Most of my self-improvement projects seem to me to fall into this category: abstaining from or exercising self-control to limit myself in regards to things that I love. Currently on that list are - eating less food; eating fewer desserts (not the same thing!); getting less sleep; and a number of things that involve me spending less time sitting around with computer, books, and TV (i.e., running, writing, spending more time focused solely on my kids and/or outside).
Now, I admit, it's sad that I consider writing and focusing solely on my kids as time that I'm abstaining from things that I love to do. But if you look at it, reading a book or playing a computer game are sheer enjoyment. Writing (for example) comes with anxiety, requires a certain level of focus that's difficult to achieve in my daily life, and is a bit of a mental workout. Kind of like running - it's enjoyable, but that doesn't make it any less a task.
Of the list in the first paragraph, I've done pretty well in the two eating categories over the last month. A stricter, more weight-loss-oriented diet may well be required, but from the standpoint of making better eating choices a part of my daily life, I've gotten a good start and should have no trouble maintaining/improving on where I am right now.
Next up for a heavier focus - less sleep. By which I mean going to bed at a decent hour at night (that would be 11:30ish, which still feels to me like a lost half hour out of my day), and getting up in the morning at an hour I'm not ashamed to admit to other moms. Shooting for 7 am as a regular wake up time.
Working on my usage of time and cutting some of the escapism out will come a little later.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Monday, May 19, 2008
Oh, Narnia
For starters, there may be spoilers. Beware!
I liked Prince Caspian quite a bit. It was definitely darker than both the book and the first movie, and there were some fairly significant plot changes. While I am not entirely happy about the plot changes, I understood where they came from and why they were made. As with the first movie, I thought the attention to character development - especially in the character of Peter - was a clear improvement over the book. (Lewis, while an inventive writer, left his characters a bit flat, I always thought. More interested in the development of the country than the people. Maybe a bid to keep his characters always the innocent young people they were in the first book? Perhaps that's why Susan eventually becomes the scapegoat by the end of the series, the symbol of someone moving irrevocably forward into the kind of adulthood Lewis most disrespected.) Edmund notably had less to do than the others, although I look forward to seeing what Skandar Keynes can do with the next movie. Additionally, I find three of the four actors playing the Pevensies remarkably talented and am looking forward to watching their careers. (I find Anna Popplewell perfectly good, but not that interesting.)
I found Prince Caspian very intense and as brilliantly imagined as the first movie. It is a remarkable translation of the novel - brings it forward into adulthood in many ways. There were moments I wasn't thrilled with (chief among which: Reepicheep the mouse is supposed to be black! The descriptions of him are very clear and vivid, as this beautiful, glossy black mouse. I was disappointed by the nondescript brownish-reddish look he had in the movie. I certainly didn't feel any need to pick him up and hug him, the way Lucy is described as always wanting to do in the books), but I understood the reasons behind the moments and respect the filmmakers' choices.
The big disappointment? For months now, my boys and I have been looking forward to going to see this movie together. Big Narnia-philes, lovers of the first movie ... but there are several scenes in the film that are really intense. I, knowing the book in depth and being fairly well up on the changes in the script, was on the edge of my seat, moved to tears, tense with apprehension. I'm very conflicted about how my boys will do in the environment of the theater - they want very much to go, but I'm not sure how they would handle it. The safest course would be to wait for the DVD and all watch it together here at home. I just don't know.
Bottom line, though, I felt about the movie about the way I expected to feel: it was very good, an excellent adaptation, but not quite as good as the first. Of course, the first movie is my favorite movie of all time, so it's as high a standard as possible!
Books off my desk:
I reread Lifeblood, the second book in the Jack Fleming, noir vampire detective, series by P.N. Elrod. Elrod's other series didn't thrill me, but the Fleming ones manage to be light and entertaining, with good attention to character development.
I read Louis L'Amour's The Shadow Riders. A good addition to the L'Amour canon ... but it started off a lot better than it ended. The opening was gripping, but from the middle on it got a bit rushed. I think it would have held up as the book it started off to be if it had been a little bit longer.
Finally, Laura Simon's Dear Mr. Jefferson: Letters from a Nantucket Gardener. A fascinating conception, the book chronicles a year in the life of a (20th-century) woman's beloved garden, as narrated through her letters to Thomas Jefferson. Fascinating reading, both from a gardening and a historical perspective. Well worth keeping!
