Photograph Credit: Flickr (Angie Torres)
Still enjoying our summer days, but it is quickly coming to an end next week. We arrived home over the weekend from a 2.5 week vacation. Well, the kids and I stayed that long. Paul came back after 1.5 weeks.
We enjoyed lots of attractions and family time, but it’s getting time to get back on a routine. From the looks of my goals, I need my routine back. Not all is lost. I am making some progress, and Rome wasn’t built in a day. 😉
If you are just joining me, I set these goals (listed in bold print) in January 2012. The financial goals are based on Crystal Paine’s The Money Saving Mom’s Budget. Each month, I post how I’m doing on these goals. Feel free to jump in and comment on your goals. It’s never too late to get moving.
The following is a recap of my progress from July, and my current goals for August 2012 (I know we are almost in September, so I better get busy. ;-)):
Physical
Drink 4 glasses of water per day. Fell back on this one. Florida water is not as tasty as South Carolina H2O. Even with the filter, the water did not quench my thirst. I drank too many glasses of refreshing sweet tea. It has lots of water, but I need to get back on track for August.
Eat breakfast each morning. Excellent job! I did skip the greasy doughnuts served as the continental breakfast at our hotel, but I am on track with this goal.
Exercise for 20 minutes at least 3 times a week. No official exercise, but we stayed moving. Walking through the zoo (3 times), science museum, children’s museum (twice), the pier, and the botanical gardens wore me out. This goal has been tough. I think I will try to find a good exercise/healthy living blog to encourage me on this upward mountain. Can anyone recommend such a blog that is updated regularly?
Family
Plan at least one family outing/activity each week. Accomplished! Even without the family vacation, we have stayed busy with entertaining guests at home, shopping together, getting our home clean, and enjoying dinner with friends. Love this goal, and keeping it all year.
Spend 10 minutes with each child each day. Fell back on this one, especially on vacation. With all the preparations, I spent limited time with them one-on-one. Then on vacation, we played together. I guess some days I spent more than 10 minutes with one child, but not with each. In working through a new routine this fall, this time will get carefully scheduled.
Allow children to help with a household task each week. Definitely could not have gotten the house clean before we left without help. My kids are doing a great job helping out and taking ownership of their tasks. Using time wisely to show them how to clean has been time well spent.
Financial
Follow Crystal’s year-long plan to reach my goals. I’m still behind on this goal because I need to research some of the budget items. Being away from home and my files did not help. I hope to get this done though I am unmotivated to do so. I know I’ll be glad when it is in place, but I just need to do it. Keep me accountable because I need you there to get me to the finish line.
Purchase dressers for my daughters’ room. This goal is ongoing. We received princess decorations from a cousin who outgrew these items. Looks like next year (2013), Paul and I will design a princess room for our daughters. This is after our Noah’s Ark nursery gets transformed into a sports room for our son.
Purchase upgraded computers for hubby and me. This goal is also ongoing. Remember we purchased more memory in June for my laptop? Well, it worked. I am seeing better use of my time with faster processing. Thrilled with this upgrade and will continue to seek options for upgrading Paul’s machine and my desktop.
Business
Write posts one week in advance. Don’t fall over, but I’m ahead. I know it only took me 8 months, but I never would have gotten here had I not started. The goal now is to keep the momentum going (*insert happy dance here*). 🙂
Make one improvement to the blog this month. Accomplished! I upgraded my widgets (on the sidebar) and affiliate links. My project of upgrading and correcting older posts is still a work in progress.
Read two chapters of blog book each month. Read some, but not sure if I finished 2 chapters. My reading has slipped away. Though I enjoy reading one book at a time, I was encouraged to start more than one type of book. Then depending on my mood, pick the one I feel like reading. Not sure how I feel about reading multiple books at the same time.
Though I’ve been gone part of August, I am still making progress with my goals. This journey is full of choices, and some months I make more progress than others. When the going gets tough, I only need to glance back to see how far I’ve come. That motivation keeps me moving forward. Keep striving for your goals!
Question: What are your reading habits? One book or multiple books going at the same time?
glad that you got away for a nice summer vacation before school was back! i don’t know about you, but summer flew by here!!!
summer is sometimes a hard time to stick to a plan – at least it is for me. things get busy and lots of family plans… the fun always come first here! maybe sometimes too much ♥
Wouldn’t you know it . . . as soon as I get ahead in one area, then another area falls behind. Now I am back to just being on-time with my blog posts. I guess I should be glad that I’m at least on time and not behind. 🙂 Thanks for all the comments, Jen!