25 March 2017

Time to really commit


Well, I've been dancing around a couple of things for the past few months and I think it is finally time to just commit. I have come to accept the fact that I cannot focus my energies on too many different things at one time. When I do that nothing gets done properly and I feel discouraged. But, by the same token, I need to get some things done and I need to devote time and energy to them. So I am narrowing my focus down to just 2 things. My dissertation and 10,000 steps a day. That's it. Well, work too, but that will happen when I'm at work and not at home. Everything else will have to fit around those 2 things. I need to step up my dissertation game and I think I'm in a position to do that now. I have my room all set up for dissertation writing and I have used it a couple of times this week, but I need to be in there more. Here's the way last week went. I came home from school and sat glassy-eyed in front of the TV for a while. Then when it cools, about 5:30, we walk the dogs, come home, eat dinner, I clean up, and boom it's after 7 pm. By that time I'm pretty tired and just want to chill before bed. So I think I need to flip things around. I get home from school around 3:30-4:00 and have a good hour and half to two hours before we walk the dogs. Now I have been using that time to relax and basically, do nothing after school, but I think I'm going to use that time to work on my dissertation. When I come home I'm really tired, I mean reeeeeeaaaaaaalllllllyyyyyy tired, but on Thursday I rode my bike home and was not that tired at all. So I think I can work it out so that I do my dissertation work earlier and then after we walk the dogs I'm done for the night. Or I could work for a little longer, we'll see. But I do know that I have to switch things up and get more work done.

Well, it is a couple of hours later now. We went to the dog park and then had breakfast at Applebee's with a couple from the dog park. Nice people. It was fun to just sit and talk with another couple for a bit. Now there is nothing to do until the reception tonight. We have to go to Walt's son's wedding reception. I am not that excited to go, but it will probably be fun. Right now though I need to get some work done on my dissertation.


19 March 2017

A great Spring Break


Well, it's the last day of Spring Break. Tomorrow it's back to school for 8 weeks until summer. I think this has been one of the more enjoyable spring breaks I've had. I think having Hubby on the same schedule really adds to the fun. I'm not all alone all week while he works. I like it.

We took a trip to Tombstone and Bisbee and it was awesome. I love, love, love both of those places. It was so cool to see Tombstone and where the fight happened and all that. It was also cool to see Bisbee which is just an adorable little town. I have a 1000 pictures that I could post, but I'll spare you that and just say an amazing time was had by all.

I got a little planning done while on break, that is always nice, and I got some work on my dissertation done too. Not as much as I'd hoped for either of them, but at least I got some done. I love how I'm looking at the bright side now and not dwelling on the fact that I didn't accomplish as much as I'd hoped. I made choices and they were conscious choices and I knew exactly what I was doing. So I'm good with it.

So it's back to school tomorrow. I wish break was longer, but it is what it is. I am ready for tomorrow at least and that's all good.

I do need to start focusing on my health more. I have not weighed myself in over a month. I have not kept track of anything that goes in my mouth and I have not done any real activity. So this week I'm hoping to change that all up. I put a food log in my planner so I can fill it out every day. I also put a habit tracker to try and develop these habits. I only have 3 for this week, I figured I'd start small. They are daily yoga, 10 minutes of purposeful activity every day, and log all food. With the food, I'm not even trying to count calories or avoid certain things, I just want to log it every day and see where I stand with food. And 10 minutes of activity I can fit in anytime. I could do it at school if I wanted to. So I'm all good. I figure starting small is the way to go. Anything I do will be better than the nothing I am doing.

Okay, time for the dog park.

It is now a couple of hours later. Laundry is started and I'm thinking about my dissertation. I need to find a way to create my post-it note wall and leave it up. But I can't do it here, meaning by my desk. I have too many distractions here. But, for obvious reasons, I can't do it at the library. I'm thinking of doing it in my workout room and then setting time aside to sequester myself in there to work on it. I think that would work if I am disciplined and I think I can do it. I love my time in the library, but I'm thinking I have enough motivation to do it here now. Plus, if I do it here, I can do it more often. So I think I'm going to try it out. Right now I'm going to go in there and figure out how to set things up to promote work.

Well, it is now almost bedtime and a whole lot has transpired since I wrote that last paragraph. I told Hubby my plans and how I was planning on using a file cabinet or a nightstand as a desk. He immediately jumped on OfferUp and found a desk for sale close by and cheap. So off we went. Picked up a little desk, it's probably a kids desk but it works fine, rearranged the workout room and got it ready to go. I then went in there about 2:30, closed the door and worked until 4:30. It was great. I was focused and not distracted at all by the fact that life was going on in the house around me. I could hear Bella snoring across the hall and through the door, but I still kept working. I found I was very comfortable but not too comfortable. The 2 hours just flew by. I can totally see me using that in the evenings maybe after school and before dinner. If I can put in a hour a night in there, I will have this thing done in no time. Just the time I've spent on it this week has made it start to gel in my mind. So the more I work on it, the more it will come together and the quicker I will get it done. Yes!!!! I would love, love, love to get most of it done this summer. I still need to attend 2 residencies, but I will work that out in the not too distant future. Just looked and there is one in Dallas in June. I could go to that one for about $700. Not too bad. Anyway, things are cooking and I'm excited about it. I am tired though, it's been a long day and I'm off to bed.

Conversation with Hubby

 So yesterday morning I presented my idea of working out at home to the Hubby. Once I presented it to him, he said he was in. I told him I h...