Making A List and Checking It Twice

I made a pretty big mistake last week.  I got busy last weekend and didn't prioritize making a list of goals and tasks to do for the week.  And, as a result, I was pretty much all over the place every single day. I couldn't seem to focus or stay on task with anything I tried to accomplish.  

Fortunately, I still managed to get several things, such as completing an order, cleaning and reorganizing the pantry, and cleaning out both freezers. But other things never happened, like writing blog posts or rearranging the dining room.  

I found out the hard way that I really need that visual list of things I want to complete to keep myself on track and accountable.  Without it, I drift through the days without much sense of direction or urgency.  Lesson learned. 

Not only does keeping a weekly (and daily) list of goals and tasks help me to stay focused and organized, but it gives me a nice sense of accomplishment as I check items off the list. Without it, I often find that I feel like I didn't get much done - even though I really did. 

And since we're talking about my list for the week.  Here it is:

• Create and run "Before Black Friday' sale in Etsy shop
• Complete and mail 3 orders
• Rearrange dining room
• Catch up on laundry
• Focus on writing new blog posts

I'll be more intentional about making my lists of goals and tasks from now. Do you keep a regular to-do list?

Monday Musings: Unexpected

"Expect the unexpected"  You've probably heard this saying hundreds - maybe even thousands - of times in your life. This past week has had me thinking about the unexpected. 

Several communities in our area suffered from some devastating flash flooding this past week caused by Tropical Storm Fred.  Now, what you have to keep in mind is that I live in the mountains of western North Carolina.  Not exactly a place where you expect to see the destruction caused by a tropical storm.  We've had the remnants of hurricanes and tropical storms sweep through the area before, but the flooding that took place this time around was unprecedented.  (Does anyone else feel like the past 2 years are starting to make us a bit numb to that word - "unprecedented"?)  Floodwaters for one town were even higher than several years ago when we had back-to-back storms come through. 

Also unexpected -  medical news for a family member, which is going to lead to surgery sooner rather than later.  I'm not at liberty to discuss details right now.  Hopefully, we'll know more soon. But in the meantime - any prayers for a speedy resolution and recovery would be most welcome.

Can we ever really be prepared for the unexpected?  Probably not.  But we can try to prepare for how we react when unexpected things come about.  Some we can do something about, some we can't.  Either way, we have to be prepared to make adjustments and continue moving forward with the circumstances where we find ourselves.

All things considered, I did pretty well with my goals for last week. Between the rain and losing power for an entire afternoon due to the storm, I didn't create new listings for my Etsy shop. And I wasn't as consistent with tracking my food as I wanted to be (I can only blame that one on myself).  But otherwise, it was a good week.

My goals for this week:

• Create Sunday posts for the 4th quarter
• Write at least 3 new blog posts
• Set goals for September
• Create at least 5 new listings for the Etsy shop
• Drink at least 64 oz of water per day
• Track food in the iTrackbites app

What are your plans or goals for the week?

Monday Musings: Disney

 Last week was our big family vacation.  A full week at the Walk Disney World resorts. Five days, four parks.  We played hard, ate too much, and walked miles and miles every single day.  It was fun.  It was exhausting.  I may try to share more details by writing a recap for later this week. But you can definitely catch the highlights all week long on my Instagram.  (In fact - I hope people don't start getting sick of all my Disney-related posts!)

I will say that if you have any Star Wars fans in your family - Galaxy's Edge is a must-see!  One of the highlights of our trip for me was to see our grown daughter's face light up like a little kid when she walked into that area of the park and especially when she saw the Millenium Falcon.  Which the entire family had a grand time "piloting" on Smugglers Run.

All the females in our group wore appropriately-themed outfits for each of the parks.  Animal prints for Animal Kingdom, Star Wars for Hollywood Studios, Disney characters for Magic Kingdom, and "World Traveler" t-shirts for Epcot (created for us by my youngest sister).  Were we just too cute?  You better believe it!  

Since I was in vacation mode, I had no goals set for last week except to relax and have fun.  Mission accomplished.  Rest and relaxation are exactly what we need from time to time.  

Now vacation is over and it's time to refocus and get back to my routines.  

