Time for Me to FLY

For those of you who are not familiar with FLYLady, FLY is and acronym for Finally Loving Yourself. One thing that I have learned over the years is that in order to find true contentment in life you really have to love yourself. I don't mean that you are to be conceited. What I am talking about is doing what you need to do to take care of you. Pray, eat well, sleep well, and keep a positive line of thought going at all times. That way when things come up that are challenging, tedious or that you just have to deal with...you will be able. You have to be at a point where you can see your purpose and live it.

I find that when I do not take care of myself, physically or spiritually, there is no way that I can be truly content. I walk through the day out of balance, cynical, and in many ways simply lost. To get back into balance I must invest the time to refocus. I can only do one thing at a time well. I must remember that my well being has to be intact before I can do anything outside of myself. Once I regain the balance, I am on a roll and can be a loving wife and a good friend at the drop of a hat, nurture my children as every mother should and do service for many as needs arise. There is no question about who I am or why I exist. When I FLY I am free to soar toward Heaven. And in my flight I am never alone.

My Daily Routines and Basic Weekly Plan

Each day I try to follow a routine. If I stick with my routines, even on days that are not "normal", my life stays in order. I also have routines, a basic weekly plan and zones for work. If I follow them, all is well. I have a copy of these routines in my planner. I also have them printed on 3 x 5 index cards.

Over the course of a week, all areas of my home are scheduled to get attention with my basic weekly plan. My zones are areas of my home that get decluttering, deep cleaning or decorating attention for a brief period most days. I work with an online group, and we work on the same area for two weeks and report our progress to each other through group e-mails.

I highly recommend having someone to be accountable to, to share successes with, and to get ideas and insights from. This can be someone that is physically a part of your life. A friend, neighbor, sister or cousin. It can also be an on-line friend. Being a part of an online group with shared interests and goals has been great for me. Getting and giving support is a wonderful way to work toward reaching goals.

Sometimes life happens, and I get off the track of following the plan. The beauty of the plan is that the routines happen even when other things interfere with a normal day, and the basic weekly plan is always there to get things in order as soon as things are back as they should be.

Here is my current plan. It really is not as complicated as it looks in print. Since I do the routines in the same order every day, I don't even have to think about them. I have to look out to not have someone add something to the mix, or attempt to change the order in which things are done, as that is when I will get thrown off and waste precious time or forget to do something altogether. I also need to watch out for days that I don't leave the house, as I often delay getting the routines started and waste a lot of time that could be used enjoying things I love. I use my kitchen timer during my room rescues and other weekly tasks. When the timer goes off I am done with that room or task, and I move on. I have become a pretty good judge of 10 and 15 minute intervals.

MORNING TAKE OFF PRE-FLIGHT PLAN
WAKE UP — Set a time (4:30 work days)
JUMP UP — Don’t lie in bed, take meds, drink water, bathroom
MAKE UP — Bed immediately/automatically, if it’s empty, Monday change sheets
SET UP- Workout clothes on, water on for tea/coffee, clean dishes put away
WORK OUT- Move for 15-60 minutes; DVD, VHS or recording on DVR
WASH UP- Shower/Wash Hair
DRESS UP – Down to shoes
WRITE IT UP – Start daily blog entry
EAT UP — Something nutritious for breakfast; follow the meal plan
PACK UP- Pack lunch/snack bag and water; follow the meal plan (work days)
BRUSH UP- Take care of your teeth
FIX UP — Contacts, skin care, make-up and hair
CLEAN UP- Wipe and swish bathroom, put in load of laundry, kitchen counters
LOOK UP — Sometime early turn your heart upward to God-start the day right!
START ‘EM UP- Get boys up, fed breakfast (home days), dressed, teeth and hair, boys morning chores
TAKE OFF- Go to work or follow the BWP. Work Day take off 6:45 A.M. or 6:35 on meeting days
HEAD BACK- End workday and head home at 4 p.m.; On Tuesdays leave at 3:30 & run errands on way home; After monthly Site Council meetings (2nd Wednesday of month) leave at 5:15-5:30 p.m.


