ROW80 Check-In

Hi y’all!  Just a quick note/update about my ROW80 progress.  We’re getting super close to Little Miss Took’s arrival, and I think it’s time I bowed out of the ROW for a while.  I’ll probably pick back up the round after next in the autumn – or if I’m feeling it, jump in during the middle of the next round, but right now I think it’s time to let myself slide into a slower gear for the rest of the spring.

I’m so grateful for all the support and encouragement, as well as to so many of you who offered to guest-post on my blog to take some of the pressure off when Baby Girl arrives.  You all rock.  Big time.

Lots of love,

Myn

 

ROW80 Check-In 02-29-12

Howdy!

Here’s how my week looked:

WRITING:

Goal: Work on WIP in evening after kids go to bed.

Reality: This seems to be working well, although I haven’t managed it every night of the week.  Some nights I crash almost as soon as they do.  :)  But, I’m making good progress – the Hubster occupied the kids for a large portion of this weekend, allowing me to get 4-5 hours in – an unheard of chunk of time!  Thanks, T-Man!

BLOGGING/SOCIAL MEDIA:

Goal: Read and promote other’s blogs 1 hr/day in the morning.

Reality: So far I’ve managed to make this work, although I never am able to get to as many blogs as I’d like.

Goal: Write 4 posts/week to stockpile for baby’s arrival.

Reality: This actually hasn’t been a problem at all.  In fact, it’s eeking into my writing time in the evening.  Who knew nesting urges would bleed into blog writing?

Goal: Schedule blog posts for when baby arrives.

Reality: This is going well! I’m so grateful to you lovely volunteers. Those who have already sent me your posts, thanks! And those whose posts are on the way, I can’t wait to see what you send me!  It really means so much to me that you’re willing to help.  These WANA methods are the bomb!

Goal: Reduce blogging to three times a week.

Reality: Yep.  I did it.  And while it’s definitely easier on me, it’s not been easy to accept.  I’ll be interested to see how my traffic fares in March because of the reduced content.  I keep reminding myself that after Little Miss Took arrives and life smooths out again, I can always go back to posting more often.  Right now, though, I’ll stick to this goal.

HOMESCHOOL:

Goal: Ignore social media during homeschool time.

Reality:  This worked about 85% of the time.  There were some down times when I was able to do a little blog-reading on my phone, so I guess you could say I cheated a little.  But, committing to a work/school schedule has really smoothed out lots of bumps.  I think we’re falling into a rhythm here that we can easily maintain.

EXERCISE/EATING HEALTHY:

Goal: Put 5 minute test mile theory back into practice.

Reality: Nope.  Didn’t do it.  Not even a little.  This momma is tuckered out from chasing her offspring around while carrying a giant kicking watermelon in her abdomen.

Goal: Allow myself to nest.

Reality:  Giggle, snort.  I don’t think there would be any stopping me at this point.

Goal: Whole foods brekkie and lunches.

Reality:  Easy, peasy.  This one’s been no problem at all.

So, overall, I’m tickled with how the week went.  I can definitely feel myself slowing down, but the end is in sight, pregnancy-wise, and so it feels pretty short term.  Give me a couple months, and I’ll be zipping around like a crazy woman again!

I hope y’all had happy, productive weeks, too.  Lots o’ love,

Myndi

ROW80 Check-In

Hi!

*waves hello*

I can’t believe it’s Wednesday already.  Time is flying by the closer I get to my due-date.  Little Miss Took will be here before we know it…EEK!  :)

So, I did manage to take a look at my goals…I can’t say that they changed all that much, but my thoughts are a little more organized, and I did set up some boundaries as to when/where/how they’ll get done.  That’s a good thing.  Pregnancy hormones can cause sensibility-blindness, and I these days I need a clear reminder of when it’s okay to shut off one area of my life to focus on another.

Here’s what I’m looking at:

WRITING:

*Work on the WIP after the kids go to bed in the evening.  Trying to do any serious work while they’re vying for my attention just doesn’t work.

