep during the parts of the holiday where I'm not allowed to work, and then work all-out in between, even if it means spending Good Friday doing nothing but billing. Hopefully, after the initial chaos, I'll be able to see some real changes for the better. It helps that I watched my husband change his practice first, which involved a lot of stress and effort and decisions, but has ultimately worked out very well. I'm also thinking ahead to future vacations, including the big one in December when we're going to Israel for my daughter's Bat Mitzvah. I'll need all of this in place so that I can relax while out of the country.

Confirmation that I should go offline and kasher my kitchen

As a follow-up to this post, I had to share this gem:

To be honest JRK you're lying to me. F*** (editing mine, f-bomb in original) off bitch. Do I look like some dumb ass jury that you can run circles over with your law degree?

Go back to your kitchen. XD

From here.

Now, what was I saying about needing to edit out unproductive online stuff....?

Seriously, I find this both hilarious and pathetic. The back story is that I mistakenly thought I was having an intellectual discussion about whether the correct translation of the Hebrew word "almah" as used in Isaiah was "virgin" or "young woman", and I was refuting the assertion that premarital sex in the Hebrew Bible carried an automatic death sentence. I produced biblical quotes and asked for his sources to the contrary, he responded with all caps and then the lovely quote above. Yeah, MUCH more convincing than actual evidence or logic, right? Why not just write, "My masculinity is threatened by intelligent women, so I resort to swearing and sexist insults when a woman shows me I'm wrong"?

More evidence for healthy lifestyle habits

Dr. Oz has some tips on the link between some basic habits and cancer risks.

Even more reason to make sure we get to sleep on time and follow a regular menu with meals and snacks on time, to avoid blood sugar spikes, stress hormones like cortisol, and lack of melatonin. I'm saying WE, not I, because I recognize that my husband has some of the same issues.

Starting April 20 (after the Passover seders, because I'm being realistic), we need to put a strict go-to-bed-on-time policy in place - no late nights working on the computer or snoozing on the couch.

As an added bonus, if I'm having trouble drifting off I'll try to work in a workout in the evening.

6 months to the big 4-0

Back to our regularly scheduled programming.....I have 6 months to the big birthday, which means setting some goals:

1. Get to 125 lbs.
2. Be able to run 5 km by July 1.
3. Start swimming again, and be able to do 20 lengths in a workout without passing out.
4. Get back on a bike for the first time in 12 years.
[Ok, it's not quite a triathalon, but it's an achievable goal]

As for the rest of the family:
1. Hubby gets down to 150 lbs for the same birthday.
2. Kids continue to work on planning and cooking decently balanced meals and snacks.
3. Get hubby eating lunch from home - and possibly learning how to prepare simple meals when I'm not around.

The other goal for hubby and I is to put online stuff in its place, get more sleep, and delegate around the office so that we have less stress, better practices and more work/life balance.

Channeling energies in a more positive direction

Anyone who knows me know that (1) I enjoy good debate and discussion and (2) much of that has taken place online over the past 11 years.

Unfortunately, the quality of those discussion has been on a downward spiral.

11 years ago, my "mommy boards" were productive, and even essential for me. When I had my first miscarriage in 1998, I felt utterly alone and desperately needed a way to process my feelings of grief and depression. Pregnancy loss support boards and sites like Chez Miscarriage were extremely therapeutic. Later, when my daughter was born, it was my way to connect with the outside world, reclaim a bit of "me time", and share information. Back then, many of the conversations, while not entirely free of drama, were often respectful and extremely informative. Babycenter's breastfeeding v. formula feeding debate board, for example, tended to be full of long posts that were filled with scientific studies and helpful advice.

Alas, as technology became more accessible, the quality nosedived. The quality debates that I loved - filled with proper English and evidence to back up facts, as well as respectful give and take - started to disappear, replaced by opinion polls and foul language and barely literate posts from phones.

Lack of quality, though, hasn't been the biggest problem for me. I have tendency to get sucked into debates to counter extreme views, and at times it starts to intrude on the rest of my life. Slowly, very slowly, I started to realize that some formats make it impossible to have a rational conversation. It's hard when you only know posters from their views, especially when you are posting in a forum designed to focus all attention on one particular topic. In fact, the most productive online conversations and debates that I've had tended to occur on predominantly female boards, where we'd take a break from the most controversial points to discuss the rest of our lives - a virtual coffee klatch. In these settings, I was able to find common ground with an evangelical Christian from the south, a young devout Muslim mom, a former girlfriend of a neo-Nazi skinhead, a Satmar hasidic woman who struggled with infertility, etc. These are people that I likely wouldn't have met in real life, and I'm grateful that I was able to connect online. It was especially gratifying when they said that I showed them a perspective that they wouldn't have had otherwise, or even managed to change their views.

