Ours never arrived. I ordered the first day. I ordered again. They say you can’t do that but it went through. 🤷🏻‍♀️

No progress on goals last week, except an additional hour outside. But with the unexpected trip out of state I had taken the week off from my goals. This week I have some catch up to do, especially with homeschooling so I’m just going to work on a couple of my personal goals and try to pick the rest up in March. This means that most of my February goals won’t be achieved but I made progress on some of them and I guess that’s the nice thing about the monthly goals being smaller chunks of the yearly goals. Things can just b end shifted to a different month. 4th week of February: Outside: 6 hours Daily walk: 30 minutes/5 days Weight loss: Not planning on losing anything (this is the week my weight will go up a few pounds due to hormones) but I’m going to work on drinking lots of water and try to weigh myself most days so that I can average my weight each week. My weight fluctuates so much it’s hard to keep track of weight loss. My sister is going to try comparing weekly averages and I think I’ll join her with that for a month and see how it goes. I’m not going to work on my decluttering goal this week. There’s too many other things going on. That’ll move to March.

I made some more progress in week 2. Outside hours - 4/6 Exercise days - 5/5 Water - still haven’t made it to 64oz a day but averaged probably 48oz. Better than last week and definitely better than my usual. I didn’t weigh myself or make any progress towards other posted goals. I also made some progress on some personal goals that I haven’t posted here. They are major challenges that have an emotional/heart component, but I pushed myself far outside my comfort zone this week in the pursuit of those goals. That took a lot of my time and energy leaving less for the other things, but that’s ok. These other things are definitely the most important. I’m not setting any goals for this week. My grandmother fell Thursday night and broke her hip. Her body couldn’t handle the shock and she died yesterday. I’m leaving as soon as I can be ready this morning to head out of state for the funeral and to help my parents wherever I can. I’m hoping to get some outside hours in while I’m away, especially as I think time outdoors will be helpful for me this week, but we’ll see.

Mixed results for Week 1. The week didn’t quite go as anticipated especially the last few days. 1000 Hours outside - 3 hours 3/3 ✅ Weight loss - Lose .5 pounds by drinking 64 oz of water a day, eating a fruit and/or vegetable at every meal, and smaller portions It’s hard to tell how much, if any, weight I lost. My weight fluctuates too much. But I think I was down a bit. Looking for a steady downward trend. Until this weekend I did ok eating produce with each meal and making my portions just a little smaller. Never got to 64 of of water. Exercise - 15 minutes, 5 days a week ✅ Decluttering - Clean out under bathroom sink Reading - Define reading goal The last two didn’t happen. Will add them to next week. Week 2 goals: 1000 Hours Outside: 6 Hours I’m going to try to get outside for a morning walk most mornings plus a couple of longer afternoon walks to get me to the 6 hours. Weight Loss: Another .5 pound. Focus on water this week Exercise: 15 minutes, 5 days this week Mostly walking but I need to do some karate practice as well Declutter: Bathroom sink cabinet Reading: Choose first book

My family calls my planner my “brain” too! And yes! It’s a problem when I lose it! Hope you find yours soon. We got a couple of feet of snow over the weekend. I got quite a few outdoor hours in shoveling it. We have a very long driveway (about 350’) and a large parking/turn around area (holds 8-10 cars). We don’t have a snow blower so it’s all hands on deck for shoveling. We were short a couple of shovels this year so we gave the kids the option of house cleaning or shoveling. A couple chose to work inside so I was able to go out and shovel. I don’t mind it actually, especially if I know the inside chores are also getting done. I dropped my girls off at ASL class today and headed to a local trail to do some hiking rather than taking the extra time to drive home. Another hour outside. And hiking through melting snow is excellent exercise too!

