I saw this on the Nanowrimo forums and I thought I would make one of my own here, so I have a place to keep it. My BIG, FUN, SCARY List of thing to do. Now, I know it's getting on towards 2014, but I don't want this to be a list of resolutions. I don't want this to be just one more list of things that I will "try" to do, but a list of things I plan on actually doing, things I can set in motion, make plans for, make a goal for and just.. you know.. be awesome at! Nanowrimo is sort of the end of the year for me and the beginning of being motivated. If I can write 50,000 words in one month on one story (and not even finish it, but it is there, in a file, waiting to be opened on Martin Luther King Jr. Day where my Writing Monster can cry out "Free at Last" since I have put her away for 6 weeks to let my writing ideas simmer and see what comes to fruition), I can do just about anything I really set my mind to, as long as I break it into smaller chunks.
See, that's the nice thing about Nanowrimo. I took it day by day. I didn't look at 50,000 words and have a panic attack. I looked at 1667 words a day for 30 days. So I can't look at the nearly 200 pounds I have to lose as 200 pounds (and believe me, that's a lot of butter!), I can just take it a pound at a time (probably by not eating pounds of butter).
However, this list, this BFS list, is the beginning of the lists, the start, the "Where do I go from here" of lists that may look BIG and SCARY, but will also, ultimately be FUN too! So, while this list may be a list of BIG things, (though maybe not quite yet a BIG list, I do plan on adding stuff to it), all of these can be broken into smaller, achievable, day by day every day I try this and it works for me goal list. A list of "I can do it" not.. "I want to do it!"
So, here's my list (in no particular order)
1. Finish my pink and brown quilt that I've been working on since before my divorce.
2. Track my calories and exercise daily.
3. Exercise daily.
4. Record weight, blood pressure, blood sugar and exercise in a chart so I can see my progress.
5. Write an outline for each of the three (so far) books that are in my San Francisco Friends novels.
6. Rewrite/Edit one novel into a publishable draft by August.
7. Work hard and be an awesome teacher!
8. Help my district and my school transition to Common Core Standards and be a great on-campus leader!
9. Help my adorable, loving, wonderful husband get through the next year of college!
10. Complete the next 12 weeks cycle of Julia Cameron's 'The Artist's Way'.
11. Meditate every day.
So, those are things I can do! Let's get crackin'!
Love and Lollipops,
ToryLynn
Showing posts with label peacefulness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label peacefulness. Show all posts
Saturday, December 7, 2013
Saturday, June 8, 2013
Episode 83: My tools
My school year has finished up. The grading and the reading and the meetings that have kept me from blogging and writing and just finding my place in the world are over and I can be selfish... at least for a little while.
For the next two weeks, I will covet my time, since little of it will be mine. The little bit of time I get to myself, such as now, in the early morning hours, I will cherish. I will use this time to clean up my office (which badly needs it), work on some craft projects and read and rest and reflect and hopefully do a lot more writing. I want to do morning pages. I want to read Sophie's World. I want to get healthy, not just physically, but also mentally. I want to be able to dance at my wedding, play with my eventual children and live a good long, healthy and happy life. And I can do it, with the help of some tools that I need to pick up again.
Tools are good things. They help you maintain, reflect, become better. I am a a huge supporter of tools, and I use a few on a semi-regular basis. Well.. anybody who really knows me knows that I do very little out of habit or on a regular basis. I can't even really seem to remember to take my meds every day. Hmmm
Anyway, here are a few of my tools that I have picked up as I go along my merry way...
Tool One: My big pink notebook. AM calls it my "bible" and it's sort of an apt description. I keep everything in there. It has 5 sections right now. The first is my planner, second is food stuffs, third is blog ideas and random writings, fourth is wedding stuffs, and fifth is financial stuffs. If I lose the thing, I won't be able to remember anything. It has a nice loop for my pink fountain pen and it is wonderful. I carry it with me nearly everywhere, though it does need to get cleaned out and replaced sooner or later... probably sooner.
