10 Things About Me

1. I get migraines. Like the one I had tonight. Sleep, the dark, and ibuprofen help.

2. When I was about 12, I was holding one of those sparklers that go on the top of birthday cakes and the tip of it fell off onto my hand. I still have a giant scar in the webbing between my pointer and middle fingers on my left hand.

3. I really dislike shopping for clothes.

4. I consider the number four to be my lucky number, even though I don’t really believe in luck.

5. I weight almost thirty-five pounds more than I did when I started this blog.

6. I’ve stopped reading celebrity gossip blogs because they weren’t adding anything good to my life and freed up time to do stuff I really enjoy, like blogging and meditating.

7. My current favourite breakfast smoothie is a thin mint smoothie: milk, chocolate protein powder, spinach, and mint extract.

8. I love Hawaii and dream of owning a house there one day.

9. I’m not very girly, but I do love sparkly eye shadows from Urban Decay.

10. My current obsessions are chalkboard anything and touches of gold.

What’s something about you that most people don’t know?

40 Weeks to 40: How to Really Celebrate Your 40th Birthday

I celebrate my 40th birthday in 40 weeks. It’s kind of a big deal, right? Forty seems to be a big milestone for a lot of the women I know. There’s a sense that the frivolity of your youth is over, but that there’s a whole lot of living to do, and as someone with forty years tucked under her belt, you now have a sense of exactly what kind of living that is.

I thought that I would be dreading the big 4-0, and while I guess I’m not exactly loving that I’m getting older and closer to death, I’m certainly not avoiding the idea of my big birthday at all. In fact, I’ve decided to celebrate being alive for 40 years through a series of challenges over the next 40 weeks.  I think it’s really a great time to focus on healthy habits, reviewing where I’ve been and where I’m at in my life, and plain ol’ having fun.

40 Challenges for 40 Weeks

It’s cheesy, but why not celebrate your 40th birthday for more than a single day? Why not do something that will make you a better person, reflect on where you’ve been, and get you having fun all the way to 40? These are not all week-long challenges. Some of them span 40 days, others involve compiling lists about your life, while still others will end on your birthday. Ready to see the list of challenges? Here we go!

1. 40 Days of Gratitude
2. 40 Favourite Songs
3. 40 Favourite Things About Disney World (or your favourite place to visit)
4. 40 Items Decluttered – Challenge #1
5. 40 Movies in 40 Weeks
6. 40×40 of Portuguese (or another language)
7. 40 Favourite Movies
8. 40 Gifts Challenge
9. 40-Song Running Playlist for Spring
10. 40 Facebook Posts by 40
11. 4×40 Electronics-Free Hours by 40
12. 40 Acts of Kindness by 40
13. 40-Song Walking Playlist
14. 40 Days of Planks
15. 40 Ways to Show Employees Appreciation
16. 40 Days of Saving by 40
17. 40 Favourite Books
18. 40 Loves Notes Before 40
19. 40 Fun Things To Do by 40
20. Run a 10k By 40
21. 40 Days of Yoga
22. 40 Healthy Things To Do before 40
23. 40-Song Summer Running Playlist
24. 40 Things To Do with Your Kids by 40
25. 40 Sunsets
26. 40 Days of Writing
27. 40 Things To Do This Summer
28. 40 Items Decluttered – Challenge #2
29. 40 Nice Things To Do for Your Husband by 40
30. 40 Nice Things to Do for Your Family and Friends by 40
31. 40 Emails by 40
32. 40 Meditation Sessions by 40
33. 40 Days of Pushups
34. 40 Work Goals by 40
35. 40 Ways to Feel Uplifted
36. 40 Days of Stretching
37. 40-Song Fall Running Playlist
38. Run a Half Marathon by 40
39. 40 Selfies Collection
40. 40 Days of Joy

As the year unfolds, I’ll be posting exactly what each challenge involves and how I’m doing.

To Party or Not to Party

You might be thinking that challenges are all well and good, but is there going to be a party? At this point, for me, I’m not sure. I love planning birthday parties, but it’s different when it’s my own. My gut is telling me to plan something with just my family, maybe a weekend away somewhere fun, doing stuff that brings me joy. All I know is that THERE WILL BE CAKE.