Can I jump in a month late? I was planning to join in January. I had worked on my yearly goals, started breaking them down, and then….life. So I never posted. But I have been following along with what others are doing. I tend to quit when I don’t achieve exactly what I set out to achieve but I really want to learn how to just adjust and keep moving forward. So here’s my 2022 goals: 1000 Hours Outside - I wanted to do this last year but lost track after just a few weeks. Trying again. I was hoping for 31 hours in January but managed 11.5. That’s more hours than I would typically spend outside in a winter month so a success even though I didn’t reach my goal. For February I think 20 hours will be a more realistic goal. I’m going to order some flannel lined pants. It has been really cold here and a think some warmer pants will make it easier to be outside. I can’t exactly fit leggings under my current jeans right now. Which brings me to goal #2…. Lose 20 pounds - I really need to lose about twice that but 20 seems achievable. I didn’t lose anything in January. Goal for February will be 2lbs. I don’t have the mental space for full on “dieting” right now but I’m going to try to achieve this through smaller changes: Drink 64oz water a day, fruit and/or veg with every meal, and daily exercise of some kind. Ties into #3…. Exercise 5 days a week - February goal: minimum of 15 minutes. Can include walking (I’d like to work up to a daily walk), practicing karate, workout videos, stretching. I’ll probably need to plan ahead the night before as I don’t have a consistent time available each day. Declutter and deep clean house and out buildings - We moved in here over 3 years ago and never quite finished settling some things. Plus all the stuff that has gathered over the years. Most of this will happen over the summer but I’d like to do small areas during the school year as well. February goal: declutter my bathroom and closet. It’s a busy month so I think that’s all I’ll be able to do. Reading - I’ve thought for a couple of years now that it would be fun to do the Mensa for Kids reading list. I still need to look at this one a bit more and come up with a goal that is concrete and measurable. February Week 1 Goals (Does week 1 go through Saturday or until the 7th?) 1000 Hours outside - 3 hours 0/3 so far Weight loss - Lose .5 pounds by drinking 64 oz of water a day, eating a fruit and/or vegetable at every meal, and smaller portions Exercise - 15 minutes, 5 days a week 1/5 completed Decluttering - Clean out under bathroom sink Reading - Define reading goal

These are great ideas, thanks. We joined a co-op for the first time this year and it offers a mix of credit and enrichment classes. The credit classes (Speech, Creative Writing, Current Events) are easy. Others, like Art, Sewing, Robotics, Lego, Baking, Stained Glass, and Drama, I’m not sure how to “label”. Work them into a credit by combining them or building on them at home, label as an extra curricular, or just keep them as “fun” and not label them at all? I feel like electives are where my DC personalities and interests can shine but as soon as I call something “school” they don’t want to do it. Although they LOVE co-op.

It’s the end of January which means I start thinking ahead to next year. I will have two high schoolers next year (down from 3 this year YAY!), and while I have a pretty good idea for what we’ll be doing for core subjects, I’m not sure what to do for electives. Over the years my high schoolers have done the following for electives: Health and Nutrition Culinary Personal Finance Old Testament Survey New Testament Survey Speech Creative Writing Art Appreciation Music Theory I’d love to hear what are others are doing or planning to do.

Depending on who you watch, we’re in a 12-18” or 24”+ band. DH is setting up the generator, we have plenty of pellets and propane, filled the oil tank yesterday, filled car gas tank today. I need to find out where all the snow shovels ended up after the last storm and be sure they’re in the garage in case it’s hard to open shed doors. We’re going to be spending a TON of time shoveling. Our driveway is 350’ and we shovel it by hand. 😬 DH and SIL (who rents our downstairs apartment) are both essential workers who will need to be able to get out to work afternoon shifts during the worst of the storm and then get back in after midnight. So kids and I and my brother will be shoveling every few hours if we can manage it with the wind.

I don’t like coffee in any form, seldom have tea, almost never drink soda. Other sources of caffeine? Chocolate? Surely there’s only small amounts of caffeine in chocolate. Not sure I can give that up!

This is interesting. I’ll look into it more, thanks. I always thought this was something you born with. But is it something that can develop later in life? I know my labs were all perfect when I was pregnant.

Thanks. I’ll look into this. I did mention the covid. She said the hair loss was likely from that but ran some of the other labs just in case there were other causes. What is A1C exactly? Something to do with blood sugar or diabetes? I should look it up.

I’ve been trying to walk most days but was surprised how out of breath I was getting. I guess now I know why. I’ll probably still try to walk but I won’t push too hard on speed for now. Wouldn’t there be other symptoms of celiac? I don’t know much about it really. Yes, they checked thyroid. That was normal. The low iron and D explain some things. I just assumed I was always tired because I have 4 teenagers and a very busy schedule. Nice to know I maybe don’t have to feel this way.

They didn’t check my A1C as far as I can tell. Would that have been included in something or a separate thing? A daily walk is one of the goals for this year. I know I need more exercise. I’ve heard of “white coat syndrome” but never experienced it before. I have a dentist appointment next week and they always check my blood pressure. I’m curious what it will be. I would say I want to improve the maximum amount. Not sure about my motivation to put in the maximum effort though - If I’m being honest. But I definitely have more motivation now than I did before. I’ve been taking a more honest look at my diet. We don’t eat out or eat fast food (literally only a couple times a year), and I don’t buy convenience foods. We make most everything from scratch. I equated that with a healthier diet than it actually is now that I really think about it. I’ll be looking at our usual meals a little more closely and making some changes. I guess this might explain my lack of energy, hair loss (besides covid), and headaches. Good to know that improving my iron levels will take some time and I’ll need to be patient.

