Here's the Deal

A lunchtime blog post - look at me, maximizing my time! :-D

Thanks to everyone who commented and gave me feedback. It was really quite helpful as I looked at what's been going on here.

How I wish I could retire now, or work part-time - I contemplated it a few years ago when my first really severe menopausal symptoms hit. I even discussed it with my financial advisor. Just not happening right now. Just not possible. Unless I win the Lotto this weekend. I have tickets. I truly wish for the ability to occasionally telecommute - my friend, Linda the Chicken Lady is so very lucky in that regard.

I think I was not clear on my bedtime . . . I try to get to bed by 9 . . . lately, I'm not even close. 10 or 10:30 is more like it many days lately, and I still wake up around 5, so that means I've been getting by on too little sleep.

The 30-Day Shred was a recent addition to my morning routine. And it's just not working for me. It's not helping that I really don't like the workout.

So - here's the deal. For now :-)

The Shred is going to take a back seat. If I can fit it in from time to time, I will do it, but I'm not going to focus on it. I want to keep my walk at 40 - 45, and likely soon start inching that back up to an hour. That means that I will be limiting my time on the computer in the a.m. to 15 minutes. I'm getting out a timer and using it. If I haven't read it or looked at it within that amount of time, it's going to have to wait. That should still give me plenty of time to get my lunch ready and still get to work without too much craziness.

I'm looking into menu planning - and another friend has mentioned green smoothies to me, so I'm going to check into those. Most importantly, I'm going to see about actually cooking some stuff on Saturdays and Sundays that I can freeze in portion sizes for lunches during the week. I wish I knew more about freezing stuff - if anyone has any good books or websites to recommend, that would rock. I mean, I know that potatoes don't freeze well - and neither do fat-free tortillas (at least they don't when they are wrapped around my awesome spinach burritos), but I'm sure there must be a good book out there that talks about this. Joy of Cooking is amazingly deficient in this area!

I will be skimping on choir rehearsals. I read music well enough that I should be able to get over my dislike of singing without rehearsal. Since I'm going to be out of town and won't get to sing in the cantata this year, I don't feel like I need to be there every Thursday, but I can get there for the Sunday morning fast rehearsal before we actually sing during the service. That frees up the occasional evening for when I'm feeling completely overwhelmed (like I am today).

Knitting's been a little sparse lately, and spinning is pretty much non-existent, but my creativity has always gone in cycles so I'm not concerned there (although I do have some projects I'd like to finish :-)). And since I'm so enamored of the dulcimer (even the loaner I currently have), practicing doesn't seem to be much of a hardship. I'd like to do more in the mornings with it - that would mean no computer time at all in the a.m. . . . not sure I'm ready for that ;-D

I feel like I have the beginnings of a workable plan. That makes me feel better already :-)

So - thanks again, everyone - and here's my lunch!!!



Red lettuce, pickled beets, feta cheese and walnuts :-) Yay Me!!!!

This is my cool Bento lunch box. Beets were in the red one, raspberries in the green one, and cheese in the dark blue one and walnuts in the light blue. (The lettuce was in a larger one that is the size of the two larger ones put together.



Here is it closed - the box part goes in that bottom space and I have a flat icy thing from some other lunch system that I got years ago that fits in there underneath it and keeps everything cool, and then on the top, I have a thermos for soups that fits in there, but today I put the large box full of lettuce in there on another flat icy thing along with some carrots and a cut up apple.



It's a kind of a big lunch bag, but I'm working with it. I'll take more pictures of it later.

I'm trying the smaller photos today - you can still click to biggify - let me know if you like the larger ones better :-)