Goals for This Week:

• Create Thankful Thursday drafts for next quarter
• Begin selecting Sunday Inspiration quotes for the rest of the year
• Ship open Etsy orders
• Create 5 new listings for the Etsy shop
• Track all food 
• Drink at least 64 oz of water each day

What are your plans and goals for the week?

Monday Musings: Dog Drama

Y'all... the dog drama just keeps on going around here.  And on Sunday morning it really kicked up a notch.

Last Tuesday I started trying to transition him back to his regular food, but we had some more bowel issues.  (I won't get into the gross details for you) So after chatting with the vet - and yes, showing them a picture of the poop - I was told to keep him on the bland diet for a few more days and keep an eye on him.  He's been eating well and his activity level has been normal.  

He seemed to be doing well, and I fully expected to start the slow transition to regular food again today.  Until the bloody diarrhea started.  Yes.  I said it.  Believe me, I was a hundred million trillion times more shocked to see the actual thing than you are to read it.   I started to chat with the vet again, but decided  - Nope!  We took him straight to the ER vet.   

We had to leave him there all Sunday afternoon.  They suspect gastroenteritis, but we had to wait on blood work and a fecal screening to rule out a few other things.  We did finally get to go pick him up Sunday night about 8:30.  He's going to be on some meds and a special prescription food for a few days.  But I'm praying this sorts him out and we can put this behind us.

It's crazy how attached we get to those little furry family members.  I have been so stressed out.  And shed a few tears with worrying and feeling guilty that maybe I could have done something to prevent this or head it off sooner before it got to this point.  

In other news, I made good progress on my goals for last week.  There were a couple of things I didn't get to.  For example, I did clean out the fridge, but I didn't get to the freezer.  I'll do that this week. I also didn't work on my crochet top every day because I got distracted by another project I was working on for the Etsy shop.

Goals for this week:

• Clear out the last few random boxes my home office
• Clean out the freezer
• Set 3rd quarter goals
• Set monthly goals for July
• Take pictures of new listings to Etsy shop
• Write 1 blog post for the shop blog
• Prep Sunday and Thankful Thursday posts for 3rd quarter

What are your goals for this week?

Halfway Through

Since May marks my halfway point between birthdays, I thought I would give y'all an update on the 15 Before 51 list that I shared back in November.

As you can see - it's been sort of a mixed bag so far.  It has been more of a challenge to do some of the things on the list than I anticipated.  Made even more difficult by the Corona Pandemic Era.  Hopefully, circumstances will allow me to check off more items before I reach my next birthday. 

1. Reach my goal weight I've been doing a whole lot of stress eating over the past two months and I'm afraid my weight has tipped in the wrong direction as a result  Boo!!
   
2. Get into an exercise routine.
3. Attend a crochet group
4. Learn how to make Key Lime pie (one of my favorite desserts) from scratch
5.  Read these 5 classic novels
•  The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
• Watership Down
• The Secret Garden 
• The Count of Monte Cristo
• The Picture of Dorian Gray
6. Attend a play
7. Take a class I've done a few online learning webinar's from the local community colleges Small Business Center.  And I was gifted a year to MasterClass, although I haven't actually taken any of those courses yet.
8. Road trip!   We managed a couple of road trips before Coronamaggedon shut everything down in March.  In November, The Man of the House and I drove to Cleveland for a football game.  And in February we made the trip to Memphis for a weekend.
9. Eat meatless meals one day per week It hasn't been every single week, but most weeks I try to plan at least one meatless meal
10. Start a sketchbook Just started last week! 
11. Go on a spontaneous weekend away with the Man of the House
12. Get a family photo with the kids and grand kid
13. Go to a movie by myself
14. Donate blood at least 3 times this year
15. Crochet something for charity

Finding the Focus

Emotionally, last week was kind of a tough one.  I was all over the place.  One day I felt as if I was living my best quarantine life - working on stuff for my Etsy shop, binging some Netflix and Hulu shows, reading, and taking as many precautions as possible to prevent any virus germies from entering the house.  Another day has me in tears because I just want to be able to pick out my own produce again.  When this is all over, I will never complain about grocery shopping again.  (ok... I probably will.  But not for a long, long while)

