September Reflection - but first, an announcement!

Five Things is gearing up for its 5^th month in existence, and we have a new person on board!  My friend Holly is joining in, and she is excited to write her list.

So that’s my little announcement. =-)  

September was a challenging month in the life of Five Things, because of Kit being in Europe for two weeks, my throat muscles freaking out on me, and being sick two weekends in a row.  Despite two of my list items being duds, I did pretty well with the rest of the list.  Here’s the breakdown:

Exercise

I did well the first few weeks, but this month I required a lot of extensions, and STILL didn’t get my 3 days of exercise in.  Being sick didn’t help.  The kinds of exercise I was doing was also interfering with my singing (too much upper body work strained my neck).  Arrgh.  But on the positive side, I did some good running and tried Jazzercise for the first time (did you know it’s the #2 most prosperous woman-owned business in San Diego?).  It’s semi-cheesy, perky aerobic fun. 

Sleep By 10:15

This one was a challenge, but it was a HUGE benefit for me.  I was less moody and more functional during the week.  I cut myself a little slack and if I was in bed no later than 10:29, I counted it a success.  Staying up until even 11pm is really bad for me. 

Teacher’s Journal

This was a fun, easy, and helpful little item.  I just wrote down the cool stuff I gleaned from my subbing.  If I liked a teacher’s methods, behavior management, lessons, or anything else, I wrote it down and kept it in a red envelope.  Someday when I need some ideas for my own classroom, I can look through the notes. 

Singing 30 min. 3 times a week

This one became problematic when my throat muscles started getting very tense in the first week as a result of the weight lifting I was doing at the gym.  I sang 3 times the first week, then I had to rest my vocal cords to relieve the tension.  I’m still having issues with my throat, so this will not be on October’s list.  It’s too bad, but maybe when my throat calms down, I can add it back because it really helps with choir.

Follow a Schedule

This was a bad idea from the get-go, because a rigid schedule does not give you leeway for life.  Life happens and schedules get thrown off, and it really put way too much on my plate.  This was a sneaky trick by my subconscious to make me revert to my bad habit of trying to do too much all at once.  The whole PURPOSE of Five Things is to focus on 5 simple things so you don’t get overwhelmed by 50 different things.  Bad Kat.  The only good thing was the 15 minutes of tidying, which I did somewhat regularly, and which may reappear on later lists…

I will update with Kit and Holly's October lists, and as for myself, I will start in earnest when I return from Milwaukee on Tuesday.  Until then, ciao for now!!