*Stop beating myself up for not getting to it during the day.  That’s just the way my schedule is.  It’s not good or bad; it just is.

BLOGGING/SOCIAL MEDIA:

*Read and promote other folk’s blogs 1 hr/day in the morning while the kids are working on quiet projects.  This is Monday through Friday only.  Cut myself a break on Sat and Sun.

*Write one blog post/day 4 days a week in an effort to stockpile blogs for baby’s arrival.  Write these during SweetZ’s naptime.

*Schedule guest posts for when baby arrives. *cough* Any volunteers out there?  :)    *hugs* (and a HUGE thanks to those of you who’ve already volunteered!)

*Reduce blogging to three times a week (not counting ROW80 check-ins), and switch my ROW80 check-ins to Wednesdays.  No blogging on weekends anymore.

HOMESCHOOL:

*When it’s homeschool time, focus on that.  Social Media and Blogging and the WIP are on the farthest burner during that time.  Family first.

EXERCISE/HEALTHY EATING:

*Go back to the five minute ‘test mile’ theory.  I’m in the heat of the last trimester energy drain, and it’s okay that my body is tired and demanding rest.  *mantra* I am not a wimp.  I am not a wimp.  I am not a wimp…

*Allow myself to nest, and make lists, even if it drives the rest of my family nutso.  :)

*Continue with the whole foods breakfasts, and add in lunches.  This goal is so very YUM!

 I’ll let you know next week how it’s working out.  ’Till then, happy ROW-ing!

P.S.  There’s still time to send me your photo for the I Am Beautiful…Just the Way I Am campaign!  Send me your pic at myndishafer at rocketmail dot com.  I need ‘em by Feb 24; the follow-up post will run Feb 28!  

ROW80 Check-In

Hi happy Row-ers!

I’m keeping it short today.  Last week was up and down – lots of school demands, lots of preggers fatigue.  I think it’s time to re-evaluate what I can realistically get done in the months before and after Little Miss Took is born, and readjust my goals/schedule.

But I’m not going to do that today.  I’ll get it done by Wednesday, and post an update then.  Today, I’m spending time with the family, catching up on blog writing/reading, and working a little on the WIP.

Happy ROW-ing this week!

Big grins,
Myndi

ROW80 Check-In #5…I think.

Has it really been five weeks??  Goodness…

This week was…um…

Well, see for yourself.

Writing?  Nope.  Didn’t do it.  Not a single word on the manuscript.  I did get lots of blogging done – I’m trying to stockpile for when the baby comes, but the WIP suffered.

Exercising?  Nope.  With the exception of Ginger Calem’s bathroom oriented #writersbutt activities (sounds scarier than it is), I didn’t do jack.

Healthy brekkie?  Yep.  But that has more to do with the fact that all the brekkie food in our cupboards is now healthy than actual resolve on my part.  Thank goodness I planned ahead on that one.

Something for myself?  Nope.  Didn’t make the time.  I had great intentions, just didn’t follow through.

I could blame it on bunches of stuff – Birthday Week, pregnancy, gorgeous non-winter-like weather…but really, when it came down to it, I just didn’t wanna.  So I didn’t.  Trying to wrap that up into something prettier than what it is just seems like a waste of time.

Thankfully, every week is a chance to start fresh, right?  :)

Lots of love to you, ROW80-ers!  Hope this past week was full of successes for each and every one of you!

ROW80 Check-In: Week 4

Hey y’all!

Week four was satisfying. Reading, writing, exercising…all went well. There wasn’t a whole lot of overachieving going on, but I nailed each goal (except one), which is enough for me at the moment. The exception was the ‘do something good for myself’ goal (*scrunches up nose*), but I’ll do better this coming week, promise.

Hey, and you guys, I absolutely loved getting feedback on writing log-lines (and blurbs), and can’t wait to spend some time this week playing with your suggestions. Thanks – like, a ton!

