BulgingButtons

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Cleaning Up 2019

The last day of the year seems like a good time to do a little housekeeping, both literally and figuratively.

Literally speaking, I’m still slowing putting my master bedroom and bathroom back together (and don’t even ask me about my closet). Having a full on renovation really took a toll on this house. Sure, the result is incredible, but the aftermath is not much fun. Still, as I soak in my six-foot tub or indulge in a shower that’s more lovely than any other I’ve ever used, I don’t mind the mess as much.

At least I finally feel like I have some time to tame the mess. Being a teacher is really a gift at this time of year. There’s time to catch up on appointments and chores, and there’s also time to relax, recharge, and reinvent myself and my practice. Teaching is an art, and like any art it requires reflection and refinement. This time off allows me to focus on those things. Nothing like being alone in a quiet house (well, with the dog) to force you to face what’s going on around you.

What’s going on around me (or maybe inside me) is a desire to bring my life back into balance. That means more focus on home and family, more focus on long-range goals, and more focus on what success means to me. This is where paying off my credit card bill (which I had always done in the past, but somehow lost track of), cleaning up my house (it’s getting there), and working on becoming a National Board Certified Teacher (this is kind of overwhelming) come into play. Add in a few interesting life twists (all good) and you’ve got a 2019 that I’m ready to pack away in favor of a bright, shiny, new 2020. It’s going to be a busy one, but a good one, I can just tell. I wish you a bright, shiny 2020 as well.


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Welcome to the Tiniest Month Challenge

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February is so short it seems like it begins and ends in a flash.

What better month for a challenge, then?

So here’s my challenge to myself, and by extension to all of you:

Pick something and stick with it. Every. Day.

At least for this tiny month of February.

Some ideas that have rattled around my brain:

  • hit my Fitbit steps goal everyday
  • take time to read for pleasure
  • eat vegetables
  • mindfully give a compliment
  • write
  • avoid social media
  • stay out of Starbucks
  • call Mom

We all have things that we “should” do that we neglect. Since this is such a short month why not pick one and stick to it? It’s only 28 days, after all.

In an ideal world I would do ALL of the things on my above list everyday, but I don’t. I’m going to pick ONE and stick with it, but what to pick?

I see my ideas in roughly 3 categories: mental health, physical health, and social connectedness (which, really, is a part of staying mentally healthy I suppose). For me, physical health is the most urgent of those needs at the moment. To that end I choose the first goal: to reach my steps goal each day.

I would love to have company on my tiniest month challenge. If you’re interested please comment with your tiny month goal, and don’t worry if the month has already begun, you can start anytime you want!


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Go For It!

images.jpegIt sounds like a good idea, right? Identify your goal and hop to it. Go out there and grab hold of your dreams! That’s the American Way, isn’t it? Is it? I’m not sure.

I’m not sure of a lot of things. Like, for instance, what exactly my “goal” is at this particular point in my life.

I have goals, certainly. I have many of them, some large, some miniscule. So I suppose my question is how do I prioritize them? How do I decide WHICH goal is the “go out there and get it!” goal? Or are there multiples of those? In which case, the new question becomes, how on earth do I go out and conquer all that stuff????

Well, I’m a firm believer in divide and conquer, so there’s that. But then we go back to the prioritizing issue. What to tackle first?

When paying down debt there are two main schools of thought. The first states that you should allocate the majority of your efforts to eliminating the debt with the highest interest rate first, then tackle the next highest and so on. The second one suggests that you go after the smallest debt first, then the next smallest amount and so on, leaving the largest debt for last.

Both methods have their pros and cons, and both methods, if applied faithfully, will get you out of debt eventually. So what’s the right answer? I don’t know, but fortunately getting out of debt is one goal that I achieved several years ago, so I don’t have to worry about it. (By the way, I used the small amount first method, it helped me feel successful and empowered by the process).

Maybe I can use the same method with my goals. Maybe I should start with “baby steps” as Flylady says. Or, as my father used to put it, “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” For now I will keep stepping to get my daily fitbit steps, I will keep working at revising my novel, I will keep sharing my writing with you all and my writing partners, and I will keep working to tackle the clutter that’s been invading my home bit by bit. I will also keep being the best teacher, mother, daughter, and partner I can be. That’s not too many goals, is it? Wish me luck, and if you have any advice, I’d love to hear it.

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