RazNoggle

So I’m not a nutritionalist, and if one were to read this they’d probably just laugh at my ignorance. That’s okay, I’m not trying to be all knowledgeable, just sharing some conclusions that I’ve come to. Oh and they’re not set in stone of course. Just like most fitness “advice” that we’ve all seen come and go (eggs anyone?) perceptions do change.

Anyway, so in my fitness challenge that started in March we were able to ‘earn’ a bonus point by avoiding sweets. Since sweet is such a broad term they basically clarified it as refined sugar. So… with that in mind I went about seeking ways to stay away from sugar but still satisfy that sweet craving that I often get after lunch.

By the way, I have read a bunch on different sugar and sweeteners and the way that they impact your blood sugar (glucose levels) and so most of what I’ve come up with is based on different articles and such that I’ve read from time to time.

The first time I ever heard of the glycemic index was shortly after getting married. Stuart and I started reading about it and it’s really quite interesting. I couldn’t really wrap my head completely around what foods were “high” on the index (bad) and which were “low” (good) at that time. I printed out this HUGE pile of papers that had the index and where foods fell on it, but it was difficult to navigate. Since then I’ve read and understand much more about the whole thing. I still couldn’t break it down to someone who had no clue though, and again I’d hate for a real nutritionalist to critique my “info” but for me it works.

White sugar (and flour for that matter) are HIGH on the index. Which means that when you eat something with a lot of sugar in it, your body metabolizes it FAST and it causes your blood sugar to spike. In turn this makes your body release more insulin to cope with the spike and all kinds of bad stuff happens to you on a molecular level. Make perfect sense? If you are trying to eat a balanced diet, and lose or maintain weight and keep your body chemistry in balance, your goal is to avoid spikes in blood sugar. SO you eat things that don’t metabolize that quickly. Think protein, nuts, veggies and some fruits as well if eaten with other stuff, and fats.

As far as sweeteners go, I’ve already made the decision that I do NOT want to go the chemical sweetener route. Sugar may be bad, but fake stuff is WAY bad. That is my opinion, and you are certainly welcome to disagree. Do what works for you. I’m not a fan of chemicals. So my choices for “not chemical” sweeteners are Sugar, Honey, Agave Nectar and Maple Syrup. Sugar is bad so that’s out. So between the other 3 here are some interesting things that I have learned.

Agave and Honey are LOW on the glycemic index. They contain all kinds of vitamin/mineral stuff, but are more like natural fruit sugars and less like refined sugar. So the impact of these on your blood sugar is much less dramatic, especially if eaten with other low GI foods, than white sugar. Maple Syrup is good for you in a lot of ways, however it is molecularly closer to sugar than the other 2. So my advice there is to go easy on the Maple Syrup. I can’t give it up totally because it’s just too yummy! Besides it is still better for you than sugar.

So when I am trying to squash that sweet craving without using actual sugar, I resort to those 3 things. I sweeten my morning coffee with a bit of Agave. It has less of it’s own “taste” than honey. I use Honey in my tea both hot and iced. I use Maple or Honey on my plain yogurt. Yum! I also make coconut oil chocolates with some Maple syrup, and my “energy bites” with honey. Those 2 things were my life savers when I first started the challenge.

The thing is, once I had been eating less sugar for a few weeks I found that I didn’t crave as much sweet stuff. I make a frozen fruit smoothie after my workouts in the evening and that stuff is just as good as ice cream and, of course, MUCH better for me!

So in a rather large nutshell that’s where I’m at for now. Say no to white sugar, say no to chemical sugar and say yes to natural sweeteners!!

So my fitness challenge that started in March wrapped up on Mother’s Day. Funny timing, huh? SO after my thoughtful hubby told me to “keep sleeping” when my alarm went off, I took my measurements once I did wake up. I was somewhat nervous about this “after” proof from the challenge, but boy was I happy I had those numbers to compare. Here’s my results:
Chest: – 2.5 inches
Waist: -4.25 inches!!!!
Hips: +1.5 inches
Arms: -.5 each
Legs: -1 inch each

I was pretty thrilled with these shrinkage results. Granted my hips measurement went up, but that’s either because I mismeasured the first time (possible) or my “glutes” are just getting into shape. And that’s fine with me. My rear view has been a little flat, ha! Not that anyone cares but me. Ha ha!