I liked Prince Caspian quite a bit. It was definitely darker than both the book and the first movie, and there were some fairly significant plot changes. While I am not entirely happy about the plot changes, I understood where they came from and why they were made. As with the first movie, I thought the attention to character development - especially in the character of Peter - was a clear improvement over the book. (Lewis, while an inventive writer, left his characters a bit flat, I always thought. More interested in the development of the country than the people. Maybe a bid to keep his characters always the innocent young people they were in the first book? Perhaps that's why Susan eventually becomes the scapegoat by the end of the series, the symbol of someone moving irrevocably forward into the kind of adulthood Lewis most disrespected.) Edmund notably had less to do than the others, although I look forward to seeing what Skandar Keynes can do with the next movie. Additionally, I find three of the four actors playing the Pevensies remarkably talented and am looking forward to watching their careers. (I find Anna Popplewell perfectly good, but not that interesting.)
I found Prince Caspian very intense and as brilliantly imagined as the first movie. It is a remarkable translation of the novel - brings it forward into adulthood in many ways. There were moments I wasn't thrilled with (chief among which: Reepicheep the mouse is supposed to be black! The descriptions of him are very clear and vivid, as this beautiful, glossy black mouse. I was disappointed by the nondescript brownish-reddish look he had in the movie. I certainly didn't feel any need to pick him up and hug him, the way Lucy is described as always wanting to do in the books), but I understood the reasons behind the moments and respect the filmmakers' choices.
The big disappointment? For months now, my boys and I have been looking forward to going to see this movie together. Big Narnia-philes, lovers of the first movie ... but there are several scenes in the film that are really intense. I, knowing the book in depth and being fairly well up on the changes in the script, was on the edge of my seat, moved to tears, tense with apprehension. I'm very conflicted about how my boys will do in the environment of the theater - they want very much to go, but I'm not sure how they would handle it. The safest course would be to wait for the DVD and all watch it together here at home. I just don't know.
Bottom line, though, I felt about the movie about the way I expected to feel: it was very good, an excellent adaptation, but not quite as good as the first. Of course, the first movie is my favorite movie of all time, so it's as high a standard as possible!
Books off my desk:
I reread Lifeblood, the second book in the Jack Fleming, noir vampire detective, series by P.N. Elrod. Elrod's other series didn't thrill me, but the Fleming ones manage to be light and entertaining, with good attention to character development.
I read Louis L'Amour's The Shadow Riders. A good addition to the L'Amour canon ... but it started off a lot better than it ended. The opening was gripping, but from the middle on it got a bit rushed. I think it would have held up as the book it started off to be if it had been a little bit longer.
Finally, Laura Simon's Dear Mr. Jefferson: Letters from a Nantucket Gardener. A fascinating conception, the book chronicles a year in the life of a (20th-century) woman's beloved garden, as narrated through her letters to Thomas Jefferson. Fascinating reading, both from a gardening and a historical perspective. Well worth keeping!
Friday, May 16, 2008
Narnia tonight!
Yay - new Narnia movie opens tonight! From everything I've read, it looks like they got it right again, and I'm not too nervous. I don't expect it to be as good as the first, but I'm confident it will be quite good. I'll try and update after I've seen it, but this is a heavily scheduled weekend so I'm not sure when I'll have a chance.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
random thoughts
Here goes: the first 10 things I can think of today.
1. We found a total of nearly 10 ticks on various members of the family this weekend. We've never dealt with ticks before and aren't sure how panicked to be about it. They're definitely gross!
2. My younger two children both took short and apparently unfulfilling naps, so now they're fighting with each other and both whiny and crabby. Should be a great afternoon.
3. Yet again, the rain we were promised doesn't seem to be coming. So we're getting a chilly, cloudy day with no natural plant-watering to show for it.
4. My house was neat and clean yesterday morning, and has now drifted back to cluttered and messy. Why bother, I wonder sometimes.
5. Which reminds me, I need to go on the hunt for the fourth Wii remote. Apparently my children think they've lost it.
6. Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase is definitely inferior to the rest of the new Scooby-Doo movies and the What's New, Scooby-Doo? series.
7. I have about 7 different to-do lists going, and no idea when I'm going to be able to make a significant dent in any of them.
8. Tomorrow should be a reasonably productive day - nothing scheduled but getting Greyson on and off the bus.
9. I really should try and go to the grocery store, but I would definitely rather not. Maybe I can leave that for Lou while he's having special Daddy/daughter time on Saturday.
10. New Narnia movie tomorrow! I'm seeing it tomorrow with Lou and then again on Saturday with my boys. We're all very excited. :)
1. We found a total of nearly 10 ticks on various members of the family this weekend. We've never dealt with ticks before and aren't sure how panicked to be about it. They're definitely gross!