Do you think that forty is a big milestone? What’s your idea of a fabulous birthday celebration?

The Practice of Setting Daily Intentions

It’s 7am and I have the whole day ahead of me. I can shape today so that it’s what I want it to be. Too often I arrive at the end of my day wondering what just happened. Yes, you do have to roll with it and accept reality as it happens, but too often lately I have failed to set out what I wanted my day to look like and I rolled into bed feeling like I missed the opportunity to make my life better. I’m not setting out to be Superwoman today, but I going to be deliberate in how I live today.

I’m new to the practice of setting intentions, just as I am new practicing yoga and practicing workout consistency. Practicing doesn’t mean perfection. It means doing your best, listening to what your body and mind are saying, and being curious about any resistance you feel.

In setting my intentions, I considered the following:

1. What does my body need to feel good and be healthy today?
2. What do I want to accomplish this week at work and what steps can I take today to accomplish those goals?
3. What attitudes and mindset do I want to cultivate today?
4. How do I want to feel today?

Here’s where those questions led me:

Today I am choosing to recognize the abundance in my life rather than focusing on the scarcity.

Today I am minimizing my online surfing time and maximizing the time I spend moving my body.

Today I am avoiding added sugar in order to boost my immune function.

Today I am bringing a water bottle to work and drinking lots of water and herbal tea.

Today I am choosing an early bedtime.

Today I am making a list of my three most important tasks and getting those done.

Today I am practicing yoga and riding the stationary bike as a way to show my body love.

Today I am choosing to feel calm and accepting.

Do you set intentions? How do you decide what’s important to you?

6 Intentions for My Holiday Season

It was my birthday yesterday. It was not really what I was hoping my birthday was going to be – early morning to take my daughter to hockey, my husband having to leave my birthday lunch early to deal with a renter, leftovers for supper. If I had been really concerned about my activities for the day, though, I suppose I would have put together a detailed agenda.

It’s now December, which means that the Christmas Countdown tradition I started for my kids a few years ago begins today. We’ll be decorating our Christmas tree, which we put up a couple of days ago. Strangely enough, more of the lights on our pre-lit Costco beauty seem to be working than last year. I’ll take it.

December means a full schedule, holiday parties, sugary treats, lights and decorations, carols playing, and generally thinking I should be doing MORE. I am not alone in this, I know. Rushing is not the way I want to start my 40th year, so this December, I am consciously focusing on:

1. being present in the moment
2. simplifying my plans
3. accepting the changes to my plans as they arise (because they will arise)
4. being grateful, and encouraging my family to be grateful
5. practicing self-care to keep me healthy throughout the holiday season
6. listening to my body and resting when I need to

What’s your December looking like?

The End of My 39th Year

I turn 39 this month, which means that I’m heading into my 40th year. I have that voice in my head telling me that I haven’t accomplished enough, that I should be farther ahead than I am, but I am deliberately not listening to it. I’m not saying that there aren’t things that I want to accomplish in my 40th year of life and beyond, but I am where I am, and that’s okay.

I’m sure I seem to have life sorted, but I don’t. My husband and I are both building businesses, which means that we’ve pretty much used up all of our available credit. We haven’t been doing a good job of budgeting (working on it) and I’ve been avoiding taking a hard look at the numbers in my business (working on that, too). I recently asked my mom for a loan for my business because the bank wasn’t a great option (we have assets but not steady incomes, so they weren’t going to be eager to loan us money), and while I am still dealing with the shame and embarrassment of having to borrow money from my mom at my age, I am dealing with it.