Anyway, I’ll go ahead and tell you that I have not lost a pound. Not one. One thing this challenge has done for me has helped me to realize that the scale is the WORST thing to use as a measurement for fitness and health. There’s plenty of examples out there, and I’ve seen and read a few, of people going from a tiny weight, but unfit body to a fit body and a “higher” weight. We’ve been conditioned for a couple of generations at least, to be so closely connected to that number on the scale that we can’t fathom a healthy body without an “ideal” number to go with it. If that’s the only concept that I took away from this challenge it would have been worth it. I can’t tell you the number of times that I’ve felt discouraged by looking at that ridiculous number on the scale, somehow thinking if I could make that change that I’d be “fit” and feel good. Nopers, it doesn’t work that way. So if you’re staring at the scale on a regular basis, STOP IT! They are not your friend, and they are not an accurate way to gage what’s going on in your body.

There are a few other things that I’ve taken away from this challenge, besides inches. One is a lot more energy! Yay! That was one of my original goals in the challenge. I want to be able to have the energy to keep up with my kids. Maybe that’s a physical impossibility as they seem to have boundless energy, but I still wanted to feel more energetic than I did. It may have been a combo of things including taking my vitamins regularly, and the fact that summer was approaching, along with the regular exercise that did it. Whatever the reason, I do feel much more energetic now than I did pre-March. It may not seem like it as there are days when I still don’t get much done, but I at least feel more energetic at the end rather than like a pile of flesh and bones that can’t wait to drag itself to bed. Another thing is just being much more aware of what I eat. In our challenge we got a point each day for eating our 5 servings of fruit and veggies. I hadn’t realized before this that I was NOT getting enough fruit and veg each day. Who knew?? Now I make more of a conscious effort at EACH meal to get those in, along with having them for snacks. And water intake. That’s always a struggle for me for some reason. Having to think about it and consciously make myself drink more to get my point has really made an impact. Plus the getting fit part has been fantastic!! I still have a ways to go to be where I want to be, but I know I’m much stronger than I was! Push-ups anyone?

Overall I’ve been so amazed at what a little old fashioned competition and accountability will do for a person. I know there are others in the challenge who have seen awesome results as well, and I know we’re all happy that we jumped in and stuck it out together. Even though we mostly only knew each other through Facebook, we were able each day to encourage each other to keep going, and we could also whine to each other about our sore muscles or lack of motivation and get that little nudge from everyone to keep going and stay strong.

That’s why I am going to be starting my own informal fitness challenge on June 4 for friends on FB who might be interested. I’m not a coach, I don’t claim to be a fitness OR nutrition expert. You would still be responsible for your own health and wellness. This is simply a group to have fun with and brag to and whine occasionally if you need it.

Here’s how it’s gong to work. First let me know if you want “in” on the facebook group, I’ll add you to the group, that’s the first step. Second, you need some kind of program. I don’t care if it’s Insanity, like I have, or another of the Beachbody workouts, or it can be Jillian whoever-she-is workout, or Tai-bow or Pilates or whatever! Something that will get you moving for at least 30 min a day that you can do 6 days a week. That’s pretty easy… I mean Richard Simmons could even do that for you. (hurk) Just choose a workout that your comfortable with, but that you know will push you as well. Third… well… let’s get through the first two first, and then we can talk about the rest when it’s time to make it all happen.

That’s it. If you want in, and believe me you do even if you don’t realize it yet, then let me know. We can get fit(er) and stronger together, and have a little fun while we’re at it.

So today starts our last week of the “official” fitness challenge. Yes, it’s true. It will be 63 days after starting out in March. When we started this it seemed like it would take forever, and now it’s nearly done! I am a week behind in my program because of the week when I was sick, blah. But I’ll still be finishing it. At the end of this week I get to take all of my measurements and “after” photos. I’m interested to see what those results will be.