At other times, though, the conversations would drag me down. I'd get stuck in the mud and gunk, and after a while I'd find myself in danger of focusing more on that than on the beauty and joy in life. I had to accept that some people simply won't change their views, and I need to focus on reaching those who are reachable via more productive forums. I don't enjoy reading personal attacks. If I don't want to listen to my kids squabble, why would I put up with strangers doing it online? Too much conflict and drama and negativity is not a good thing for the soul.

Finally, I realized that I'm getting older. I get cranky when I realize that I may be corresponding with someone 20 years younger who is living in their parents' basement. There are some intelligent younger posters with interesting perspectives, but too often I was feeling like someone's mother and lacking a shared cultural vocabulary.

So...I'll continue to do some posting here and on my other blog, try to focus on some good stuff instead of being all negative and keep in touch with people who add something to my life. As for the rest....it's time to edit it out.

Getting excited about software

Yes, I'm sounding like a geek.

I made a call that I should have made a long time ago, and finally spoke to an IT consultant to law firms. This is part of my "delegate tasks that are better done by others so you can focus on what you do best" journey. Well....I may be able to figure out how to do some bare-bones stuff, so I have a website and accounting program and basic legal word processing and email, but that's about it. I was sticking with some very outdated ways of doing things and missing some vital processes. It's a bit embarrassing to admit that I was still taking notes on paper and letting things get lost, but I'm excited to think that I can start fresh and eliminate some nagging problems once and for all. If all goes well, I should be almost paperless (original documents will still be around) and far more efficient.

It will be another step in reducing the stress and increasing productivity, which is ultimately behind the other issues that I'm working on (since I don't sleep well while stressed, skip exercise and go for emotional eating).

I'm envisioning a whole new way of doing business in May - brighter office with window, clerical help, an associate to share the workload, doing more, getting more involved in professional events, and ultimately pulling in more income by my 40th birthday. I'd like to be able to take a bit more stress off of my husband too.

Is it weird that I think practice management software can give me a better figure and better health?

Taking the plunge....

If I'll goes well, I should be doing some hiring this week.

This is new territory for me. I briefly had a law clerk last year - who would have been fine if health and family issues hadn't kept her out of the office - but I've always been on my own.

I've also always kept things on a small scale. When I first started out, the priority was to avoid laying out any money and trying to pay the rent each month (we didn't have a line in the budget for groceries). I knew at the time that there was no guarantee that my husband would get a position in our city. As time went on, I also knew that I had to have a schedule that was kid-friendly - I'm the one who gets called when the school finds lice - again, or when someone gets a tummy ache, or who works from home when a kid spikes a fever. I'm also the one who books off when the kids are off school, or when school closes early. The end result is that I don't come close to working full-time hours. Now, I'm grateful to have the type of work that allows me to be my own boss and create my own schedule, and I like the work/life balance - but honestly, I've been holding back. I haven't done the professional events, I've avoided taking on more work, and I haven't devoted the time to the practice that it needs.

In the past, I think that I was silently resentful of the time that was devoted to my husband's career and that fact that mine so clearly came second. In recent years, though, his schedule has been less crazy, and he is taking on more of the responsibility with the kids. The kids, too, are requiring less of my time. My oldest is now starting to babysit, and even the fact that they all sleep through the night. I had 3 kids in 5 years. From 1998 to 2005, I was either pregnant or breastfeeding, and it's only been a year since my youngest has reliably been able to put himself to bed, stay dry through the night, needed no assistance getting dressed or in the washroom, and been able to get in and out of the car by himself. It feels like I'm slowly coming out of a fog. I think I started with the internet "mommy boards" as an attempt to have something "for me" during those years - especially since it was the one thing I could do while nursing in the middle of the night - but I've been closing my accounts and getting ready to let it go.

It's time to move to the next phase. I know this makes sense. I've got good marketing, and I'm good at getting clients to hire me on. I like settlement meetings, and I even get a rush from going to court. I don't like dealing with the telephone, I don't like mountains of paper, and it's hard when I have client who want things done when I have family obligations. Hiring a law clerk and a junior lawyer will allow me to focus on what I do well, and delegate what I don't. It just a matter of getting up the nerve to do it, because this is a new level.

