Thursday, March 27, 2014

little bit of this, little bit of that

Dreary. Dreary day. Who else wants to just snuggle up in a fuzzy blanket with a good book? My couch is currently covered in goldfish crumbs so I am forced to be upright and working. Probably a good thing.

Still struggling with no energy. I got rid of the tv in my bedroom and thought it would improve my sleep. NOPE! Made it way worse. Now instead of going bed at the end of a certain show, I am staying up until 1 AM following rabbit holes all over the internet. Ugh. Need to stop this.

I am having a coaching identity crisis. What I thought I wanted to do with my business has changed and now I am trying to figure out what my business looks like going forward. I've been doing a lot of corporate work using strengths, which I love. I prefer group to individual coaching. I don't want to work solely with women dealing with divorce. I've moved on since I first created my business and I need my offerings to reflect that. I've been doing a lot of research and writing lately, just trying to find the right fit. I guess it's normal for small businesses to evolve, right?

Going to start a whole foods cleanse on Monday. Only 7 days. No supplements or potions. Just whole food. Recipes look tasty. More info here.

Had a great breakthrough whilst reading a blog the other night. When I was first single, I went on the best date ever. Still is. It was seriously a super fun night. I hold that night up as the standard which of course no date since has met. So for a long time I thought there was something special about the man I was on the date with. He was a nice man but not the man for me. But that special evening made me think he was the man for me. It took me a long time to move past it but I have now. But what I realized is that he was not what made that night seem so special. I loved who I was that night! I was sparkly, vivacious, hilarious, engaging...all good things. And my hair looked great that day. :) I want to FEEL that way again--it has nothing to do with him. I felt excited, liberated, hopeful, ready to take on my single life. I am far more jaded now and expect each date to be a miserable failure (another good reason not to date right now). But that night was magical. It really was. But the breakthrough is about how I want to recapture ME in that moment, not him. Maybe I will be that girl again someday. I hope so.

That's it for now. Off to serve a free meal at Grace to whoever needs it. We are having hot dogs tonight, Pibs is pumped!

Monday, March 24, 2014

the desire map

Nope, this post is not about sex. Sorry to disappoint. :)

My dear friend/consultant extraordinaire Rachel Greenhouse put The Desire Map in my path. She suggested we read it and discuss during our weekly co-working sessions.


I have been working my way through the first part of the book, which is all about creating goals with soul. Initially I thought I would use this more on my work side but it is turning out to be more about my personal life. I guess in my case my work and personal life are entwined, due to my brand being ME!

I like her approach. The book is an easy, almost stream of consciousness type of style. She hates the idea of boring, stiff goals. She prefers to call them intentions. In creating goals with soul, you connect on a deep level with what gets you really fired up and do more of that, rather than setting lofty, responsible, well thought out goals that don't excite you.

I'm finally at the part where I am ready to start mapping out my desire map. 

She focuses on 5 areas: 
  • Livelihood & Lifestyle
  • Body & Wellness
  • Creativity & Learning
  • Relationships & Society
  • Essence & Spirituality
Sounds a little like my 4 areas of focus!

I tackled the first of many pages today that require me to really think about what I really want, what I truly desire.


Example: the prompt was "I crave" and what flowed from my pen was this:

peace. confidence. comfortable skin. less chin fat. a quiet mind. love. true love. a partner. feeling accomplished. strength.

Two pages full of stuff like that. There are many more to be filled!  I want to take my time though and really think. It's easy for me to think about emotional things with very little effort. I don't want to do that here. I don't want to get caught in the trap of writing the "right" things. I want intentions that sizzle and fit me perfectly. 

The only part of this book that sticks in my craw just a bit is where she says the point of all this is to feel good. I agree with that; however, I hesitate to accept that as a life mantra. Sometimes people do really selfish things that make them feel good and rock the worlds (in a bad way) of the people who are connected to them. I think there is danger in focusing solely on what makes you feel good. There needs to be some thought put into how your actions (or intentions) effect others.

So I will be working on this book for the next little bit. Taking my time writing is not the norm for me. I usually crank these posts out in under 10 minutes! Taking time to think before writing something is new for me. Maybe something amazing will come from it!

Saturday, March 15, 2014

back from vacation!

I'm back from Disney!

It was a fantastic trip, of course! Although nothing about a Disney trip is relaxing--I always come home totally wiped out.
 
I wore my FitBit the whole time and logged 62 miles for the 8 day trip.  The park days were 25k, 21k, and 23k.  That's over two days worth of steps each time!  No surprise that my feet really hurt by the end of the day.

I ended up getting an ear infection on our second day down there.  Thankfully it was a rainy day so laying in bed all day on a heating pad wasn't a huge waste of time.  Unfortunately, it still hasn't healed and I am now on a second round of antibiotics. I need to be nicer to my kids when they have ear infections--this is awful! Yesterday was the worst day--everything above my shoulders was in pain.  I think the hearing in my infected ear is down to 30%. But it can't get a whole lot worse so I am looking forward to healing!

I had some pop in Disney--something about sunshine, swimming and soda just goes so well together!  I started the week out very strong by making good food choices. By the end of the week, I was having pizza every day!  Believe it or not, I actually lost a pound on the trip.  That has NEVER happened!  Must've been all the walking.

I have been pretty wiped since we got home.  I finally got off my heating pad this afternoon and picked the house up some, went through my emails, and am now writing this.

I feel like I've lost a little focus on my year. I've nailed a few of my goals, which I need to write a post on. But my weight and fitness goals are still hanging out there, unfinished.

I made the decision to quit Lifetime and join Anytime. On Monday I will go and officially sign up. I plan to go daily--Pibs loves it and worked out with my last time.  She watched Doc McStuffins on the treadmill next to me and walked for 30 minutes!  It needs to become a regular part of my morning. I also think it will help me this summer with managing all the free time we have as a family without school to give us structure. They also have a Zumba class on Monday nights that I am excited to check out!  Unfortunately, I have coaching sessions scheduled for the next few Monday nights. But I will get there!

Here are a few fun pics from our trip!

 Party rocking at the Magic Kingdom! It was open until 1 AM, we made it until midnight.

 Doesn't Ethan look so handsome in this picture? The kids rode Star Tours four times in a row.

 Each kid bought a light up toy from the cart at the Magic Kingdom! Much whacking of strangers legs ensued.

 Hanging out with the characters from our favorite show!

 Aren't they breathtaking?

Because we go to Disney so often, they upgraded us to Royal Rooms! The headboard had lights built in and Pibs went crazy for the princess decor. When we walked into our room, she went right to all those framed pictures on the wall and announced she was sleeping right by them!