I have to say that I’m SOOOO glad that I started this challenge. I did go into it a tad reluctantly because I was in a slump and LAZY and didn’t really want to put the effort into those insane workouts that I knew they would take. BUT a little competition goes a long way and now I can say that I’m super happy that I took that plunge.

The workouts are insane, especially this second month workouts, wow! I have seen myself grow stronger though. One day I actually did 16 pushups in a row, ON MY TOES!!! This, my friends, is progress! I have lost inches, I know, though I don’t know what the end result will be with all of my measurements, I’m a little nervous to take them. I’ve become more aware of my water intake (or lack of it, on some days) and now I rarely drink anything BUT water…. well, except my coffee in the morning, of course. I’ve been working on eating more fruit and veggies, and that has been harder than I thought. I didn’t realize that I wasn’t eating enough of them before I started this challenge, but now that I think about it on a daily basis, I’ve been doing better with those.

The scale still isn’t my friend, though I have not been on it for a couple of weeks. At the beginning of the challenge I anticipated losing weight right off the bat because of the crazy cardio I’d be doing. Imagine my surprise when not only did I not lose any, but I actually gained in those first few weeks!! That wasn’t pleasant, but I’ve been learning, slowly, that I can’t measure my progress by the numbers on the scale. One of the coaches mentioned a gal who weight 140 and was a size 12 and then she was a size 2 and STILL weighed 140. That was encouraging to me because like I said before, if I could have those abs of the people in the video, I wouldn’t care if I weighed 200! Ha!

I’ve started making my workout time my “me” time. So instead of plopping on the couch with a good book or browsing the internet when the kids are napping, I use that time for my workouts. It’s helped me look forward to them more, and helped me enjoy them more. Sometimes I can’t get them done during the day and I do them at night after Ella is down. When that happens, I get the boys occupied doing something else, and remind them not to talk to me because I’m exercising. Besides… it’s hard to answer them when I’m just trying to breathe! And that’s another perk of the workouts. I thought that my breathing would be an impediment because it’s always seemed to be such a hurtle for me, but through these workouts I’ve gotten much better at controlling my breathing, and even when I’m breathing hard, it’s not going into that panicked asthma feeling. Nice.

So anyway, the challenge has been a huge boost to wellness/fitness for me. I’ve been tossing around the idea of starting my own challenge group for friends on facebook now that I know how successful they can be. Successful in lifestyle change for sure! I’m not sure if I’ll go for that right now or not, we’ll see. I also haven’t decided if I’ll publish my “results” to the blogospher yet either. There are so many intangible results that I’d hate to discourage anyone from trying it if they don’t think my tangible results are good enough. I will say though, that I did a little shopping last week and got several tops in a size SMALL!! And found a swimsuit that didn’t cause a complete mental breakdown. This is progress indeed! ha ha! Some of the gals on my team are interested in continuing the challenge past the official end, so I’m going to keep on going strong. Start the program again, and see if I can still meet some of my own goals… the biggest being to banish the jelly belly for good. Time will tell…..

Sooooooo, against my better judgement I weighed myself on Monday of week 2. Guess what… the scale went the WRONG way again!!! I was pretty discouraged, especially considering I was doing all this work, eating lots of veggies, cutting carbs, and the workouts… whew! Boo!

I got on the FB group and moaned about it a little bit and got a lot of encouragement from the Beach Body coaches and other members in the challenge. One of the coaches pointed out again that you can add poundage, even while we’re getting in better shape. So, I kinda shrugged that part off… sorta… because even though I want the numbers on the scale to be at a certain point, I am starting to get the point that those numbers can’t be my guide, or judge of progress.

So I kept going through the next couple of workouts vowing to not step on the scale again till the start of the second part of the challenge. That’s 3 weeks, so we’ll see what happens then.

