Not so good

Life has made blogging tres difficile this past week.

It's made sticking to stated goals, a la 20 Little Things, a bit dicey, too.

Let's see. There was work. There was Jazzercise. There was crafting an email containing my best story ideas ever to a certain magazine.

There was fretting about all of the above.

There was a certain degree of laziness. And tiredness. I've been feeling really tired lately.So, yes, there was at least one nap.

There was NCAA basketball to watch. Go STATE! And a weird technical issue at work that messed with my schedule.

There was some sadness that my wonderful next-door neighbors were moving out. Sigh. No more wagon rides for two little buddies. No more knowing just who to ask if we need someone to water our flowers when we go out of town. No more nice conversations in the front yard.

Oh, and there was an Easter egg hunt. Must not forget the cutest part of my week of lazy.

Lost in the wreckage of the week, besides a few planned blog posts, were Random Act of Kindness Day, as well as my plan to fast.

On Tuesday, I sort of meant to fast. That's the problem -- my commitment was so half-hearted.

The funny thing is, life made eating difficult that day. I hate to be like, it was God messing with me!, because aw, I don't know. But first I ran out of time for breakfast at home. So on the way to work, I pulled into the doughnut place before I realized I had no cash. That's all they take. So I got back on the road and saw my bank had a branch on the next corner. I pulled in. Through the exit. So then I had to turn myself around like a big weirdo, all the while wondering if the bank had me on camera and would put my license plate in some "suspicious activity" file. Also I was thinking, "Is this really worth it for a damn glazed cinnamon bun?"

I guess it was, because I got the bun. Then lunch came. I decided since I hadn't fasted at breakfast, there was no point at lunch. So I began to walk up to the cafeteria, when low and behold, I saw my wallet was missing. Duh. D'oh! I left it in my car. A trek out to the parking lot a block away later, and 15 minutes later, I was back at my desk, enjoying my salad. (Of course, eating a salad for lunch makes up for eating a doughnut for breakfast, don't cha know.) Halfway in, my plastic fork broke, mid-spear. I had to finish the rest of the damn thing with a mini fork. And with my fingers.

So can you see why I started to wonder if I really was supposed to fast that day?

I know have only a few days left until April to complete that, as well as write a had-written letter, call my brothers, do my random act of kindness, and go to breakfast with friends. Also, newsflash: the dinner party that's on my list? It's happening in less than two weeks, and I don't have invites out or a menu planned. Also, I've way behind on my book reading, my water drinking has tapered off in a major way, I have yet to set aside 30 minutes for prayer in one week, I haven't taken a video of Luke on our real camera yet in 2010, Jazzercise was totally replaced running and if I've going to grow my own herbs, I need to get going with that now that it is spring!

Damn it!

I hate feeling like I'm so off track. So. My plan for today: I'm going to drink water until my pee runneth clear. I'll see if any friends can have breakfast tomorrow. I will make my menu for the dinner party. I'll write my letter. I will call my brothers. And I will say it now, for the record, that it's official: I will fast on Tuesday. And I'll pray for 15 minutes after Luke goes to bed.

I mean it.

Really.

I'll do it all. Right after a little more NCAA basketball...

Sunday progress report No. 1

Each Sunday, I'll do an inventory. Hopefully it will help me stay on track and re-evaluate what's working. I'll cross off any items I can and score myself on the weekly category. I'll also try to give myself some things to think about for the next week.

Gee, was that official sounding or what?

So... how am I doing?

Well, given this is a one-week-old venture, how bad could things be. I'm still riding that wave of excitement that comes with starting something new. You're motivated. You're committed. It hasn't gotten hard yet.

Daily: The workout? Needs working out. I am having trouble going to bed on time and waking up on time. Did it twice last week.

Also need to work on my water. It's just such an afterthought for me. I'd say on average I drink about two glasses right now -- which granted is two more than I used to!

The food is improving. I have been eating less meat -- even tossed around the idea (after finishing Skinny Bitch) of going vegetarian. Don't know if I'm there yet. But when I meal planned today, I included only one day with a meat-based dinner. I've also been going ga-ga for the whole grains. In my cupboards: whole wheat bread, whole wheat tortillas, quinoa, steel-cut oatmeal, whole wheat english muffins, two kinds of whole wheat pasta, organic whole grain DRINK, (?!) Multi-grain cheerios, and another whole-grain cereal. I actually am enjoying the taste of ALL of these whole grains. I think the only hurdle for me will be convenience; it's one thing to stock the home cupboards, it's another to find whole grains out in a restaurant or cafeteria.

The calendar? It is ON. I decided to stick with Google. Loaded that baby up with my standing appointments (small group, It's My Heart meetings, play group, weekly work meetings and deadlines). Now I need to take 10 minutes daily to make sure that baby is updated. I can do that.

Daily score: 5

Monthly:  I need to get on several of these.
   Do something service related:  I need to define what something "service-related" is. And, um, do one.
   Go to breakfast with friends: I went to breakfast this month with my girl Julie last weekend, so I consider that taken care of! Yea! One thing is dunzo for this month!
   Call my brothers: One brother down, one will be called Tuesday on his birthday!
   Do a random act of kindness for a stranger: Gulp. This is tomorrow. I have no idea what I'm going to do.
   Write one handwritten letter and mail it: Still need to do this, as I'm not thinking regular thank-you notes should count, right?

Ongoing:
   Take more videos of Luke: I'm having technical issues here. More on that this week.
   Fast once per quarter. Skinny Bitch actually had some good information on this. I will try to tackle this in February.
   Read 25 books: I've read two! Food Matters and Skinny Bitch.
   Set aside 30 minutes for prayer a week: Whoops. I don't think I did that this week.
   Go on six dates -- out of the house -- with my husband: I need to define what a "date" is. Was last night when we went out for a friend's 30th birthday party a date, or must we be alone?
  Grow a fresh herb: Got a few months to go before I think about this.

One and done: None have been done!

For the next week, I need to keep up with the daily habits that have started to form, remember to update my calendar daily, find time to pray, complete my ROAK, call my brother, read a little each day, write my hand-wrttien letter and work on defining what all of these things mean and how I'll complete them.

Oh, and... pray.

No biggie, right?