I do take a D3 with K2. I haven’t been as consistent with it as I should. I’ll up it to 5000 iu and see what that does. Thank you for all of this. I’m not panicking about anything but was one of those moments that make you stop a second when I got the results this morning. I would like to lose some weight but I don’t want to be hyper focused there. I know it’s possible to lose weight in a way that doesn’t address the other issues. I want to focus on health as much for myself as to set a good example for my 3 teenage daughters. My family history is a pretty healthy one. I see an eye doctor regularly as I wear contacts so that’s covered.

They tried two different cuffs, both arms, multiple times…that was a new one for me. The doctor suggested I order a home blood pressure cuff and keep an eye on it. I haven’t done that yet.

At the insistence of a dear friend I went to the doctor for a regular physical last week. I didn’t see the point as I am young and healthy. Lab results came back this morning and I have am facing the reality that I am not as “young and healthy” as I would like to think. Labs weren’t completely terrible maybe but not great either. Recheck planned for 3-4 months. I’m not sure that I understand how “serious” any of this is. Mild? Just need to be aware of? Could turn bad quickly? At any rate, I want to get on top of this now and I’d like to use lifestyle changes to do it. I don’t post here often but I follow along on many of the threads almost daily and know that there are some very knowledgeable people here. So any insight as to the seriousness of these numbers and/or ways to get things on the right track would be appreciated. Here’s the areas of concern: BP: 140/90 when first arriving at appointment. After a total of 6 tries with a couple of BP cuffs throughout the half hour I was there, they got a reading of 120/88. All throughout 4 pregnancies, and any other time it was checked, my BP maintained a steady 110/70 so this is new. Cholesterol: Total cholesterol- 228 (should be less than 200) LDL - 150 (should be less than 100) HDL and Triglycerides in normal ranges Vitamin D : 23ng/mL (normal between 30-100) She suggested 2000 IU a day, although I already take that most days. Iron/ferritin: 9ng/mL (normal between 16-154) She called in a prescription form of iron for me. I’ve heard this is not always well tolerated? Weight: not mentioned by doctor but I know I should probably lose around 40 pounds. Thanks to whoever made it this far and wants to jump in with natural/lifestyle ideas for helping me improve my health before I turn 40! 🙂

CT is another state with no oversight. If your child is enrolled in a school, you have to formally withdraw them but that’s it. If they’ve never been enrolled you just do what you want. No testing, hours, attendance, portfolio, record keeping of any kind, or letters to worry about. 🙂 Actually, we don’t have “homeschool laws” at all, really. Well, maybe. It depends on how you read it. Our state statute says “All parents shall cause their children to be educated in….” If you choose not to take this responsibility on yourself, then you have to send your children to school. So I guess depending on how you look at it, all parents are required to homeschool, but there’s the option to send your kids to school if you’d rather not. The State Department of Education has issued “guidelines” to the school districts about what they should “require” of homeschoolers. Problem is, those guidelines aren’t law and a school district can’t force their policies on students not enrolled in their school. Some districts still get on their high horse about this periodically though and will threaten to report families to CPS for not complying. We have an attorney in the state who specializes in homeschool law and she usually straightens them out. Guidelines are NOT the same as laws!

Thanks! Good to know.

Thanks! Riverside and Worcester were the two on my list. I couldn't find info confirming overnight parking in Worcester but it looked promising. I wasn't sure about Riverside because it looks like I would need to take a shuttle on the way back Sunday as they'll be working on the line. Maybe that would be ok. I'll check on SpotHero too. If I can park close enough for a lower price that would be a good option.

I don’t know. I’ve never heard of this. Another thing to check into though. Thanks.

Thanks. I somehow missed this page when I was looking before.

I was hoping for something in MA. I live rurally and by the time I drive out of my way to the closest train station near me, buy tickets, and pay to park, it won’t be any cheaper or easier than just driving in and paying the hotel’s parking fee. Maybe I’ll just drive in. It’s supposed to rain all day tomorrow and that way I can avoid the walk from the train station to the hotel.

I’m driving up from CT. I don’t mind walking Boston. (Except for the sprained ankle part.) We’ve always just done it as a day trip though and found a place in the city to park for the day. This time I’m going for a weekend. I don’t really want to pay those parking prices for 3 days. Also, I’ll be going by myself this time (meeting friends who are flying in), so won’t have navigation help as I drive through the city. So taking the train or subway seems to make sense. I just need to figure out which station allows overnight parking.

Sorry to hijack the thread but I realized I may find some help here too. I’m going to be spending the weekend in Boston and just realized how $$$ it is to park at the hotel. Yikes! Now I’m thinking maybe it would be a better/easier/cheaper option to take the train in. The hotel is about half a mile from the Back Bay station so walkable as long as I pack light and drug up my sprained ankle. LOL Anyone live locally who may be able to PM me with some info for getting into the city?