It’s Time To Get Started On 2018

Hi everyone! I’m still here, in case anyone’s noticed 🤭

I’m still living life in 2-hour sleep-deprived increments and experiencing post partum hair loss as we speak (eeeek!).  But I’m doing quite well under the circumstances.

So what’s new?

Among my goals for this year is to take better pictures and to (finally, finally) use my DSLR as I go along.  I’ve always wanted to improve my photography skills and I bought the thing to seal the deal – you know, very much like buying a treadmill or a lifetime gym membership to affirm the veracity of your intentions 🙄

However, after leafing through its manual like it was some distasteful magazine, the DSLR turned into a pricey paperweight, gathering dust as the limelight went back to my ever handy, lightweight & uncomplicated iPhone. (Which reminds me of my treadmill which also became a pricey clothes rack & laundry hamper station, but I digress… 🙄🙄).

2018 will be a year of ‘more doing and less hair twirling’ for me though so the DSLR has been exhumed and together we will be bonding over some photography courses this year. To help get me started, I’ve decided to do WP’s Photography Developing Your Eye 1 course rrrright now.

The 1st assignment is to get oriented with your camera (gulp!) and to take a photo representation of  what the word “home” brings to mind for you. Right away I think ~ hmmm, how fitting for someone who is all but home!

However, it didn’t take long for me to decide on a subject: our living room.

Okay, I do know that you’re supposed to take pictures with the light behind you, but that view just wasn’t as nice as these ones so …

I chose our living room because it’s one of my pet projects in my quest to making Batam work. I love this space because it is sunny and airy, and I want to build on this by turning it into something cozy and fun.

I still have a long way to go [because I get distracted] and have only managed to add everything else that’s not the black couch, the 2 black sofas and the square table. (Unfortunately, they come with the house so there’s nothing I can do about them). On a good day I’d put a few of my potted plants here and there but I was too lazy to get them for this shoot so you’ll just have to do with fluffy-huggable Anais and Mr. Piddles instead 🤭

So anyhoot, this space represents the concept of home for me. Familiar, pleasant, comfortable, fun.

(1 down, 9 more to go 👊) 🤪

Last Minute 2017 Goals

Hi everyone! How y’all doin? 👋

There’s only about 2 weeks left of 2017 and I guess everybody’s gearing up for maximum holiday enjoyment, right? Unfortunately for us, we have to stay in sleepy Batam for Christmas since the baby has no passport yet ☹️☹️ This really is a bummer  for me who, unlike the eldest and the hubs who get a break from school and work, could really benefit from a change in pace & scenery.

Oh well, all the better to make up for this in 2018 then.

The urge to mope is very strong but I’ve chosen instead to end the year strong by doubling down on some goals for the remaining 2 weeks:

1. Break-fast like a champion

This book said that if you find yourself procrastinating on a goal, chances are, that goal is too big and must be broken down into smaller pieces. So wise! 😏

For weeks now I’ve attempted in vain to do something about my diet (or lack thereof). I am saddled with post-natal weight (& cellulite! 😱😱😱) that I am anxious to be rid of. Unfortunately, all my strategies and tricks in the past just won’t work – sleep deprivation, breastfeeding and buying food from the outside (instead of hiring a nanny I chose not to cook instead) undermine my efforts.

But there must be something I can do, right? If only to feel some semblance of control?

My initial goal was to start cooking again so I’d have more control over what we ate.  But this is just not something I want to take on at this time with the baby basically running my day. Then I  thought of cutting out carbs later in the day and well, anybody who’s breastfeeding probably knows how crazy that is. I think I thought of cutting out junkfood too but I don’t really eat that much of it so the move didn’t feel like enough …

Anyway, I finally had the brilliant idea of focusing on one meal instead, and doing that right. And since mornings provide the most self-control and sets the tone for the day, breakfast was a logical choice.

So the goal now reads: eat a solid breakfast before feeling ravenous every single day.

2.  Do Post natal abdominal-muscle-recovery exercises every Monday, Wednesday & Friday

I’m already past the 2-months waiting period for getting back to exercise and I’m rearing to go.  Luckily, I came across the idea of post-natal abdominal strengthening/recovery exercises before starting anything (well, this isn’t 100% true! 🤥) or else I’d have set myself up for some self-inflicted damage.

I’m not a big fan of 1) slow exercises and 2) those that you do lying down, so this is a real challenge for me. But I want to get back to my original shape and this is standing in the way so … big girl panties on!

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3.  Seriously Bond with Eldest

I’ve been nagged by a feeling of having neglected my eldest since the baby’s arrival and still feel that I can do better in this area. A recent incident at her school (we’ll talk about this in a separate post) drove this goal to the top of my priority list.

Fortunately today marks the start of a 3-week school break which gives us plenty of time to bond. The bonding activities might be partially motivated by something juicy (like I said, I’ll tell you later!) but it’s there and I’m taking advantage of it.

