Terra

I tried to post a photo, but now I am thinking that taptalk stopped working for the forums a while back... It is taped to my bathroom mirror and I found a variety of fun stickers. Promise!!! I went in for blood work this morning and I licked a tiny bit of foam off of my coffee before the test. I am hoping that is what caused my glucose to be high, but that is the least of my worries. Needless to say my conversation with the doctor next friday will be involved and long. Bottom line with the tests -- kick in the butt delivered! then again my inability to breathe during some of BJJ class is also a reason to change some bad habits that have developed lately. Maybe I need a total butt kicking! Taking my moment... please hold. OK! Now it's time to implement my plan for this short challenge!!!

I love them too, I got my calendar printed out, now to remember to get stickers from my stash tonight. It makes me happy! The visual reminder is always important. With my scattered brain right now, if it is out of sight, it is out of my brain for good! I wrote down this morning's weight today as my starting point on my sticker calendar. I honestly thought it would be about 5 pounds higher that it was so that is motivational too! I know this and am fighting to take care of me as best as I can so that I can be strong for my family. They deserve the best me I can give them, so I am very important to take care of too. Also I want to be healthy and happy when this is all resolved too. Life is crazy but things are starting to get back to normal. My hubby is healing up and gaining back his BJJ stamina. My daughter has had a few good days and we lightened her school load to accommodate her fatigue. My youngest is hanging in there and doing so much better at in person school this year. I am trying to get into a slightly different routine now that my hubby is home. While he was gone I was going to bed earlier and I got more down time in the evenings. With him home I try to spend time with him (and I'm going to more BJJ classes)) so my alone/down time is limited. That is something I am going to strive to find in our nightly routines. I didn't realize how much I needed alone time, so now I need to find a way to make it happen.

I love you office!!! As for shorter winter days, I always increase my Vitamin D intake in the winter. If all else fails a full spectrum light bulb is well worth the extra $$ too!

So I got an extra day to think about things and how to track, motivate and habit build over the next 3.5 weeks. Stickers! I am going to make myself a sticker chart and hang it on my bathroom mirror. Silly? Maybe... A daily visual reminder? Absolutely!!! I'll work on it tonight and post more tomorrow... Something goofy just for fun!

I'm in for Squatmas and totally excited to embarrass my kids by doing squats on the beach during our Christmas vacation!!!

Me too! \

This is a lovely plan (although a bit busy!) It is always lovely to see other jui-jitsu folks out there, especially us ladies. Wahoo! I'd love to hear about your practice and what you love most about it!

This month my gift to myself is to take care of me! My weight has crept up over the last few stressful months, making my right knee is angry at me . My right hip is still trying to finish healing and my left shoulder has a potential tear. All of these issues need my my attention, so attention they will get!!! I will focus on three things with a bonus fourth goal. Overall I need to take the time to care of both my mental and physical health. These goals are simple and perhaps need a bit more rigor/scheduling. I'm going to think about these for the next 24 hours and assess the plan to accomplish them tomorrow. First - eating to lose weight is a must (how am I going to accomplish this? paleo, keto, low carb, portion sizes?) Second - Physical therapy and stretching (how often, when and where?) Third - Take time for my mental health (what does this look like?) Bonus Fourth - other exercise for both physical and mental health. BJJ, Core classes, hiking, stationary biking (bonus schedule?) That feels like it should be simple but I know it is not. Especially not during the holiday month of December. I have promised myself that I will not overdo thing this month. Decorating is done, gifts are simpler that usual and almost done, cooking will be limited and when we leave on the 24th for Florida, I will let it all go and enjoy our vacation. My husband is home from radiation treatments. His tumor moved away from the optic nerve in the last few weeks and that is GREAT news. He returns on Dec 20th for his first follow-up MRI and appointments. My daughter is struggling. Her digestive and swallowing issues are worse and there is not much we can do this month. She has all the appropriate appointments scheduled for early January. So this month we are fighting to keep her nutrition levels where they need to be, and improve her energy levels and focus. She is very limited by what solid food she can eat and we are finding her new dairy free nutrition shakes because she needs new flavors. This is impacting her school work. I have appointments with her teachers and the counselor to discuss options. Dysautonomia and EDS suck! Long term goal is to get myself back into some form of weight training. I have not been successful in getting there for a long time. I will talk to some friends to see about making it a group thing which often works well for me! I'm researching ways to get me back into some lifting routine. Possibilities include: gym membership at Anytime Fitness, KB workouts at home, or...? I'm grateful for everyone who has read through my plans and goals!