The workouts, as I mentioned, don’t get easier, BUT I feel like I am getting better. Stuart has mentioned that my “form” is improving, and I can certainly do more and better push-ups, so YAY!! Also my breathing has really improved and regulated when I work out which is HUGE!! That in itself makes it all worthwhile. I hate to feel limited by breathing issues, and this has certainly helped.

So week 3 began and on Wednesday I noticed some of the other challengers were taking measurements again. Remember we had to do “before” measurements. So, on a whim I thought I’d try it too, and busted out my tape measure and measured just my waist. When I saw the number I wasn’t too impressed, pretty sure I hadn’t ‘lost’ anything there either. BUT when I looked at my before measurements, imagine my surprise to see that I had lost 2 and 1/4 inches!!! WOW! Let me tell you, that I was beyond pumped that this crazy workout program WAS working!! Woo-Hoo!

So for the rest of the week as I workout, I keep thinking about the progress that I have made. When my mind goes back to the scale I think to myself, “I don’t care if I weighed 200 pounds if I could still have abs like the people on the workout DVD.” Ha ha! That is of course an impossibility, but I have to remind myself that it’s the health and wellness that matters not the numbers on the scale.

So I’m looking forward to finishing week 3 strong, and getting started on week 4. I keep reading this quote on Pinterest that goes, “It takes 4 weeks for YOU to notice a change in your body, 8 weeks for friends/fam to notice, and 12 weeks for everyone else to notice.” I’m pretty pumped that I have noticed a difference already! So I’m going to keep going and going till I feel that I’m really where I need to be!

So my beach body challenge started last monday. Which also happened to coincide with Stuart’s spring break. This year we planned to take some time “away” without the kids during spring break. It was a much needed get-a-way, though explaining why mom and dad were going on a “trip” without kids to the lads was interesting. They didn’t seem to care too much and were plenty excited about their own extended stay at Grandma Noggle’s house! De Bella got some quality all-to-herself grandparent attention time for 3 days at my mom’s house. Stu and I haven’t “got away” like this since our first anniversary!! Yeah, it was time.

But I knew we had to start the Insanity program that week too. So I loaded the workouts that we needed to do onto a computer sticky thing and brought them along. We were able to do the Monday workout at home. Tuesday’s was interesting because we got in late to the B&B and had to try to jump around more quietly because we didn’t know if we had neighbors sleeping or not. The next days we worked out at around 4pm and then had time to recover and shower before dinner. It worked out. Just proof that with a little planning you CAN get your workouts in. We also took a couple ‘light’ hikes in the area. Pretty place!! I love Colorado!

Anyway, I felt pretty sore for a couple of days after starting the program. I did well on drinking lotsa water and eating my fruits and veggies, and only had “sweets” one day when Stu and I split a fudge sundae from Burger King. Even though we’ve only been at it for a week, I notice a difference in the push ups. I’ve always been a notoriously bad pusher-uper. I remember in the 6th grade during PE we had to do a crazy amount of push-ups. At the time I didn’t “need” or care about formal “work outs” as I was a very active kid with a paper route to boot, so I got plenty of exercise. But I hated the push-ups, so I’d only do them when the coach was facing my direction and then I’d just flop down when he wasn’t. Perhaps I should have put more effort into them (obviously) then and I wouldn’t struggle with them so much now. All of that to say that by yesterday, the week mark, I was feeling that I could do them a little better/more effectively. So that was good.

Then I stepped on the scale this morning and my bubble popped!

I actually went UP on the scale after this last week. WHAT?!? After skipping out on sweets and making a point to eat veggies? And after INSANITY??!!?? HUH??? That’s how I felt. I’ve been a bit discouraged over it, but I keep reminding myself that the scale can’t be my guide. Yes, my goal is to make that number come down, but my bigger goal is to get into shape. I’ve read that when starting a fitness program, especially these intense ones, there can be a temporary gaining on the scale side of things due to water retention and whatever it is that you’re body does to ‘adjust’ to the new regimen. I’m hoping that’s the case here, time will tell. I do need to be more disciplined about paying attention to food intake, though I’m sure I haven’t been exceeding my calories.