2. My younger two children both took short and apparently unfulfilling naps, so now they're fighting with each other and both whiny and crabby. Should be a great afternoon.
3. Yet again, the rain we were promised doesn't seem to be coming. So we're getting a chilly, cloudy day with no natural plant-watering to show for it.
4. My house was neat and clean yesterday morning, and has now drifted back to cluttered and messy. Why bother, I wonder sometimes.
5. Which reminds me, I need to go on the hunt for the fourth Wii remote. Apparently my children think they've lost it.
6. Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase is definitely inferior to the rest of the new Scooby-Doo movies and the What's New, Scooby-Doo? series.
7. I have about 7 different to-do lists going, and no idea when I'm going to be able to make a significant dent in any of them.
8. Tomorrow should be a reasonably productive day - nothing scheduled but getting Greyson on and off the bus.
9. I really should try and go to the grocery store, but I would definitely rather not. Maybe I can leave that for Lou while he's having special Daddy/daughter time on Saturday.
10. New Narnia movie tomorrow! I'm seeing it tomorrow with Lou and then again on Saturday with my boys. We're all very excited. :)
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
what would you do?
I just watched Hotel Rwanda, with Don Cheadle. It was harrowing. Horrifying.
And it makes you wonder: What would you do if you woke up and the world you knew had fallen apart? What lengths would you go to in order to save your family, your friends, your coworkers, total strangers? Would you buck the system if it meant sacrificing your personal safety?
And it makes you wonder: What would you do if you woke up and the world you knew had fallen apart? What lengths would you go to in order to save your family, your friends, your coworkers, total strangers? Would you buck the system if it meant sacrificing your personal safety?
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
the deep blue
Big step this weekend: the kids took the official first dip into the pool! They decided they wanted to, even though the thermometer said the water was only 62 degrees. I told them to take off their shoes and socks and dip their feet in the pool - if they could keep them there, and still wanted to get in, I'd get them their swimsuits and they could go all the way.
So we all troop over to the pool. For the record, I wasn't about to put more than my heels in that water - it was cold, cold, cold! The boys were game, though. After the initial shock of the cold water, they steeled themselves and put their feet in all the way, and decided they really wanted to go all the way in after all.
With swimsuits and swim bubbles on, they started down the steps. Neither of them could get past the second step - too cold, too far down. Greyson got out and slid in from the side, going on the theory that jumping all the way in was the fastest way to go. (Our friend Mark was in there with them, being far braver about water temps than Lou or myself!) Grey can touch bottom comfortably in the shallow end, so he was happy, bouncing up and down. Charles, on the other hand, kept trying to go down the steps, but was afraid that the water was too deep. He, too, finally got out and slid in from the side, with me helping to make sure he didn't go too fast. Charles can touch bottom, but the water level is pretty high for him, so he was freaked out by the depth. (I was very, very glad that Veronica took a late nap, as she would have wanted to go in, too, and that would not have gone so well, whether we let her try or not!)
They finally got out, both shivering and teeth chattering, dried off, and got some bonus hot chocolate to help get warmed up faster. Overall, it was a pretty nice way to inaugurate the new pool! Now we just have to hope for some nice warm weather to warm it up so the whole family can go in.
Also - three recently read books off my desk:
I reread two old romance novels with characters I love - Anne Stuart's Falling Angel, which is all Christmasy and sweet, and a book of novellas called With This Ring, by multiple authors. Both fun rereads.
I also finished Gene Logsdon's Wildlife in the Garden. I'd had high hopes for this one, hoping it would have some nice tips about how to live in concert with the wildlife on your property ... but it was more of an ideological treatise than a how-to guide, and I got a bit tired of being preached at. Too bad, really.
So we all troop over to the pool. For the record, I wasn't about to put more than my heels in that water - it was cold, cold, cold! The boys were game, though. After the initial shock of the cold water, they steeled themselves and put their feet in all the way, and decided they really wanted to go all the way in after all.
With swimsuits and swim bubbles on, they started down the steps. Neither of them could get past the second step - too cold, too far down. Greyson got out and slid in from the side, going on the theory that jumping all the way in was the fastest way to go. (Our friend Mark was in there with them, being far braver about water temps than Lou or myself!) Grey can touch bottom comfortably in the shallow end, so he was happy, bouncing up and down. Charles, on the other hand, kept trying to go down the steps, but was afraid that the water was too deep. He, too, finally got out and slid in from the side, with me helping to make sure he didn't go too fast. Charles can touch bottom, but the water level is pretty high for him, so he was freaked out by the depth. (I was very, very glad that Veronica took a late nap, as she would have wanted to go in, too, and that would not have gone so well, whether we let her try or not!)
