Resolution Check In

So here we are, at the end (not technically, I know) of Week One of the year. Let’s see how I measured up this week with the ol’ resolutions:

1) Back to the early wake-ups. Done. That was not a hard one. And I like having the extra time to take a hot shower, get totally dressed and listen to NPR (really, really quietly) and empty the dishwasher and make the bed before AG wakes up. Once I’m out of the boot, this is all out the window, of course. And admittedly if I’m not jumping out of bed immediately at 5:30 a.m., the time goes by quicker than I’d like. Ah well. I’ll get there.

2) Meditation and stretching. HA. HA HA HA! I think there was a moment where I took three deep breaths and then it seemed to take up too much time to take  a fourth. I would love to tell you that I’m ashamed of this, but I am the mother of a 10-month-old, have a full-time job, and a husband whose life mirrors my own in terms of demands for time. I clearly suck at being present, but I’m chalking that up to not having the time to be present. So what to do, what to do. Maybe just try it at night, instead of trying to fit it in for the mornings? We’ll see how it goes.

3) Water and vitamins. REALLY good at this. Not during the weekend, though, but during the week. My office roommate, April, and I have been reminding each other to drink our water. Of course now we’re moving floors so we’re losing our buddy system, but I suspect we’ll find a way! And since April’s pregnancy is now a thing for public consumption – YAY! – I’m totally going to IM her through the day on this one.

4) Juice and green drinks. So-so on this one. I juiced for the first three days and it the last two only after AG was awake. Sadly it seems that the juicer wakes up the baby, so if I’m going to juice, it has to be when she’s up. Sadly, when she’s up it’s all-systems-go and there isn’t room for the extra time that cleaning up the juicer takes and get out the door by 8:30 a.m. every day. All is not lost, of course. Scott has expressed an interest in juicing so I’m just going to start doing this in the evening when I get home, when it doesn’t matter if clean all seventy-billion parts of the juicer in time. The green drinks have been a success, and I swear these things are magic. They taste like grass, to be sure, but I love them.

I’m also taking Aloe Vera juice at night, too, alongside the green drink. It’s…OK. I don’t know that I notice a huge difference, but I paid for it so I refuse to let it go to waste. I don’t know.

Mornings this will week will have me experimenting with Green Monsters. I can always take the hand blender downstairs in the basement if need be, and it’s a damn sight easier to clean. I’m not going to lie, all of this attention to juice and whatnot has led me down the path of researching vegan recipes. It seems every winter this happens, predictably after the holidays indulgences. I’ve been cooking at least one vegetarian meal a week, if not two, but I’m intrigued to add more.

I mean, seriously, does this not look awesome? Or this? And, holy Moses, this?

Scott’s trying to work on his veggie consumption, and his whole-grains consumption, so this might be a good way to do it. Moving on…

5) Budget, budget, budget. Awesome here. Although I did spend an extra $45 on a gift for a pregnant friend who is on bed rest, in the hospital. I even went to Whole Foods to pick up kefir and baby food and only spent $35. I don’t think I’ve done that ever. I stuck to my grocery lists, and managed to not eat out. The bigger piece is that I solved a problem that had been plaguing me a bit, which basically resulted in me setting aside too much money for our mortgage payment. The nuts and bolts are not important, but it explains why I wasn’t able to put money aside more quickly than I wanted.

6) Dentist. Nyet.

I did the dry brush once, but that’s a matter of habit. Scott and I have been sitting down at the table together for dinner. I’m reading more – still not enough.  I am still working on forgiveness. Hard. I’m not sure that’s going to be anything I can update on a weekly basis, but I can guarantee that I’ll keep trying. So there’s that.

Later this week I’ll update on the very tasty Lifeway Kefir project I’m doing. Natalie over at Lifeway asked if anyone was interested in trying some of their products – for free or at a discount – and writing about their experience. So I’m doing just that.

Frozen kefir. Really good. Expensive, but whoa. Tasty.