I am low-carbing it again as well as the Insanity, because the ONLY time I’ve seen progress in the belly-jelly is when I’m cutting out carbs. I’m hoping a combination of the 2 will produce greater results.

So that’s week 1 down. It actually went by pretty quickly considering. I’m so glad that Stu is doing the workouts with me because I have a difficult time motivating myself when I’m all by myself. He keeps me going, and also helps me pace myself better so I don’t wear out before the workout is over. He’s pretty much just awesome all around. I already know he’s going to see better results from this challenge than me and I’m mentally preparing myself to not be bitter about it. Stinkin’ male metabolism! Ha ha! I’m just glad that it’s something we can do together that will benefit us both!

So there ya have it. Till next week then.

So I’m about to embark on a ‘beach body’ challenge with some friends. A gal I know on FB is a Beach Body coach and is assembling a team for some friendly competition as we all work toward getting in shape. We get points for sticking to the workout schedule, obviously, and for eating fruits and veggies rather than junk, and drinking enough water. There are several “teams” competing with each other and the team with the lowest points each week has to do some kind of challenge. I’m not exactly sure how it all works, though I’m sure I’ll have it figured out soon.

I’m glad that this opportunity came up because I have been having the WORST time motivating myself to do what I know needs to be done. If I have a team “depending” on me doing it, I’m much more likely to find that bit ‘o discipline that has been sadly lacking and get ‘er done.

Plus I have convinced Stu to do the workouts with me, and that will help a LOT!! I don’t like to work out alone, and with 2 of us on the case I’ll be more likely to make the effort in the moments when I’d rather quit.

Hey, I’m a completive soul.

So we’re breaking out the dusty Insanity program. Part of me is psyched about this and part of me is dreading it. That program is just… well,… insane! And the thing of it is that it doesn’t get any easier as you go along because however ‘better’ you get, you’re still going all out the whole time. So you might see progress in your reps and such, but you’re not going to feel like it’s getting easier. In fact it gets SUPER DUPER intense in the second month…. which is hard to believe when you’re doing the first month’s workouts. Still, I’ve committed my brain to doing this and I’m really looking forward to seeing the results!

I still have to take my “before” photo and measurements which I’m not really thrilled about, but I do want to see how they compare to the “afters.” So here’s to getting fitter, and more healthified in the next 60 days! Wish me luck, and come back to hear my moanings about how sore and pathetic I am as I go along. Ha ha!

Dairy

I so totally flopped on my diet last week. And it was obvious since I didn’t lose any more weight. Oh well. Today is a new day…

My downfall was dairy. I told you I was trying to cut back on it since I’ve read in more than one place, that dairy can actually be a diet saboteur. I don’t know why since it ranks low on the GI, but whatever, I’m not a scientist. I do however now know that I can’t deprive myself of it for long. I’m too much of a yogurt, cheese and sour cream lover! Not sour cream by itself, mind you, but in dishes, and dips, yum!

Anyway, I made it to Wednesday very reluctantly last week. I don’t know why it is but whenever I do the “low carb” thing I just never feel full. I’m starving all the time, it’s weird. But Wednesday came and I just caved in when I saw the crock of homemade yogurt in the fridge. *sigh* My new favorite thing in the whole wide world is homemade plain yogurt with a dollop of real maple syrup on top. Just bliss!!!! Ahhhhhh!!!

And homemade yogurt is so much better than the kind you get in the store! It really is SO simple to make it! You’ve got to give it a try!! I’ve been making it for over a year now, and I love to do it! It’s so cheap compared to what you pay to have your not-as-good-yogurt brought to you in those little cartons. It’s way better for you as well since you get to control how much, if any sweeteners go into your yogurt. Good for your munchkins cause you can make it from whole milk which is more nutritious.

Have I convinced you yet?? You need to make some yogurt! You can read how I did it the first time HERE.