The really, really good news is that I think we’re looking pretty darn good, homeschool-wise. If that aspect of my life is going smoothly, all the other pieces fall into place relatively easily.

Birthday boy!

Today marks my oldest child’s tenth birthday! We’re super pumped – at our house, we celebrate birthdays for a full week. Birthday weeks are everybody’s favorite because it’s a week chock-full of fun, fun, fun. So I might be a little more absent online than normal, partying my booty off to celebrate a decade with one of the coolest, most remarkable young men I’ve ever known. Go ahead and be jealous! Or, better yet, come over and join us in the fun. We know how to have a good time!

Wishing each of you a happy, productive week!

ROW80 Check-In: Week 3

First of all, let me say to all you who stopped by and left the sweetest, most encouraging words last week, THANK YOU.  I’ve gone back and re-read all your encouragement several times throughout the week – it’s meant so much to me.  If I could squeeze each and every one of you, I would.  Thanks, so much, from the bottom of my heart.

Last week’s check-in turned out to be the start of a week-long pit-stop for me.

With some carefully-worded guidance from my sweet, enduring husband (who knows full-well just how ugly my pregnancy listening filter can make any words, no matter how kind), I decided to all but cut myself off from the web, and focus on the most pressing issue at hand: our homeschool curriculum.

Thankfully, after two months of tears, tripping down the wrong paths, pulling out our hair, etc., I think we’ve finally got it figured out.  The week has been spent diving into this new curriculum, and I’m seeing all the signs that we’ve found one that works: the boys are happy and willing to do their work, sweetZ’s tickled to have her mommy-time back, and I’ve got a couple spare hours a day I can devote to writing/blogging/WANA-ing.  This coming week will really be the true test for all that, since I didn’t write a sentence – blogging or otherwise – last week.  Instead, I snuggled with my girl, napped when I was tired, and had fun helping my boys along.  I’ll add back in my writing responsibilities this week, and see how it goes.

Even though last week was less-than-stellar, goal wise (with the exception of the wholesome brekkie thing, and the reading thing), I’m satisfied.  Some problems, if you don’t stop everything to fix them, will grow into something wholly crippling.  This was one of those problems.  Any homeschooling parent lives with a constant nagging shadow following them around – the fear of somehow failing their kids in a way that will cripple their chances at becoming a successful adult.  It’s a powerful fear, one that will bring me to my knees faster than just about anything.  Last week was one of those weeks, but I’m finally feeling that burden beginning to lift.  Phew.

Hoping your week went well, sweet friendlies!  Sorry I’ve not been to any of your blogs over the past week, but I’ll get back into the swing of blog reading in the coming days.  Much love to you all!

ROW80: Check-In, Week 2

Puppy hiding under desk. I want to join him. Thanks, Google images, for the pic.

It was one of those weeks.

Somehow I managed to meet my goals – writing for at least 30 minutes every day, being prepared for that writing, getting in physical activity, doing something good for myself, reading a little every day.  I got it all in, but I felt like I was clawing my way into it the whole time.  The triumphant feeling I had last week has deflated into something resembling a canned-pea-green deflated balloon.  Ain’t pretty.

Sometimes things come easy, other times…not so much.

I’m not sure this coming week’s going to be any easier.  We’re having curriculum issues for my boys’ homeschooling…and it’s taking its toll on me.  With a new little one coming in a couple months, and a sweet three year-old girl vying for my attention, we’re having to make some adjustments.  We haven’t found our stride yet this semester.  Not even close.

Educating your kids at home is a huge undertaking.  One I’m glad to do, because I see the fruit of it on a daily basis.  I don’t think it’s right for everybody – not by any stretch.  I’m not sure it’s always going to be the right choice for us.  And I’m becoming increasingly aware of how thin I’m stretched these days.  An infant is going to stretch me even further.

Not sure where we’re going to land.  And that’s pretty stressful.

