I have been most impressed as I’ve caught blog posts throughout the day today touching upon this topic. So many of you have done an amazing job of balancing achievable goals with really great concrete items that remind one that is summer and there are multitudes of things to enjoy about the season too! As I write this intro I do not know exactly where my list will end up, but you have set wonderful examples that I hope to strive towards. Because there is little more important in life than balance - of work and play, of laughter and tears and on and on.
Creatively:
1. I’d like to get my knitting mojo back. I’m still settling into the schedule and change of working outside of the house so a lot of my creative pursuits have fallen by the wayside as I try to balance work and working out - my top two priorities, but creative pursuits are really important to my mental health too so I need to start finding more ways to fit that into the already packed schedule. I have a few ideas floating around in my head, but no yarn to suit them and a lack of yarn shops open after work hours…The yoga sock has been picked up a few times this last week, so that is some progress!
2. Getting back my photography mojo would be good too! My phone has kept me capturing things here and there, but photographing the alpaca shearing in April was the first my dSLR had been used since February! And it hasn’t been used since! That is really sad. I think I’d like to start back up last summer’s tour of area parks and natural areas. Once a week might be a bit ambitious with the new schedule, but surely twice a month should be doable!
3. Sew at least 3 more skirts this summer. I have at least a half dozen I’d like to do, but this is about achievable goals, right? At least one of those three needs to be from scratch, not repurposing an oversized tee. Using stash fabric is okay though.
Actively:
4. Continue exercising 4-5 days a week! I kind of fell down on that this last week, for various reasons, but I’m getting back up on that horse tomorrow morning! I need to remember though to take it a bit easier on most Wednesdays when I’ve hit the gym hard on Monday and biked to/from work Tuesday and Thursday. But with the holiday I didn’t go yesterday so tomorrow will be like Monday, but with yoga after work too!
5. Bike to Vern’s! I know the distance is easily doable since it is shorter to ride there than it is to ride to work. But it is hillier and there is more riding in traffic and that riding in traffic is at points with very little shoulder. But I’m getting more confident in riding on the streets with each ride (I stuck almost exclusively to dedicated trails or very lightly used streets last year).
6. Really, start training to do a 5K come summer’s end. I’ve been procrastinating for a couple reasons. I’m not sure where to jump in on the Couch to 5K thing because I’m obviously not starting from the couch with the workout regimen I’ve been on. I’m also not sure how to fit it into my regiment. Biking to work days result in 700-900 calories of exercise depending on whether I leave work over lunch or not. At least two other days I really *need* to do weight training for a multitude of reasons. So what three days do I do the 5K training?? Also, anyone out there have a preference in iPhone apps for the training? I haven’t decided on one yet.
Nutritionally:
7. Get a healthier cake donut recipe that we genuinely enjoy. I’m not foolish enough to think a baked donut/doughnut is going to replace a fried bakery variety. But after two near flops from a healthy blog (edible, but not that satisfying or seeming like a treat) we finally had a batch that would successfully stave off a donut craving for a while thanks to this book. But I have some ideas to marry the prior healthier attempts with this successful one. Not that just baking the donut isn’t a big improvement nutritionally over bakery ones, but I think I can sneak in a bit more whole grain/fiber without sacrificing taste and texture. If I can do it with pancakes, I can do it with donuts, darn it!
8. Eat more greens! I go through phases with these. So instead of going whole hog until I’m sick of salads I’m going to try have salad 3-4 times a week. I might also dust off the blender and try to sneak in maybe 2 green smoothies a week too.
Fun:
9. Go on a movie date with DH twice a month. Last summer I think the movies didn’t really appeal. Somehow I went through most of 2011 without seeing a single movie in a theater. We’ve already been two so far, but there are few more titles we’ve been eyeing and it is good to take some time out and away from the house together.
10. At least once a month do something fun outside of the house with other people besides Monday knit night. Since starting work my socialization became exclusive to Monday knit night. I haven’t seen any of our other friends. I’m just home and awake so little I hate leaving. I hate dealing with any more traffic or any more strangers. Plus it seems lately a lot of the gatherings have been late week night things which doesn’t mesh with a 4:30 am wake-up call.
11. & 12. And since one should always find more fun things to strive for, I’m not stopping at ten :-) I want to up my reading again - 2 fiction books a month should be doable, especially since I often read while walking on the treadmill (though I’m doing less walking and more interval training these days). I want to enjoy our patio spaces. That is one thing I really miss about working from home - spending the majority of the morning outside on the west side patio and the later afternoon on the south patio once it was shaded by the garage. My favorite things to do on the patios was reading audiobooks and knit or read print books. I want to get back to that say maybe once a week.
