athousandwords

Here's where we're standing at the end of week 2: Last week had some misses, but overall green and positive! I'm pretty happy with that, even if I was in a funk on Friday about sliding back into old habits. ❤️ The rest of the weekend went well. Saturday was pretty chill, just doing some housework and then taking my son to flag football practice. My daughter insisted on coming to practice, even though she still wasn't feeling well and it was super cold and windy out. She was a trouper though, and it let me husband get some yard work done while we were out. We didn't have a solid plan for dinner, so we ordered takeout wings and I managed to portion control and stay under budget. On Sunday we did a ton of yardwork, getting things cleaned up, mulched, and weeded in prep for my son's 7th birthday party next weekend (looks like the weather will be beautiful for an outdoor party!). I burned a bunch of extra calories lugging mulch and rocks around, so I ran to the store for some dinner ingredients and beers to reward all that hard work. 🍻 We ended up having a really nice evening, sitting on the screened in porch for dinner because it was so warm out. This morning we decided to keep my daughter home from school, because as of last night she was still feverish and it felt like after 4 days we should get her checked out at the doctor. I started my workout, which was actually pretty fun with my daughter hanging out in the gym with me. I put out my extra yoga mat for her and she exercised alongside me. 😊 I got about 80% through my workout but at 8:30am had to pause and call the pediatrician right when the office opened. They ended up having an open slot right at 9am, so I stopped and ran out the door with her. And it turns out....she has strep! 😬 And she's been sleeping cuddled up next to me every night this weekend, so standby as I wait and see if I come down with symptoms...

So true! Sometimes I hate being a homeowner though. 😅 All wins, but I get frustrated when the things I'm trying to improve end up being the first on the chopping block when a day gets hard. But I guess if it came naturally, I wouldn't be trying to improve, right? 🤔 And yes, I'm so thankful we have a sinking fund for home repairs - hopefully nothing else goes wrong with the house while we're building it back up after this. 🤐 I did get my workout done today. Three weeks complete!

Updating from the small screen tonight so I don't have a spreadsheet update. Today was a real fail on just about every goal. But let's back up: Last night around dinner, Miss 4 started feeling poorly and hardly ate. We ended up putting her to bed early because she was running a fever and she fell asleep next to me while I read a book. We all had a miserable night's sleep because she was tossing and turning and needed more Advil at midnight, then woke up at 4am crying for food. I got her back in her room with a bowl of Cheerios and managed to sleep another hour or so while she played quietly in her room. Both kids were off school today, but the little one getting stuck meant they couldn't go hang out at my in-laws like we'd planned. I didn't have a ton planned for today, so it wasn't a big deal to keep them home, but the crappy night's sleep was wearing on me. I decided to skip my workout because I just couldn't muster the energy, but since Miss 4 was feeling a little better, I took the kids out to the library and Costco. I didn't grab a water bottle or anything for myself, and that's about how the rest of the day went in terms of forgetting to drink water. Then in the afternoon we had a contractor come by to give an estimate on some work we needed done, and found some bigger issues than we originally thought, so that ended up taking 4 hours, over dinner, and we'll be shelling out 8k this spring on home repairs that weren't on our radar for the next few years. 🫠 By the time that all ended and both kids were in bed (baby girl went to bed early and feverish again...😞) I thought I'd get some laundry done but instead I just got sucked into scrolling on my phone. So- missed my water goal, skipped my workout, and no points for avoiding doomscroll with more productive past-times. But I was under my calorie goal at least, and there were a few good things today: playing a couple board games with the big kid and lots of snuggles from the sick one. And I'm glad to have uncovered the house issues before they became a bigger problem, and happy we had money in the budget to cover them. Hoping tomorrow is more on track though.

Thanks for being here! ❤️

This black and white thinking is always my downfall too! 😭 Hope you can adjust your goals so that any bit helps!

Big hugs. Hopefully she's just communicating with your body that she's growing more (in her own loud, angry way). Just remember that you are perfect for her, and if you need to supplement she'll be just fine. Congrats on snagging a spot at your nearby campsite! I should take a look at that before it's all booked up here too!

We appreciate you whether you're in a good mood or a bad mood. This is your space too. ❤️ I hope your unwanted visitor is a perfect houseguest and steals Dave away for just enough time that you can get your lifting in this week without feeling like you're missing out.

