March 2021 Resolution List

1. Walk 12,000 steps a day on MWF’s, and 10,000 steps a day on T/Th. I have decided to stay at 12,000 steps three days a week in March.
2. Walk 20 minutes seven days a week
3. Sleep 7-8 hours a night.
4. Read 21 minutes a day
5. Learning: I am going to label this resolution “learning”. There are some things on my 21 for 21 list (like learning more about Zoom and Microsoft 365) that I want to focus on each day. First up this month, I’ll finish reading the Educator’s Guide for the class I am teaching for the first time in April. (It’s not a class I created, so I need extra time to familiarize myself with the materials).
6. Write in my one sentence journal each day
7. Healthy self-talk scripts: read and/or list to healthy self-talk scripts each day
8. Keep the following 2020 resolutions going:

1. Work on paperwork each day (or as needed)
2. Devotional/prayer journal
3. Post in blog each day and Facebook group each day
4. Check and record blood sugar/record food intake
5. Continue drinking 80 oz of water each day
6. De-cluttering Monday-Friday/house chore M-F
7. Work on creating classes Monday-Friday
8. Fruits (breakfast and supper)/vegetables (lunch and supper)

​I was thinking yesterday about how many “anniversaries” are coming up. I wish there was another good word to use instead. In my opinion, anniversaries should be happy commemorations, but I looked online at the thesaurus and none of the replacements seemed appropriate either.
One year ago today, Tom’s oncologist suggested he stop treatment. He felt the treatment was no longer serving it’s purpose and was only making him sicker. I remember the shell-shocked feeling (much like the feeling we had when Tom was first diagnosed). Some of the other anniversaries coming up: the anniversary of finding the tumor, Tom’s first chemo treatment, the diabetic emergency (brought on from one of his treatments destroying his pancreas), and the open-heart surgery to remove the benign myxoma. Tom always called me the “Human Calendar” because I had a great memory for dates. Plus I was so open about our journey on Facebook that I couldn’t forget if I wanted to, because it shows up in my Facebook memories.
This seems like a good time to thank you all again for your prayers and support. I know that is what carried us through the hardest times (and what is carrying me through now). 

This week’s update on Happiness Project 2.0:

1. 12,000 steps MWF’s/10,000 steps T/Th’s: I got over 12,000 steps last Friday, Wednesday, and Thursday and over 10,000 on Monday and Tuesday
2. Walk 20 minutes each day: did this all seven days
3. Sleep 7-8 hours a night: every night
4. Read 21 minutes a day: all seven days
5. Training: I did this three of the five goal days. I watched some videos with some tips on using Zoom and I have been reading the Educator’s Guide for a class that I am going to be teaching in April that I haven’t taught before. It isn’t one I created so I wanted to start reading through the educator guide to begin familiarizing myself with it.
6. Household chores: four of five days (missed last Friday)
7. One sentence journal: every day.
8. Keep up certain 2020 resolutions:

1. Paperwork: four of the weekly five-day goal
2. Devotional/prayer journal: every day
3. Post in Facebook group: every day
4. Write in blog: every day
5. Drink water: six of the seven days (think this is the first time I haven’t met my water goal every day in months!).
6. De-clutter: I did some digital/email de-cluttering one day this week
7. Work on creating new classes: three of the five goal days
8. Fruits/veggies: three of seven days 

​Habit of Exercise
You would think with over a year under my belt of exercising every single day, that this would be a well-ingrained habit that I would have no trouble maintaining. The reality is that it is a habit that seems like it could slip away at any time. Some of the ways that I work to maintain it is I lay out my clothes for exercising and get dressed in them right away when I get up. The following sentence may be TMI for some people, so feel free to skip past it lol. I have also taken to sleeping in my bra most nights, just to make it easier to get dressed in the morning. Doing these things helps me get up every morning and do the first exercise of the day. Usually once I do that one, the rest of the day is much easier. I also set up the DVD player for the next morning’s workout when I finish that morning so it’s ready to go for the next day. No matter where I am or what’s going on, I want to maintain that first thing in the morning exercise habit. The rest of the day’s movement is very dependent on making sure I do! With the #read21in21 challenge I am participating in this year; I have started doing my 21 minutes of reading as soon as I finish my morning exercise. It’s a nice way to cool down and makes me look forward to the exercise even more. This means when I am teaching early morning classes, that I often end up getting up at 4:30 a.m. to make sure I have time to do both before I go. I know if I don’t get them done before I go that by the time I get done teaching, I likely won’t have the oomph to do them.
How do you work to maintain your exercise habits? 

