Oh So Busy...

I've been trying to stay on top of my list this month... and I guess my efforts over the last several months have been paying off, because I was offered a long-term temporary job teaching first grade!

As I get ready to start it, I feel like there's a million other things going on - sub jobs, planning a trip to Vegas, studying for my class, already stressing about buying gifts and plane tickets for Christmas, doing dishes and laundry constantly, sending H off to L.A. for work every Monday and welcoming him back every Thursday, cooking to save money on food, steam cleaning at home to save money on dry cleaning... but I really...really...really... shouldn't complain.  Things are good.  Crazy, but good.

Exercising has been the hardest thing to keep up with.  But I did manage to get out twice last week.  This week, I'm sick, but hopefully I'll be better by Friday - when I start my new job!!

More later... I hope!  Check my Twitter for updates (see link at the right)!

Also, here is Holly's list, which I got last week:

1.  No drinking 3 days a week.
2.  Floss 3x per week
3.  Scour floors in bathroom
4.  Exercise 2x per week
5.  Write 5 preplans for work every week

Good luck, girl!

NOVEMBER KICKOFF!!

Hello all, here is the latest from the Land of Five Things - it's a new month, so you know what that means... a new list!!

Kat's List

1.  Exercise 3x/week, 30 mins min.

2.  Clean the back bathroom

3.  Do 2 hrs. of homework 2x a week, must start Mon. or Tues.

4.  Limit internet surfing (for leisure) to 20 min./day

5.  Pray and read 2 pages of the Bible 3x/week

I've been going overboard surfing the net lately, and I find myself wasting a LOT of time (and consequently getting mad at myself if other stuff doesn't get done.  It's okay if it's work related or just checking email, but YouTube and Facebook are serious TIME KILLERS!!!  GaAAAAAA!

Unfortunately, Blogger.com is being weird and not letting me post pictures right now, but I'll post pics of Halloween as soon as I can.

Don't forget to check out my updates at http://twitter.com/SweetKatLeen !!!  (see link at right)

Kit and Holly should be joining in this week, so I'll hound them for their lists.  If anyone else wants to join in, let me know, and I'll post your list and challenge you to finish it!  

And now...

A REFLECTION ON OCTOBER

October went fairly well, but my exercise habits are slipping.  I need to remember to take my clothes with me so I can exercise anywhere, anytime.  I have no good excuse, I just need to get off my butt and go for a walk if I have a spare 30 minutes!

I did a good job going to bed around 10:15.  I think it more or less became a habit, so I didn't feel the need to put it on my list in November.  

Meditation was really a good thing for me, and I also hope I continue that even though it's not on my list for November.

The refrigerator is now sparkling clean, and I will post pics of that process soon (I'm sure you're dying to see).  There's just nothing more exciting.  I'm only half joking... It actually makes me feel really good, cuz every time I open the fridge, I'm greeted with the white splendor of cleanliness... ahhhh.  Zen.

I eliminated the Games item on my list because it was unrealistic.  There are some sub schedules that just don't allow for much deviation from the teacher's instructions.  I did some games, but I need to find other ways to incorporate fun into my subbing.  But it did get me thinking.  

 What I notice...

I notice a little more focus from myself, a little more willingness to do tasks that aren't on my list (I also consolidated things in the garage to let us walk around easier, and I swept out the storage unit to allow me to move stuff out of the garage into there).  I have been feeling more calm in the classroom, due to the exercise and meditation.  

I would like to post some thoughts from Kit too, so I will ask her to expound on Five Things.  It would be good to get multiple perspectives on it - it is, after all, a project in progress, an experiment, and she is my first guinea pig!  So I have to give her kudos for being there for me all these months, sticking with it, and believing in me and the idea. 

Thanks, chica.  Luv ya.  =-)

October is Almost Over!

My, my, it has been a while, hasn't it?  It has been an eventful month in the life of 5 Things, with a trip to Milwaukee, AIDS Walk, and Halloween coming up.  So how are we busy people doing with our lists?

Kit has been faithfully updating me on the status of her laundry, exercise, and the grooming of her cat.  She also updated the contacts in her phone, accidentally calling me a few times as she did so.  She also uploaded some more photos of her honeymoon trip to Facebook so we can see her at the Tower of London and next to the weird Japanese art installations that marred the halls of Versailles.

