Dana Month

Spring is here. Finally!!!! I love me some summer and fall but winter...eh, not my most favorite. November and December are awesome with the holidays and my Munchkin's birthday but once January and February hit I am ready for some flowers, green grass but most importantly sunshine. Spring gets me motivated. Motivated to do...anything. I'm not one for New Year's resolutions but come Springtime I set goals for myself. Kind of like a mental spring cleaning.

So here it is. I am announcing April as MY month. The Dana month. I personally want to do all that I can to get myself out of the winter funk and just feel better about me. It doesn't hurt that vacation time is coming up too. Five days in, five steps closer and here's where I am at so far:

1. Been drinking at least 3 bottles of water everyday. When I was pregnant with Munch I was on a strict no caffeine, little to no milk, shooting for water only type diet. True I was also tagged as being "glucose intolerant" which means that I strategically watched my sugar intake so I kept my health and lowered the chances of me delivering a 15 lb tubbo. I felt good. Why not keep that up after pregnancy?

2. Attempting to wear my retainers every night. Poor Husband must be thrilled with this one. He hasn't commented on my nighttime dental attractiveness yet but when he does, I've prepped my Dave-Ramsey-saving-money scheme. What I keep telling myself is that these metal torture devices are *fingers crossed* saving me from major dental work down the road since my teeth seem to be continually moving.

3. If I'm wearing the torture devices I might as well floss right? My sister-in-law will be proud to hear that yes, I am flossing every night as well.

4. Exercising. Even though I have only been at this baby for two days I am actually super excited! In my garage is a NTM Elliptical (New-To-Me) that joined our family 2 days ago. $75 delivered. Uh-mazing. It's been awhile since I spent some time on an elliptical but I knew from my previous gym experiences that this was the only piece of exercise equipment that brought me close to running without the actual running that I loathe. I love my elliptical time. Plus I don't have to deal with neighborhood dogs threatening to attack me.

5. Taking in some veggies. It's amazing how much mental guilt I can put on myself when deciding what snack to eat when I know that my NTM Elliptical is giving me the sideways judgement glare from the garage. Yes, E I chose grape tomatoes over ruffles. Be proud.

Five days. 26 to go. I would love love love to tackle some other goals of mine but I'm thinking these will have to come in stages.

1. Wake up consistently. How many weeks does it take for a routine to take place? Cause mornings stink. Having to be at work by 7 AM means I need to have my butt in gear and items prepped the night before. Do I? Psh. I need 3 alarms to get me out of bed. Even then I'll lay there half asleep justifying why I don't need to wash my hair while changing my outfit options to the one requiring no ironing. PLUS if I were to get up on time I could actually get some much needed quiet time, eat breakfast with the Husband without having to throw J's lunch box together AND enjoy my coffee in my big mug rather than my travel mug. That sounds like an amazing way to start the day!

2. Have a garage sale. Most of our stuff has been sifted through from our latest move but there are still things on bookshelves and in drawers that just need to be tossed. I feel like I have too much stuff. Not hoarder-too-much, just the I've-had-it-forever-and-it-finally-needs-to-go amount of stuff.

3. Create a chore chart. Did you know that there are a full 7 days in the week? Gosh golly there are! And did you know that all could have a certain chore or  two or three scheduled for that day that once complete...those big obnoxious chores are deemed done?! Totally stole this one from the awesome Wendy Hagen and her "Totally Desperate Mom" book. Instead of going all crazy obsessive "can't sleep unless my floors are vacuumed," I need to break up my to-do list. Sad state of affairs right? If this works on saving a portion of my evening sanity, Wendy, I owe you one. Everyone else, you now have a new book to read, get on it. I promise you'll dig it.

4. Eh, that's enough. My brain hurts. Even with motivation, by the end of the day, I'm beat.