Day 66

The weeks are going too quickly! I can't believe it's already Thursday and nearly the end of the week. Well, what can I say about yesterday? The BAD thing is I bought some chickpea chips and ate most of them :( I can't do that again! I still have the rest of the packet which I will finish. Those are the things I can have OCCASIONALLY after I've lost my excess weight, not before! While they are high in protein, they're also high in carbs, and I don't need the extra carbs, that's for sure!

So, what else? I didn't do EPOC yesterday, my legs were still really sore from Monday (which means I need to be more REGULAR about my exercise) and I was running behind on my schedule. And today, basically, I will be throwing the old schedule out the door! Today I need to focus on CLEANING. Specifically, my daughter's room, which never really got tidied after we moved house. In fact, she just emptied stuff directly into the wardrobe I think! The problem is that at the end of last term I gave her her NEW goggles and told her to put them safely away. Right... so you can imagine what that means... she can't find them AND she's got swimming at school today and after school tomorrow. SO she has borrowed her brother's for today (he didn't want them) but I want to find hers for tomorrow. I also want her room sorted out, because just going in there drives me insane. She's also too young to really deal with that quantity of mess herself. She can do basic cleaning and tidying (she's 8) but when confronted with an enormous pile of STUFF she gets overwhelmed (I know the feeling!) So I told her I will help her sort out her room, but she has to maintain it when it's clean. Which I think is fair enough!

So, I will be spending a lot of time today in her room. I want to get the stuff off the floor cleaned at least (she tipped out her toy bucket, which was filled with a mismash of stuff, and we hauled stuff out of her wardrobe onto the floor to search through it. Once the floor is cleaned, I'll start attacking the wardrobes. Sigh! Ahh well, one of my goals for this year was to be TIDY and I've been failing in that one. So, I will do some focus on that.

The other thing I want to focus on is WRITING my own book. That is something that is really crucial for me at the moment. Getting freelance jobs is all fine and well (and, to be fair, completely necessary), but I'll never get OUT of freelancing unless I can get my own writing published. Other stuff I really WANT to achieve, but I think that has to come first. I don't necessarily have to spend hours and hours a day on my writing, but I do want to spend at least an hour in solid writing each weekday (and maybe weekends too...when I've got some time). So the focus for the next few weeks will be a) the house b) my own writing. I will also be bidding on freelance work, and naturally doing that when I get awarded jobs. I do need to earn MONEY after all!

Oh, and of course my EYES. I will be doing my eye exercises each day, as well as riding each day and becoming healthier. The healthy thing goes without saying! It is just regular daily stuff...so I wouldn't call it a focus right now because it should be an integral part of my life. Eating is generally good (except for these chips I bought) as I rarely have anything really bad. However, I also need to fit in my EPOC three times a week which I haven't been great at.

However, the house must be a big priority as I feel living in a mess sort of clouds me mentally and emotionally. I can't get good work done when I'm surrounded by an untidy, yucky working and living environment. So! House will be the first major thing for today (well I will go on my ride, do my eyes and then do the house). I want to spend the last hour of the day or so sitting down before the computer and WRITING though.

Okay, well it's now just after half past 11. I've been for my ride and am now dyeing my hair. Yeah, I'd forgotten that I had to do it today ;) I wanted to do it last night, but the whole process takes some time and you end up going to bed with wet hair (I like to wait till the kids are asleep, so I don't get started until late). So I basically have half an hour before I have to go wash it out. Later today I also have to go shopping for garbage bags and spinach (sooo stupid of me to forget yesterday :(...) So, that is something else that will waste precious time today. AND tomorrow is shopping day... blah... maybe I should just do all the shopping today so I don't have to go again tomorrow? Although, I also have to get my hair cut tomorrow...Meh... PITA. I really NEED to get those couple of things today... ahh well... if I go for a quick shop today, I will do the full shop tomorrow after I've had my hair cut. I'll also be straightening my hair tomorrow cause my sister and I have something on on Saturday and I want my hair nice for it ;) (and that's why I'm dyeing it now). The annoying this is that I'll have to wear these stupid old glasses. I thought of wearing contacts, but I haven't worn them in months so my eyes will be really sore by the end of the day if I try to wear them. If we were only going out at night I would definitely wear them. (Life will be so much easier once I've fixed my vision).

It's now half past twelve, my hair is done, but I am now doing my eyebrows! Not quite the same production as dyeing hair though ;) Just a 10 minute job. Wow I lost a LOT of hair in the shower after dyeing. I mean a LOT. Scary! I have heard that when one starts to detox their hair falls out a lot...which I DON'T want as I am growing my hair (it starts getting stringy, especially at the ends, when I lose a lot... and I end up having to get a fair chunk cut off to compensate). I want it down to my waist, so I really don't want to lose heaps ;) It's reasonably long by now... I guess it should be to my waist in another year (provided I don't get huge quantities chopped off).  I've never had particularly thick hair, so any large loss is definitely BAD.

Hmm once I've done my eyebrows, I will have to do my eye exercises. Then I'll zip up to the shops. Then I'll spend about an hour in my daughter's room (focussing mainly on the floor at the moment). And finally I'll try to spend at least an hour working on my novel. Hmm after I have changed the kitty litter and cleaned out the mice. I may also give the study a five minute going over and a vacuum. The frogs probably need some more water too! Haha it's no wonder I never get everything I want to do finished ;) Tomorrow will be another busy day with a ride first thing, then I'll have a shower and go into town for a haircut and shopping. I imagine that will take up the lion's share of the day! Tomorrow I'll probably also work on my daughter's room and do some shopping. And that's the end of the school week! So... another week over and not nearly enough accomplished.

Oh, and for the next two weeks after this I'll be trying EXTRA hard to lose weight as it will only be two weeks until my high school reunion (of course, I need to determine if my friends are definitely going before I buy tickets!!) In that fortnight I want to put everything I can into my weight loss and toning. This means LONG rides every day, it means EPOC three times a week without fail, and it means perfect eating. Fair sized ask or what?? I don't know how much I'll lose, but any is a bonus ;) Ideally I'll drop another 4kg. That would be nice! I'll still be overweight, but you know, not massively overweight. Of course I didn't meet my goals for perfection by the first of May, but I am a LONG way from where I started, not least because for the most part I DO eat well and I DO consistently lose weight. It's dropped off a bit over the holidays, and this week hasn't been fantastic, but I have shown myself that I can consistently eat the right foods and do exercise. This is something I just haven't been able to accomplish in YEARS.

Okay, done my eye exercises and updated my vision blog. Now, it's 1:30 so I need to get a wriggle on! I don't know if I'll have the chance to do one hour of tidying plus an hour of writing before the kids get home. Well, strike that... I WON'T cause it's two hours until home time and I have to go shopping first ;)

Ho hum... nothing much good to report. I got stuck reading some stuff online... sort of motivated me, and then didn't! And as a result, I didn't get my goals completed for the day :( Disappointing! And now I've got laundry and stuff to do... so I shall go do that and plan tomorrow better!