Hello to you all, and thank you for your patience. I am a little off schedule this week, because as I expected, life got in the way of the weekend. Not to fear, I will be back on schedule for the upcoming week, and plan to post my next Trust Your Gut on time and on schedule.
I am going to keep this short as it is now Tuesday. Canada Day was Saturday, and there were festivities all over the country. There were public events, and house parties from one end of the country to the other. I wore my red summer top and Nova Scotia Hoodie with the Cape Breton patch I sewed onto it myself.
Sunday was my birthday. I turned 43, and it had a few little surprises. I was with my family, and that in itself was really special. There are 5 of us, my parents, and my two sisters and myself. My sisters have their families with them. We live in different parts of Canada, and we have not all been together in the same place at the same time in 4 years. I am getting ready for another family gathering tonight, and I had some help today making deviled eggs and big mac salad for the evening.
Pete Luckett’s Phone Book White and the bottle of Bodacious Smooth White wines were lovely at the gatherings we have been to so far.
I will say that this past weekend was another win for me, and I am still working on winning the whole week long! I am taking the time I have this week to be thankful for my family and friends, and enjoying the memories I am making. What did you do this past weekend?
I have made some progress in my kitchen and in my health. These are things that are important to me right now. I am getting my environment ready to write a book. I am preparing myself to be healthier when I write. So tonight I plan to sit back with a nice glass of wine for a mini celebration of my progress.
The trick is to keep going. A small celebration is OK, but it doesn’t mean I am done working on my projects. Far from it. The old me would have stopped, because I got something accomplished. The new me that wants a more productive life, wants to finish it all. So I am taking a break. Having a treat, and then getting some prep work done for lunches this week.
It looked like I missed throwing out expired bottles of salad dressing and the like last year. That makes sense, as a year ago I was under medical restrictions concerning movement. I was fighting a knee infection, and not able to move around as much as I like to. It was a scary experience, being told to stay as still as possible to prevent spreading the infection, and it was hard to comply. Yet here I am, working on a deep cleaning project of my house, a year later.
I am back to normal (as close as I get, anyway) and focused. My end goal is a book. Then another. It will take three to write a trilogy. However, if I didn’t start with my cleaning projects first, they may never get done. That’s not OK. I have to be healthy to be productive, inside and out. So I am not procrastinating about writing, not at all. I am being realistic. If I don’t make myself do this first, it won’t get done. I know myself. I will get sucked in to my imagination, and not come up for air for days. Maybe weeks or even months. The point is, I am doing it. Working on my home, and working on making myself healthier also.
It is hard to sit at my desk, and not work on the immediate area. I am creative, and would rather make a mess than clean it up. I have to focus on the kitchen now, and another project will be my living room/office cleaning. As my husband and I generally do work on the living room together, I will have help in that room. Which is good. I am not living here by myself. I sent my husband out for groceries while I got ready to tackle the fridge. I wish I could say I was ready when he got home, but I was in the middle of it. So he put the freezer things away, and helped a little here and there. He made me a kaiser roll with ham and swiss. A regular roll is not on my plan, but sometimes if someone offers to make you something to eat, you have what is offered.
Another reason I do not want to start working on the living room/office right now is that I won’t finish either room. I get distracted easily, and if I am working on multiple projects simultaneously, chances are one won’t be completed, maybe more than one. So I have my reasons for working on things in order. Once the whole house is clean, then I will begin a maintenance routine, something quick and efficient.
In terms of my health, the scale was nice this morning. I am working harder to stay on plan, so I can start losing weight. It is so much easier to be lazy about everything. Last year I decided that what I was doing then was not working, and I decided it was time to make some changes. Trim Healthy Mama was in an ad on facebook one day, and I thought it was worth a shot. I am still working on it, and have lost weight. If I stick to it, it works, and I do try. This year I am trying harder, and this will show me more results.
My snack for my celebration will include cheese, turkey pepperoni, some pickles, and that glass of wine. I have a bottle that has been open a little too long, so I am going to have a glass from it. Then I will have to go back to the kitchen. I am not going to finish tonight. I am going to finish up some dishes, and find some order in the chaos that happens when I clean. Things move to where they are not in the way until I find a place to put them to stay. And when I go to bed tonight, I will have a restful sleep after such a productive day.
As long as I continue working on my projects, I can have little celebrations along the way. And chocolate. 85% cocoa chocolate IS on plan, and something I am also happy about! Celebrate the little successes along the way, and keep going. Whatever you are working on, do it. It will be a giant snowball of positivity when you finish, and when you are on a roll, it’s easier to keep going than to stop.
I wish I had gherkin pickles. Oh well, another grocery run in 2 weeks will fix that for me!
I made my husband look at the completed fridge. Hearing him say, “Nice!” as he looked at the way I have organized our food was validation. I did a good job.
