Days 3-5: Extra Time

You all thought I'd dropped off again like all those other times, right? Not so! I just didn't blog very faithfully, but here it is:

Wednesday was a slow day at work in that I only saw one client before the group I run, however, it was crazy day in that I managed to use those hours to do some intense catching up on notes. You may or may not realize that therapists have to do a TON of paperwork. Until recently, the agency I work at was actually doing this work on paper. Luckily, we have switched to electronic notes now, and that saves a lot of time. Unluckily, it took the first four weeks of my working there for me to get up and running on the electronic system, so I had four weeks' worth of paperwork to do.

I'm proud to say that I am completely caught up on all of my electronic notes (notes describing each of my individual sessions with clients as well as a note for each individual member of each week of group). There are just a few more paper-chart things that I need to finish in order to be completely caught up. WOooo Hoooo! And all because I didn't watch TV at work. (JUST KIDDING. I have never watched TV at work, unlike a few PhD students I know...cough cough).

Okay, Matt says no one actually does that. My apologies to PhD students who I know.

I better get on to the good stuff, though. I know that in this blog about limiting TV consumption, the greatest curiosity is: WHICH SHOW DID I WATCH????

So...on Wednesday we watched the Food Network's "Food Network Star."

On Thursday Lilly actually took a nap (this is becoming pretty rare these days) and I decided to watch one of my faves, "Switched at Birth," a show about two girls (and their families) who found out as teenagers that they were accidentally switched at birth. Super over-the-top high-school dramatic, but almost entirely squeaky clean. Fun!!!

Should I be embarrassed that this month's goal is turning into an advertisement for my favorite shows? Probably.

I learned something important on Thursday, though. Watching TV in the middle of the day makes me feel like BLUNK. (Made that word up just for this). I didn't get a chance to get anything much done before Matt got home, then when he was ready to relax I couldn't watch a show with him (like we do every night after Lilly goes down) and I didn't feel like working since he was chilling. I was very unproductive and unhappy.

So there you have it. I've learned something valuable from this month already.

Tonight, although we're behind on several of our favorite shows, we have already decided to watch the episode that will catch us up on Food Network Star. I don't know why, but we are both really loving that show right now. It's been cracking me up.

Woooo. Long one. That's what I get for not blogging for a couple of days. I should probably post a picture of Lilly on here, or I'll lose my family-followers.

This one's a few weeks old, but it cracks me up and deserves some publicity. This is Lilly in the bike trailer after a particularly muddy bike-ride. Poor thing. She was a pretty good sport, considering.

Day 2: Extra Time

Today I am EXHAUSTED. Whoo. I had a great day with Lilly and her little friend today. We are very blessed to have come to a wonderful arrangement with some friends re: babysitting. They watch Lilly on the one day/week that I work, and I watch their little boy once a week. Today was it.

We started at the mall, since it was rainy. I was hoping they could get some energy out in the little play-place, but it was closed. (For no apparent reason. No one was cleaning it, no one was working on it, it just had cones and stay out tape across the entrance). So we walked around the mall with our one-seater stroller taking turns sitting in the stroller and pushing the stroller (I never got a turn to sit in the stroller, but I always had a willing stroller-pushers to "help" me push when it wasn't his/her turn).

After lunch and naps, we played outside since the sun came out. For whatever reason, they always seemed to want to run in opposite directions.

I am tired now. Whoo.

That's where I started, huh?

But I'm proud to report that Matt and I just watched my one show of the day, "Food Network Star."

But, did I use the extra time well today? Did I tackle the to-dos that I've been procrastinating?

...

Somehow even with the little kiddies running amok I managed to go through Lilly's room and pull out her outgrown clothes, box them up and unpack a few outfits that should fit her now. I also re-wrote a work email when I realized that I accidentally sent it to myself yesterday, instead of the intended recipient. I have the two meetings that I've been putting off set up. No avoiding them now!

It is really amazing, actually, to see how easy it is to get these things done. Most of them are simple, easy things that I just didn't want to do.

Still need to find out who our dentist is....that's been on my list for over a year. (Yuck, right? We need to get those teeth into that office!!!)