So true. And the scale is staying steady this week, so I can't be doing too poorly!

Wow - you are amazing! ❤️ Thank you for being there and ready to respond; I hope you're being kind to yourself today and rewarding your heroic self.

That's such a fun idea! And I love your botanical popsicles! 😍 Perfect self care day. 10/10. No notes.

I'm struggling a little with food this week, for a few reasons: I've been eating breakfast to make sure I'm not hungry going into interviews (can you imagine getting a bad score on an interview because your interviewer is hangry and trying to get you off the call in the last 20 minutes? 😳). But I'm not usually a breakfast eater, so those are extra calories I'm spending but then I'm still kind of eating the same amounts for lunch and dinner because my brain doesn't get the signal that I should be less hungry because I ate already. I've been squeezing walks in for exercise, but they're not as long or intense as the runs I did last week, so I'm not burning any extra exercise calories. Or maybe I am - tbh my fitbit is acting up this week so I'm not really sure my calorie burn is accurate. But either way, I'm not getting that extra 2-300 calorie cushion. (My budget on exercise days is 1500 - not insanely low, but it's nice to have some extra wiggle room) Maybe because of the above, I'm just snacky this week. And I'm not making great food choice: nachos for dinner (homemade at least) and a candy bar when I needed a pick-me-up yesterday afternoon. It would be okay if I had the calories to spare, but I don't. Anyway, definitely not masterminding the food this week. Hopefully just acknowledging it will help me out today and tomorrow, but I'm looking forward to getting back to my normal routine next week. Good things: I've almost finished the final Mistborn book and it's getting wild. Yesterday I took my Kindle out to the screened in porch to read during the thunderstorm. I had to layer two blankets and a cat to stay warm and I only managed about 30 minutes, but it was nice listening to the rain while I read! We've had some great candidates for the role we're hiring for! So even though it's disrupting my week, I've had a lot of fun meeting some new people and get to know them. Interviewing is a skill I don't get to flex often, but I always enjoy it when I do.

After a great week 1 and a really fun weekend, this week it's back to work with a super busy week! I'm running interviews from 9am - 12pm all week, which is throwing off a couple of my goals. I usually workout from 7:30 - 8:30, but I'm not sure I can shower/be presentable by 9am if I go for a run at 8. (I'm sure other people could, I just don't think I can - I'll be a hot, sweaty mess still.) So this morning I tried just doing the weightlifting early and then went for a longer walk after my interviews ended at noon, at that worked pretty well. It helped clear my head too; leading an interview can be pretty intense. So that might be my plan for the week - except maybe tomorrow when I have more meetings 12 - 3. 🫠 It's also raining here all week, which is a bummer because I've gotten spoiled running outside in the beautiful spring weather last month. But I'll do a treadmill run/walk if I have to. For my work goal, I'm counting the interviews as worth 4 pomodoros each day since I'm doing 2x 1-hr interviews and they require me to be totally focused. It's not exactly what I intended for the challenge, but it's my top priority right now so I don't need to do 6 pomodoros a day on other tasks. Getting in another hour of focused, deep work after the interviews should be fine most days (plus catching up on slack/email, attending other meetings, blah blah blah). That's the plan for the week! Still need to figure out meals/groceries, but I have some stuff in the fridge to cobble together at least dinner (I think).

We had unexpected empanadas from our neighbor this weekend too! I usually don't eat breakfast, but who can turn down delicious empanadas? 🥺 Congrats on busting through your plateau!! It sounds like staying under your calorie goals this week really paid off!

I'm so impressed you'd even consider camping with a 3 month old! I think my daughter was a year the first time we took her, and honestly we've really cut back on camping since having kids. 😞 I'd like to get back into it though! Sounds like you had an amazing weekend anyway at the soccer game! Nice job sticking with your goals and enjoying the family time!

Good luck this week! Sounds like you have a solid plan! I hope you get to enjoy the eclipse as an event instead of just rushing around dealing with the madness.