Anyway, it’s a new day, and a new week, and I’m slugging away at the diet again, only this time I’m allowing myself to have some dairy again. I just can’t do both. Carbs or dairy… I think I’ll stick with dairy for now.

MMMMMMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

You all know how I have this hate-hate relationship with this low-carb diet thing. But as much as I hate to admit it, because I’d rather have an excuse to quit, it does work. Now I haven’t seen as much progress on the scale that I’d like, but one thing that I have seen progress in, is the decreasing muffin top! You know what a muffin top is right? Believe me you’ve all seen it… it’s also known as a spare tire. It’s that revolting jiggly mass that likes to attach itself to people’s midsection that is SO difficult to get rid of. Ugh! Something about having babies adds to the general flappyness of this region. Ha!

Anyway, it was this very muffin-top issue that I noticed in that “pictures never lie” photo! Yuck! It was motivation enough for me to give up carbs though, and now I’m happy that I have. Who knew that carbs always settle there?

I still have a ways to go, and I there’s quite a bit of toning that I need to do… which I’m rather lazy about at the moment, though I have been doing the kettle bell and I’m sure that will help. BUT I should be doing Tabata or other cardio as well. I’ll get there… eventually. For now I’m enjoying less muffin top and more loose clothing! Ha!

Tis the season for dry, flaky, cracked and painful skin! At least it is for me. This is a somewhat new state of affairs for me. New enough that I’m not really “used” to it yet. I was never the “dry skin” type as a teen. No, I had quite the opposite issue, and it was typical for me to be of shiny skin, and icky looking hair if I “skipped” a shower.

Now, I’m afraid to tell you for fear that you won’t ever want to sit next to me or be my friend again, I cannot shower every day. Even if I wasn’t a mommy with 3 young shower-stealers (believe me that’s what they are… the shower is the first to go when it comes to choosing that or more sleep, ha!) I still couldn’t, for my skin and hair’s sake, shower every day. I dry out terribly!!

Part of it has to do with the VERY minerally/hard water we have where we live, but part of it is just a changing life thing. Kids do weird things to ya! And getting older does too, but I chose not not think of that as a real reason. Ha ha!

Anyway, all of that to say that my skin is in bad shape if I shower more than every couple of days. And my hair too! I actually can’t stand my “freshly washed” hair because it refuses to look nice! It looks SO much better the next day, or the next even.

So I’m learning to counter these moisture sucking terrors to my skin, but I have to admit that my hands bear the brunt of it. They are naturally more often in water as I do dishes, switch laundry, bathe kids, wash hands, they just don’t get a break. And then they do break. I get paaaaaiiiiinnnnful cracks in my fingers and especially my thumbs, and even the back of my knuckles when they get too dry. Oh and just as an aside, superglue works WONDERS for skin cracks on your fingers. Really!!

But I’ve invented (well probably not very original) a thing I like to refer to as momicures. I’m pretty sure the last manicure I had was the one I got before my wedding…. yep, 6.5 years ago! Wow! My poor hands have been so neglected. Anyway, what I do is when I have chores to do around the house, which often happens, I slather up my hands with some THICK lotion, (my Hurb got me some great body butter stuff from BB&B and some thick Dr. Scholles foot lotion, and my sis-in-law gave me Avon’s Silicon Glove for Christmas and those all work fantastic!) or Vaseline will work in a pinch too, and put on my lovely rubber gloves. I have a pair that I use for icky chores, (like bathroom cleaning and such) that I drew a “yucky face” on so that I don’t get them mixed up with my dishes handling pair. I’m weird that way. But I wear the gloves while I do my chores, and when I’m all done my hands feel SO soft and moisturized!! It’s great!

I try to be conscientious about doing it all the time, because I’m the only one who suffers if I don’t, and believe me that ONE time of loading the dishwasher without gloves (and I don’t even pre-rinse all the dishes) can totally thrash my hands. So I keep lotion under the sink right next to the gloves so I have no “lazy” excuses and so far it’s making a big difference during this dry winter weather! So even if I’m just sweeping or dusting, I try to put on my gloves with lotion. That way I don’t feel all “dirty” like I have to wash my hands when I’m done, and I get some extra moisture at the same time.

