just maryse

Goals for 2013

after doing some ruminating over the past few days, i've come up with some goals for the year. lately i've been thinking that maybe i cut myself a little too much slack. i lack focus. and that would be fine if i didn't care whether i was accomplishing anything or not in my non-work life. but i do want to get stuff done. so i wrote some things down.

1. walk 500 miles.  this is a big goal for me since i'm pretty sedentary now. but it's a measureable, concrete goal, that doesn't expose me to humiliation like signing up for a 5K might. but it's one i can make happen.

2. keep at it with WW and go to meetings. i joined December 1 and i've lost 4.5 lbs.  considering that this was during the holidays with my family  visiting and i'm pretty stressed out right now i'm happy with my progress. i also like my meeting leader. she's funny and smart and sensible and moves the meeting along with humor.  again, going to meetings is something i can control.

3. i want to publish 8 patterns.  the number 8 sounds rather arbitrary but i read about it here. 8 is supposed to be good luck.  i have 2 patterns coming out in the spring already. i will decide later if those are included in the final tally.  heh.

4. i got a new camera. the nikon D7000 and it is lovely.  but unlike my D80 and D90, there are all sorts of new features and controls that i need to learn about.  hence the manual in the photo. i'm reading that mof0 if it kills me. heh. no official photo project this year, but it's time to get a portfolio together so that i can make a little $$ at this  hobby.

5. related to this, i'd like to make this website look a little better and more useful.

6. there's the potholder swap coming up.  more info on that in the coming weeks.

7. find a new job. yeah this is a goal that i have no choice but to work on. i have to pay for all of the things some how ;)

so that's it for now.

 happy new year to all of you.

 

Week Two

week two of my photo project had me staying close to home. yes. i waited until the last possible minute. dusk. but hey, at least i did it.

there's nothing particularly exciting about my neighborhood. it's your basic middle class northeastern state neighborhood, not terribly different from one of the towns i grew up in as a kid.  the houses were built in the 60's -- ranches, split levels, colonials -- and are surrounded by mature oaks and pines. the tree guy who just cut down one of our trees (it was dying) told me that one of our oaks must be 250 years old. even he was impressed.

people are friendly enough. i mean this is new england after all so i don't expect my neighbors to be waiting for me at the end of the day to gossip.  heh. and since we don't have kids, we are kind of excluded from the social fabric of the town. i guess i could make more of an effort. i mean there's got to be knitters somewhere in town! but right now it's not a priority. i'm happy enough to just wave and smile.

but overall it's a perfectly fine place to live. last year, living in the city again, made me appreciate the quiet, OMG THE SPACE, and the easier pace.

i sometimes wish we lived closer to the center of town, in one of the older houses, so i could walk more, but you know it is what it is. an older house has it's own set of problems that given the state of our house (heh) we aren't in any position to tackle. 

so that's about it. like i said, not particularly exciting.

my health resolutions are going ok. i missed logging in one meal this week and although i did not exercise everyday, i did make it out 4 times.

rome was not built in a day.

Plans for 2012

it was just a matter of time before i wrote a "resolution" blog post. it's the new year. it's what we do.

i've been reading a bunch of stuff on how to make resolutions and keep them. and i've thought a lot about what i wanted to change in my life this year but i've been having a hard time getting everything down on paper (or the computer). hell, if i'm being honest, i've had a hard time organizing everything in my head! 

so i'll just bring stuff up as it comes to me.  so here are the top three.

1. i like to have a photography project going on. something to push me to improve or try new stuff. so i've started two main ones.  one is the One Word Project with the Shutter Sisters.  the other is a weekly one where i go for photo walk. i hope it'll force me to explore other areas around my home or work and to maybe start talking and photographing strangers. who knows what will happen?

2. then there are my health resolutions. omg how many times have i been here. lose blah blah pounds. eat more vegetables. exercise more  blah blah blah.  blah blah. vomit. blah.  i've been here almost as many times as years i've been alive. and i'm sick of it.  so this year, i'm putting a little spin on it. i rejoined weightwatchers online of course and i've been counting points. but this time the daily goal is to just log everything in. it won't matter if i've gone over or if i've eaten a pound of cheese.  I WILL LOG IT IN!  so far i've missed logging in one meal. have i stayed under my daily allowance of points every day? nope. but i'm hoping that by logging in all of my food every day that maybe that will come with time. i know i'm already doing better. and this is a resolution that i'm pretty sure i can keep.

3. of course there's also the exercise. there again, my goal is every day. even if it's only for 5 minutes. i have the runkeeper app on my phone that let's me know how i'm doing during my walks. and i'm kind of excited by the idea of knowing how many miles at the end of the year i will have covered.   right now my right ass cheek is on fire after 6 minutes of walking but i'm pushing through. i know i know. i've got to do the weights and the stretching and everything else and that will come with time. but for now, walking is all i can physically do right now.

that's about it for now. so that i stay honest, i'll log in my progress here at the end of every month. how's that?

oh by the way, my One Word Project word for january is "FOCUS." i definitely could use some of that.

 

NaBloPoMo Day 12

ahh all caught up.

so today something happened that hadn't happened in a long time. i was at the gym (yeah that's another thing that hasn't happened in a long time - heh) and i thought "oh i'll blog about being at the gym today." yes! is the habit taking? am i writing posts in my head again?

anyway, i've been to the gym 4 days since sunday. i haven't done much. just walking on the treadmill for 30 minutes. and today was the first time i felt good when i stopped and not just because i had stopped. heh.

one thing that i've learned is that i may hate working out (i'd rather be doing a number of other things) but i like being able to check "go to the gym" off of the to do list in my head. sometimes it's just a matter of changing perspective.

of course i say that today. tomorrow is another day.

 

NaBloPoMo Day 7

so it's no secret that i've struggled with my weight pretty much my entire life. if you look through my archives you'll probably find posts where i talk about starting on a new regimen. you certainly can find photos in flickr where i'm on another weight loss plan.  it's not like i have unrealistic expections or anything.  that was me when i was in my 20's. i just want to be strong and healthy again.  you know?

last summer and fall with all of my stress, i lost 25 lbs.  for the first time in my life, i couldn't eat and when i did, food just sat in my craw. it was awesome! 

heh. i kid. i wouldn't trade those months for anything. thing is, when i started feeling more like myself, i put all of that weight back on. and that kind of blows.

so yesterday i rejoined the gym (i had canceled when i had moved out) and tonight i went to the gym.

i'm very out of shape so i need to start slow. but i really want to feel better. and i'm cutting out corndogs. heh.

that's all.