Report for May

This is Mom reporting in. I have completed my assignment for May, hereby earning 2 points. I have been neglecting my every two week report. I guess I'm all about points. I count my bathroom shelves as my project although I also have the basement that I am working on, plus I'm working on the craft table in the computer room. Dad wants to sell that and move the bookcase in here. I originally got the table to do my crafts on but it quickly became a catch-all for everything under the sun. I worry about where I'm going to put everything when the table is gone. I can put it in my craft closet but that means I have to clean the craft closet. One thing leads to another. Dad is going through Grandma Taylor's stuff in the (I don't know -- what do you call it?) and then we will get rid of that. So, we are accoomplishing things slowly but surely. Aren't you proud of us? I am also trying to get caught up on typing my stories. That is taking forever. I find it relaxing though. I can just put my mind in neutral and type away. I am anxious to hear what everyone else has been doing.

Love, Mom

I'm getting organized... very slowly.

Well, I finally got around to one of my organization projects to accomplish this month's challenge.  First I had a hard time choosing which one to start with because I have so many!  I chose to get my coupons organized because I figured the sooner I got this done the more it would help me save money.  I feel great about that but I sure still have a lot of clutter around the house.  So it's on to the next project, I guess!

And, as Ashlee was doing during her post, I, too, am suckin' it in!  Oh, and Kegel-ing too!  (Don't worry, that's not part of the challenge). Oooo, try doing it simultaneously.  Whoa!

There's still a few days left to get organized if you haven't yet!

Just do it!

Way to go, Ashlee! I have a feeling that we are made from the same mold. We both need a swift kick to get us going, but once we're going, it's hard to stop us. I find it very soothing to go into the bathroom, open up the cupboard and find things somewhat organized. I do it very often. I hesitate to start a lot of projects because, darn it, they're hard. I'm sure the rest of you are working hard on a project. Keep going! By the way, I just went through another box from the basement.

Love, Mom (Gram)

Clean up

I have been working for the past two days on straightening and organizing what my roommate and I are hoping to be a home office. Since we moved in we haven't really organized it and it became a dumping ground for any and everything. I think one more day will do it for getting it in to ship shape. But I think the real challenge is going to be keeping it clean. Oh and is it sad that this has been the hardest challenge for me yet? Well, at least the most time consuming. Also I am glad to be working on my core muscles, I even completed my for today while typing this little blurb out. Oh by the way, this is a great exercise to help with that really low back pain, strong core muscles will help keep everything in alignment. Another good thing to do for low back pain is to keep those hamstrings nice and loose.

Abs-olutely Fantabulous

Okay, so I fibbed a little about having a video for this month's abdominal strength challenge.  We shot some video  but when we finally sat down to edit it, it just looked awful because my form was terrible.  Some of you may have heard my neck has been hurting lately (Okay, I know ALL of you have been subjected to my whining).  Unfortunately, that hindered my ability to properly demonstrate the challenge I had in mind, so I had to think of something else I could properly demonstrate.  The great, fantastic, wonderful news is that my neck is doing mucho, mucho, mas mejor! (translation:  much, much, more better... grammer is my strong point in any language).  I've been to a few physical therapy sessions and I've really turned a corner on this whole ailment and now it's just a matter of time till the rest of the symptoms go away.  YAY! 

Anyhoo, sorry this has taken so long to get out, but there's still plenty of time to work on this challenge for the rest of the month.  Consider this the pre-curser to the original abdominal challenge I had planned.  This is a great exercise that ALL of us can and should be doing on a regular basis.  Don't pooh-pooh this as unimportant and not worth your time.  DO THIS!  It will prepare you nicely for next month's challenge which I will re-shoot with proper form.

May's Abdominal Strength Challenge:

Suck in your gut 10 x/day every other day.

Point Value: 1

How to perform:  Stand (or sit) up straight and pull your belly button in toward your spine.  Hold this for 5 seconds, relax and repeat.  The best cue I've heard for this is to pretend you are trying to zip up a pair of pants so tight that you have to suck in your gut in order to do it.  Or another cue that might work is tighten and brace your abs as though you are preparing for someone to punch you in the gut.

My true desire is that we'll all do this every day but you will get the point if you remember to do it at least 5 of the next 10 days.

