January « 2010 « Kymlee Is Awesome

Archive for January, 2010

Jan 19

Confessions of a Crazed Mom: Stop Bouncing Around!

Today I’m going to take a brief diversion from all the goal setting talk to make a confession. I’m sure most parents will agree that while mostly fun and heartwarming, sometimes you just get tired of “Mommy mommy, look at me mommy!”

Now I love the boy, but fuck if he isn’t jut a bundle of energy. All. The. Time. And that can be really exhausting after a long day at work when you have freelance projects to do and you have cook dinner and make sure write a blog post for the day…

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining or anything (ok, I kinda am), but is it too much to ask that the kid not bounce all over the freaking house from the moment we walk through the door to the moment he goes to bed? It’s like he likes when I yell at him to stop bouncing all over the place!

On the weekends, I send him outside and tell him not to come back until he’s hungry, but during the week and with it getting dark so early, he doesn’t get much playtime between school and the YMCA. So I try to stay calm and remind him that flipping is not an indoor activity (Yeah. Flipping).

I know I’m not the only parent who longs for silence from time to time. I love the boy. Sometimes, I just don’t love the energy.

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Posted in Parenting, The Boy Children Crazed Mom Too Much Energy

Jan 18

Like James Brown Said: I Feel Good!

I’m just realizing that sitting down to write this post is the first time I’ve sat down since getting home. That’s right, got home and went straight to work flat ironing my hair that had gotten all sweaty during pilates, and prepping tomorrows dinner in the slow cooker, making my lunch for tomorrow, tucking the boy in the bed and…

Shit. I’m tired again, just thinking about it.

Actually, I’m not all that tired at all. In fact, since I started working out last week, I’ve been feeling stronger and more energized. No afternoon crashes and I’m not exhausted when I get home.

Whoda thunk?

Seriously though, I think this working out thing might be all it’s cracked up to be.

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Posted in My Life Energy Health/Fitness Work/Life Balance

Jan 17

Doing the Work

The other day I talked about it being time to make a plan. I’ve been reading the posts from the 30 Days series and there’s just one problem; I haven’t been following through. I haven’t been doing the exercises and enacting the strategies.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’ve been doing things, but part of the 30 Days commitment is working through the challenges. They are practical steps to help me map out my goals (you too if you want to start now!).

So today I’m going to take some time to work through some of these exercises and create my map.

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Posted in Goal Setting, My Life 30 Days Goal Setting Making a Plan Map

Jan 16

Check Me Out at Escaping Mediocrity! (Change Your Mind, Change Your Game)

Welcome Escaping Mediocrity readers!

It’s day 6 of 30 Days to Changing Your Game! Pop over to Escaping Mediocrity for my guest post: Change Your Mind, Change Your Game!

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Posted in Goal Setting, My Life 30 Days Changing the Game Goal Setting Introspection Spirituality

Jan 15

It’s Time for a Plan

Tomorrow is day 6 of the 30 Days to Changing Your Game and yours truly is the guest blogger for the day. Check me out tomorrow at Escaping Mediocrity

Changing the game is scary. Not just scary but a little overwhelming. There are new people encouraging me, I’m doing new things and for all I can tell, I’m going to new places.

What I need to do now is get specific. I’m starting to realize that while I wrote down a basic outline for what I want to do, I haven’t implemented any plan.

And guess what, people have been telling me this for months.

“What’s your plan Kimberlee?”

“Kimberlee, you need a plan.”

“Take baby steps.”

“Choose a project.”

“What’s does it take to get to your goal?”

So I’m thinking I need a plan.

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Posted in My Life 30 Days Goal Setting Stepping Up

Jan 14

The Fitness Goal is Underway

Today I went to a lunchtime workout. My first pilates class. It was right on time too. I was feeling a bit overwhelmed and in need of some sort of stress relief. Since making the commitment to a healthier lifestyle (and today’s workout), I’ve been itching to get started.

Just before noon, I got a ping from one of the other editors: it was time. We changed clothes and piled into the car and headed over to the studio.

I don’t know what I expected, but I was neither surprised nor disappointed by the level of difficulty of the class. While I still have an athletic build, I knew right away that this would be a challenge. The instructor could tell I was a pilates noob and modified some of my positions during the class.

When it was over I had more energy and felt happy. My abs started to feel sore before the work day was over and by the time I left work, I was crashing.

I didn’t mind though. I felt good and I was actively working toward one of my goals for this year.

Today was a productive day.

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Posted in My Life 30 Days

Jan 13

No More Mediocrity for Me

Today is day 3 in the 30 Days to Changing Your Game Series. The subject? Sabotage. As I read what Carla Young had to say about the lies we tell ourselves and being afraid of success, I realized that I have sabotaged myself over and over. And right there in the comments, I admitted that failure is familiar territory for me.

