Back to basics

I've been trying to flutter with Flylady for a couple years now. The last two months I've been SO busy trying to build my business (this month I did a ton of invoicing, so something is going well!) that my house just fell apart.

It isn't that I don't try, it's that I try too hard at the wrong things. I end up at my computer at the oddest hours doing just one more blog post (STOP looking at the timestamp on this post - yes I mean YOU - stop it! I'm SERIOUS!) so yesterday I decided to just stop, take a deep breath and jump right back in where I was doing baby steps.

And after only two days, I've got the dishes caught up, the living room rescued - I'm so pleased, my house is starting to recover and feel like a home! BTW, I'm a big fan of FlyLady and if you haven't been able to find peace in your home because you're a victim of the clutter monster (like me) then I do really recommend her. It's all about learning to love yourself, really. And that's something I need a lot of help with, constantly.

Mom will be coming up Monday, and then on Wednesday at 7am we're flying to Disney World - just the two of us. I can't wait - we both need a break so desperately. Mom works with my kid brother at his store and her health has been not the greatest - a few decades of smoking has taken it's toll and she's having trouble walking now, so we're going to get ourselves a limousine (actually, a wheelchair for mom) and I figure the exercise pushing her will be a blessing for me. I'm really glad I quit smoking years ago - I may never have been able to stay on a diet consistently but I can feel good about that. It was a struggle but definitely worth it - I quit about seven years ago and have never smoked since - not once. Basically because, like an alcoholic, if I smoke just one I'll be right back on the pony. So no cigarettes for me :)

If only it was that easy to diet! The problem is I have to eat every day... if I could go cold turkey on food I'd have licked this thing years ago. I just have a hard time with moderation - and sugar and caffeine are how I regulate my moods. Well, I'll just keep trying... one thing I am proud of is that I've learned how to eat meals and since March 1 I've done just that.

Yeah I guess that made no sense... see as a kid generally we didn't get "meals" - money was tight, and my kid brother had a lot of allergies so a meal was meat and maybe potatoes and corn. Maybe. Salad? not a chance. Milk? Didn't have it. We had coke. No I'm not kidding - no milk or juice, we were a coffee and pop only household LOL. But I've been working on balancing my meals first, and once I've got the knack of that, then reducing portions. So tonight for example I had a biscuit (ok, two) a caesar salad, broccoli and cauliflower, roast chicken and rice. See? A meal, with side dishes and everything. Even a salad! I've been doing this for weeks now and the other day I got mad because we were out of salad and dinner just didn't seem right without one!

Yay ME! Could I eat less? Yeah, but it's hard overcoming 40 years of really AWFUL food habits all at once. I've tried that before and failed. So this time I'm going to take baby steps and see how I do. For May I'm going to start slowly reducing portions... hopefully by fall I will see an improvement. Oh, and I'm walking two or three times a week now - a mile at a brisk pace. (It wasn't real brisk at first but now I can chug right along) so I'm all ready to go see Disney World! Maybe next year I can go back and be thin enough to actually ride the rides... wouldn't that be something.

Oh, and for those of you wondering why I didn't write about the results of this week's American Idol - well it's because, in my mind, there weren't any. "Postponing" voting someone off is just that - postponing it. To be truthful I thought it was silly and disingenuous. Has American Idol just jumped the shark? Well, only time will tell.

Well that's MORE than enough for one night - my mouth runneth over :) I'm going t try this sleeping thing I've heard so much about - chat with you later!