Hey You! Get Outta' My Way!

I was browsing the internet yesterday, and I stumbled upon a fitness blog in which the author wrote about 'getting out of your own way' to obtain your goals. 

Confession #1:  My most current fascination/hobby is body building... I do what I can from home, but I know I'll never really hit my goals unless I go to a gym and sign on with a personal trainer.  Currently with my other obsessions of photography (I have a small lifestyle photography business that I wish I could devote more of my time to) and homeschooling The Crew, it's hard to picture how I can possibly make it all happen. 

Confession #2:  I'm one of those people with a bucket list a mile long.  Including but not limited to:  competing in a fitness competition, writing/publishing a novel, making a real go of my photography business when we finally settle into our 'forever home', travel Europe etc. etc. etc.  Sometimes the frustration I feel about the obstacles in my way are almost palpable.  My other lifestyle choices (aka military life and homeschooling) seem to cause direct conflict with my other dreams.  But do they really?  Or is that just an excuse that I tell myself in order to make my lack of progress on my bucket list easier to deal with?  Am I really just guilty of getting in my own way?

It's hard to imagine giving up one thing in order to accomplish another.  I remind myself that life is full of 'seasons'.  That there will come a time in which we aren't packing up and moving cross country on a regular basis.  That homeschooling will be something I did rather than something I do.  That these other dreams will have their time and that I just need to be patient.  All good things come to those who wait, right??  Unfortunately, I have also had enough expereince with loss in my life to know that sometimes tomorrow doesn't come.  That nothing, especially more time, is guaranteed.   

Confession #3: I'm turning 40 next spring.  There's no time like the present I guess... it looks like I'm going to need come up with a solution.  Move over me, I'm coming thru!

The Crowd Goes Wild

The proverbial bottle has smashed upon the hull of our school year.  It's official.  The first day of 2nd grade is now in the books.   I started the day nice and early with a cup of coffee followed up by my daily routine of lifting heavy things and putting them back down.  After I mopped myself off the floor and downed some breakfast, we headed upstairs and got down to business.  We follow a bit of a routine with the order in which we do our core subjects.  Math is always first.  It takes the longest amount of time, the highest amount of concentration, and the most amount of patience to do it right... so it's where I like to start.  Today was evaluation and review day.  I thought The Crew would struggle a bit after such a long break, but yet again they remind me that they get their math skills from their father by blowing thru the evaluation test and completing their first lesson in record time.

 "The gold medal goes to... the Crew!  Better luck next time disheveled woman with damp hair!"

So on to language arts (grammar, narration, spelling, phonics, & copywork), and reading before it was time to suit up for the boys' morning swim lessons at city pool.  We actually left the house on time without the usual chaos...

"A nice recovery from the woman in black who still looks a bit out of sorts, but who has managed to tame her somewhat questionable hairstyle with multiple headbands and clips!"

The boys did great with their new swim instructors and swam the entire lesson in the deep end of the pool while practicing various stroke techniques... better watch it Mr. Phelps.  We've got our eye some of that gold hardware you're so partial to! 

Then it was back home for the rest of our reading, have some lunch, a bit of free time, and finally to head back upstairs to finish out our core subjects.  First, how 'bout a little review of ancient civilizations, hmmm?  What, it's only starting from 10,000 years ago (give or take a century or two)... no problem!  Once that was complete we broke the seal on our new science curriculum by talking a bit about the planet Earth, it's layers, the atmosphere, etc.  The boys each wrote out a quick review of the lesson in their student workbooks, cut out a planet earth diagram and colored it's different sections.  We then hit our U.S. Fun Facts workbook and spent some time focusing on Fairbanks, Alaska and the Northern Lights as well as the interesting days and nights they experience thru the year.  After a little personal reading time we were done for the day...  So off we went to the local Fro-Yo for a celebratory treat for a day well done!

"And the crowd goes wild!  The frantic woman with hair issues nails her routine!  Noone saw this coming!  A perfect first day... the crowd is going wild!....She did it!  She did it!  She did it!!!!"

1 down, 179 to go.

Do you have a goal?

I often think of that line from the movie Pretty Woman... "Do you have a goal?  'Cause you need to have a goal... You just can't turn tricks forever."   If you look past the fact that this is a conversation happening between two hookers, it's actually always struck me as pretty good advice.  You gotta have a goal.  Something to work toward when you're somewhere in the middle and you start to lose sight of why you started whatever you're doing in the first place.  Tomorrow we start our second grade year.  I thought it might be a nice time to write out some personal goals for the upcoming school year.  So that when I'm in the midst of the craziness, I can look back and remember what it is that I'm doing it all for.  This year is bound to be full of challenges... The biggest being a scheduled cross-country move just after the new year.  Already I can see all sorts of challenges that we're going to have to overcome due to this.  I need a goal.  A light thru the fog.  Something to aim for... so here we go.

1) Keep my focus on what really matters... it is not really necessary for my seven year old children to dissect a pigs heart.  If it fits into the schedule, fine.  If it's going to make me crazy to get them to the dissection, then I really need to give it a big ol' pass.  Keep focus on what's important.  Besides, they'll have plenty of time for that pig heart later!

2) Learn to say no (and not rake myself over the coals for having said it!).  This is a big one.  I tend to over commit myself, and then end up stressing out over keeping that commitment.  The key to doing everything well, is to not try and do everything!

3) Enjoy the small moments.  I'm pretty good at this, but it's still a nice goal to have :)

4) Stop making lists.  They'll make you crazy.

Fair Winds!

The path less travelled...

 It was a beautiful day. We played. We learned. We enjoyed life. Maybe August has more to offer than I thought :)  Cheers!

New habits?

   Today is August 1st.  For some reason I have never been a fan of August.  Despite the fact that we were married in August (14 years this month!), I have always viewed it as a pretty boring month.  No major holidays to celebrate, and summer is starting to feel like a worn out flip flop.  The grill has been fired up (repeatedly), s'mores have been toasted and consumed (even more repeatedly!), and the dog days of summer are upon us.  Typically I start the school year after the first week... Mostly because I'm a bit of a Christmas freak and I love to take that time off from our official schedule and really immerse ourselves in enjoying the season of Christmas.  So that in itself tends to give even more of a 'funs over!' vibe to this month. 
Each year I find myself taking a deep breath as the calendar flips over to August.  I was in the midst of taking that deep breath this morning when it occured to me that it's really pretty ridiculous to give into this attitude each year.  I think instead that I should flip my attitude about August...make peace with it, at the very least be civil to it!  So I'm trying a new tactic.  I'm going to try new things with the boys this month.  Go out of my way to get off the beaten path... look for new things to do.  New recipes to try for dinner.  Try to enjoy the last days of summer rather than writing them off so quickly.  Today I'm driving out of my way to go to a different park for the afternoon.  Not exactly earth shattering, but I'm pretty guilty of heading out the door to the same park on nice days because it's so convenient.  Well, convenient = boring.  It's time to switch things up.  See what adventures await... develop some new habits.  I'll keep you posted!

Fair Winds Friends!