Warning:  Huge sidetrack...   I'm sorry, but I am getting a little tired of seeing posts implying (or out-right saying) that we shouldn't complain about the quarantine.  Do we know that things could be worse?  Yes, of course!  Could the conditions for the quarantine could be much less pleasant?  Yep!  Is the quarantine for our own good?  Sure!  But that doesn't mean that feelings of frustration, isolation,  and discouragement aren't real and valid.  Making people feel petty isn't helping anyone cope.  We don't need to be shamed for how we feel.  We need to be able to express those emotions, work through them and hopefully be able to move on with a little relief and a brighter perspective.

So, yes - somedays I am going to sit on my couch and watch Netflix and eat chocolate and feel sorry for myself .  Somedays I won't.   And that's the end of my  rant for the week.  I'll move on now.

Remember last week when I said that I hadn't set any goals for April.  I still haven't.  BUT - I decided in the middle of my funk this week, that maybe not having any goals for myself right now isn't the best idea.  Perhaps I need a few goals to give me something to make me feel a little bit as if I am in control.  Rather than just focusing on what I can't do, I can focus on the goals I have set for myself.

Sounds good.  Right?  So...

Goals for April 6 - 12, 2020"

• Clean out nightstand
•  Send out some cards and letters
• Order birthday present for sister
• Email wholesale customers 
• Write at least 2 posts for shop blog
• Photograph and list new items for Etsy shop
• Finish crochet blanket for the grand kid
• Write at least 2 future posts for this blog

Are you finding it helpful to set goals for yourself during these days of Stay Home orders?  Or are you enjoying the relaxed pace and just taking things as they come?

Out of Sorts

Over the past few weeks I am feeling as if I have my act together in no way whatsoever.  It almost seems like the more I try to get it together - the more out of sorts I become.  I'm just wandering through.  

I'm still setting goals and making my To Do lists.  But they are vague and meandering.  Disorganized.  There isn't a good focus to them.  I keep getting distracted, which leads to not accomplishing tasks in the time I have allotted to them.  Then I try to catch up, putting me behind on the next thing.

I am hoping this week is the one that turns all that around!  This week I am focusing on sticking to my schedule and reducing distractions.

My goals this week are:

• Lose 1.5 pounds
• Wrap Christmas presents
• Ship 3 orders
• Create Sunday Inspiration blog posts for January

What are your goals for the week?

Another New Year

Happy Monday y'all!  I had a lovely birthday weekend.

Typically I start the week off by sharing my goals for the next 7 days.  But, this week, instead of weekly goals - I want to talk about the coming year of my life.

You may recall my Before 50 post of a year ago and which I recapped just last week.  A list to keep me focused on things I want to work on - or things I have been working on and want to finally accomplish.  I enjoyed having a list of plans, goals and wishes to work toward achieving throughout the year so much, that I decided to make it a regular thing.

You'll see a few are items that didn't get marked off last year's list.  Many are new.  Some are simple.  A couple of them will tug me right out of that ol' comfort zone.  (Which is a good thing.) 

So, without further ado - let's take a look a the 15 Before 51 List!

1. Reach my goal weight.
2. Get into an exercise routine.  .
3. Attend a crochet group
4. Learn how to make Key Lime pie (one of my favorite desserts) from scratch
5.  Read these 5 classic novels
•  The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
• Watership Down
• The Secret Garden
• The Count of Monte Cristo
• The Picture of Dorian Gray
6. Attend a play
7. Take a class
8. Road trip!
9. Eat meatless meals one day per week
10. Start a sketchbook
11. Go on a spontaneous weekend away with the Man of the House
12. Get a family photo with the kids and grand kid
13. Go to a movie by myself
14. Donate blood at least 3 times this year
15. Crochet something for charity

And there you have it.  I'll be posting updates periodically over the next year.  Are you ready to follow along on my journey?  

Back on Track

The past two weeks have been completely crazy!  Goals were just about the last thing on my mind.