WEEKLY FLIGHT PLAN

Sunday
( ) Plan menus/make grocery list
( ) Check dates to remember
( ) Clean out purse
( ) Set/Review goals and Action Plans
( ) Reflect on week, Plan and prepare for week ahead
( ) Spend 1 hour in zone
( ) Choose clothes for the work/school week

Monday
( ) 15 minute Master Bathroom Rescue
( ) Water plants
( ) 15 minute Master Bedroom Rescue
( ) 15 Minute Kids Room Rescue x 2
( ) 15 Minute Boy’s Bathroom Rescue
( ) 15 Minute Zone Work

Tuesday
( ) Fill up with gas
( ) Aldi’s/Food-4-Less/other grocery store
( ) Banking as needed
( ) Misc. errands (or delegate if possible)
( ) Wal-mart (or send list with Joe)
( ) 15 Minute Zone Work
( ) 2nd Tuesday PTO Meetings 6:30-7:30 p.m.

Wednesday
( ) 15 minute Utility Room Rescue
( ) 10 Minute Refrigerator Clean-up
( ) 15 Minute Kitchen/Dining Room Rescue
( ) 15 Minute Great Room Rescue
( ) 15 Minute Zone Work

Thursday
( ) 15 Minute Desk Rescue
( ) Pay bills, balance checkbook
( ) Lesson plans, School preparation
( ) 15 Minute Zone Work

Friday
( ) Family Night or Date Night

Saturday
( ) Family Work Project Outside or in the Zone and/or Family Play

EVENING SMOOTH LANDING PREPARATION
PICK IT UP- Tuesday- stop for errands on way home
SORT UP- and put away mail, and anything unloaded from car, backpacks, etc.
CHANGE UP- from work clothes to home clothes-Put clothes from washer to dryer
CHECK UP- Boys’ chores/homework/notes, tomorrow/this week’s calendar, etc.
EAT UP- Prepare and serve planned family meal, family works together on this; follow meal plan. Take vitamin, calcium and aspirin with dinner.
CLEAN UP- Kitchen-everybody sticks around until the kitchen is completely done.
STRAIGHTEN UP- Areas from BWP, Hot Spots, and Focus Area- family event if not done earlier in the day
FOLD UP- And put away laundry
PLAY IT UP- Take a walk, play a game, read a book, etc. with Joe and/or boys
PACK UP- Items needed to go out the door tomorrow
WASH UP-Boys’ baths, pjs, story and into bed; Brush teeth, wash face, my pjs
CATCH UP- On e-mail, journaling (including blog), letter writing, cards, school work, grading, planning, recorded tv shows, etc.
SEND UP- Words of glorification to God with praise, thanksgivng, and requests
READ UP- Current Bible reading and then other reading selections
INTO THE HANGER-Plan for 8 hours or more of sleep each night (in bed by 8:30 p.m. work nights)

"IT'S GROUNDHOG DAY!!!!!!!!"

Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow today. That means, according to the tradition, there will be six more weeks of winter. YUUUUUUCK! Phil is my favorite forecaster, especially since watching the 1993 movie with Bill Murray. I loved him better last year when he didn't see his shadow. Of course, I don't usually refer to him as a groundhog, as he is also known as a woodchuck. See the things you can learn reading my blog. Now, how much wood can a woodchuck chuck? Huh?

Today I did my traditional watching of the movie Groundhog Day. I like to think about the Groundhog Day concept. The things that Murray's character went through to get it right. How many times did he relive that day, and how many different wrong roads did he try before he got it together and became a great, genuine guy? We usually make a mistake and then have to recover from it and learn from it at the same time. Not an easy task considering our days are numbered and we don't know how many we will have. We need to find the right road, get on the right road and stay on the right road. We need to live each day like we are accountable for it. What we say matters. What we do matters. It needs to be done right the first time. Oh, and did I mention the movie is funny too. Love it, love it.

The little boys are watching Jack Frost, another family tradition. It was great for me that the day fell on a Saturday. In this stop-action cartoon, the groundhog shares that he has a conspiracy with Jack Frost to see his shadow every year so that Winter will last longer. The groundhog is not really a part of the rest of the story, but it's a nice little program we watch once a year.

Happy Groundhog, er, Woodchuck Day!