Sending hugs!!!

I'm so ready for the holiday. Today is my last day of work until November 29th. Today I have drank too much overly sweet coffee. My youngest asked me to get them the "free" starbucks cups that came with a Holiday beverage purchase today. She has been such a great help lately so I figured I could get her the cup. I ordered two drinks to get two cups because i have two kids. Our little starbucks was so overwhelmed today that it took 50 minutes to get my drinks and free cups. And yes I drank them both!!! I can't wait to see my hubby tomorrow! Don't know if I will be back here for the rest of this challenge... Overall I am proud of myself over the last 8 weeks. I have dealt with all the medical stuff that was thrown at my family, taken care of them, played single parent for the last 6 weeks and done so with my health and sanity in mind. I took steps to take care of me too. There is still some bit of guilt associated with everything, but I am doing my best to accept that i have done my best to take care of everything and everyone to the best of my abilities. I'm not perfect and i don't want to be. I have done good. I'll be back for the December challenge.

Turns out youngest spawn had an appointment yesterday. Thank goodness for telemed appointments. Pecan chicken was lovely last night. My salad greens had gone bad but I just sliced up the apple that went in the salad and ate that instead. BJJ class was good but I hurt after class and woke up in pain this morning. I am thinking that I need to choose to not attend class tonight and tomorrow. This will give me a week and a half where I can focus on the PT exercises without the pain from classes. Also I have a lot to do before I fly out on Friday and I could use the extra time at home with the girls. Laundry and pre-calculus are two things I need to do with them!!! I am hoping that I regain a little emotional stability in the next few weeks. My ability focus is diminished and productivity is down. I find this disconcerting at times, like when I am in my office trying to figure out what to do next. Or standing in the middle of my kitchen with no recollection of what all I need to do around the house. I am doing an OK job getting out of that funk by focusing on the one thing that I need to do next. Nothing more! Focusing on anything too big right now is tough, but the next little step, I can do that.

Do what you can. Sending hugs!

Your plan looks amazing! The only thing I see missing from your plan is a couple of rest days. Recovery is important! Please don't burn yourself out or get hurt.

I hesitated to write that down yesterday and now I know it was the right thing to do. Thank you for sending that text!!!! I think we forget to reach out sometimes as we are wrapped up in our busy lives. It is something that I forget or I think about it but don't send a note at that moment and then forget. I did the same thing a few days ago with a friend who I haven't seen in a while and is struggling with her own medical issues. Reaching out to see how she was doing was a good thing for both of us! Last night I was all ready to go to classes but the physical therapists asked me not to go. She spend my appointment working on my shoulder to reduce the pain and increase the range of motion with great success. Knowing my shoulder needed time to recover and heal, I complied. I did run to the gym to drop something off and give/get a few hugs. Today I have a few phone calls to make but no appointments for me or the girls. Days like this have been rare lately. I will spend my time trying to get work done and taking care of myself tonight. Food choices and portion sizes are controlled until I go home tonight. After BJJ class dinner should be pecan chicken and a lovely salad. Pretty sure I am doing OK with my overall goal... Have a wonderful day!

It is so lovely to see your finished projects! Your vision is amazing!!!