On the other hand, I have a whole lot to be grateful for:

• my kids, who are mostly sweet and loving and funny (though sometimes I want to strangle them)
• I have a home, food, and everything I need
• my parents are in a position to lend me money when I need help and are willing to help
• my husband works hard and helps out around the house way more than any other man I know
• I am making friends
• I’ve started doing yoga regularly, which I am proud of because it was one of my goals for this year
• I am working with a life coach and it is making such a difference in my life
• I have a massage booked for tomorrow, which means that I can get some relief from the tightness of my chest and back muscles that’s been plaguing me since my cold/bronchitis started mid-October (coughing is a b*tch on the thoracic musculature)
• I am finally feeling better and getting over my bronchitis, which means my energy levels are increasing again
• I have the day off from work tomorrow so that I can run some errands and practice self care
• Christmas is coming!
• I’ve been easing back into exercise and I feel good about that
• I got to watch The Walking Dead without distractions tonight

As I countdown to my 39th birthday, I am thinking about what I want my life to look like. Of course, I am working with a life coach, so this is something I’ve been thinking about a lot already. I’ve started making changes: going out of my way to talk to people and build relationships; joining a women’s cross country skiing group to develop relationships, work on my fitness, and enjoy winter for a change; decluttering my house; practicing yoga on a more regular basis; developing an attitude of gratitude. I have been considering committing to a race sometime next year – a local one so that it’s easier on the budget – because I would like to get back to running and setting a bigger goal, like a half marathon, is often very motivating for me. At the same time, if I commit to such a big goal, I also have to give myself permission to listen to my body and take care of it with a healthy diet, yoga, sleep, and strengthening so that I don’t end up with a(nother) long-term injury. As I read somewhere, possibly Runner’s World, if a race entry of 50 bucks gets you running and healthier, it’s worth it, even if you don’t make it to the race. I couldn’t agree more.

Running Again, and a Few Links

I’ve started running again. Had a left knee/ITB-related twinge today, but it’s feeling good now. The plantar fasciitis in my right foot is not completely healed, but the running isn’t irritating it, so I will continue on. I’m up to 4 min running, 1 min walking. My daughter, who seems ridiculously smart for an 8-year-old, asked me the other day if I could say a sentence when I was running. I admitted that I couldn’t always, and she said, “Then you’re running too fast.” I have no idea where she got this from, but she is one smart cookie. Keeping that in mind, I ran as slowly as I possibly could Monday (I’m not sure it was actually running, that’s how slowly I ran) and periodically talked to myself to make sure I could “say a sentence.” I had a run in my schedule today, but my hips are still feeling sore from Monday’s run, so I decided to pay attention to my body and do some yoga instead. I can get a run in tomorrow, after an extra day’s rest.In addition to running, here are a few things that have caught my interest this week:

Simple Living Simplified: 10 Things You Can Do Today to Simplify Your Life

The start of a series on emergency preparedness from A Bowl Full of Lemons

A set of photos that I bought from Carolyn Cochrane on Etsy I surprised myself by receiving them in the mail, buying frames, and hanging them all in one day.

Songs for a wedding playlist that I volunteered to help put together for my brother’s wedding next month

What songs do you love to hear at a wedding reception?

 

5 Great Pinterest Finds: What I Did With My Monday

Today was a good day. I went for a run/walk this morning (sunny but still f’ing cold out there), meal planned, made a shopping list, actually blow dried my hair, went out for lunch with a dental supplier, picked up a few Easter items from Target, went grocery shopping, cleaned out the old and moldy food from the fridge, unpacked the groceries, and made supper.

I also got sucked in by spent some time on Pinterest and found some really good ideas. Thought I’d share.

I found this blog post on background and pattern generators. My mind was blown. I had no idea that such things existed. Can’t wait to try this out! Best discovery since PicMonkey.

I had a hankering for sweets, and thought popcorn would be a relatively healthy choice. At least I’d get some fibre along with the fat and sugar, right? I tried out this recipe and thought I was fantastic. It was easy to make and delicious.

I like to change my fireplace mantel fairly frequently and wanted an easy, inexpensive wreath to add to my display. I stumbled across this post and bought some napkins today. We’ll see how my version turns out…

I was looking for a calendar that I could use to put my workout plan for the year into. Sure, I’m sure I could manage to cobble something together in Excel or I could handwrite something into a calendar, but I had a vision of something fun and electronic. Enter, the calendar above found on Etsy here. It’s easy to use and exactly what I was looking for.

In all honesty, I pinned this one awhile ago. Who doesn’t love an inexpensive Easter decoration? I picked up some jelly beans and Peeps and tried my hand at making this centerpiece – minus the flowers.

Are you a Pinterest-lover?