Some goals for today

The challenge for today is that my taxes are due soon, I have a few cases rapidly heading for court, I have another client with an urgent custody/access matter, my younger kids are home from school, I'm stuck with another child over most of the day for a playdate, and I have a bad cold and have lost my voice.

So...here's the plan:

Workout for 30 min.
Grab bank statements and power cord from the office
Do tax prep
Do emails to deal with the custody/access issue
Cook dinner

Specific goals for the next week

1. Accounting

Get taxes ready, get accounting up to date.

2. Leave on time each morning.

Once the kids are ready - LEAVE. Do not come back home. Be in the office by 8:30 a.m.

3. Go on an internet elimination diet.

I need my email, calendar, online banking and online fax. That's it. Anything else is a treat - 15 min. allowed while I'm eating a healthy lunch from home.

4. Get out of bed at 6 a.m.

Really, I don't sleep well when I press the snooze button. Getting up at 6 instead means time to get the lunches together without a big rush (including mine!), time to exercise and time to shower/dress, so that I can leave on time as per point 2.

Passover prep

One of the fun things about this is the planning and the clean sweep.

Even with mammoth meals, Passover tends to be good for me, diet-wise. Each year, I'm forced to be a little more organized. The key to the whole thing is planning, planning and more planning. I need to plan each and every meal, with not a whole lot of leeway, and I need to do my own cooking since kosher-for-Passover prepared/processed foods come in 2 varieties: hideously expensive and simply gross. The two categories are not mutually exclusive.

We have also embraced the idea of hosting LOTS of guests for meals. This means that I'll be having around 70 people for the seders, plus another meal for some friends from New York, plus misc. guests for Shabbat and throughout the week. I'm not complaining - I spent years being a guest of others on many occasions when we weren't in a position to reciprocate, I enjoy entertaining, I like this position in the family and the fights that it avoids (since there is no good answer to "why are we choosing your family over mine?" or "what do you mean you won't come eat with us because you're religious now?"), and I truly feel blessed to be in a position to do it. That said - it requires work, especially since my client's lives don't stop and my taxes are still due.

So....this time of year forces me to make a To Do list - and actually follow it. To make a menu, and stick to it. To think of all possible ways of using fruits and veggies, or risk massive constipation. To make a cooking plan that goes like clockwork. To finally clear that pile of junk on the dining room side table. To clean out the accumulated junk in my car, and wonder if there is an alternative to feeding Pringles to the kids on dance night. To realize that freedom and liberation have a price and require hard work, and it's easy to fall back and want to be a slave to bad habits. To have the discipline to think for myself - and not buy kosher-for-Passover junk just because everyone else in the store in frantic to do so.

Stress reduction and production

I've been interviewing job candidates. It's a bit of a chicken-or-the-egg issue, since I interviewed law clerks before lawyers, and it's hard to commit to a full-time clerk position without knowing that there will be an associate to contribute to the workload. Ideally, I'll find a good candidate when my paid ad comes out next week, and be ready to go before Passover. I'd really like to have some emergency coverage.

Got some accounts done last night, which was great...right until I noticed that my laptop was really, really slow. At least I was able to back it up, and I'll do another backup onto my memory stick this morning, but it looks like I may need to start the process of migrating to a new one. I remember it was a royal PITA last time, with some significant downtime.

Reducing work stress

In an effort to reduce work stress, I've been looking to hire.

My ideal fantasy involves having a clerk to take care of all the nitty-gritty administrative stuff that I can't stand and can't fully bill, and a junior to help generate income and take the work overflow.

The problem, though, is trying to turn all of this into reality. Some responses have been laughable, like the one who clearly knew no English (these are jobs where excellent English is the main requirement). I'm still hopeful, but it's a bit nerve-wracking knowing that a bad hiring mistake can be a risky and expensive headache. On the other hand, I did have some interviews that went better than I expected.

Here's hoping for success....

Nicer weather and more daylight

We are finally emerging from all the coldness and darkness of winter.

This means:

1. I'm finding it easier to get up early, since I can't stand getting up when I think it's the middle of the night.

2. Snow is finally melting, so I should be able to take some longer walks.

3. With the longer days and better weather, I may start to do the longer Saturday afternoon walks again. I found that they were great last year, until we got to November.