They finally got out, both shivering and teeth chattering, dried off, and got some bonus hot chocolate to help get warmed up faster. Overall, it was a pretty nice way to inaugurate the new pool! Now we just have to hope for some nice warm weather to warm it up so the whole family can go in.
Also - three recently read books off my desk:
I reread two old romance novels with characters I love - Anne Stuart's Falling Angel, which is all Christmasy and sweet, and a book of novellas called With This Ring, by multiple authors. Both fun rereads.
I also finished Gene Logsdon's Wildlife in the Garden. I'd had high hopes for this one, hoping it would have some nice tips about how to live in concert with the wildlife on your property ... but it was more of an ideological treatise than a how-to guide, and I got a bit tired of being preached at. Too bad, really.
Monday, May 12, 2008
scheduling
So I wasn't so "back in the saddle" as I thought. The virus from across the River Styx is finally receding and I'm feeling human again ... which means - you guessed it - a list!
I've been very concerned about this summer's schedule - how to accomplish everything I need to do while still remaining accessible to the kids when they need me for something. I've decided to try again assigning tasks to certain hours of the day. Starting Wednesday, here's the schedule:
7 am - running, shower, getting dressed
8 am - breakfast, checking web sites
9 am - household chores. Cleaning, picking up, vacuuming.
10 am - miscellaneous uncategorized chores. Things like paying bills, running errands, etc.
11 am - catch up on phone calls/emails.
12 noon - organizing chores - sorting, clearing things off, cleaning off my desk.
1 pm - lunch
2 pm - writing
3 pm - work
4 pm - a whole hour just for the kids - no other tasks allowed
5 pm - kids' chores - I figure, if they're ever going to 'get it', I have to stand over them for a while!
6 pm - dinner prep
(In addition, each hour is likely to contain various amounts of feeding and cleaning up after various kids' snacks, etc., since they're hardly likely to let me have one whole hour to myself, let alone most of the day - nor should they. The idea is to be a little more flexible on a daily basis by having a better sense of how my day is organized, thereby avoiding that feeling that if you stop for a minute to play a game of chase, the whole day will collapse like a house of cards. That feeling, I find, doesn't lead to as much productivity as one would like to think.)
Obviously, every day isn't going to work quite like this, and if we're not home for a task, well, it just doesn't get done that day. Chances are, we'll be home enough in a given week to get most things done. And hopefully with a little less stress and a little more organization.
I've been very concerned about this summer's schedule - how to accomplish everything I need to do while still remaining accessible to the kids when they need me for something. I've decided to try again assigning tasks to certain hours of the day. Starting Wednesday, here's the schedule:
7 am - running, shower, getting dressed
8 am - breakfast, checking web sites
9 am - household chores. Cleaning, picking up, vacuuming.
10 am - miscellaneous uncategorized chores. Things like paying bills, running errands, etc.
11 am - catch up on phone calls/emails.
12 noon - organizing chores - sorting, clearing things off, cleaning off my desk.
1 pm - lunch
2 pm - writing
3 pm - work
4 pm - a whole hour just for the kids - no other tasks allowed
5 pm - kids' chores - I figure, if they're ever going to 'get it', I have to stand over them for a while!
6 pm - dinner prep
(In addition, each hour is likely to contain various amounts of feeding and cleaning up after various kids' snacks, etc., since they're hardly likely to let me have one whole hour to myself, let alone most of the day - nor should they. The idea is to be a little more flexible on a daily basis by having a better sense of how my day is organized, thereby avoiding that feeling that if you stop for a minute to play a game of chase, the whole day will collapse like a house of cards. That feeling, I find, doesn't lead to as much productivity as one would like to think.)
Obviously, every day isn't going to work quite like this, and if we're not home for a task, well, it just doesn't get done that day. Chances are, we'll be home enough in a given week to get most things done. And hopefully with a little less stress and a little more organization.
Monday, May 05, 2008
back in the saddle
After a whole weekend lost to a mega-cold (interestingly, both times I've been sick this year have been much more severe than my usual illnesses - no fun at all), I am back. Not 100%, but ready to get back to the normal routine and to resume my diet/exercise challenge. As expected, I've had a lot more trouble with the diet than with the exercise. I think I strayed too far from my original rigid rules - and rigidity is what I need, for sure.