My Marbles and My Life

First, I recently received this e-mail. Can Math be considered another language? :-)

Brain Booster 1: Your Heart
The reason you misplace keys or can't remember what you ate 9 minutes ago? Normal aging shrinks neurons (brain cells) and drains neurotransmitters (the messengers that communicate between and among cells). But getting your heart rate up can reverse this process by increasing blood flow to the brain to improve memory and overall brain function, says Arthur Kramer, Ph.D., a professor of cognitive neuroscience at the University of Illinois. "We examined brain structure before and after fitness training and we found increases of brain volume in a number of areas," says Dr. Kramer, whose patients improved 10 to 15 percent on a variety of memory and attention tasks after exercise. The minimum: You can reap benefits from as little as walking 30 minutes three times a week.

Brain Booster 2: Your Back
Hauling your everyday (80-pound) shoulder bag can leave you tired. Carrying whiny kids can leave you frazzled. And both may injure your back — and your brain — in the process. A recent Northwestern University study found that people who suffered from chronic back pain lost up to 1.5 cubic centimeters (equivalent to 1 teaspoon) of gray matter per year. That's because the area of the brain that copes with the stress of the pain (the lateral prefrontal cortex, for those scoring at home) becomes depleted and dysfunctional enough to affect emotional decision-making, says A. Vania Apkarian, Ph.D., whose previous work found that patients with chronic back pain were slower decision-makers. Best way to beat back pain: build muscle in your lower back and abdominals to support the spine. Try the reverse trunk curl. Lie flat on your stomach and fold your hands under your chin. Lift your chin and chest off the floor about 3 to 6 inches. Aim for three sets of 10 to 15 repetitions three times a week.

Brain Booster 3: Your Waist
A body mass index below 25 not only means you'll look great in a bikini but that you'll be more likely to remember that you do. A recent Swedish study found that women who had a BMI of 27 (25-30 is considered overweight) were more likely to experience loss of brain tissue in the temporal lobe (that's your brain's main hub for memory function and one of the first areas affected by Alzheimer's). That's because extra fat generates more chemicals that can be toxic to your brain, says Deborah Gustafson, Ph.D., the lead study author and assistant professor at the Institute of Clinical Neuroscience in Sweden. One class of these chemicals — called free radicals — latches on to cells, disrupts the way they function, and can kill them. Aging naturally chews away at your memory, but excess fat may speed up the process. For each point your BMI increases, your risk increases 12 to 16 percent. "If you decrease your body weight, you're going to slow potential atrophy," says Dr. Gustafson, who recommends a BMI below 25.

Brain Booster 4: Apples
Eat one a day and keep your neurologist away. Researchers from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, recently discovered that animal brain cells treated with the antioxidant quercetin were able to resist damage from those brain-frying free radical cells (above). "We know that quercetin, commonly found in apples, has a great potential to protect against chronic diseases, including Alzheimer's," says Chang Lee, Ph.D., the principal study author and chair of the department of food science and technology at Cornell. Since fresh apples contain high levels of quercetin, Dr. Lee suggests that one a day may help combat neurodegenerative diseases. Other foods high in quercetin include onions, plums, and berries.

Brain Booster 5: Your Desktop Wallpaper
Set up a Kandinsky painting as your desktop wallpaper, and it's like 10 pushups for your brain every time you look at it. Researchers from the University of California at Davis found that the brain first detects recognizable patterns, such as shapes and lines, and then starts to break down new and different elements. Taking in an eyeful of complex images may ultimately help slow natural brain deterioration, says study author Scott Murray, Ph.D., a researcher at the University of Minnesota. Looking at a painting that actively engages your thoughts is far more challenging — and better — for your brain than staring out a window, which likely offers familiar views and much easier interpretation, Dr. Murray says.

Brain Booster 6: Español
Knowing how to say "Yo quiero Taco Bell" versus knowing how to order your whole meal in Spanish may mean the difference of a few brain cells. A recent study from the University College London found that bilinguals have more gray matter than monolinguals. "It appears that gray matter, which is critical for performing simple as well as complex tasks, is shaped by what we learn and by our experiences in general," says Andrea Mechelli, Ph.D., the lead study author. Even people who picked up a second language at age 35 saw an increase in gray-matter density, says Dr. Mechelli. Where to start? The easiest second language to learn is the one you're most likely to encounter; for most, that's Spanish. "Find a way to immerse yourself in situations where people are actually using that language," says Dennis Baron, a professor of English and linguistics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. For other ways, try community college classes, or go online to look at foreign newspapers that have illustrations to help you understand.