Tool Two: My pen. I have a hot pink Levenger True Writer fountain pen with Hope Pink ink in it. (you may be noticing a trend.. it is my favorite color). I almost put Morning Pages as my second tool, but I don't really write them as habitually as I am supposed to. One of my summer goals that I will be writing about in a later post (probably tomorrow). My pink pen, like my pink notebook, goes with me everywhere. It is a reminder that I am supposed to write. It is a reminder that I can jot down a note and my weird kinesthetic brain will remember it more readily than just reading it or asking someone else to remind me.
Tool Three: Our big freakin' white boards. We have two in the house. One of them is our calendar, which we write up every month and our To Do List for that month. It hangs next to our front door in a prominent place near the table in the kitchen. The other, much more neglected one, is in my office, full of project ideas that never really get done. I have to work on this this summer.
Took Four: My phone. In this day and age, I couldn't live without my phone. AM is constantly saying that I am always on my phone and I'm afraid he's right. I use my phone to help track everything. It is my backup calendar which I coordinate with the planner in my pink notebook. It my food tracker, my mood tracker, my link to other people through Facebook. I use a few fitness apps, and am trying out new ones all the time (most of them are free).
My final and Fifth (and best) tool: AM and my friends circle. I cannot say how much these people have helped me. From my online big brother, RO, to our Stockton Writer's Group, I have so much support. Having a live in personal trainer and personal chef helps, as AM is constantly helping me be a better person and reminding me that I am so much more than I think I am and I can do so much more than I think can. These people have helped me and made my life amazing. They are supportive and give me great suggestions and kudos and high fives and big hugs and I appreciate and love them all for it.
Anywaysssss.... before I get too sappy... I am going back to bed. I walked 3.74 miles yesterday and I am SO feeling it right now. Now that I'm off for the summer, I plan on making writing part of my regime, as well as some reading, some exercising and a lot of snuggling from my wonderful AM! :)
Love and Lollipops,
ToryLynn
For the next two weeks, I will covet my time, since little of it will be mine. The little bit of time I get to myself, such as now, in the early morning hours, I will cherish. I will use this time to clean up my office (which badly needs it), work on some craft projects and read and rest and reflect and hopefully do a lot more writing. I want to do morning pages. I want to read Sophie's World. I want to get healthy, not just physically, but also mentally. I want to be able to dance at my wedding, play with my eventual children and live a good long, healthy and happy life. And I can do it, with the help of some tools that I need to pick up again.
Tools are good things. They help you maintain, reflect, become better. I am a a huge supporter of tools, and I use a few on a semi-regular basis. Well.. anybody who really knows me knows that I do very little out of habit or on a regular basis. I can't even really seem to remember to take my meds every day. Hmmm
Anyway, here are a few of my tools that I have picked up as I go along my merry way...
Tool One: My big pink notebook. AM calls it my "bible" and it's sort of an apt description. I keep everything in there. It has 5 sections right now. The first is my planner, second is food stuffs, third is blog ideas and random writings, fourth is wedding stuffs, and fifth is financial stuffs. If I lose the thing, I won't be able to remember anything. It has a nice loop for my pink fountain pen and it is wonderful. I carry it with me nearly everywhere, though it does need to get cleaned out and replaced sooner or later... probably sooner.
Tool Two: My pen. I have a hot pink Levenger True Writer fountain pen with Hope Pink ink in it. (you may be noticing a trend.. it is my favorite color). I almost put Morning Pages as my second tool, but I don't really write them as habitually as I am supposed to. One of my summer goals that I will be writing about in a later post (probably tomorrow). My pink pen, like my pink notebook, goes with me everywhere. It is a reminder that I am supposed to write. It is a reminder that I can jot down a note and my weird kinesthetic brain will remember it more readily than just reading it or asking someone else to remind me.
Tool Three: Our big freakin' white boards. We have two in the house. One of them is our calendar, which we write up every month and our To Do List for that month. It hangs next to our front door in a prominent place near the table in the kitchen. The other, much more neglected one, is in my office, full of project ideas that never really get done. I have to work on this this summer.
Took Four: My phone. In this day and age, I couldn't live without my phone. AM is constantly saying that I am always on my phone and I'm afraid he's right. I use my phone to help track everything. It is my backup calendar which I coordinate with the planner in my pink notebook. It my food tracker, my mood tracker, my link to other people through Facebook. I use a few fitness apps, and am trying out new ones all the time (most of them are free).
