Ta-Da!

One of the things FlyLady suggests doing in one's Evening Routine is "Work on journal/'Ta-Da' List". I figured I'd do a smattering of both.

I haven't written anything in the past few days, not for lack of desire but because I have been simply too busy during the day (either doing things on my to-do list, or thinking about how I should be doing things on my to-do list), and at night I have been exhausted. Thursday, Friday, yesterday, and today, I have gotten up at ~7 am in order to get ready and make Sean's breakfast for him before he leaves for work. (He ate all the breakfasts except today's, because he was running late this morning.) Since this is well before the time I would normally get up, it has taken some getting used to. Yesterday I got up at 4 am; muscle soreness was preventing me from sleeping any longer. Because of that I ended up taking an extraordinarily long nap in the afternoon. Still, I was able to make it to bed at a decent hour (around midnight or one, I guess) and then I got up this morning right on time. No naps today, though I did relax in the La-Z-Boy for a bit.

But I feel like I'm getting better! I feel like I'm actually doing something instead of just sitting around all day. I have started writing up brief to-do lists for myself, and accomplishing as many things as possible. Sometimes I've had to switch priorities; updates to the family business website have taken precedence over some old data entry tasks, and when my boss emailed me with a menu update today, I penciled that in and got it done right away. In fact, here is everything I accomplished today (the Ta-Da List!):

1. Successfully followed morning routine (getting up/dressed/ready; cleaning; breakfast)
   
2. Dropped off half a year's worth of aluminum cans at the fire department as a donation to help burn victims (I have been meaning to get those cans out of our outdoor storage space for, well...a year. I'll get the rest of them tomorrow--they wouldn't all fit in my car!)
   
3. Played tennis for approximately 30 minutes
   
4. Watched two DVDs (8 episodes) of Martian Successor Nadesico (hey, I've been meaning to do that!)
   
5. Fixed a problem on no-dog.com
   
6. Updated a menu for 2go-Box
   
7. Worked on some birthday club data entry for 2go-Box
   
8. Made dinner and managed to keep the counters and sink clear and clean
   
9. Ate dinner with Sean at the dining room table (I've been trying to do this more; for awhile we've just been eating at our computers ^^;;)
   
10. Did dishes (dishwasher)

So yeah, I'm feeling pretty good! Tomorrow's to-do list includes grocery shopping, taking the rest of the recycling over to the fire station, and working on more data entry. I may or may not add in AMRN stuff; it depends on how urgent I feel the matters are. There are a lot of little things in the back of my mind that are bugging me and that I want to get done...and with this system, I feel like I am slowly on my way to doing them. This is great :)

I'm also trying to make sure we take vitamins at breakfast...I think we could both stand to be more healthy.

Thursday and Friday, I got myself in the frame of mind to get up in the morning. I didn't do it Saturday or Sunday, and Monday I totally slipped up--stayed up too late the night before. But Tuesday I was ready to get back on track, and so not only did I finish my morning routine, but when I took the garbage out I decided to take a fifteen minute walk for exercise.

It was a little chilly out, so after I'd made it most of the way around the apartment complex I decided to use the weight room's treadmill instead. I obtained a key from the apartment manager, so now I can get in whenever I want, and then I finished up my fifteen minutes. My muscle soreness did end up increasing...but it felt great, really. It's kind of sad that fifteen minutes of walking seems like a big accomplishment, but that's just the point I'm at right now. I'm going to get better. I'm going to get awesome :>

I was going to take another walk today, but since Paul and I had previously decided to play tennis on Wednesday and Saturday, I figured that I should keep those appointments instead. It will throw a little variety into my routine, which is always welcome. So Wednesdays and Saturdays will be tennis, and the rest of the week will be walks.

After awhile building up my walking endurance, I'll add more to my routine, such as the stair climber or the weight machines. I'm also going to start doing kung fu stretching. But it's going to be incremental. I don't want to burn myself out early and quit altogether.

I don't know if I'll lose any weight doing this, and to be honest that's not my primary concern. I just want to know that if I needed to, I could run a long distance, or lift something heavy, or do strenuous activities without passing out. I also just want to feel better, and not be as tired as I usually am. Today I feel energized. That's how I always want to feel :)

Eliminating my back pain would be a plus, but I don't know if that's even possible :>

Cory Doctorow's new book is online, so you know I'll be reading it. Kevin linked me to Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom awhile back and it was a fantastic read. I haven't checked out Doctorow's short stories yet, but I'm sure I'll get to them. For now, though, Eastern Standard Tribe is on my short list, along with Master and Commander (I'm somewhere in Chapter Four--and yes, if I haven't mentioned it, I'm reading it because the protagonist's name is Aubrey) and The Time Traveler's Wife, which I have yet to crack open.

With that list, I'm making it appear as though I am a voracious reader. However, I have had those two books since Christmas. :> I'd like to get back into my old reading habits, but it's a struggle, especially since I spend so much time reading online. Online reading is not necessarily a bad thing, but I usually end up reading blogs and entertainment news (and occasionally real news, home and garden tutorials, and self-help articles). I am a websurfer extraordinaire, but I'm not sure if I'm getting enough meaningful input.

Well, that's about it for me. I'm going to follow FlyLady's advice for the evening routine and try taking a relaxing bath, and then I'll putter around online until bedtime. A comfortable end to a lovely, productive day.