The best laid plans - resolutions roundup!

Like I said in the last post, i like plans. I like to know what's happening and what I want to achieve.
that being said, I'm pretty good at going with the flow, because I'm well aware that unexpected things can crop up and life doesn't always go according to plan.

This is why I don't freak out if I don't achieve my monthly goals - they're just a guideline, something to aim toward. I've always been a fan of working towards something. I think I'd find it physically inpossible to just bumble along from day to day without some kind of direction!

My goals for January (and the results) are as follows...

1) Start pole dancing lessons.

This has been a HUGE success! I adore my pole class. It's not actually dancing at all, mostly acrobatics and strength training. It's so addictive that I ordered my own pole and it should be here any day! I will definitely give pole training it's very own post very soon!

2) Learn the basics of my sewing machine, make an apron.

umm...I haven't done any of this. Simply no time, honest! This will become clear when I explain the unexpected stuff that cropped up.

3) Lose 5lb

I lost 8lb! I joined Weight Watchers online and between that and pole class, I've been losing weight pretty steadily.

4) Read 2 whole books, go to bed before 10pm 2 nights per week.

umm...no. I do try to get into reading, but often I'm so tired by bedtime, I lack the concentration to follow a long book. i tend to read cookbooks in bed instead! The early bedtimes have been a big fail, and I will definitely make that a goal for february.

Okay, so out of 4 goals, I achieved 2. Having said that, a couple of unexpected things cropped up that I didn't expect!

I hadn't been planning to change jobs, but a very desirable job came up in a local sheltered housing complex for adults with learning disabilities. I applied and got it! I've since given notice at my current job and finished there, so a very unexpected achievement for January!

Also, I had two unexpected viewers at my old house this month, which meant having to do a massive amount of cleaning, tidying, packing and taking things to the skip. I've succeeded in virtually emptying my whole house this month and tidying up the garden. A lot of work, but well worth it! We got an offer on the house last week, which was slightly lower than we'd have liked, so we're waiting to hear if they are willing to offer more. definitely a good achievement for January.

Ooh, and I've also become really into painting my nails. The online forum I'm part of has a thread called Nails of the Day, and it's really interesting to see what everyone does with their nails. I am not very good at taking care of myself, so even taking a few minutes every few days to paint my nails is a huge achievement.

So yeah, January has been a very busy month, I've done a lot of good stuff!
What are you proud of this month?

A whole new approach to meal planning

Do you plan your meals?

I know for some people, the very thought of planning a whole week's worth of dinners would just be ridiculous. I mean, it's monday, how do you know what you'll want to eat on thursday?

For us, though, it works. It has to really, we all work shifts, the kids have various clubs and things, it would be total chaos if we didn't have some kind of plan.

I need to know what we plan to eat that week, it just helps me to know what I need to take out of the freezer, and it saves us from wasting good food. It's also helpful when you're trying to eat healthily, you're less tempted to get a takeaway if there's already all the ingredients for a nice meal ready to go.

How to plan your meals though? People have lots of different ways - some use spreadsheets, some use just a scrap of paper, some use a whiteboard. For some people it may be just a list of simple oven dinners, for others it might be a series of elaborate recipes! Whatever works for you.

This is my meal planner...

It's a hardback, A4 sized notebook, with a ribbon for keeping your page. I like using a dedicated book because as the year goes on, it acts as a sort of kitchen diary, you can look back and remember what you've been eating.

How many times have you made something delicious and thought "I must make this again sometime", only to completely forget what you made or how you made it? This way, I can remember what we had and when.

I also write in the book and page number if it's from a cookbook. When you own over 200 cookbooks, it's easy to forget where a good recipe came from!

See those gold stars? That's for recipes which have been a success. My kids are very fussy, I really struggle to find dinners that they will both eat and enjoy, so if they've liked something, it gets a gold star.

This helps with planning future meals - I can flick through the book and see at a glance which meals are likely to go down well. Again, because I write down books and page numbers, it's easy to go straight to the right recipe.