This can easily be accomplished while you are doing some of your routine daily activities.  At the computer? Watching TV?  Sit up straight and suck in!  At the stove cooking ground beef?  Suck in!  Put on hold while on the phone?  Suck in!  Brushing your teeth?  Suck in!  (Before or after the other tooth-brushing activity, of course.  Heehee.  Click here if you want in on the joke).

Here are some pics to help:

Bad posture: poochy gut, rounded shoulders, head forward.



Zipping up the tight pants, belly button pulled in, shoulders back but not shrugged, chin tucked in.  Much more better.



Clutter

Gosh, Sharon, You don't know what clutter is. Wait until you have 50 years of it. That said, I will report that I picked a project and have completed it. Now, the real challenge comes with keeping it that way. I chose to clean the cupboard in the old bathroom. I originally set a goal to just clean the top shelf but got carried away and cleaned the whole cupboard. Yes, I finally got rid of those old hot curlers, the brush curlers and the pink foam curlers. I will try to go through it again as there is more stuff I think could be thrown out. Some of that stuff, I'm sure has been there for 40 years along with the dust on top of them. I found tubes of Zinc Oxide that I'm sure I used on all of your bottoms. There were also tubes of neosporin, Desitin and even a couple of tubes of Preparation H. Where did that come from? I think that everytime we needed something we ran down and bought it instead of looking through the cupboard. I threw out tons of travel sized shampoo, conditioner and lotion. I threw them all out as I don't think I will ever travel again. And they've probably been up there for years. I found an old electrical adapter that I took to Europe so I could use my curling iron and blow dryer. There are about three curling irons and I don't know where they came from. Is anybody missing any?

I continue to work on the basement but that is slow going as I can only go through a box at a time because I have to decide what to do with the stuff that is in them. Help!! I think that is worth a point.

Love, Mom

May Challenge - Part I

Yep, it's another 2-parter.  This first challenge, I suppose, falls under Emotional Strength.  For me it does, anyway.  It's a de-cluttering/organizational challenge!  I, personally, have several projects that are unifinished and/or unorganized... and it's driving me nutty.  These projects are things that I've been wanting to do for quite a while now and I know they will make me feel better and help daily life run more smoothly.  So I want to just tackle them and free my mind of the weight of at least one of unfinished projects. 

So here's the challenge:

Point Value:  1

Choose a cleaning/tidying/organizing project to accomplish and maintain  until the end of the month (and hopefully beyond).



These are some examples of my particular current state of chaos:





Just one of the many unorganized areas of my home. Ugh.
I'm clean; I'm just not tidy.


• De-clutter desk and DO NOT let unfiled papers build up... ever!
• Organize recipes. 
• Organize coupon system.
• Purge and organize clothes/shoes in my closet.

I think this will help us all gain a sense of accomplishment and empowerment and lift a little of  life's daily burdens off our shoulders.  Let's get rid of at least one of the many things that are dragging us down!

Part II of May's challenge will be posted within days.  It's another physical strength challenge that is ABS-olutely fabulous!  (Hint, hint!) and it involves another video that I hope works for everyone.

Well, I dropped the ball.

Here I issued the stinkin' challenge and I didn't even do it!  Well I did some of it but not enough for any of the points.  My workouts this month have been pretty scatty-wompus due to my neck woes.  This past week, though, has brought a big change for the better.  My head is still off-center and my arm is still tingling a lot but the pain has reduced significantly.  I'm ecstatic and feel so much more hopeful.  I'll still probably go to my physical therapy evaluation to see how I can get it to keep improving and hopefully never have to deal with it on this level ever again. 

I, personally, am going to do the Physical Strength Challenge this month just for my own benefit since I couldn't this last month.  That's the thing with all these challenges, is that they can certainly be repeated or continued.  Don't stop just because you accomplished them once! 

As many of you have also declared, I will definitely continue the Spiritual Strength Challenge.  Mine was to say nighttime prayers every day this month and this one I accomplished!  I just needed to get back into that groove and this challenge was just what I needed to get me back on track and stop being lazy in that regard.

So, watch for the new challenge(s???) this month and keep working hard.  And don't forget to report in for your points!

It's now clear

You made it perfectly clear. When everybody but me understands what you are saying, that's telling you something. Okay, I'm sure I got in enough pushups, squats, and that other thing to get all the points relating to that one. However, I did only walk three days this week. I did complete my spiritual goal. You just have to remember that you need a real sharp point to cut through the haze in my brain. I'm sorry, I don't mean to be so difficult. Thanks for your patience and for gearing the exercises so that I can do them.

Mom