Gotta protect that skin! It’s hard to crochet with rough hands!

A few days ago I was reading my reolutions posts from LAST year, and totally cracking up. Is it bad that you laugh hysterically over your own writing? Anyway, some of the chuckles stemmed from my own word usage, and other chuckles from the resolutions themselves. Did you know that I resolved to make my bed every day??? Ha! I totally forgot about that! I wonder how long it lasted. Now, honestly, I should make my bed every day, and am working toward that end, but since it’s hidden from sight upstairs where only Stu or I ever go, it’s low on the priority list… especially in the course of my busy mornings. So yes, that one was an epic fail. Maybe someday I’ll conquer it. Ha! Till then you can just know that I’m a closet slob and my bed may or may not be made on any given day.

Still, new leaves are good to turn over. That’s why I create resolutions throughout the year. One thing I would like to accomplish this year is to get some photo books printed of our life since marriage. Because everything photo related has gone digital, we have hardly any “hard copy” photos. I’d like to be able to pull out a book, sit down with the kids and tell them stories of where we first lived, and people when knew when, and so on. So that will be an ongoing project for me because that’s 7 years worth of photos to sort through. Wow… that’ll be a job. But I’m going to break it up so it won’t be ALL in one book, ha! Smaller projects are better.

I’m resolving to read more this year too. I read something generally every day, but most often I reach for one of the tried and true Austin books or Anne books, and I’ve read them all MULTIPLE times. I finally figured out the reason for this. I know what is going to happen! See, if I pick up a new book, I have a very hard time putting it down till it’s done. And while I’m a fast reader, I still don’t have that much time in a given day to devote to devouring a new story. So I end up reaching for the ones I already know, to pass the time while I scarf down my lunch, and I know I can put it down because I already know what’s going to happen. Funny, huh? But this year I want to read more, and not just novels, I want to read some of the books I have on parenting, and kid years and so on. I have a kindle now, so there’s no excuse! I’ll simply HAVE to live in suspense on some books, and that can be fun too.

Along with the reading theme I want to be more focused in my scripture reading. I’ve kind of been all over the place with that one. I always gravitate to the Psalms, and then hop around to some different NT books. This year, I’ve picked up the “One Year Bible” again. It’s nice because it breaks it all up for me, AND I get a daily installment of Psalms and Proverbs too. But I didn’t start at the beginning on “January 1″ I put my bookmark in June 1 instead, and am going to go on from there. I’m reading through parts of Samuel and the stories of David, and it’s very interesting. What a life he lived and not all happy, harp-playing, sheep tending was it. My heart hurts for David a lot more this time around as I read about him mourning for his rebel son Absalom. There are so many amazingly dramatic stories in the OT that I know I have often just kind of read over without much thought as tot he real people behind them. Anyway, so that’s how I’m going to spend my moments with my first cuppa this year.

Getting up before the kids is always a goal, but I begin to despair of that one. Qade is an EARLY riser. Like up before the sun kind of early riser. He usually is good about playing for a few minutes alone, before he wakes up Myles. They they typically play pretty well together for a little while. So that gives me some time even if I don’t make it downstairs before their eyeballs open. Still… I’m brainstorming ways to get them to sleep longer. If you have any suggestions, fire them away. Staying up later doesn’t work by the way, we’ve seen that one. They love to stay up, but get up just as early and are VERY cranky the next day.

I also have kind of vague goals, like doing more projects with the kids, and activities with them that require more thinking and problem solving. Those I’m planning to implement into our “school time” once we start that back up on Monday. We’ll see how it all works out. You know I’m not a “project” mom so it’ll be a test for me. Still, I have some ideas that I think I can carry off, and my MIL gave me a book for Christmas that is just packed with ideas of things to do with preschoolers! So that’s on my reading list, and then to-do list.

There you have it in a rough round-a-bout way. My 2012 resolutions. More or less.