How do I get to the planning stage in the first place? I'm pretty organised about food. All my tins are on one shelf, spices on another, jars on another, etc. I buy meat in bulk, so the freezer is pretty much always stocked with things like mince, chicken and stewing steak.

I always have a good supply of stuff like tinned tomatoes, beans, various spices etc, so I can make any number of meals.

Once a week, I look at what I have, what we're all doing that week and what needs using up, and base my meals around that. I'll flick through a few cookbooks for inspiration, and include a few gold star meals from previous weeks.

I tend to use post its on my cookbooks to mark pages of things I want to try, so I'll usually try to include one or two new recipes a week.

It's good to have a plan. I like being able to look in the book before I go to bed and know what to take out of the freezer for the next day. I like the fact that I no longer do that dazed wander in the supermarket, mind blank, desperately trying to think of what I need. I know what we're eating, I know what's in the house, and I know what needs to be bought. Job done.

A Woman Of No Importance

I am a devoted slave to my children. I suppose that's exactly the way it should be. I'm always there for them, to soothe scraped knees, to cuddle away nightmares, to cook countless meals, to read stories, to provide whatever they need, whenever they need it.
My kids adore me, I know they do. I'm the first person they want to see when they wake up and the last person they want to have holding them before they drift off to sleep.
But how do my kids see me? In their little minds, am I anything more to them than just a provider of toys and dinner? Do they see me as a person in my own right, with feelings and needs of my own?
Probably not, I don't remember seeing my mum as her own person when I was their age. It didn't mean I appreciated her any less, but to be perfectly honest, I don't think I fully appreciated the sacrifices my mum made for us until I became a mother myself.

However, I do think it's important to have a life of your own, even when your kids are little. I think if you treat yourself as nothing more than a devoted slave, then why shouldn't your kids see you that way?
I want to start showing my kids that there's more to me than just what I can provide as a mother. If I spend all my time running around after them and never do anything good for myself, how will they ever learn to treat me as anything other than a slave?
My motto until now has been to treat others as I'd like to be treated. Now though, I think I should start treating myself the way I'd like others to treat me.
A good friend once said to me "What you put up with, you volunteer for"
That is so true. If you put up with being no more than a servant to others, the really, you've volunteered for it, because we all have a choice.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying for one minute that I'm treated badly by my kids or anyone else. What I'm saying is that the one person who treats me like a slave is myself. By not delegating, by not asking for help, by taking on far more than I should.
The lesson for todaay is, if your kids are demanding, if you feel over worked and overwhelmed, and if you feel like a woman of no importance, look deep inside yourself and ask if you treat yourself any better. And if you don't, it's time to start.

It's a new dawn, it's a new day...

....it's a new year for me.....and I'm feeling good!

Well, there's been a bit of radio silence from me on here for a week or two, but I have been flat out trying to get us settled into mum's house and prepare for xmas and new year at the same time!
It's been a really exhausting couple of weeks, every minute of every day has been completely filled with work, taking care of the kids, walking the dogs, cooking, cleaning, packing, unpacking, moving, shovelling snow, pulling sledges, pushing cars, shopping, argh!
I nearly reached breaking point last night, just the whole emotion of it being the end of such a difficult year mixed with the tiredness and stress of the past two weeks (well, whole year, actually), and I struggled to keep myself together for a little bit!
Anyhoo, that's it now - the festivities are done with and I for one will be very glad to pack away all the decorations and start getting back to a normal routine.

Let's have some new year's resolutions, shall we?

1) Learn pole dancing
2) Learn to sew and make clothes and toys
3) Lose 2 stone
4) Treat myself better. Stop taking on too much and spend more time relaxing.

I'll set myself monthly goals so they don't get lost with everything else that's going on, and I can keep track of how I'm getting on.

Here are my goals for January;

1) Start pole dancing lessons
2) learn the basics of working my sewing machine, make an apron.
3) Lose 5lb
4) Read 2 whole books, go to bed before 10pm 2 nights per week.

Will do another post on this at the end of January and we'll see how I get on!

Happy New Year!