The entire week before our daughter's wedding flew by much too quickly.  Anything on the to do list other than planning and prep got set on the back burner.  The wedding?  She was beautiful.  It was beautiful.  There were many, many, many happy tears.  The whole day is a bit of a blur.

Last week was full of unwinding after all the prewedding stress, visiting with my sister, and taking care of the grand kid.  I forgot how much time goes into school pick ups, packing lunches, etc! To be completely honest - setting goals for the week never even crossed my mind.

This week is all about getting back into my routines.  And getting back on track - with my healthy habits (drinking water, tracking food, etc), my blogging and my Etsy orders.


My goals for this week are:

• Set goals for November
• Plan goals and wish list for the upcoming year
• Ship 3 orders
• Write 3 upcoming blog posts
• Clean/Declutter/Organize bathroom drawers

What are your goals for this week?

What Are You Waiting For?

The other day I was thinking, "Once we get past the wedding, things will slow down and I can..."  Then I realized how many times I have said something similar over all the years.

"After the baby is a little bigger, I can ____"

"Once the kids are in school, I'll have more free time to _____"

"After the holidays, things won't be so busy and I'll be able to _____"

Do you find yourself saying the same things?  Why do we do that?  The truth is, things are never going to slow down.  We very rarely have the ideal conditions - if ever.  There is always going to be some reason, some excuse, why we haven't gotten around to doing something we claim we want to do.

Maybe it's time to stop waiting for whatever it is we're waiting to happen or to be in the past before we do the next thing. 

Do today.  Tomorrow may be too late.  Or, you may find yourself at the end of you life saying " I never found time to _____"

Go back to school.

Take that class.

Declutter that closet.

Join that club or group.

Set your goal and take the first step toward making it happen!

Speaking of goals - my weekly goals for last week didn't go so very well.  It's my own fault.  I kept letting myself get distracted and off schedule.  This week will be better.

My goals for October 7 - 13:

•  Create Sunday blog posts for November
•  Ship 3 orders for Etsy shop
•  Find shoes for wedding
•  Make boutonnieres for wedding

What are your goals for this week?  What's on your To Do list? Share them in the comments!

Planning for the Week (and Month) Ahead

I can't believe that it's already the end of September.  This month went by so quickly!

The leaves are starting to change into their fall colors here.  Which feels weird, since we're still having temperatures in the mid- to upper 80s.  It looks like autumn, but still feels like summer.  This led me to wonder how the leaves know that it's time to change color when the weather doesn't feel like it should be happening.  Thanks to the internet, I now know that it has to do not only with the temperatures but also the amount of sunlight as the days begin to shorten.  I feel like I probably should have known that (and probably did learn it in school at some point, but just forgot).

Sundays are my day to think about my weekly goals.  It's a nice way to prepare for the week and wrap my brain around what needs to be done in the days ahead.  Since yesterday was so close to the end of the month, I also took time to look at my schedule for the month and focus my monthly goals.

Last week was a mixed bag of results...

1. Ship at least one order ✔ Two orders, actually.  Thankyouverymuch.
2. Complete order for Winnie the Pooh hat ✔
3. Prep my gratitude posts for October ✔
4.  Drink 80 oz of water everyday - Nope.  Not even close.  I think I made it over 64 ounces only two days last week.  I don't know why I struggled so much with this one.  I think part of it was that I didn't drink my usual 16 ounces as soon as I get out of bed in the morning. 
5. Go to bed by 9:30 PM - I did pretty well with going to bed by 9:30.  Unfortunately, my system was not used to this and I usually didn't fall asleep until 10:30 or 11:00
6. And get up at 6:00 AM ✔

Goals for the week of September 10 - October 6...

1.  Find a dress for my daughter's wedding
2.  Write something for the blog everyday
3.  Ship one order for Etsy shop
4.  15 minutes of cleaning and organizing each day in my office

Goals for the month of October...