My final and Fifth (and best) tool: AM and my friends circle. I cannot say how much these people have helped me. From my online big brother, RO, to our Stockton Writer's Group, I have so much support. Having a live in personal trainer and personal chef helps, as AM is constantly helping me be a better person and reminding me that I am so much more than I think I am and I can do so much more than I think can. These people have helped me and made my life amazing. They are supportive and give me great suggestions and kudos and high fives and big hugs and I appreciate and love them all for it.
Anywaysssss.... before I get too sappy... I am going back to bed. I walked 3.74 miles yesterday and I am SO feeling it right now. Now that I'm off for the summer, I plan on making writing part of my regime, as well as some reading, some exercising and a lot of snuggling from my wonderful AM! :)
Love and Lollipops,
ToryLynn
Monday, May 6, 2013
Episode 76: Happy!!
We've been doing this since around February. Originally the thought had been to start January 1st, but we are slow to get organized. The jar in the picture is our happy jar, with our happy thoughts color coded to suit us. We put the day's triumphs, the happy little things that we did for each other, or that we talked about, or even just what we ate for the day. They can be any thought, as long as they are happy and not negative.
The plan is to open the jar at the end of the year as a New Year's ritual and see all of the happy thoughts that we have created over the year. Ideally, if we had started on January first, we would have 730 happy thoughts in it by the end of the year. 730 happy memories, 730 meals, 730 joys that we could share. I am not sure what we will do with them as we review them. Perhaps we will create a scrapbook, putting them in order and gluing them to pages as a reminder of all the happiness that we had the year we got engaged and then got married. Maybe we will let the jar fill (though it is already getting pretty full and we have to pack the slips down well) until our first anniversary, so we can have a record of our first year together and the time that we were engaged. Maybe we will just tear them into smaller pieces and throw them over ourselves and our friends at our New Year's celebration. We have a while to go until we pick out those pieces of paper and find out all of our happiness throughout the year. I'm excited to see what he wrote, since our happy thoughts are private until the end of the year, locked up in our little jar on little pieces of blue and pink paper.
I hope that you all have your happy thoughts and that you share them with the ones that you love, today and every day. Keep them somewhere safe, even if it is a journal or notebook, a planner or just in your memory, but my hope is that everybody has at least one happy thought a day, even if it is as simple as "the cute guy on the bus smiled at me" or "I ate all my vegetables" or even "I am still alive and my heart is still pumping blood through my body", everybody should be happy, every single day.
Here is to all of your happy thoughts!
Love and Lollipops,
ToryLynn
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Episode 45: Yogi Barely
It is time to start moving! So, I am trying, very hard, to do that. :)
AM suggested this book called Richard Hittleman's 28 day yoga. I like books, I like it when people suggest books to me, and so I bought it! I'm on day 3 now, with having skipped a day just out of sheer stubbornness.
It's actually not too bad. I hear my bones in my back popping more than I like, but I am definitely increasing my flexibility, even after three days. When I am done, I feel better. Much more stretched out and calmer (although today I have a bit of a headache, but I think I woke up with that.. or it's just my caffeine addiction kicking in). The book recommends doing the exercises in the afternoon or the evening, but I find that after a day spent chasing high school students around, I really just don't have the energy to be rolling around on my floor. I exercise in the morning. I'm hoping to make a bit of a routine of it.. like this blog, and get into a type of habit. The book says you can skip a day once in a while, but try not to skip more than one day at a time, and take it sloooooowly.
Anyway, people who study and practice Yoga are Yogis. I don't consider myself a Yogi yet, but it's an interesting program. I flipped forward a few weeks, just to see what is in store for me... and some of them look a little bit impossible. Of course, it really doesn't help that the model that is used is incredibly thin and lithe and I just can't picture myself like that at all. Especially doing the head stand. That looks SO painful and I can't imagine putting my fat ass over my head. It's just a matter of gravity and neck compression!
Anyway, my ten minutes for blogging is up. Have a great day everybody and remember to breathe!
Love and happiness,
ToryLynn
AM suggested this book called Richard Hittleman's 28 day yoga. I like books, I like it when people suggest books to me, and so I bought it! I'm on day 3 now, with having skipped a day just out of sheer stubbornness.