Why should I be so closely acquainted with failure? I consider myself an overachiever. In college I was disappointed when I got anything less than an A, I even negotiated a D to a B all because I thought the professor was trying to grade me based on her dislike for me personally. Mediocrity is not something I aspire to.

But somehow I’ve often gotten paralyzed with the fear of what might happen if I tried and didn’t succeed.

It’s so much easier to just get by, to do just enough. It takes real courage to push through the fear and jump off the ledge trying to accomplish your goals.

So today’s commitment: I’m going to stop sandbagging. I need a little discomfort to get where I want to go. And since accomplishing my goals means embarking on unfamiliar territory, fear is par for the course.

Its time for me to escape mediocrity. I’m so glad to be part of a new tribe, a new network of people supporting my growth and the accomplishment of my goals.

I leave you with my horoscope for today:

The most important thing to remember about this Saturn transit, Leo, is that the actions you take and even more importantly the words you speak will have effects that last for a long time. Saturn, in your solar chart is in both a sign and a house where it is very comfortable. Over the quarter of a decade that Saturn remains there, you may find yourself networking with (or thrown into the neighborhood of) people who are well established, and very practical. You won’t find this time dry or dull, because many goals will be accomplished with their support.

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Posted in My Life 30 Days Balance Escaping Mediocrity Goal Setting Goals

Jan 12

Recommitting to a Healthy Lifestyle

I used to be very active. I started swimming when I was four and began competing by the time I was five. Growing up, I often spent the entire summer at the pool: lessons in the morning, free swim in the afternoon, swim team practice in the evening.

In high school we often had two practices a day: two hours in the morning, two hours in the afternoon. In city college, I played water polo and joined the swim team. Once I got to the university, I wasn’t able to join the teams (some NCAA technicality) but I enrolled in swim fitness classes and swam two or three times a week.

Since I didn’t have reliable transportation, I usually caught the bus or walked everywhere I needed to go. I was athletic and had lots of energy.

Once I graduated college, I spent most of my time in the house and rarely ever exercised. I began living a sedentary life.

This year, I want to change that. No, no, it’s not a resolution, it’s a necessity.

For most of my life I have lived a relatively healthy lifestyle. And then suddenly I just stopped. Despite saying I wanted to work out and lose weight and be fit, I continued to do nothing to make those things happen. I made excuses: I only like swimming, I don’t like walking or running, I can’t afford a gym membership.

The time for excuses is over.

Starting this year, I’ve decided that I have to put my money where my mouth is. I’ve got someone willing to join me in my fitness quest and we’ve already made a plan for classes and activities to do together.

Baby steps right?

I think I’m on my way.

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Posted in My Life 30 Days Balance Goals Health/Fitness

Jan 11

Taking Baby Steps

I’m a goal oriented person. I always need something to be working toward. If I’m not working on something, I feel lost. But sometimes even when I have something to work on, a goal to accomplish, I still feel lost.

See, the problem is that I’m a big picture person. I get paralyzed wanting to do something grand; some big piece of the big picture. And wanting to do something big, I get stuck in my tracks.

The other day I talked about a baby step. I was so stressed and focused on a project due at the end of the day, I forgot to take the one small step toward one of the goals I have for the year. And I was kinda beating myself up about it. After beating myself up, I decided, I wanted to do something bigger.

And there I am in this cycle of wanting to do something grand, getting stuck because I’m not quite ready for the grand gesture and remembering that every goal must come with a plan.

Now this doesn’t mean a well laid plan; I just mean goals always come to fruition in phases. So I let go of my guilt and decided to take that missed baby step a few days later. The only way to get to my desired goal(s) is to start moving, and move I started.

And it felt good.

Tomorrow, I’ll take another baby step toward my goals.

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Posted in Goal Setting, My Life 30 Days

Jan 10

Epic Travel Fail

Today started off alright. I had a plan and everything was right on schedule, except for one thing. The schedule in my head was nearly 45 minutes off.

I arrived at the airport thinking I was right on time to get checked in for an 11:55 red eye to ATL only to find out that the flight was actually at 11:15 and we could not be checked in.

Fuckety fuck fuck fuck.

Epic traveling fail.

I nearly broke into tears right there at the check-in counter.

Instead I took a few deep breaths and asked the airline agent what I could do. He registered us for standby and told us to be back two hours early to check in. He showed the boys a hat trick and we were on our way.

I’ve set an alarm to wake me up in three hours from now. I haven’t used an alarm in over a decade.

For now, I’m going to try to clear my head so I can get three hours of sleep.

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Posted in My Life, Parenting FAIL Travel