So for these 3 weeks, Eldest gets a lot of spotlight.

 

Aaaaand yes, that’s all for now. Wish me luck! I better do those exercises while baby is still slumbering 😁 Updates in the next upcoming posts! Mmmwah! 💋

 

So What Happened to Those Goals?

I don’t know if you even remember but I had 3 goals for June which I shared with you in this blogpost.

Did I slay them?

Weeeeell ….

1.  Complete Introductory & Phase 1 Beginner of my Indonesian language lessons.

I made progress. (Promise, I did! 😇) I finished all Introductory lessons and a good chunk of Phase 1 Beginner lessons. My vocabulary has increased, and my grasp of sentence construction has improved.

But!

Midway through, my brain just left the building (or my skull for that matter!) 😯 It just went “oh-kay, that’s enough!” and NO amount of prodding could revive the interest. So no, I did not hit this goal 😐😐

2.  Knit my first sweater.

I also started real strong on this one. Take a look:

And then I just went AWOL on her! Because I discovered something profound: I DON’T LIKE TO SEAM 😕 😕 😕

Good heavens! 😱

I LOVE knitting. As a matter of fact, I’m almost done knitting the back portion of another sweater.

But I just don’t enjoy seaming! 😣 😖 😫

3.  Learn to make meatballs.

We still have not found the kind of meat quality we really like. And when my daughter gave the thumbs up after my second try, I left it at that and stopped production 😔

Adventurous cooking is difficult when ingredients are hard to find and … I might have allowed myself to get a bit discouraged there. (sniffle, sniffle)

Heart to heart conclusion:

I’ve procrastinated for 13 days on this post because I didn’t earn my gold stars. (Did I ever tell you I’m a type A?😵😵) And I’m gonna be honest with you – I did not enjoy June that much. When I look back it just feels like too much work and not enough fun. On some days it even felt like I was being chased by a mad dog! 😱 😱 (I’m exaggerating here for dramatic effect).

I’ve always enjoyed setting goals though and this time, I guess there were just some un-anticipated obstacles. But I did make progress and, for lack of anything else to say, don’t worry about the sweater. I got A PLAN! 😀 😀

July is looking much better though 💖 💖 (Yay!) Pilates, books, knitting and … NO pressure (body roll!! 😂 🤣)

Gettin’ Busy With It

The good thing about sitting with boredom for a while and hearing what it has to say is that I always end up with a pretty bangin’ list of things to do or learn 😏 😏

It’s not the exception this time, which is why I now have the appropriate reaction down pat – put all routines on hold, grab pen and paper and give boredom it’s airtime.

It’s a pretty long list usually as I don’t censor. I then give the list time to simmer and, sooner or later a few will hold my attention long enough to become goals 😏 😏

And so, since it’s the first Monday of June — Happy 1st Monday of June to y’all!!! — I figured it would be the perfect day to announce my goals for the month 🙆 🙆

I love having monthly goals ❤ ❤ They give focus and direction, as well as something to celebrate at the end of the month.  I picked 3 for June, and I feel that they give enough variety without necessarily diffusing my focus:

1. Complete Introductory & Phase 1 Beginner of my Indonesian language lessons.

The fact that I haven’t seriously sunk my teeth into learning the Indonesian language is like a leaky faucet that’s keeping me up all night.  It’s about time I got it fixed! 👊 👊

      2.  Knit my first sweater.

I am still not over the fact that there are also circular needles and double pointed needles – I thought there was only those straight ones! 😮 😮

… so from there you can imagine how lofty this goal actually is for me. But as I sat and learned how to knit-purl-knit-knit, I realized my truth: I came here for the sweaters!

So I’m just gonna dive right in and learn as I go along 😀 😀

      3.  Learn to make meatballs.

Just because 😂 🤣

As you can see I’m very specific with all 3 so there’s no room for distraction.  And of course, to keep me accountable (and so we can have delicious chats), I’ll be blogging about my progress as I go along.

I’m actually pretty excited 😀 Wish me luck!

And now what are YOUR goals for June? 🙂

Monster Appetite and Lethargy: The Downsides of Exercising?

Happy Monday peeps! I hope everyone’s off to a strong and positive start 🙂

Now let’s see … where do I start giving updates on my ‘motivated to move’ initiative for September? It’s difficult to think when you’re feeling lethargic

Quick Progress Report:

The combination of exercise type variety and group class obligation has served me well the past week. I’ve been able to stick to my goal of doing two exercise types on most days by being mindful of combining high impact with medium to low impact workouts.

Pitfalls:

1. Exercising in the mornings makes me feel lethargic throughout the rest of the day.I don’t know if my body will adjust in due time, but for now, I need my coffee and noontime siesta. Badly!
2. Meal schedule has been thrown out of whack. Because of my group fitness classes, I now eat brunch and then a heavy snack mid-afternoon. And if I’m not careful, a very late dinner too!
3. My appetite has definitely increased. I half-expected this to happen though, what with the sudden increase in activity
4. I munch the whole time. I alternate between craving sweets to salty food. I think this has much to do with the lethargy I feel the rest of the day.
5. There’s much less time for crochet 😥

So what’s the plan?