It's actually not too bad. I hear my bones in my back popping more than I like, but I am definitely increasing my flexibility, even after three days. When I am done, I feel better. Much more stretched out and calmer (although today I have a bit of a headache, but I think I woke up with that.. or it's just my caffeine addiction kicking in). The book recommends doing the exercises in the afternoon or the evening, but I find that after a day spent chasing high school students around, I really just don't have the energy to be rolling around on my floor. I exercise in the morning. I'm hoping to make a bit of a routine of it.. like this blog, and get into a type of habit. The book says you can skip a day once in a while, but try not to skip more than one day at a time, and take it sloooooowly.
Anyway, people who study and practice Yoga are Yogis. I don't consider myself a Yogi yet, but it's an interesting program. I flipped forward a few weeks, just to see what is in store for me... and some of them look a little bit impossible. Of course, it really doesn't help that the model that is used is incredibly thin and lithe and I just can't picture myself like that at all. Especially doing the head stand. That looks SO painful and I can't imagine putting my fat ass over my head. It's just a matter of gravity and neck compression!
Anyway, my ten minutes for blogging is up. Have a great day everybody and remember to breathe!
Love and happiness,
ToryLynn
Monday, October 17, 2011
Episode 25: Hush
My first alarm clock goes off at 4, gently waking me up if I happen to be in the right part of REM. This morning, I was, and it was singing love songs by the Beatles for me. I hit snooze, reluctantly, and opened my eyes to the darkness of my bedroom, AH breathing deeply beside me as he slept through the alarm. All I could hear was his breathing and my CPAP machine, telling me that I continued to breathe. The wooshy sound of my own breath, helped along by a force of air that keeps me from snoring (and loudly, I might add) was relaxing, and my mind became peaceful and let go.
I fall into dream quickly, and anybody who has ever heard me fall into these dreams knows that I kinda talk in my sleep (at least, just as I am falling asleep), so it wasn't surprising when I heard myself mumbling, though I have no idea what I was saying. Fortunately, I think AH slept through it but I wonder what causes me to do this. I think, most of the time, that as I sleep, as I dream, I am talking to someone. This morning's conversation was with a close friend, but if you asked me what I was dreaming about, I couldn't tell you. All I know is that I was sitting across a table from him drinking coffee and enjoying a deep conversation, and answering questions aloud, because I could hear my voice being used in the awake world. It was strange, but also rather oddly comforting. In my dream, the conversation lasted hours. In the real world, I had to get up an hour later. I don't remember what was discussed, I don't remember if there was anything more than talking, but I do remember that I woke up an hour later, not realizing that I had hit snooze on my alarm clock 3 times, but feeling better rested and at peace.
So, now I am up with my granola and yogurt and coffee ready to face the world for another day, happy that I have friends to talk to... even if I am just talking to them in my sleep.
So, a rather thoughtful blog today about nothing incredibly important. I'm kind of rambly, but I am happy nonetheless. I hope all of you are too.
ToryLynn
Monday, October 3, 2011
Episode 15: Renaissance and Coffee :)
Sounds like an interesting book title, doesn't it?
So, first bit of news! I got my new Keurig!! I got a serious bonus in overages this month and I earned a beautiful reward of a new Keurig coffee system. It is amazing. From the first sip of my cup of French Vanilla Roast to my last sip of the Hazelnut that I had today, the coffee is amazing. And! I can program it to make me a cup of coffee upon my waking up in the morning! How awesome is that! But wow.. that liquid comes out hot!
So anyway... Yesterday was sort of a whirlwind and I had an amazing day with AH. I woke up, took a bath, blow dried my hair (wouldn't want the extra water in my hair to weigh me down) and went to weigh in. I lost 7 pounds this week. The outpouring of pride in me has been especially felt deep in my heart, and it makes me want to keep going... no matter how bumpy it's beginning to look on the outside...
So, I pack AH in the car and he sleeps on the way to the Northern California Renaissance Faire. For some reason, I feel extremely at peace with this world. As I enter the gates, I just become enveloped in the experience. I nod my head to passersby; I politely bow my body to those in a higher position than I; I smile at fools and small children, and something inside me clicks. It's like my heart settles and my mind sort of goes on autopilot.