Oh, and Lillian's eye is MUCH better, if you're wondering. Here's proof:

If you're reading, please comment. It means a lot to me. :) LOVE!

Day 1: Extra Time

Guess what, everyone? I DID IT!!! Wooohooo! I'm so back on the Perfect Month train. Today, I watched only one tv show, and I made it my guiltiest TV pleasure....The Bachelorette! That's right. Got together with some friends who share the guilty pleasure and had a fun girls' night. (Which, by the way, is going to happen for at least four more weeks every Monday).

So, I don't have a recent picture of the group, but here we are at a Bachelor-themed baby shower for one of our friends (who has unfortunately since moved).

 

Honestly, lest you all get the idea that I am a total TV bum, I will explain how today felt different from most days. (And it really did!) Usually, during Lilly's nap (or more recently her quiet-time in her room), I will sit down and watch a show or two while eating something that she would beg for if she were there. It's my "me" time when I relax and don't have to worry about caring for my adorable little toddler. Today, I used that time to get the to-dos I've been ignoring done, and it felt great! 

Today, I:

• Sent two work emails that I've been putting off
• Found out who my doctor is (haven't been to the doctor for ages....the dentist is next)
• Set a doctor's appointment
• Got my bum over to Costco and signed up for a membership

All things I've been putting off for a LONG time.


PAUSE!!!!!! Just noticed that the balloons in that picture make some really cool colorful shadows on the wall.


Random fact about today: Lillian woke up with a big red, swollen eye. :( I took her to the doctor and she said that it's nothing to worry about, probably a bug bite, and it will go away in a day or two.

A couple hours later it was much worse, to the point that she could hardly open her eye. :( Following my mom's advice, we bought her some benedril which seemed to help a little, but it's still pretty bad. I hope it's better tomorrow! Here's a couple sad pictures of my pirate baby:

That's all for today! Peace!

The Perfect Month of Extra Time

Hi! I'm here to report another failed perfect month. You see this happens relatively frequently? I just like to keep the suspense alive, you know? Will she ACTUALLY follow through? Probably not, but....she has in the past....a LoooOoOoong time in the past....

Here's the deal: The perfect month of getting up at 6:30 was not in the cards. Matt, Lilly, and I all came down with something and it's making me EXHAUSTED. Even if it weren't, though, I learned on my mission that if you actually sleep a little more when you're sick, it works wonders and you get better a lot faster. (I must've been a slacker missionary, right?)

So, I could be a crazy perfectionist and just get up at 6:30 in the morning ANYWAY, or I could remember that the whole point of a perfect month is for it to make me happy. Losing any small allotment of extra sleep time would not be doing that for me right now.

Therefore, just to prove to you all that I am hardcore amazing and dedicated to my blog, I'm switching to a different goal.

Too much text. Here's a picture of Matt and Lilly after she finally calmed down from her 45 minute tantrum.

Back to text.

Since I was feeling motivated by the idea of having an extra 30-60 minutes to be productive each day (before Lilly woke up), I am going to run with that. But, I'm going to have to find that time somewhere else since sleep is indispensable right now. So, I'm calling this month the Perfect Month of Extra Time, meaning I am going to create extra time out of thin air and then use it well!

The fine print of my next perfect month, beginning tomorrow, iiis (drumroll.....)

• A perfect month of not-very-much TV. To be specific, no more than one show/movie per day. Movies will only be permitted at the end of the day once a week (though I don't see that being a problem, we're more TV-series-marathons-on-Netflix-or-Amazon types around here.)
• A conscious effort to use that free time to conquer my to-do list, STARTING with the stuff I most want to put off (learned this from Teri) OR to dedicate to special time for Lilly

Wooo. So there you have it. I'm going to create extra time out of thin air without even losing any of my much needed sleep. AND on top of it, I won't have to be ashamed of my couch-potato-ways anymore. (At least for a month.)