Moving for fitness is all well and good but if I am not mindful of what and how I eat, I am basically just shooting myself in the foot.

I am therefore going to focus on 2 things diet related this week:

❗ Prepare enough food the evenings prior so I can eat better (albeit warmed up food) the following day.

Leaving for the gym at 7:30 AM does not leave me enough time to prepare my own food. As well, I am usually too tired and hungry after a workout to even think of cooking. The result is that I reach for readily available junk food – refined carbs and heavily creamed/sugared coffee mostly – to fill my tank. This has to STOP! because it is only temporary relief from hunger and does not do me any favors, energy and weight -wise.

❗ 14 hours intermittent fasting.

This means no food after 6pm, and no food before 8am. This is just really disciplining myself to eat dinner earlier to facilitate better sleep, and so I can train my stomach to crave breakfast at around the same time each day.

 
And now comes the hard part – consistent application. Wish me luck you guys! 🙂

Woo-hoo! The First of The “~ber” Months Has Arrived

Back home we always believed that once the first of the “~ber” months comes a’ knocking, December will be upon us in a blink.

Well, I hope not 🙂 I love to savor.  How about you?

So it’s that time of the month to do a review of previous month’s goals and here’s where I’m at:

1.  30 day plank challenge

Being a housewife/stay at home mom/ lady of leisure is no excuse BUT, I have become sedentary

I took on the 30-day plank challenge as a last ditch effort to keep my abs in check because, here’s something you don’t know about me: I don’t care so much about the rest of my body, but having belly rolls is something my vanity just cannot allow 🙄

So I am somewhere around day 17-18 already where I need to hold my plank for 90 secs. The 1st 60 is okay, anything past that and I begin to shake 😀 But I’m getting there.

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2. get a solid yoga foundation

I came as far as enrolling in a professionally designed online yoga class.  But then a nasty skin allergy on my foot derailed me.  I took it as the Universe telling me this wasn’t the way to go.  So this goal is on hold for now.

3. 6 new meals project

What 6 new meals project?! (LOL!) XD

4. finish the granny square blanket

It’s coming along nicely and should be done next week, the latest 🙂

5. indoor plants

Britney and Jeanette seem to be doing okay.  But Eleanor (the tiny pink one) has shed leaves in the mean time. She still looks okay though, she still has 2 big leaves and 2 baby ones and doesn’t look dry or wilting. We’ll see in the next couple of days.

I like having plants around the house 🙂 I’m thinking of adding more, but I really want the flowering kind.  As you can see, my environment could use some color.

And yes, I already thought of making a doily for that table 😉

6. Finish a MOOC

Good Lord, I used to not have any problems sitting still and wolfing down information.  I used to be in Marketing for heavens sake! But now, I just can’t do it 😮

The course I’m taking is called Parenting In The Digital Age offered by Canvas Network.  It’s a very relevant course, and no doubt very well coordinated.  But I just can’t sit still to read! 😮 I get restless and I can’t even do 30 minutes without finding some excuse to stand up.

Moving on ~~~

New entrants

We have discovered a nice clubhouse with a gym and a swimming pool.  My daughter is now taking swimming lessons there and my husband got busy buffing himself. While accompanying my daughter I also met a nice lady who very enthusiastically invited me to join their Zumba class.  They also do yoga once a week.  Score! 😀

So I bought new swim wear and a skipping rope.  And because the 30 day plank challenge is proving to be really doable, I’m taking this on as well.

I will not go down the sedentary hole without a fight! 😛

And now it’s your turn!

What are you bringing into your life in sexy September? 🙂 ❤

Mid-Month Crisis

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Hello sexy people! Howdy-do? 🙂

Happy Tuesday to y’all ❤

Okay now, let’s see. We’re already halfway through August and I truly don’t feel like twiddling my thumbs waiting for September 1 to serve as my go-signal to get busy.

If you’ve been following me for a while you might have observed that I like to set goals at the start of each month.  I didn’t set anything concrete for August because my child began school and I thought I needed time to adjust to the new schedule.

Well, towards the end of last week I realized with a small hint of panic that I was starting to feel bored. And I sincerely dislike that feeling. Allowing myself to feel bored is to me akin to wasting time, wasting life.

That said, there I was with the sound of crickets in my headspace 🙄

Time to brainstorm!

After not a lot of hemming and hawing, here’s what I came up with:

1.  do a 30-day plank challenge
2. get a solid yoga foundation
3. 6 new meals project
4. finish this
5. dip my toes in caring for indoor plants

and finally …

6. finish a MOOC

Ahhh, the smell of a crisp, new list! It’ll definitely give me focus, and this blog will give me motivation ❤

I’ll keep you posted 🙂

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