So has everyone heard that it takes 21 days to form a new habit? I've done a little reading and discovered that it's more like 66 days. That's quite a difference from 3 weeks to over 2 months! I've been thinking about a little project involving forming new habits/breaking old ones for a little while now. So I've decided to try a little experiment over the next several months.
My Monthly Mission, I'm calling it, for lack of a more creative term.
My creative juices must be a little congealed, I think it's the colder weather.
Every month I'm going to try giving up a bad habit or forming a new and better one. So far I've brainstormed things like:
-giving up sugar
-going to bed earlier
-starting an exercise program
-giving up meat
-getting up at the same time
-cutting down on internet
-reading a book a week
I'm starting with internet restrictions, and it starts November 1st.
I spend a lot of time on the internet. I have my laptop, my iPad, my smart phone, I'm never more than a few steps away from checking my email, facebook and pinterest. So this is a big one.
I'm not quitting the internet entirely.
I'm not crazy.
Or that strong.
Instead, I'm setting limits for myself. Most nights I spend the last hour or so of my day in bed with my laptop or my ipad, and most of it is time wasted. I end up staying up way too late while browsing pinterest. So my restrictions are as follows:
1. No internet, no laptop, no iPad, no cell phone after 8pm. Important email excluded.
2. I'm shooting for two hours of internet time a day. I have a few important reasons to be on there, but not many. Therefore I'm limiting my time. I think I'll buy a special timer to track my time on the computer.
Of course I realize the slight irony of writing about my giving up the internet on my blog and then linking it to facebook.
So while I'm only trying something new for a month at a time and not 66 days, I'm still hoping to change some of my ways, there's no reason I can't continue with a habit past the 30/31 days I try it, I just get to pick up something new every new month.
Stay tuned to see how it goes.
Monday, October 29, 2012
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Super Saturday Six!
I've been thinking about doing a "Things I'm thankful for/excited about" regular weekly post for awhile now. But I can't decide which day I want to set it on and I can't come up with a really cool name, I'm still working on it. But I refuse to put it off any longer, I must be thankful/I'm so excited! So here goes:
My Super Saturday Six!
1. Abby was off from school last week on fall break and it was nice to have slightly calmer mornings and not have to worry about homework/strict routines, etc. Even better, I had a vacation day this week and since I only work two days a week and didn't work until this weekend that meant I was free all week long! I felt slightly guilty as we are getting record numbers of babies at work this month.
2. A few weeks ago Jeremiah bought me the bestest floor vacuum ever! Well, that might be a little exaggeration, but it has changed my life. I call it "sharkie" because that's what it's name is or the brand or something, anyways, this thing is awesome! I wish I'd had it when we still had the dog, it's so easy to vacuum the hardwood floors in the kitchen, and the kids can use it with much better results than a broom and dustpan.
3. Hannah has started walking. Little steps here and there. But she is gaining confidence and strength everyday. She is really cute and tiny and I love watching her.
4. Eli turned four on Monday. See what I did there, #4 is Eli turning four! Like how I did that? I'm clever. We just had the Grandparents over for dinner and cake and presents. He got oodles of superhero stuff. He is really into the Avengers and Spiderman and the old Batman with Adam West (he loves watching it with my dad). I'm planning a superhero party with a few of his friends in a few weeks, he asks me daily if it's time for his "kid birthday" yet.
5. Two words: Honeycrisp Apples. Yummy.
6. I can finally paint my fingernails. Remember when I had hand, foot and mouth disease in May? Well my fingernails started to peel from the cuticle bed up towards the tips, and they were in various stages of peeling and tearing and shredding all summer long. It was gross, and a little painful. They have finally all grown out and I can finally polish them with all the fun colors I got in my Birchboxes and Glambags all summer. Ignore the poor looking cuticles, now that the weather has turned cold I will fight dry skin and ragged cuticles all winter. Sigh.
My Super Saturday Six!
1. Abby was off from school last week on fall break and it was nice to have slightly calmer mornings and not have to worry about homework/strict routines, etc. Even better, I had a vacation day this week and since I only work two days a week and didn't work until this weekend that meant I was free all week long! I felt slightly guilty as we are getting record numbers of babies at work this month.
2. A few weeks ago Jeremiah bought me the bestest floor vacuum ever! Well, that might be a little exaggeration, but it has changed my life. I call it "sharkie" because that's what it's name is or the brand or something, anyways, this thing is awesome! I wish I'd had it when we still had the dog, it's so easy to vacuum the hardwood floors in the kitchen, and the kids can use it with much better results than a broom and dustpan.
3. Hannah has started walking. Little steps here and there. But she is gaining confidence and strength everyday. She is really cute and tiny and I love watching her.
4. Eli turned four on Monday. See what I did there, #4 is Eli turning four! Like how I did that? I'm clever. We just had the Grandparents over for dinner and cake and presents. He got oodles of superhero stuff. He is really into the Avengers and Spiderman and the old Batman with Adam West (he loves watching it with my dad). I'm planning a superhero party with a few of his friends in a few weeks, he asks me daily if it's time for his "kid birthday" yet.
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6. I can finally paint my fingernails. Remember when I had hand, foot and mouth disease in May? Well my fingernails started to peel from the cuticle bed up towards the tips, and they were in various stages of peeling and tearing and shredding all summer long. It was gross, and a little painful. They have finally all grown out and I can finally polish them with all the fun colors I got in my Birchboxes and Glambags all summer. Ignore the poor looking cuticles, now that the weather has turned cold I will fight dry skin and ragged cuticles all winter. Sigh.
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
The other day...