Wish me luck. And JOIN ME!!!!!! Seriously, anyone else watch too much TV? Jump on the bandwagon. I'm going for 31 days, starting tomorrow and ending on Friday, August 9th. Also, feel free to join me for the TV-A-THON-GORGE-A-GROSSY-ALL-DAY-TV party that is sure to take place on Friday, August 9th. (just kidding). Maybe.

Excuses in Pictures

Sorry I haven't had a perfect month for a LONG time...I've been busy! Finishing the last projects and papers, completing my final field hours, playing with Mom, Dad, Matt, and Lilly, getting sick for several weeks, looking for work, finding a job, getting sick again. :) It's been a bit crazy and I've been preoccupied, but I have been feeling like I need to start this again and I decided that as much as I'd like to go along with my former plan of letting my cherished few readers determine what the topic of my perfect month would be, I'm choosing my own.

Tomorrow begins the perfect month of getting up early. I am shooting for 6:30am. I'm not making any goals about going to bed early, but I figure that will come on its own if I know what's good for me.

By the way, all three of the sleeping Lilly pictures are from when she had pneumonia. Poor little baby.

I'm back!

Hi faithful followers, I'm finally back to report a complete slide off the cliff of Perfect Months. Despite the fact that the above photo is a photo of a cliff, I actually chose it to represent a fresh start. (Maybe I should've thought through my first sentence....)

I just found out that I will not be hired on at my field placement when I graduate. Although I was very enthusiastic about the possibility of continuing my career there, I am not overly disappointed. I am excited to have more time to enjoy my daughter and to work on some projects.

One of those projects will involve some experimentation with monetizing this blog. I hope you're not all too offended. I don't really plan on this blog every being a money maker, but I'm considering creating a new blog that would be designed to generate a bit of extra income once those student debts start rolling in. In the meantime, I hope to use this blog as a test drive. Most likely I will take off the ads once I have an idea of how to use them and I begin work on my other blog.

I also hope to start this blog up again now that I am feeling a bit of relief from things that had been stressing me. (Mostly worrying about whether or not I would be working and how I would balance family, work, and church responsibilities and still leave time for taking care of myself!)

I am going to make a list of ideas that I've had for my next perfect month, and I'd like to know what topic interests you, my few but precious readers. Also, here's a shameless plea for aid in my quest for more readers: If you know anyone who you think would be interested in the concept of this blog, please pass it on to them. This is really my beginning attempts at learning how to use my writing and other skills to make an impact, so the more people it reaches, the better!

Okay, here's the list:

• Perfect month of self-care (treating myself well)
• Perfect month of finances (no unnecessary purchases)
• Perfect month of cooking (meal plans, etc)
• Perfect month of journaling (I'd do it on the perfect month blog rather than in a journal as I did in the past)
• Perfect month of exercise (not just running)
• Perfect month of service (daily acts of service)
• Perfect month of learning (homework, learning about things that interest me)
• Perfect month of organizing 

Please let me know which of these interest you or if you have any other ideas by leaving a comment. I hope I didn't lose you all for good during my hiatus. Only two months left until I graduate!!!! WOO HOOO!!!

The Sleep Challenge: Week One

First off, sorry if you're getting a headache from all the design changes to the blog...I'm having an early mid-blog-life crisis. I keep bouncing back and forth between too boring and too much going on.

Second, this extra sleep thing is AMAZING!!! I can honestly say I feel like I've been blessed for my obedience to that youtube video I posted. (You know, the one that scared Jeni...)

I have had a noticeable increase in my level of motivation since I began this goal at the beginning of the month. Mornings are still hard (I think mornings will always be hard for me) but I have found myself getting much more done during the day.

Ooh! That reminds me of the weird fall decorating spree I went on... I bought a cute little bucket and put a bunch of gourds in it and then Matt, Lilly, and I went for a leaf hunt to fill the vase I saved from our wedding. While we were out I noticed there were a lot of acorns lying around and I thought they might add a nice touch of over-the-top adorableness to my fall decoration plan. Here're the pics.

 I'm trying to decide between these two different looks. Any opinions? If you can't tell the difference, I'll give you a hint: look in the little tan vase and at the top of the clear vase. (It's like one of those "spot the differences" games in the Friend!)