When I was in middle school, I was really into keeping a "quote book." I would look for and write down quotes and quotes and quotes that I found inspirational. One of the ones I remember loving (but not really understanding) at 12 was, "When God closes a door, he opens a window." It's from The Sound of Music. I think.
Anyway, as you know from my last post, I basically closed a door for myself. I resigned from my teaching job, determined to find something else that would work better for me and where I am right now. I've spent the past five weeks or so on various trips - to the mountains, home to New Orleans, and then three weeks in the UK and Sweden with my family. (Trip post to come soon.) As refreshing and much-needed as those trips were, I am so ready and glad to be back at home with Hubs. I am ready to begin to take really, really good care of myself for the first time in over a year. I'm detailing my plans below - somehow putting them on the internet makes me feel like I'm being held accountable for them.
kvh(d)'s getting-her-sh!t-together, life semi-makeover plan
1. Find a job I love that is less stressful than teaching (aka, any other job)
Status: in progress.
I have put out a few feelers and even had an interview yesterday. Basically, what I want to get into is arts integration - but more on that later. I'm planning to start a new blog with arts integration information and teaching ideas. Get excited!
2. Stop eating crap.
Status: barely in progress.
Last year, Hubs and I trained for a 10k, and between that and eating carefully (I <3 Weight Watchers), I dropped about 15 pounds for our wedding without trying too hard. It is the thinnest and best I have ever looked. I am by no means fat, but I've always had a few extra pounds. Unfortunately when I got to NC, I stopped watching what I ate, especially with Hubs working so much. Stress = no motivation to eat well = muffin top. I now find, quite suddenly over the past 2 months or so actually, that clothes are not fitting. This is entirely my own fault, and I make no excuses. No crazy diets or anything. I'm just going to stop eating crap. More on this later, too - I've been doing lots of research on not eating crap.
3. Get off my behind.
Status: ugh. In progress, but I ain't happy about it.
As I said above, Hubs and I did this 10k last year. Which is totally out of the ordinary for me. It ended up being such a great bonding experience for us, though - something we could do together while we were engaged. Here's the catch: I don't actually like running. I pretty much just did it because he made me (for the record, I asked him to make me), and because it feels good when you finish. Obviously, once Hubs went to work 80 hours a week, the running stopped happening. I mean, once in a blue moon I was like, "Hey! I'm gonna go run the Duke trail!" but honestly, that was like 5 times all year. I really want to look good and feel great. I'm gonna keep it simple, though - do some sort of exercise every day.
4. Make my house look slightly less like a tornado blew through.
Status: I'm sitting here blogging when I have a literal mountain of laundry to do. How do you think it's going?
I am a terrible housewife. Like, awful. Not at all good. As organized as my brain is, that's how messy my surroundings get. I have an amazingly understanding husband who has never once gotten upset at me about the deplorable state of our house... but now that I am not working for the moment, I feel like I have no excuse.
5. Feed my soul.
Status: working on it
Though I am a relatively religious/spiritual person, I am not generally public about it. Suffice it to say that I plan to make spirituality and faith more of a part of my life.
So there you have it. I closed the door on a significant part of my life. It's time to open a window and let a new breeze blow in.