1. Lose 5 pounds - Meaning I must behave myself at birthday and wedding celebrations
2. Receive 15 new orders for Etsy shop
3.  Write 15 blog posts for November
4.  Regular posting on business accounts for Pinterest and Instagram stories
5.  Find dress for wedding - I know, I didn't leave myself a lot of time for this.  But I also wanted to give myself time to lose what weight I could with Weight Watchers before I bought the dress.
6.  Read articles or listen to podcasts daily to develop knowledge - I have a bad habit of saving articles about personal or business development to my bookmarks or Pinterest and never actually reading them.  They don't do me much good that way.
7.  Write something for the blog everyday - this doesn't mean I'll be posting every day.  I just want to develop a better habit for writing daily.  Whether it's an actual post, a rough draft, or even just an outline for an idea.

It's going to be a busy month between the Man of the House's birthday and our daughter's wedding (which also means family visiting from out of town).  But by breaking each of my goals down into weekly and daily tasks, I should be able to accomplish everything on my list. 

What are your goals for this week?  What's on your To Do list?  Do you have monthly goals for October?  Share them in the comments!

New Week, New Goals

The past two weeks have been c-ra-zy!  While I have managed to accomplish many of the goals I have set for myself; I have also dealt with several last minute changes to my planned schedule.  Low key, sort-of-but-not-really emergency type things. Nothing major.  Just the kind of things that can throw you off kilter a little bit.  Especially when you're in the middle of planning a bridal shower.  But, it's all good...

Interruptions are going to happened sometimes.  It's just a fact of life.  The big thing is how you react and respond to them.  You can let it completely mess you up and divert you from meeting your goals.  Or, you can go with the flow and just do the best you can with the circumstances where you find yourself.  It certainly makes like less stressful.  Even when it is full of stressful situations. 

Honestly, my knee jerk reaction is often to become overwhelmed when things don't go the way I expected.  I think hope that I am slowly learning to better manage when changes come along.  

Hopefully, things will calm down for a little while, (at least until we get a little closer to the big wedding date next month)  and I can stay on schedule and meet all my goals with no problem.

My goals for this week include:

1. Ship at least one order
2. Complete order for Winnie the Pooh hat
3. Prep my gratitude posts for October
4.  Drink 80 oz of water everyday
5. Go to bed by 9:30 PM
6. And get up at 6:00 AM

Did you meet your goals last week?  What's on your To Do list this week?  

Feeling Behind? Here's How to Fix It!

It was ten o'clock on Monday morning and I already felt as if I was running behind.  Yikes!!  Not a great way to to begin.  Right?

Nobody wants to spend the week playing catch up.  So, what do we do when we find ourselves in that position?

1.  Prioritize your tasks.  I know, I've talked about this before - but it bears repeating.   Take a look at your to do list and decide what are the most important or urgent things.  Steven Covey recommends prioritizing tasks as "Urgent And Important", followed by "Important, but not Urgent", and lastly "Urgent, but not Important".  
2. Do your most challenging or difficult task first.  Get it out of the way while you have the most energy or focus.  And prevent putting them off, which will only leave you feeling more behind later.  
3. Put away the phone!  Turn off your email.  Or anything else that distracts you from the task you should be working to accomplish.
4.  If you don't have time to complete a large job, break it into smaller tasks and do what you can in the time you have.  Every step completed is a step closer to being done.  
5.  Don't take on any more.  If you already feel buried under a pile of incomplete tasks - don't say "yes" to anything else.  
6.  Delegate work if you are able.  Or ask for help.

These tips have helped me stay on task and I have been slaying my goals for the past two weeks!  Do you use any of these tips to help you stay on task to complete your goals?

My goals for this week are:

1. Mail invitations for bridal shower
2. Ship 3 orders 
3. Order gift for nephew's birthday 
4. Weight drops below next decade number

Did you meet your goals last week?  What's on your To Do list this week?  

When Goals Aren't The Priority

I didn't accomplish any of my goals last week. And I am more than OK with that.

I had plans.  Goals I wanted to reach.  They were written down.  I had followed all my best tips. I was prepared to make things happen. 

But, you see - last week was also the grand kid's last week of summer vacation.  And our last chance to spend several days a week together for a while. That was time I wanted to make count.

So... My goals for dropped far down in my list and he became the top priority.

We finished reading The Tale of Despereaux together.  We went on a movie date.  We played games and watched cartoons.  We went and had lunch with The Man of the House.  We joined up with his mom during her lunch break to go to his school and meet his new teacher.  