The Ren Faire we go to is set up like a marketplace. There are a lot of shops and some stages, and games and more shops and gypsies and pirates and fairies and royalty and peasants and everything wonderful. There are bright vivid costumes, loud bustling talk as people haggle and negotiate and laugh. There are bawdy performances, there are street hockers, there are musicians wandering through the street playing their instruments. This noisy, glorious, tumultuous experience is where I feel a deep sense of peacefulness. I wander through the stores, glance at wares I am interested in (I got a lovely new leather bound journal for poems written by hand. The cotton paper drinks up the ink from my fountain pen, and AH got some pouches for his eventual garb. I even got a new silver barrette for my hair.) I sit down to watch the Bold and Stupid Men show (though it is with different people, it is still amusing) and get a medallion stamped (This year's is a beautiful silver clad necklace with a claddagh on one side and the Green man on the other). Everything put me at ease. I felt that I belonged to this era of hand crafted books and cacophonous brilliance roaming through the streets of the dirt path that mapped out our way through the market. It was wonderful!
We stopped by In-N-Out on the way home and I got to eat anything I wanted, as I still had all of my weekly points remaining, and I was glad that I wasn't eating the turkey legs and roasted skewered vegetables that were the fare of the faire.
We had a lovely time, and came home happy. He fell asleep on the couch, exhausted from an oveworked week, and I went to some poetry reading and spent time with great friends. Altogether, a wonderful Sunday.
I am to bed.. It is time.
I love you all and hope that you keep safe and happy!
Tory
So, first bit of news! I got my new Keurig!! I got a serious bonus in overages this month and I earned a beautiful reward of a new Keurig coffee system. It is amazing. From the first sip of my cup of French Vanilla Roast to my last sip of the Hazelnut that I had today, the coffee is amazing. And! I can program it to make me a cup of coffee upon my waking up in the morning! How awesome is that! But wow.. that liquid comes out hot!
So anyway... Yesterday was sort of a whirlwind and I had an amazing day with AH. I woke up, took a bath, blow dried my hair (wouldn't want the extra water in my hair to weigh me down) and went to weigh in. I lost 7 pounds this week. The outpouring of pride in me has been especially felt deep in my heart, and it makes me want to keep going... no matter how bumpy it's beginning to look on the outside...
So, I pack AH in the car and he sleeps on the way to the Northern California Renaissance Faire. For some reason, I feel extremely at peace with this world. As I enter the gates, I just become enveloped in the experience. I nod my head to passersby; I politely bow my body to those in a higher position than I; I smile at fools and small children, and something inside me clicks. It's like my heart settles and my mind sort of goes on autopilot.
The Ren Faire we go to is set up like a marketplace. There are a lot of shops and some stages, and games and more shops and gypsies and pirates and fairies and royalty and peasants and everything wonderful. There are bright vivid costumes, loud bustling talk as people haggle and negotiate and laugh. There are bawdy performances, there are street hockers, there are musicians wandering through the street playing their instruments. This noisy, glorious, tumultuous experience is where I feel a deep sense of peacefulness. I wander through the stores, glance at wares I am interested in (I got a lovely new leather bound journal for poems written by hand. The cotton paper drinks up the ink from my fountain pen, and AH got some pouches for his eventual garb. I even got a new silver barrette for my hair.) I sit down to watch the Bold and Stupid Men show (though it is with different people, it is still amusing) and get a medallion stamped (This year's is a beautiful silver clad necklace with a claddagh on one side and the Green man on the other). Everything put me at ease. I felt that I belonged to this era of hand crafted books and cacophonous brilliance roaming through the streets of the dirt path that mapped out our way through the market. It was wonderful!
We stopped by In-N-Out on the way home and I got to eat anything I wanted, as I still had all of my weekly points remaining, and I was glad that I wasn't eating the turkey legs and roasted skewered vegetables that were the fare of the faire.
We had a lovely time, and came home happy. He fell asleep on the couch, exhausted from an oveworked week, and I went to some poetry reading and spent time with great friends. Altogether, a wonderful Sunday.
I am to bed.. It is time.
I love you all and hope that you keep safe and happy!
Tory
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