YOUR PILLOWS! 😍 It's so poignant to me that we use TV(/screens) to relax, but often we feel so much better when we play instead. Painting takes more energy - which can be in short supply on a weeknight! - but it gives energy too. Hahaha you're a better person than me. I'd be livid. So, you know, if you are having some feelings that aren't just "playful joy" about it, those feelings are valid too. 🤗

Mar 26 - 175.2 Apr 01 - 174.4 (-0.8) Had a good first week of the challenge. I also noticed two (jeans-related) NSVs this weekend: the jeans I've been wearing started to feel a little loose when I was walking around with the kids on Friday; I kept having to hike them back up onto my waist. And on Sunday, the weather was beautiful, so I pulled some cropped/summer-y jeans out of storage to try on and was pleased that they all fit well! I remember a few of them were pretty tight last September (I'd basically switched to only wearing dresses), so I'm happy to actually be able to wear those pants this summer. Also it was just nice to just try on a clothes and make decisions based on look instead of fit.

Thursday: I was hyper-productive on Thursday, buckling down and completing 11 pomodoros! I finished out a big feature I was working on that I know would have had me stressed out if it had bled over into Monday. I'm really happy that this challenge is encouraging me to get in more heads down time at work. Also on Thursday we played Ticket to Ride with my parents after the kids went to bed, which definitely counted for my happiness goal. 😊 Friday: I don't work on Fridays, so I got my workout in early and then went out with my parents and the kids to Great Falls National Park. The weather was absolutely gorgeous and I had a great time goofing off with kids, scrambling up rocks and running around. I could have counted all the walking we did toward my exercise goal, but I was happy I did my 20 min run that morning because we stopped for a big Mexican lunch after walking around the park - I split an entree with both kids but it was still a lot of food since we got an appetizer and then there's all those tortilla chips... 🤤 On Friday evening, my parents generously offered to babysit our kids and our friends' kids so we could have a double date! All four kids play really well together, so we got a grown-up night out. We went to a shopping center that has a bunch of different shops and restaurants and hopped around having drinks and appetizers at each place. It was so fun, but the drinking definitely caught up with me by the end of the night. 🫨 I did track calories, but with all the eating out they were a real broad estimate. Still, I had enough exercise between the workout and the walk that I landed well under budget for the day. Bonus happiness points for the nature walk and the date night. Saturday: This morning we got to sleep off our hangovers while my parents let the kids watch morning cartoons (I'm going to miss this when they leave tomorrow 😢). Then our neighbors invited us over for some Bolivian treats for the Easter weekend (and because they're better friends with my parents than us, lol). After that we cleaned out the garage - my parents have been storing some furniture at our place since they lived with us a couple years ago and they're finally taking the last of it home this weekend. I'm excited to finally get our garage space back! It was absolutely gorgeous today - up in the 70s! - so after we finished, the kids played on the back deck with the water/sand table while we relaxed with a bottle of wine and a cheese board. I'm still putting the kids to bed as I write this, but I think we're going to play another game with my parents tonight since it's their last night in town. We're doing Easter with my in-laws tomorrow, so it's a packed weekend, but that should be a fun way the end the week. Hope everyone here is having a lovely weekend with beautiful spring weather - I'll check in on Monday!

Yay! Welcome!!

My favorite way to cook chicken breasts in the oven without drying out: https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-cook-the-best-chicken-breasts-in-the-oven-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-211453

The original Mistborn trilogy is my favorite of his series. I've found the second series much harder to get through because the tone is drastically different, but it's been a worthwhile read. I know! I want one now...

Such beautiful photos! That clapper bridge feels right out of a fantasy world! And I love your purple hair. 😍

That's fantastic news! Yay for doctors that listen and support your bodily autonomy! I didn't realize you got it already - awesome! Share pics? 🥺

Such a tricky line to walk! Well done recognizing that satisfied feeling instead of fixating on wanting more.

All good yesterday! I caught up slightly on my work pomodoros (7 out of 6!) which made up for lower productivity earlier in the week. Yesterday was a rest day, and I actually ended up well under my calorie budget, which reflected nicely on the scale this morning. Hoping to keep that good number through the weekend. Calm Down activity was half an hour (probably more) of reading before bed. I'm working on the last book in the Mistborn series, The Lost Metal, and I'm eager to finish the series. It's getting real interesting and it's my last book in the Cosmere. 🥲