So... no.  I didn't get around to that list of goals I had.  And it was worth it.  Because some the are more important than the to-do list.  

Now, that cutie pie is headed back to school.  I have my days all to myself.  I can get back to crushing my goals.

My goals for this week are:

1. Ship 3 orders for Etsy shop
2. Start planning social media posts for September
3. Write 3 new blog posts
4. Meditate everyday

Did you meet your goals last week?  What's on your To Do list this week?  

Weekly Goals: Need To vs Want To

Last week was another good week.  Did I mark everything off my to-do list?  No.  Did I accomplish my top 3 priorities? Let's have a look...

• Complete and mail 2 orders  Check! ✔
•  Create September graphics for the blog  Not completely, but I made a good start on them.
•  File sales tax for Etsy shop  Check! ✔  (whew...)

This is exactly why it is so important to prioritize your goals!  You may not have time to accomplish everything you would like, but you know that the really important things are being completed.  First things, first.

When setting goals, separate your need to do items from your want to do items.  Need to do's should come first.  You may even have to prioritize the need-to's.  For example,
I needed to complete 2 orders if I want to stay on schedule and get all my orders shipped out on time.  I wanted to create September graphics for the blog, but I knew I have some wiggle room on that since it's only the beginning of August.  But, if I hadn't filed my sales taxes with the state by the last day of July - that could spell big trouble!  Which is why it was the top priority in my list of goals for last week. 

I don't get to babysit the grand kid this week, so I am hoping to get a lot of work done.  Especially on orders for the shop, pre-planning for the blog, and maybe finally complete the work in my office.  All of that would be nice.  But, here are my priorities for the week:

• Complete and mail 2 orders for the Etsy shop
• Take photos for Etsy shop
•  Create Sunday Inspiration posts for next month

Did you meet your goals last week?  What's on your To Do list this week?  

A Whole New Week

Last week was a good week for goals.  I was like a marking-things-off-the-to-do-list machine!

Did I track all my weight watchers points and not use any of my weekly points?  Yes, I did!

Did I complete a wholesale order?  Check!

Did I meditate every day?  Every day except for one.

This week?  Well, I couldn't even manage to get this post published yesterday.  If that tells you anything.  But, it's only the beginning of the week and I've still got plenty of time to rock my goals this week also.

What are those goals, you ask?  Well...

• Complete and mail 2 orders
•  Create September graphics for the blog
•  File sales tax for Etsy shop

Did you meet your goals last week?  What's on your To Do list this week?  

Not Today

Some weeks you slay your entire list of goals and rejoice at how much you accomplished.  Last week was not one of those weeks.

It started when I woke up Monday morning to find that somehow, completely without being aware of it, I had managed to do something horrible to my lower back.  Or it at least felt like I had done something horrible.  Although, of course I had no clue how or why this had happened.  There was just quite a bit of pain going on down there with every movement I made. This led to several days of doing not much except sitting on a heating pad between doses of ibuprofen and acetaminophen.

Needless to say, I didn't get much marked off on my list of goals for the week.  In fact, the only one which I can say was completed was getting photos of the new items for the shop.

Well, life happens.  What's past is past.  This is a new week, and my back is feeling better.  So, let's put that behind us and move forward.  Shall we?

My goals for this week are:

•  Stay within my daily WW points and not use any weekly points
•  Complete and mail at least one wholesale order
•  Meditate every day

What are your goals for the week?

When Even Your Coffee Needs Some Coffee

Ever have one of those mornings when you feel as if there's not enough coffee in the world?  Yep, it was one of those mornings.  I had to wake up extra early because the grand kid was coming over.  I was still groggy as I headed to the coffee station for my first cup of the day.

Here's a big tip - when making coffee, it is crucial that you place a mug on the Keurig before pressing the brew button.  Um... yeah.  Apparently, I was so sleepy that I completely skipped that step.  And the little platform thing that you set the coffee on is not large enough to hold the contents of an entire cup of coffee.  Which means I soon had coffee spreading all over the top of the station.  That will wake a girl up rather quickly!!