This morning as I was flipping through my idea book and trying to decide on what to write about today, I came across this quote I had written down: "The less we do, the less we feel like doing". I didn't write down who said it, but I am guessing it was something I read or heard from Gretchen Rubin. I thought it went well with another quote I have heard her say "It matters more what you do most days than what you do sometimes" (I am sure I botched that, but you get the idea lol). 

I am really feeling this lately. I mentioned that I have been struggling a lot. There have been days that I have felt like I was walking through molasses and everything was a struggle. Monday was one of those days. Yesterday, I was feeling a tiny bit better so I got myself to work on the new class I am creating for just five minutes. Decided if I could do just one tiny thing to make progress on it, I was going to be happy with myself. This morning, I set a timer to work on it for 15 minutes and could not even focus. So I got up and did some other things around the house and then came back to it and tried again. This time I worked for 15 minutes and made some more progress. Bit by bit, I can get things done. 

Tom always said that I am someone who likes to be busy and he was not wrong. I almost seem to get more done when I am busy than when I am having a slower time. 

What are your thoughts on this? Do you feel the "the less we do, the less we feel like doing"? 

After two weeks of ice and snow and being so extra careful, I turn my ankle and fall walking around the yard in the sunshine this morning. Good grief. I seem to be okay, but a little sore. Hopefully it does not affect getting my steps for the day. I "only" got 10,000 yesterday (rather than my goal of 12,000). I have really been struggling the last few days. I am not sure if it is physical or emotional. Or both. Asking for some prayers and maybe some answers. 

Monday: 12,126
Tuesday: 10,420
Wednesday: 12,496
Thursday: 10,171
​Friday: 12,885

Dancing flames,
Picture frames,
Memories pour,
Through an open door.
I see you there,
Smiling at me,
In the picture frames,
In the dancing flames.
I want to hear your voice,
One more time.
I want to feel your arms,
Holding me again.
But all I have
Are dancing flames,
And picture frames,
Memories. 

​This may sound crazy coming from me; but I am so thankful for exercise; especially walking. I mentioned a few days ago that I had been having trouble getting up out of bed several mornings this last week or so. There were some of those days that I struggled to do my initial morning exercise, but it seems like once I do it, I feel better. Not always great, but at least a little more able to face the day. Moving throughout the day helps keep me at least somewhat energized and clears some brain fog. I will be glad when this crap all melts off so I can get back out and do some of it outside! There are only so many steps you can stand to take inside your house before you start getting stir-crazy lol. 

This week’s update on Happiness Project 2.0:

1. 12,000 steps MWF’s/10,000 steps T/Th’s: I got over 12,000 steps last Friday, Monday, and Wednesday, and over 10,000 on Tuesday/Thursday.
2. Walk 20 minutes each day: did this all seven days
3. Sleep 7-8 hours a night: every night (wish I could say it was helping me feel better)
4. Read 21 minutes a day: all seven days
5. Pyramid Model Training: Finished the training on Monday (did it Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday). Then I watched a webinar on presenting engaging online training and researched some other stuff on that. That is going to be my focus for the rest of the month.
6. Household chores: five of the five planned days
7. One sentence journal: every day.
8. Keep up certain 2020 resolutions:

1. Paperwork: four of the weekly five-day goal
2. Devotional/prayer journal: every day
3. Post in Facebook group: every day
4. Write in blog: every day
5. Drink water: every day
6. De-clutter: not one single day this week ☹
7. Work on creating new classes: five of the five planned days: submitted the one I’d been working on and started creating a new one.
8. Fruits/veggies: every day