I'm also in a good mood because I found kosher vegan organic soups on a great sale, so I stocked up on the black bean and butternut squash flavors. My new easy snack strategy is simple: 1 carton of black bean soup per week goes to work, for a daily snack of 1 cup nuked in the microwave. Then, as soon as I get home from work, 1'll nuke 1 cup of squash soup as an appetizer.

Thought of the day: Am I a food geek if I get excited about being able to buy fresh kosher vegan nut-free pesto in basil, sundried tomato AND spicy cilantro flavors?

Need some online buds to keep me on track

I think I did so well on my weight-loss group because of the accountability. There was a group. There was a weekly weigh-in. There were some scary photos at the beginning, and I knew there would be some more photos at the end. I paid real money for the group. Under that sort of pressure, I realized that I couldn't cheat that much and actually had to follow the program.

I don't want to force my husband to nag me - that can't be good for a marriage. I do, however, appreciate working out together with him. He's been on call this week, so that was an issue. Otherwise, the Shred DVD is actually fun with him. I'm so used to him being Mr. Super Athlete that when I can do certain moves just as well (like abs and some of the strength), it's a boost.

Clearly, I need a built-in tuchus-kick and reward system. Some thoughts:

1. Really use the PC Law to keep track of dockets, billings AND tasks. I'm compulsive about the computer anyway, so this should be a source of boosting, rather than something to avoid.

2. Build in gym rewards - maybe buy a magazine to read on the stair climber, or just consider it "me" time.

3. Reduce the number of nights that I take home my laptop, and make sure that I just bring home focused tasks on specific files.

4. Do a super-prep this Sunday, so that everything is more organized in the kitchen, and I have my healthier go-to treats. This will include making up muffin mixes, pancake mixes and brownie mixes. Hmmm....maybe I'll add to that fruit crisp mixes, since I remembered that I constantly seem to have bruised apples. Maybe some fruit crisp with oats, xylitol, cinamon and maple syrup, with a bit of strained yogurt, would be good?

5. Ask my kids to show me how to download the songs I like onto the iPod, for workouts, time in the kitchen and cleaning. If I had a specific playlist, maybe it would be easier to get into a routine (as in "Pink's on, so it's time to make a hummus wrap".

Anyone with suggestions?

Rebooting

This is a good news/bad news post.

Good news - I did indeed make progress in the fall, so I felt good on our beach vacation last week.

Bad news - I spent a good chunk of the vacation eating, and none of it in a gym.

This is supposed to be a long-term lifestyle, not a sprint, so I need to kick my tuchus again and get back into a disciplined schedule.

Of course, the kids are perpetually sick. We had the lice marathon in December, then kid#2 was sick early last week, and kid#3 has the flu this week. I'm glad I have a laptop and can do some work from home, but this is seriously cutting into my ability to do things.

I've realized that these are my top tasks and priorities to get straightened out:

1. Make a master schedule for myself.

I'm putting EVERYTHING on it, because I clearly need it and don't function well without clear direction. Yes, it has a stupid amount of detail on it for now. As I follow the routines, my hope is that it will become automatic. That's what happened with other tasks like grocery shopping and getting ready for Shabbat (big Friday night meal plus enough food for lunch the next day). Once everything is on, I also hope that I can sit back and relax, secure in the knowledge that if I follow it and just focus on what I'm supposed to be doing at that particular time, I don't need to worry about everything else.

2. Put the menu on the schedule, make sure the menu is updated everything week and get started on the prep on Sunday.

Sundays seem to be key. I find that if I don't get Sunday right, the week quickly falls apart.

3. Use the PCLaw program and schedule to get through work tasks and billings.

Unfinished work tasks = stress. To put a more positive spin on it, doing everything on my To Do list will = a sense of calm and order, plus a sense of accomplishment (not to mention some financial security). If I can focus on that goal and picture my time at the computer resulting in accomplishment and order, then I'll be less tempted to deal with stress by wasting time.

4. Sticking to diet and exercise and sleep, in order to get back energy.

I've done this yoyo before, so I should know it by now. If I don't plan healthy meals and snacks, my blood sugar goes crazy and I get cravings, then have an energy crash. If I can avoid that cycle, I will have more than enough energy and focus to do everything that I need to do.

BONUS TASK:

Try to focus on keeping everyone healthy!