A little story I thought I'd share with you all:
I was folding laundry in the laundry room off of our kitchen one evening last week while the older kids were playing outside with the neighborhood gang of kiddos when I was interrupted. I don't remember if I heard the screaming first or the screen door slamming shut, but my oldest child was screaming like I have never heard her before, and hope I never hear again. It was a terror scream. I fully expected to come around the corner and see a bone protruding from an arm or something.
I came around the corner to see Abby shaking and screaming and dancing all in one big motion. I was surprisingly calmer than one would think I would be in a situation like this.
"What is going on?" I asked.
Screaming: "There's a spider on me! It's huge! Get it off! Get it off! AHHHHHHH!!!" She is crying now and shaking her leg up and down.
At this point I'm thinking I'm going to look down and see a big fat Black Widow with it's fangs deeply imbedded in my sweet daughter's little pink calf. She was wearing black capri length leggings with lace on the bottom, and I could definitely see something dangling off her pant leg.
Let me pause here for a minute for a little bit of side information. I had about four inches of my hair cut off about a month ago. I desperately needed to get my hair cut as it was getting very long and breaking off and falling out in chunks and we were finding little clumps of hair knots all over the place, I'm still seeing some on occasion.
Back to the story.
I manage to get Abby to hold still for a moment and I reach down and pull off a little clump of my hair that is stuck on a loose thread dangling from the lace trim on her legging.
"It's not a spider Abby, it's my hair."
"Oh." She says, a little embarrassed. We stare at each other for a moment in silence, she takes a deep breath. "Thanks, I'm going back outside now." And I hear her telling her friends, "it wasn't a spider, I'm okay" when she goes out the door.
I told my mom this story today and she just laughed and said to me, "like mother like daughter, only you were a lot older when you did that to us (meaning my parents)."
Yup, I remember it all, funny how traumatic events can be frozen in your mind forever.
We were visiting the Henry Doorley Zoo in Omaha one summer when I was in junior high. I was ruthlessly attacked by a hideous black bug with venom so powerful that I was sure my death was imminent. It flew right up under my glasses and bit/stung/stabbed me in the tender skin of my lower eyelid. I dropped to my knees clutching my eye screaming, "my eye! I need first aid!" (Oh yeah, I'm not exaggerating about that part.) The pain was pretty intense, I was crying and screaming for help while my parents were frozen in fear (or too embarrassed to want to acknowledge that I belonged to them). We never did find out what kind of bug viciously attacked me, but I'm sure it was some kind of evil africanized demon bug sent from the bowels of hell. I'm lucky to be alive to tell the story, I was sure I was going to go blind, my eye would fall out of the socket and the flesh would completely melt off the right side of my face. By the time we found the first aid station the only evidence left behind by my brutal attacker was a small welt surrounded by a reddish area under my eye, it must have only been a warning attack. I got an ice pack and some ice cream and continued with life as best as I could.
Stupid bug.
Honestly, that Abby, she is such a drama queen. I don't know where she gets that from.
I was folding laundry in the laundry room off of our kitchen one evening last week while the older kids were playing outside with the neighborhood gang of kiddos when I was interrupted. I don't remember if I heard the screaming first or the screen door slamming shut, but my oldest child was screaming like I have never heard her before, and hope I never hear again. It was a terror scream. I fully expected to come around the corner and see a bone protruding from an arm or something.
I came around the corner to see Abby shaking and screaming and dancing all in one big motion. I was surprisingly calmer than one would think I would be in a situation like this.
"What is going on?" I asked.
Screaming: "There's a spider on me! It's huge! Get it off! Get it off! AHHHHHHH!!!" She is crying now and shaking her leg up and down.
At this point I'm thinking I'm going to look down and see a big fat Black Widow with it's fangs deeply imbedded in my sweet daughter's little pink calf. She was wearing black capri length leggings with lace on the bottom, and I could definitely see something dangling off her pant leg.
Let me pause here for a minute for a little bit of side information. I had about four inches of my hair cut off about a month ago. I desperately needed to get my hair cut as it was getting very long and breaking off and falling out in chunks and we were finding little clumps of hair knots all over the place, I'm still seeing some on occasion.
Back to the story.
I manage to get Abby to hold still for a moment and I reach down and pull off a little clump of my hair that is stuck on a loose thread dangling from the lace trim on her legging.
"It's not a spider Abby, it's my hair."
"Oh." She says, a little embarrassed. We stare at each other for a moment in silence, she takes a deep breath. "Thanks, I'm going back outside now." And I hear her telling her friends, "it wasn't a spider, I'm okay" when she goes out the door.
I told my mom this story today and she just laughed and said to me, "like mother like daughter, only you were a lot older when you did that to us (meaning my parents)."
Yup, I remember it all, funny how traumatic events can be frozen in your mind forever.
We were visiting the Henry Doorley Zoo in Omaha one summer when I was in junior high. I was ruthlessly attacked by a hideous black bug with venom so powerful that I was sure my death was imminent. It flew right up under my glasses and bit/stung/stabbed me in the tender skin of my lower eyelid. I dropped to my knees clutching my eye screaming, "my eye! I need first aid!" (Oh yeah, I'm not exaggerating about that part.) The pain was pretty intense, I was crying and screaming for help while my parents were frozen in fear (or too embarrassed to want to acknowledge that I belonged to them). We never did find out what kind of bug viciously attacked me, but I'm sure it was some kind of evil africanized demon bug sent from the bowels of hell. I'm lucky to be alive to tell the story, I was sure I was going to go blind, my eye would fall out of the socket and the flesh would completely melt off the right side of my face. By the time we found the first aid station the only evidence left behind by my brutal attacker was a small welt surrounded by a reddish area under my eye, it must have only been a warning attack. I got an ice pack and some ice cream and continued with life as best as I could.
Stupid bug.
Honestly, that Abby, she is such a drama queen. I don't know where she gets that from.
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