So. Bowl of cereal for breakfast with my daily General Foods coffee, then tea or black coffee to drink the rest of the day. Sandwich for lunch with a piece of fruit or a fresh vegetable and a small candy or something for a 'dessert', then normal dinner (with attention to portion control) and ditto 'dessert'.
Must burn more calories and take in less!
So. Bowl of cereal for breakfast with my daily General Foods coffee, then tea or black coffee to drink the rest of the day. Sandwich for lunch with a piece of fruit or a fresh vegetable and a small candy or something for a 'dessert', then normal dinner (with attention to portion control) and ditto 'dessert'.
Must burn more calories and take in less!
Sunday, May 04, 2008
balance
A mom on a bulletin board I read asked about balance in the day - how to juggle all the things that need to be done and still have time for your own projects. I rambled on a bit, thusly:
In the course of a day, I usually want to: spend quality time with the kids; work on my proofreading; put some time in on the phone/email, either making new connections or keeping up the old ones; take care of some decluttering/organization projects; work on household management (bills, chores, etc.); and write. Days that we have nothing going on, I struggle. Days that we're out and about - running errands, having playdates, etc. - are impossible!
I keep playing with the idea of making a schedule - assigning a certain task/activity to each hour of the day, and if we happen to not be home at that hour, leave that task to the next day. (I.e., 9-10, household chores; 10-11, work; 11-12, lunch and kidtime, etc.) I've tried this before, and never managed to make it work, but it continues to seem like a good idea, if I could only stick to it long enough to make it into habit. I've done that with the laundry - assigned certain days to different types - and now I don't even have to think about it, I just know which laundry I'm supposed to be doing that day. I think the daily schedule could be that way, as well, if I could get my act together!
But I've also been thinking recently that I'm expecting way too much out of these years. I'm wishing away the time the kids are little so I can get to the time when they're all in school and I can get things done ... so I'm also thinking I need to strip down the number of things I expect myself to get done and increase my emphasis on the time I spend with the kids. (I suspect summer will help with that - needing to be outside and in the pool with them will force my focus onto them a little more.
At any rate, this has been a constant issue for a long while. Recently, however, I think I may have turned a corner - not so much organizationally, but I've started taking things more slowly, enjoying things a little more. I find I'm being more pleasant with the people that I meet (waitresses, cashiers, etc.), experiencing less road annoyance, and being a lot more comfortable in new social situations than I've ever been before. I'd like to be able to bring that attitude home a little bit - be more tolerant toward the kids, toward Lou, and toward myself. Which would include the idea of chilling out a little bit on some of the things I expect myself to get done and being more willing to say, "Yes, of course," when the kids want me to do something instead of "No, I'm trying to get this done!"
In the course of a day, I usually want to: spend quality time with the kids; work on my proofreading; put some time in on the phone/email, either making new connections or keeping up the old ones; take care of some decluttering/organization projects; work on household management (bills, chores, etc.); and write. Days that we have nothing going on, I struggle. Days that we're out and about - running errands, having playdates, etc. - are impossible!
I keep playing with the idea of making a schedule - assigning a certain task/activity to each hour of the day, and if we happen to not be home at that hour, leave that task to the next day. (I.e., 9-10, household chores; 10-11, work; 11-12, lunch and kidtime, etc.) I've tried this before, and never managed to make it work, but it continues to seem like a good idea, if I could only stick to it long enough to make it into habit. I've done that with the laundry - assigned certain days to different types - and now I don't even have to think about it, I just know which laundry I'm supposed to be doing that day. I think the daily schedule could be that way, as well, if I could get my act together!
But I've also been thinking recently that I'm expecting way too much out of these years. I'm wishing away the time the kids are little so I can get to the time when they're all in school and I can get things done ... so I'm also thinking I need to strip down the number of things I expect myself to get done and increase my emphasis on the time I spend with the kids. (I suspect summer will help with that - needing to be outside and in the pool with them will force my focus onto them a little more.
At any rate, this has been a constant issue for a long while. Recently, however, I think I may have turned a corner - not so much organizationally, but I've started taking things more slowly, enjoying things a little more. I find I'm being more pleasant with the people that I meet (waitresses, cashiers, etc.), experiencing less road annoyance, and being a lot more comfortable in new social situations than I've ever been before. I'd like to be able to bring that attitude home a little bit - be more tolerant toward the kids, toward Lou, and toward myself. Which would include the idea of chilling out a little bit on some of the things I expect myself to get done and being more willing to say, "Yes, of course," when the kids want me to do something instead of "No, I'm trying to get this done!"
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