Brain Booster 7: The Mall
In a recent study of 1,000 participants, researchers set out to find why 75-year-old women tend to maintain better brain function than 75-year-old men. The result: they shop. That's because shopping requires more physical and mental activity than sitting around and watching golf, says Guy McKhan, M.D., study author and professor at the Mind/Brain Institute at Johns Hopkins University. "They're being physically active, mentally active, and tend to see themselves as having a role to play in life," says Dr. McKhan. Deciding what to buy, for whom, and how much to spend is one way to keep your brain — and your eye for a bargain — active on weekends.

Then I read another e-mail:

People with four healthy lifestyle behaviors — not smoking, physical activity, moderate alcohol consumption, and eating five servings of fruit or vegetables a day — live an average of 14 years longer than people with none of those behaviors, shows a new study.
Learn more.

What good would living long be without a sound mind? The realization for me is that either could go at any time.

Dreams

When this day falls each year, my thoughts turn to my dreams, as well as to the dreams of others. I can remember imagining as a kid being able to see a movie any time I wanted, or pausing a tv show while I left the room when my mom called me. Some things I imagine just seemed to happen. Without my personal input, some thirty plus years have passed and these and many other imaginings have become my current reality. I think of these sometimes as realized dreams. But the dreams I really need to focus on are dreams that I can make happen.

Some things that I really want I have to work hard to get. I set my mind to it and devote my energy to making it real. This is why I have an education. There was no one in my family that I could follow the footsteps of, although I found my own mentors along the way. There was no one who would do the work for me. Looking back I feel so extremely blessed to have people in my life at just the right time to challenge me to give my best and to do what I needed to do to get what I wanted. I was also blessed with a mind that made learning easy for most things. I was blessed to be born in a land where education was compulsory to some extent, and then available to anyone who was willing to work and pay for it.

Martin Luther King, Jr. is remembered by many today as a man with a dream of peace. I know that many today wonder how much of his dream has been realized. I know many young people today, my own children included, don't seem to get why King's dream is such a big deal. That, I think is progress. God created us all to give glory to Him. He also expects us to treat others well as that is a way that we show our love to God himself. I pray that King's dream is realized, but in reality it starts with me...and then you..and then...the world. People in general don't have a good track record for being good to each other. Especially not to others that are considered different or outsiders.

For something to happen, you first have to dream it. It has to be a picture in your mind or else you are living without purpose. I was posed a question a couple of weeks ago. The question was, what would I dream if I knew that it would be one that would come true? Followed by the question, what is stopping me? For me, the answer I know is that at the end of my days, when I stand in front of my creator, the love of my life, that He will tell me, "Well done, my lovely child." What is stopping me from realizing my dream? That is my life journey.

"The time is always right to do what is right."
--Martin Luther King Jr.,Nobel Peace Prize recipient and civil rights activist

Hello from My World!

The purpose of this blog is to document my journey as a child of God, a wife of twenty-four years, a mother of 5, a homemaker, a pet owner to two beagles and a gecko lizard, a middle school math and science teacher, a photographer, a scraper, etc. My interests are many, my time is stretched, but I want to get all I can out of life. My biggest challenge today is getting it all organized.

*I have started using a planner again. After a couple of year's of just using master lists and Outlook, I really look forward to getting my schedule, routines, calendar, to dos, goals and people contacts all back in one portable place. This is still a work in progress, but the planner is now with me always. I am trying to have a separate section for work routines and to do lists this time around, as in the past I put everything on the same list and work somehow took over the rest of my life. Work appointments and deadlines do go into my calendar, as it is the one place where it all fits together.

*I have recommitted to a group that is working on organizing our homes. I check in as often as I need, but at least once a week I share my progress.
*Aside from teaching full time, I have contributed to education the past several years by being an active part in the site council for the school where I work and working on the board for the PTO for my children's school. I like to be in the know and to help make good things happen for the young people in my world.

* I am again on a spiritual journey to read through the Bible in a year. I am reading it in chronological order, a text compiled by Harvest House Publishers with commentary by F. LaGard Smith. I read through this New International Version five and six years ago, and it really is a great way to experience God's word. I am following the scheduled readings and catching up if I miss a day. For my supplemental reading I am also rereading The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren and published by Zondervan. I went through this about four years ago, and it was good. I am going at my own speed, which, at present, is one or two "days" each week.