Sunday, March 27, 2011

Get Your Shit Together Challenge - Week 2

I just have to take a moment to say WOW!!! It seems that this is a topic and a challenge that just about everyone can get behind. Last weeks post had the highest number of hits of any of my posts so far. Thank You! Hopefully after a year we will all be well on our way to having our shit together.

First I'll let you know how I did with last weeks tasks

Health and Wellness
-Make at least one health related appointment you have been putting off
I cheated a bit on this one, as I had already fulfilled this task 2 days before starting the challenge. I figured since it was something "I" had been putting off, others would have been as well.

Creativity
-Chose one unfinished project, and work on it at least every other day all week
I failed miserably on this one. I had plans to work on my Mom's birthday gift, but never touched it.

Professional
-Begin pulling together your tax requirements. If you have already filed, good for you, want to come help me out?
This one didn't happen either.

Family
-If you have kids, play at least one board game with them this week. If you don't have kids, call a relative that you haven't talked to for a while(maybe see if they want to play a board game too).
Yet another item I didn't check off. I was only home with the boys 2 evenings this week and one was spent at the pool for diving.

Diet
-Try one new recipe that contains ingredients that in theory EVERY member of your household will eat. Aim for it being a healthy recipe.
Yay! I did manage to do this, however, only 2 out of 3 of us liked the "cashew crusted chicken"

Household
-Pick one room in your home, and purge 10 DIFFERENT items. This means 10 books doesn't count.
Look at that! Another item not completed. Seeing a pattern?

Stuff
-Make one appointment/send one e-mail/mail something that you have been avoiding.
Completed! Appointment made to meet with my lawyer to move forward and complete my divorce. Talk about an appointment worthy of avoiding.


Now we get to the new challenges. I have decided in light of my only half completed list that I still ended up being overzealous despite my best effort to the contrary. In light of this revelation I will be "simplifying" the challenge. For the time being each week will involve 3 challenges. They will not currently be categorized, but perhaps that will change in the coming months as we all get our shit a little bit more "together".


Week # 2 Challenges


1) Get completely on top of your laundry this week. This includes bedding and towels.


2) Spend time on professional development this week. Read some journal articles, register for a class or course, or even volunteer for a new project at work.


3) Make a commitment to your health this week. Go for a walk, get to the gym, drink your 8 glasses of water every day, or eat at least one vegetarian meal.


Good Luck every one. I know I will get this list completed, I hope you will too.

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Get Your Shit Together Challenge

I have now officially past my one year single anniversary. This past year was a year of survival. I have managed to mostly keep my head above water as well as on straight. Now it's time to clean up, clear out, and lay the ground work for what will be a most magical and happy life. Since we can all always use a bit of a kick in the butt to move forward and improve ourselves, I thought I would make this a challenge to others as well as myself.

The aim is that each Sunday I will post a number of challenges for the coming week. This means there is an ENTIRE week to accomplish these few items. I am going to break them into categories with the aim to have a challenge from each category each week. I'm hoping that this will combat my issues with being overzealous. I know that it may look like a lot, but I bet that each and every item could be accomplished in the week just by "unplugging" for no more than 30 minutes each day.

Categories will be; Health and Wellness, Creativity, Professional, Family, Diet, Household, Stuff.

Health and Wellness
-Make at least one health related appointment you have been putting off

Creativity
-Chose one unfinished project, and work on it at least every other day all week

Professional
-Begin pulling together your tax requirements. If you have already filed, good for you, want to come help me out?

Family
-If you have kids, play at least one board game with them this week. If you don't have kids, call a relative that you haven't talked to for a while(maybe see if they want to play a board game too).

Diet
-Try one new recipe that contains ingredients that in theory EVERY member of your household will eat. Aim for it being a healthy recipe.

Household
-Pick one room in your home, and purge 10 DIFFERENT items. This means 10 books doesn't count.

Stuff
-Make one appointment/send one e-mail/mail something that you have been avoiding.

Thanks for joining me, at the end of the week I would love to hear how you did. I will let you know how things go.

Bucket List

I've decided to start a bucket list, this is sort of in keeping with my Year of New Experiences. I'm always up for suggestions, or hearing the top items on your own list, or even better hearing about the ones you've completed.

  • Drive a race car
  • Eat a RIPE mango, right off the tree(they grow on trees, right?)
  • Get a massage on every continent
  • Take boys on Coast-to-Coast multi-month Canadian experience
  • Get motorcycle license and ride cross country/continent
  • See every Ontario provincial park
  • Go whitewater rafting
  • Learn to play an instrument, preferably banjo, mandolin, Irish flute
  • Speed skate
  • Learn to swing dance
  • Train for and "compete" in an athletic endeavour
  • Travel to every continent
  • Build my dream house
  • Sell my wares at a craft show
  • Earn a Masters degree

Of course this will be an ever evolving list, help me add to it, or help me check off some items :-)

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Single Parenting is Lonely

When I separated a year ago it was scary. There were so many unknows. Was I going to be able to keep living in the house my kids were comfy in? Was I going to be able to afford the things we needed? Would my boys be happy? There was one thing that I wasn't concerned about though, loneliness.

I was excited about the prospect of having a quiet house to myself. I was glad to have some time off to explore my own interests. I thought I would spend my "off" weekends going out with friends. I was on twitter, I was meeting new people.

Now here I am, one year later. Lonely! Prepare for the whiny part. I have not spent an evening with friends in over 4 weeks. I have not spent an evening with friends not in my home since New Years Eve. I have not had a friend call me up and say, "Lets go out" in I have no idea how long(possibly not since before my separation). A very large number of my pre-separation friends we not even "available" for my birthday(not all of them, some I still love). On a side note, my twitter friends braved a long drive in a huge snowstorm for my birthday.

The reality of my social life right now is that I have 2 groups of friends. The first group are married. They hang out with other married couples. They go out with girlfriends during the week cause that's when they can have hubs look after the kids. They spend their weekends with their family, or going out as a couple(often with other couples). I don't hold any of it against them, I did the same thing. It just doesn't help my social life any.
The second group are single. Either they are completely single(no partner, no kids) and we don't have a huge amount in common. Or they are single parents, and somehow it appears EVERY single parent in Ottawa has the opposite visitation schedule from me.

I now know why single Moms jump back into the dating game so quickly. So, to all the people out there that worry because a friend is in your opinion "dating too soon", they are just lonely, invite them out for dinner.


p.s. this post was not written to make anyone feel guilty, I love all my friends. It just gets lonely being alone so much.