Sorry for the disjointed post.  Frayed doesn’t begin to describe how I’m feeling, and it’s making it hard to focus on any one thing for long.

Which probably means I’m completely nuts to add another goal to my ROW80 list, but I really like this one, and I think it’s doable, and I think it will help me feel better…hopefully.

The hubster and I are wanting to steer our nutritional habits in a more healthy direction.  These kinds of changes can be a little intimidating, but we’re taking it in baby steps, changing one thing at a time.  For the next thirty-odd days, we’re changing the way we eat breakfast – no refined, processed foods.  Hopefully in a month a few bad habits will be replaced with new, healthy ones, and we’ll be ready to add another baby step in the direction of more wholesome, healthy eating.

Also, I’m finding that my five minutes of activity just isn’t enough – my body wants to keep going, so I think I’ll go ahead and give it what it wants.  I’m gonna tweak this goal a little.  Instead of 5 minutes every single day, I’m going to aim for 10 minutes (still going with the test-mile theory here – 10 min. may be far less than what I want to do that day, but on the days when I’m blech, at least I’ll get those 10 min. in) five days a week (instead of seven).

I hope my other ROW80 friends have had a wonderful, lovely week!!  Wishing you all lots of happy, happy ROW-ing!

ROW80: Check in, Week 01

This week has gone well.  Very well.

All too well.

*cue low, creepy music*  *eyes dart to and fro suspiciously*  *paranoia perches itself on shoulder, hisses softly in my ear*

Seriously, I couldn’t be happier about how this week went, and I’m feeling upbeat and optimistic about the coming one.  In terms of my goals, here’s what I’m looking at:

*30 minutes of prepped writing a day*  This went fabulously well.  I’m finding that those thirty minutes are serving to be the ‘test mile’ Kait Nolan blogged about last week – most days I stretched those thirty minutes into an hour or more of dedicated writing time because once I got into the groove, I just kept going as long as my responsibilities would allow.  It was fabulous.  I met this goal (or exceeded it) every day this week.  The temptation is there to revamp this goal, and make the goal time something longer, but I’m going to hold off for a couple of weeks to make sure I can keep up this pace.  Prepping is really easy right now – I’m in editing mode on my WIP, so there’s really no planning or research involved at this stage.  I’m really, really hopeful I’ll be ready to have some beta-readers look at this draft before offspring #4 shows up.  We shall see!

*Baby steps toward moving every day*  This has also gone well – I’ve nailed those initial 5 minutes, plus some, every single day – except one.  Friday was brutal…the night before Shafer #4 had her own little all-night rave in my belly – so much so that it woke the hubster up.  There was no sleeping for me Friday night, so I made up for it during the day.  Which meant exercise went out the window.  The cool thing about those 5 minutes is that they’re like a little ‘test mile’, too.  Once I get moving, it feels great, and I want to keep going.  I’m also taking part in Ginger Calem’s #writersbutt – I highly recommend you check it out!  Ginger’s fab, and fun, and really knows her stuff…even if she has us doing potty squats.  Message her on Twitter to find out what that is.

*Doing something good for myself once a week*  This one is the hardest of them all – it’s easy to get caught up in mommy-mode and leave myself (or any little luxuries for myself) in the dust.  But I’m determined!  This week I think I did great – I treated myself to new much-needed bedding (oh my goodness, our old comforter was bona-fide scary).  I felt so guilty walking out of the store with giant bundles of linens under my arms, but now that it’s home, and on the bed, and oh-so-pretty, I’m good with it.

*Read, every day*  And I have!  It’s always in small chunks – these days it’s pretty hard to find the time to curl up and utterly lose myself in words, but I’ve managed to scrimp a few minutes here and there together every day.  I’m hopeful that in the next few weeks I’ll feel comfortable enough to set an actual time target for this goal!

So, yeah.  Feeling pretty good about it right now.  Thanks for stopping by, ROW80 lovelies!  Hope your week was a success as well!