So how are things going in my pursuit of wellness? Mostly well, I reckon. At the beginning of January, I renewed my membership to the YMCA and have been taking Happy Candelas there with me every Monday through Thursday morning. He goes and plays with other toddlers, and I run, ellipse (would that be the verb for what one does on an elliptical trainer?), crunch, and contort (that is certainly the verb for what one does in yoga class). I am not making it to nearly as many classes as I’d like as the schedule doesn’t work great for Happy and me, but, at least, I am moving again and Happy has more buddies to play with which makes him even happier. Oh, and there are stairs at the Y. That puts Happy in a whole ‘nother dimension of Happy. And then Furious when I take him away from them. It is so embarrassing to leave a public building with your child kicking and screaming. Doubt me? I have an almost 18 month old to loan you for the experiment.
In the category of personal victories, here are 4.
1. I am managing my time well enough at the Y that some days I can even get in a shower while there (and, believe me, showering and dressing has been a vexing problem for me since I became a stay at home mom yet still working full-time on three different careers mom). This is not without its mishaps- recently, I forgot an essential garment at home- but there are fewer and fewer of those moments and more and more moments of me running around town looking like I am clean (with all my garments in place).
2. I am running again. I used to be a frequent runner and then a misdiagnosed but chronic and awfully painful hip injury sidelined me in August 2008. Since I sideline myself every winter (really, I just don’t like running enough to be in pain from it AND cold), I sat out winter 2008 and then Happy came and I couldn’t bring myself to wake up before he did to get my runs in. Now, I have a YMCA treadmill and childcare and a race that I have signed up for motivating me. Granted, I am only running in 5 minute spurts (followed by 2 minute walks) and those are five slow, painful minutes, but I am running. I so want to be one of those women who loves running and organizes her life while she runs, but I started running about 10 years ago, and I am fairly certain that I’ll never be that girl.
3. Saying no. I tend to say yes if there is no blatant scheduling reason for saying no. IE: I don’t take into account if I really WANT to do something. I say yes because that’s the kind thing to do. Except it is not at all kind to me, and I am swimming in enough madness as it is. So last week, I said no to three things that would have been big time commitments and really weren’t lighting my fire.
4. I went to the doctor for no reason other than to check in and have him draw blood to do all those tests you should have done every now and again. Why? Because I hadn’t seen him since Happy came home and figured that if I had high blood pressure or something, I’d never know and, as one who is responsible for someone else’s life, I figure that is the sort of thing I should know. Going to the doctor voluntarily and asking him to draw my blood is an especially big deal for me because I am a fainter. I will check out on you in a skinny minute if I am sick (because my blood pressure, as it turns out, is in no danger of being high. It is low, low, low and it further bottoms out when blood is taken) or if blood, vomit, or anything else untoward is involved. If I am healthy, I can power through unpleasantness with a good pep talk and averted eyes which is what I did this time.
In the category of areas where I am still failing, here is one:
1. 9 fruit and vegetable servings a day? Seriously? Even if that’s all I ate, I am not sure that I could get 9 servings in. Must figure out a way.
And a category I am working on…
1. While it might seem that cupcakes are my biggest vice. They aren’t. Coca-Cola is my biggest vice. And Happy has begun to notice the bright red can that I crack into for my mid-day pick-me-up. I ususally hold myself to just one can a day and it serves as my caffiene since I don’t drink coffee, but, still, I am going off the sauce at home because I don’t want my kid liking it as much as I do.
How are you doing with the pursuit of your goals, resolutions, projects, words for the year?