Holly never quite got her list to me, but she is still on board for next month.  I think she may need a little incentive... like if she accomplishes everything one week, I'll buy the first round when we go out for cocktails.

As for myself, I've been doing okay with my list.  Exercise and meditation have been challenging to keep up with, but they have been really good for me.  Also, going to bed by 10:15 (or thereabouts) has also helped with energy and keeping me from getting sick.  The games thing was a dud (I can't count on having an opportunity to fit them in during the school day), but at least it got me thinking about making a list.  The refrigerator is almost clean (I've been doing it in stages).  Two more small shelves and the door shelves and I'm done.  I had to use excessive amounts of Goo Gone to get unidentified sticky matter out of various crevices.  Lord knows how long it's been there...

So we get to finish October with a party, otherwise known as Halloween.  Still not sure if said party will be in L.A. or in San Diego.  But either way, I will be decked out in the same outfit I wore to Monster Ball:

Exercise#1, 2 AND 3...

I was wondering if I could count this as all 3 exercises for this week... haha just kidding.  But can it at least make up for me doing only 2 last week?

Yesterday, October 17, I participated in AIDS Walk Los Angeles.  It took quite a bit of effort to get there - an hour of driving around, getting stuck and rerouted, going to 3 parking structures, which were all full (and driving up and down 2 of those structures to find out that they were full!), waiting in a line of cars squealing their tires on a steep hill in the rain, trying to get up to Sunset Blvd., and finally parking on a street a half a mile away from the start line.

Once we got to the start line, we were 1 1/2 hours late, and they were starting to take down the markers of the course, so we weren't certain where the course was, and we took a wrong turn that made us cut out five miles of the walk!  Oops!  So we found the mobs of people who were closing in on the finish line, and we walked against traffic on the other side of the street, in the opposite direction, until the route turned, where we would have picked it up if we if we hadn't gotten diverted.  Also, our team had gone on ahead, so I didn't get to see Kit (who was also participating) until hours later.  That'll teach us not to be late to a walk, ever again!!

Once on the walk, however, it was really fun, great exercise, and not as crowded this year on account of the rain.  I didn't mind the rain because I was wearing water resistant clothes, and it was very light rain.  Everyone was having a great time cheering each other on, and there were lots of dogs walking too, and people wearing outrageous costumes.  Check out some of the sights:

colorful characters

walking the dog

hey, if you're gonna tag a building, this is one of the nicer things you could say...

there were nuns of all colors of the rainbow...

H and I crossing the finish line

October Things!

I finally got a hold of Kit's list, so here it is:

1. sort and organize my trip pix. pick out at least 10 pix I can share with friends/relatives/put on FB
2. groom the cat
3. exercise 4 times - at least 1x per week
4. add my speed dials to my new phone which includes updating their contact info
5. clean the shower


Still no word on Holly's list yet, but she's doing her best (this is all new to her).  Will update when I hear from her.


In the meantime, I tweeted that I did some of my exercising in Milwaukee, so I wanted to upload some pics I took on my walk (I needed to walk off all that cheese, beer, and Bratwurst!)

City Hall

The Milwaukee River

The white thing beyond is the Calatrava architecture of the Milwaukee Museum of Art

As the wings begin to close...

Fully closed - I took a video of it closing, and it was fantastically slow.  You can barely see it moving.  So, you know, don't expect a life-changing event.

Riverwalk - not sure who this statue depicts, but he has Gene Simmons' tongue

Fall colors...sigh... we just don't get this in San Diego...

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!!

Jazz Hands!!

Last week was challenging because I was sick over the weekend, and then this weekend my allergies went CRAZY with this abominable heat wave... but tonight I finally managed to get back in the saddle.  Here's what I've done so far:

Exercise #1

I went to Jazzercise for the first time ever!  I went from the 90 degree weather (at 6:45 at night) into a frigid air conditioned studio and skipped and toe-tapped for a solid hour... I'll be feeling it tomorrow.  It was pretty fun, and the best thing is it was totally free!  I have a week pass I found in the coupon mailer, so I doubt I'll continue after it expires (I should also use my gym membership) but it's fun to mix things up.

Okay, I'm off to bed (by 10:15!).  Also, I went to bed 3 times by 10:15 last week.  I'm liking this item...