It's a good thing that my entire week wasn't like that; or I might not have gotten anything accomplished.  As it turned out, I did pretty well with most of my goals last week.  Let's recap:

1)  Clean/Organize 15 minutes per day in office - I didn't get in the office every day last week, but I did do some cleaning and organizing on several days.  I need to figure out the best way to get my cotton yarns organized so I can move on to organizing my shipping station.

2)  Clean out fridge and get rid of all unhealthy sauces, dressings, etc - Done!  There are still a couple of questionable items in there, but we use them for specific things and not very often.  And if the Male Offspring has to eat sandwiches without mayo - he might stage a revolt.  (not really, but...)

3)  Drink 80 ounces of water each day -  Accomplished this every day except Friday.

Not too bad.  And this is a brand new week, with brand new goals. 

• Take photos of new items to list in my Etsy shop
• Clean/organize in office 15 minutes per day 
•  Meet (or exceed) step goal for each day

I am already off to a slow start this week.  I did something to my back and that has had me not really feeling like doing much of anything other than sitting on the couch with the heating pad. 

What are your goals for the week?  Share them in the comments!

The Best Laid Plans

The best laid plans, my friends. That seems like a good way to describe this past week.  I had goals.  I had good intentions.  But then, life happened.

Sometimes, things come up which are out of our control and we have to put our previous plans on the back burner.

This past week I had intentions to take pictures of new items to list in my Etsy shop and to make some progress on getting the office organized.  But...  my phone completely died on me.  Which meant a) no pictures, since I use my phone for this purpose, and b) a trip to Greenville, SC to see if a repair was possible before replacing it.  

On another day, my daughter asked if I wanted to go out shopping with her and the grand kid, and since I don't get to spend anywhere near as much time with her as I would like - there was no way I was saying no to that!  Somethings are just more important than others.

I also learned that my goal of drinking 100 ounces of water a day was a lot more difficult for me to obtain than I had previously thought.  I tried.  But the closest I got was 96 ounces one day.  And I paid for it with repeatedly waking up during the night to make trips to the bathroom.  So...  lesson learned.

I did track all my food with my Weight Watchers app.  And I am pleased with my progress so far.

What goals do I have planned for this week?  I'm glad you asked!

1.  Clean/Organize 15 minutes per day in office
2.  Clean out fridge and get rid of all unhealthy sauces, dressings, etc
3.  Drink 80 ounces of water each day

What are your goals for the week?  Share in the comments!

Getting Back On Track

Can I be completely honest with y'all for a minute?  When it comes to achieving my goals - the past couple of weeks have completely kicked my behind!

I just feel like things were getting away from me.  The Man of the House had to go out of time a few times.  We went on vacation last week.  And I just generally lost my motivation somewhere along the way.

It happens. But how can we stay get back on track to reach those goals?  How do we start over - even when things seem to keep getting in the way when we just aren't feeling it?

•  Focus on the Results.  Visualize how you'll feel when you finally accomplish your goal.  Really picture it!  Every teeny, tiny little detail.  How is it going to look and feel?  Use this to inspire you to keep going.
• Ask For Help.  Find someone who can cheer you on, give you the kick in the pants that you need, and will check on your to make sure you keep moving in the right direction. 
• Break It Down into Smaller Goals.  If you're feeling overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of the task ahead - break it down into smaller goals or tasks that feel more manageable.
•  Celebrate Successes.  No matter how big or small it is.  Enjoying that moment of completing a task or reaching a goal.  Feed that reward center of your brain!
• Start Where You Are.  OK... so, you've struggled.  Maybe, like me, you even gave up for a time.  That's in the past.  There's nothing you can do to change it, so stop beating yourself up over it!  Refocus on why you started in the first place and begin again!

So, who's with me?  Ready to get back into the swing of things and show those goals who is in charge?  Let's do it!

My goals for the week are:

1.  Take pictures of new items to list in my Etsy shop.
2.   Drink 100 ounces of water per day
3.   15 minutes of cleaning/organizing in my office each day
4.   Track all my food points with the Weight Watchers app

We've got this!! Feel free to ask me at any point during the week how I am doing with my goals.  What are your goals for the week?  Share in the comments!