Oh wow, it's been almost a week since my last post... I had a four day weekend and tried my best to make it a productive time for myself without losing my mind. Wednesday was an uber busy day at work. I spent time with my girls on the Thursday holiday. It was lovely and frustrating all at the same time. Friday was a school day and I did a good being productive while the girls were busy. Saturday was a hike and lunch at the local brew pub, some house work was done too. Sunday was a solid day of work around the house. Overall I did a lot of stuff that while not exercise for the sake of exercise, it was very physical. I am happy with what all I was able to get done and I am sore for my efforts. I am not caught up (one kiddo is having a hard time getting to her chores) but I am not falling too far behind. I will be doing lots in the evenings this week in anticipation of my heading to Houston and family arriving to hang out with my girls prior to thanksgiving. (I got a couple of snarky comments from my mother about the state of our house and she wants to clean up youngest spawn's room. She cleaned eldest spawn's room the last time she was at our house and I am still trying to get that space back to something that is nurturing to her soul. Doing my best to ignore the snark and provide her with things to do while she is at my house that won't piss everyone off.) I can't wait for Friday!!! I found a ride to the airport, so I won't have to leave my vehicle there. Picking it up on the drive home would add a hour or two to the trip and after 13 hours of driving, the thought of a couple more hours sucks. I am ready for a few days away from home and to see my husband again! I don't know how military families survive being apart for months. 6 weeks has been more than enough for me!!! As for my challenge I won't likely update anything after Thursday this week. But I will be taking care of the important things in the last week of this challenge. For this week I have simple plans to meet my goals... PORTION CONTROL - This is a work in progress. I stress eat, so trying to direct my eating tendencies into something more useful has been important. A cup of tea or a short walk help, when I remember. Meal portions have been better! SOCIAL ENRICHMENT - I am doing OK. It's interesting how many people reach out to my hubby but not as much to me. I understand that he is much more outgoing than I am but sometimes it is hard. I know everyone has lives and issues of their own. However, somedays I need to know that I am in someone's thoughts... Those people who reach out to me have made me so very happy and I appreciate them so very much. I have tried to keep up with the social things that we do even though the hubby is not here, it is hard. EXERCISE - All things considered this goal is going very well. I have been to classes, hiking and doing so much around the house. I will continue with all of this! GRATITUDE - I am grateful for friends and family who have been here for us in the last few weeks. I am grateful for my youngest spawn and the help that she has been by simply doing the one chore that I asked of her. That one little task has been so very helpful!!! I am grateful for airline miles and the plane ticket that they purchased. I am grateful that my hubby only has 5 more radiation treatments to go and he is doing so great with them. No side effects or hair loss yet! Overall I am doing great, considering the circumstances. I am taking care of myself, the girls, all the critters and the house. I have even managed to clean up halloween decorations, ensure the thanksgiving stuff is still, out while preparing and setting up some Christmas decor. (I put lights out on the house yesterday!) I'm doing my best to ensure that my hubby doesn't have to come back to a ton of chores that I left undone, giving him time to relax and recover in the next few weeks. I'm feeling good about all that I have managed to accomplish (although I am tired as hell!) and will be doing my best to channel a little bit more Wonder Woman in the next few weeks!

Welcome! Injury care is so very important, good to see you working on taking care of yourself!

Me too! Actually Eldest Spawn has been told to eat more salt because it helps her dysautonomia. So I add salt to her stuff all the time!!! Old cheese still sounds good, but with my salt tooth that makes sense!

Why does it feel like it should be Friday already this week? Last night's classes were good and I hurt today. My shoulder is tender and the hip is telling me all about the squats we did. Muscles are sore enough that I have to think twice about stairs. Other that the achy joints the muscle soreness is lovely! I over ate yesterday. I didn't stop with one rice krispy treat, I had four and I ate the whole two serving pizza for dinner. Today is a rest day (maybe some light bike riding) and likely a hot tub evening. I will try to focus on portion sizes. Tonight needs to be spent trying to get my living room back to something liveable!!! Grateful to be working with good people and a manager who is happy to let me manage my stuff. I love the sunshine today and having a window to see it in my office is lovely! I'm looking forward to a long weekend with my girls and time I get to spend with friends. The hubby has 10 radiation treatments left (wahoo!)

I had to go look up "old-cheese-salad" - it sounds yummy! Rest days are lovely!

Do you ever wish that Baymax was real? Bummer about covid. I'm not too surprised that you lost track of stuff but its OK because you took care of the important stuff.

Yep - You have all my thoughts and positive vibes here! Perimenopause sucks! And top it off with Tamoxifen, double suck!! Sending hugs!!! You minis are looking great!

@Mistr, @sarakingdom and @Nymeria - thank you all for reminding me that I am doing OK and to take more credit for the things that I am doing! I can't tell you how much I appreciate those reminders.

I ended up with youngest spawn home from school on Thursday and Friday. Migraines suck! I did a little bit of exercise, I went for a 2 mile hike, I did lots of laundry, I got all the halloween decorations put away and the christmas stuff out of storage. Ordered precooked meal for Thanksgiving and finalized plans to get my hubby home in time to celebrate the holiday! I ate OK and got in the hot tub as needed. We put together a little box of silly goodies for my hubby and send them to Houston with a friend. It was a mellow but good weekend. This morning started with physical therapy on my angry shoulder. My plan for today is to get all my tasks and appointments in one place (maybe two for some of the personal stuff) so that I can keep up and manage it all. Later today I meet up with the younger engineer who I need to mentor and provide a work pathway! Tonight I have BJJ and core class. and and This week is totally doable. It's a short week at work and appointments are minimal. I just need to keep going and then I can enjoy a 4 day weekend of taking care of myself and my family. I believe that there will be lots of hair care and christmas decorating happening! Wahoo for keeping my cup full!!!