Happy (belated) Canada Day! We are now six months into 2016 – How did that happen?! It’s been a busy several months and a lazy several weeks, so it seems like a good time to check in on those resolutions that I made in January…
#1: I will spend at minimum of 1 hour on workdays and 3 hours on non-workdays doing schoolwork. Fail. I’ve had really good runs from time-to-time but overall, not so great. Especially the past two months. Consider this post my recommitting to this resolution specifically. I need to start using my desk in the basement again; I never focus as much as I think I will when sitting in my living room. I can’t imagine why not, with Luke on the other end of the couch and the TV on. </sarcasm> Three courses ending in the next three months. and several more to start after that. I want this, I just have to remind myself of that every day.
#2: I will choose kindness more often. This one will never be “done”. There is always room for more kindness. The show I’m watching in the background literally just said, “Everybody deserves kindness.” Orange is the New Black, if you can believe it.
#3: I will create and follow a weekly meal plan. Luke and I just had conversation about this two nights ago. We throw out an embarrassing amount of food, and it all comes down to poor planning (buying too much, forgetting what leftovers are in the fridge, etc.). We came up with a few changes we are going to make that will hopefully help. We will buy perishables on the day that we need them. That means no more Costco meat (we aren’t great with freezing either). How will we decide what we need? Luke will come home after work, call me, and we will decide what to eat while he is standing in front of the fridge. That way we aren’t relying on our memories to tell us what leftovers we have. Once that’s decided, he’ll put together a grocery list, if needed, then go pick up Thea from daycare, and drop by Safeway for whatever we need. One thing we’ve done this year that has helped is always putting leftovers into small single-serving containers. We are more likely to forget about something if it is just in a big ol’ bowl at the back of the fridge. This way it’s grab-and-go for lunches.
#4: I will practice more patience at home. I can’t decide if I’ve actually gotten better at this, or if Thea has just made it easier to be patient by getting older. There is a lot to be said for her being old enough to make it plain what she wants or why she’s upset, either with words or motions. That said, as with kindness, this will always be an ongoing project.
#5: I will paint my nails at least once per week. Haven’t been 100% consistent, but they have been done for the past month, and look better for it!
#6: I will write at least two blog posts per month. Pretty sure I kept this up until June, so not too bad!
#7: I will keep fresh fruits and vegetables on-hand at all times (especially at work) and drastically reduce my sweets intake. I do eat more fruits and vegetables now, but I can’t honestly say I’ve really decreased my sweets…
#8: I will do one thing per month to pamper myself. I completely forgot about this resolution, so I certainly haven’t put effort towards making it happen, but I also don’t feel like I’ve missed out on “me” time. Luke always ensures I feel welcome to take some time for myself. He’s a good one. 🙂
#9: I will limit “time wasting” on my phone to 15 minutes in the morning and one hour in the evening. Solid fail right there. Did make a change a few weeks ago though – At my request, Luke has blocked Facebook from our house from 7:30 pm to 9:30 pm. At least that reduces my ability to procrastinate school work.
#10: I will go to bed by 10 PM every night and I will read before going to sleep every other night. Been sticking to the 10 pm bedtime, and just recently started reading books instead of YouTube regularly. I missed books.
#11: We will work on one home improvement project per week. Success! And 90% of the credit goes to Luke. He’s rebuilt our front steps, put up shelves and organization units in the basement and garage, done a ton of other little things around the house. Case in point – At this moment, he is out buying materials to build Thea a sandbox.
So not the most successful six months but as I said in January – Some progress is better than no progress! And we ended on a high note with home projects.
Onto the second half of the year, with a special focus on school work. Wish me luck!
PS: Bonus summer pictures:
